>>> St GREGORY THE GREAT – Pray for Us
JESUS IS LORD OF THE SABBATH
Introduction
Gregory the Great (540-604) was civil prefect (governor) of Rome; he became a Benedictine monk, later papal envoy to Constantinople. Elected Pope, he reluctantly accepted, as he preferred the monastic life. He was a very capable administrator, looking upon his task as service. His incumbency during difficult times was marked by his efforts to care for the socially deprived, to reconcile factions within the Church, to create cordial relations with the Church in Spain and France and to evangelize England. He reformed the Roman liturgy, though his relation to “Gregorian chant” is mere fantasy, for the “old Roman” music he promoted disappeared in the 14th century. Let us honour him today especially as a reformer of the Church and “servant of the servants” as he called himself.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
St. Gregory followed Jesus, your Son,
in his commitment to you
and his service to the people entrusted to him.
May the Spirit of Jesus be alive in us
and dispose us to become, like your Son,
powerless and vulnerable,
so that we can serve one another,
especially the weakest of our brothers and sisters.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen!
1 Reading – 1 CORINTHIANS 4:6B-15
Brothers and sisters: Learn from myself and Apollos not to go beyond what is written, so that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over against another. Who confers distinction upon you? What do you possess that you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it? You are already satisfied; you have already grown rich; you have become kings without us! Indeed, I wish that you had become kings, so that we also might become kings with you. For as I see it, God has exhibited us Apostles as the last of all, like people sentenced to death, since we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and men alike. We are fools on Christ’s account, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are held in honour, but we in disrepute. To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clad and roughly treated, we wander about homeless and we toil, working with our own hands. When ridiculed, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we respond gently. We have become like the world’s rubbish, the scum of all, to this very moment. I am writing you this not to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. Even if you should have countless guides to Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.
Responsorial PSALM 145:17-18, 19-20, 21
R. (18) The Lord is near to all who call upon him.
The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth. R.
He fulfills the desire of those who fear him,
he hears their cry and saves them.
The LORD keeps all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy. R.
May my mouth speak the praise of the LORD,
and may all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. R.
Alleluia – JOHN 14:6
Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel – LUKE 6:1-5
While Jesus was going through a field of grain on a Sabbath, his disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. Some Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Have you not read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry? How he went into the house of God, took the bread of offering, which only the priests could lawfully eat, ate of it, and shared it with his companions?” Then he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”
Commentary
Missing the Forest for the Trees
I once read an anecdote about a family. It was the time Dr. Benjamin Spoke’s book ‘Baby and Child Care’ was the ultimate word on child care. Like many mothers of that time, this first-time mother in the story also had her copy of the book. One day, her new-born baby was crying relentlessly. The baby had slept well and was fed well on waking. Why does it cry again? The mother turned to the book to find out. And the baby went on crying. All along, the grandmother was watching the scene. Finally losing patience, the grandmother shouted at the mother: “For heaven’s sake, drop the book and pick up the child!”
The Pharisees in today’s gospel are like the first-time mother in the story. Their heads are totally buried in the Law that they fail to look up at the disciples and see their human need. By focusing on the minutiae, they missed the larger picture.
Intentions
– That Christians may regard the commandments as doors to freedom from sin and evil and ways to serve God and people, we pray:
– That lawmakers everywhere make laws that are humane and serve the good of all in the community, we pray:
– That we may seek security in love of God and the service of people, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God, our Father,
in these signs, your gifts to us
and the fruit of our work,
we make ourselves available to you.
Do not allow us to seek false security
in observing the letter of the law
but help us to seek the insecurity and risk
of committing ourselves to you and people,
as Jesus did, your Son,
who lives with you and with us
now, and we hope and pray, for ever. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
in this Eucharist, we have celebrated
the memorial of your Son’s death and rising.
He followed the law of the heart
and made love the heart of all laws.
Let the bread of life of your Son
make our love inventive and creative
in the service of people
and help us to follow the directives
of our hearts and consciences,
in the Spirit of Jesus Christ,
your Son and our Lord for ever. Amen!
Blessing
Christ has made us free. Let us not give up that freedom by slavishly sticking to practices and traditions that do not reflect the Gospel. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!