>>>> St BENEDICT – Pray for Us!
Introduction
St. Benedict’s time, between 480 and 550 A.D., was one of crisis much like ours, with the whole world of his era changing face. The Roman Empire was crumbling in the West, and whole peoples were migrating from continent to continent. Spiritual confusion was even greater. To the order of monks he founded, he gave a rule that is a model of balance and appealing to human capacities. Benedictine monasteries became for much of Europe centers of civilization and culture. Benedict is the patron saint of Europe and of Western monasticism.
Opening Prayer
All-wise and loving God,
St Benedict wisely told his monks
to combine work with prayer.
Never let us forget either of these two.
Let our prayer inspire what we do
to take up our task in life conscientiously
and to use our God-given talents
in the service of you and of people.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!
1 Reading – ISAIAH 1:10-17
Hear the word of the LORD, princes of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, people of Gomorrah! What care I for the number of your sacrifices? says the LORD. I have had enough of whole-burnt rams and fat of fatlings; In the blood of calves, lambs and goats I find no pleasure. When you come in to visit me, who asks these things of you? Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless offerings; your incense is loathsome to me. New moon and Sabbath, calling of assemblies, octaves with wickedness: these I cannot bear. Your new moons and festivals I detest; they weigh me down, I tire of the load. When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to you; though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.
Responsorial PSALM 50:8-9, 16BC-17, 21 AND 23
R. (23b) To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
for your burnt offerings are before me always.
I take from your house no bullock,
no goats out of your fold.” R.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?” R.
“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think you that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.” R.
Alleluia – MATTHEW 5:10
Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel – MATTHEW 10:34-11:1
Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household. “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is righteous will receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because he is a disciple, amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.” When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.
Commentary
Necessary Conflicts
Pedro Casaldàliga (1928-2020), the late bishop of the Amazonian territorial prelature of São Félix do Araguaia in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil, grew up in Catalonia in Spain, during the years of the revolution and religious persecution of the 1930s. He knew what it meant to be a persecuted Church. Later, as a bishop fighting against the land mafia and the military government in order to protect the rights of the indigenous people, he observed: “I understood better to what extent conflict must be an essential part of the Church and of the life of Jesus Christ.” A non-negotiable, unconditional choice for Christ will invite persecution; sometimes even from one’s most intimate circle of family and friends. Sometimes even from within certain sectors of the Church. But any compromise to win the world will result in loss of Christ. There are no ifs and buts in the following of Christ. It must be Christ, all the way.
Intercessions
– For the Church, that free from all paralyzing fears it may have the courage born of faith to bear witness to the demands of the gospel, we pray:
– For presiders in the liturgy, that they may have a deep sense of God’s holiness and of their own limitations and shortcomings, we pray:
– For all of us, that we may not fear those who threaten or ridicule us for our faith, as we live in trust of God who carries us in his hands, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Believable and trustworthy God,
your Son Jesus Christ committed himself
to the fight against evil and persecution,
yet he himself was its victim.
As he encounters us here
in these signs of bread and wine,
may he help us to understand better
that the disciple is not above the master,
that we cannot make your kingdom come true
without being torn apart
nor without being contested by the world.
We trust in you through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
Our holy God,
we have shared the table of your Son;
we are willing to share his life and mission.
Make us unafraid, as he was fearless.
Help us to be convinced
in the deepest of ourselves
that our life and death are in your hands
and that our crosses bear within themselves
the seeds of joy and happiness.
Give us this faith and strength
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Blessing
Do not be afraid of professing your faith or of living it. Trust in God, who stands behind you. May God strengthen and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!