>>> St FRANCIS OF SALES – Pray for Us!
THE NEW FAMILY OF ASUS
Introduction
Brilliant, spirited, humorous, and very kind, St. Francis was bishop of Geneva during the Reformation. Both through his eloquence and his personal contact with people, he convinced many not to become Protestants and won many back to Catholicism.
He wanted to lead the simple life of everyone. Wearing ordinary clothes, he mixed with the people in the street, in the café around the corner, in restaurants. In his writings, especially in his “Introduction to the Devout Life”, he showed how everyone can become a saint in one’s own environment and everyday work. With St. Frances de Chantal he founded the Order of the Visitation.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
we thank you for St. Francis de Sales,
who showed in his amiability to people
how good you are
and how close you want to be to us.
Make us open and gentle with everyone
the way he was,
uncomplicated and understanding
and devoted to you, our living God.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
1 Reading HEBREWS 10:1-10
Brothers and sisters: Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of them, it can never make perfect those who come to worship by the same sacrifices that they offer continually each year. Otherwise, would not the sacrifices have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, once cleansed, would no longer have had any consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is only a yearly remembrance of sins, for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sins. For this reason, when he came into the world, he said: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you took no delight. Then I said, as is written of me in the scroll, Behold, I come to do your will, O God. First he says, Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in. These are offered according to the law. Then he says, Behold, I come to do your will. He takes away the first to establish the second. By this “will,” we have been consecrated through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Responsorial PSALM 40:2 and 4ab, 7-8a, 10, 11
R. (8a and 9a) Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me.
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God. R.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, “Behold I come.” R.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O LORD, know. R.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly. R.
Alleluia MATTHEW 11:25
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Mark 3:31-35
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house. Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.” But he said to them in reply, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around at those seated in the circle he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
Commentary
One becomes a Jew by being born into a Jewish family. Membership of the commonwealth of Israel neither depends on holiness nor personal achievement. Hence, knowing someone’s family origin is of utmost importance to the Jews. Identifying Jesus as a Jew, the son of Mary whose brothers and sisters are known to them becomes a simple way of limiting Jesus family. Jesus seizes the opportunity to make a revolutionary statement that transforms life on earth in a radical and exponential way. When it comes to the things of God, blood is not thicker than water. The water of baptism which makes us the children of God is essentially thicker than blood. The new family of God which Jesus has come to establish is governed not by blood but by faith. The greatness of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not because she was the daughter of Abraham but because she believed. Hence, in any generation, time and place, those who believe and profess Jesus as Lord and God, are the sisters, brothers of Jesus and these are the children of God.
Intentions
– That we may be close to Jesus by seeking with him and his mother the will of the Father, we pray:
– That priests and religious may keep trusting in the Lord who has called them notwithstanding their human weakness, and that with Christ, they may care especially for the poor and the weak, we pray:
– That those discouraged and wounded by life may not grow bitter, and that from our presence and friendship, they may draw fresh strength and hope, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord, our gentle God,
in these signs of bread and wine
we sit at table with your Son.
Let us feel how much you love us
as he calls us his friends.
Keep us in your love
and make us spread it to others
by our disarming friendship for one another
that attracts to you as well as to us
even people hard to deal with.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
we have listened to the words of your Son
that we are called his friends and yours
if we live the life of the gospel.
Let the bread of the Eucharist
make us gentle, understanding
and unassuming men and women
who grow together in the joy
of the good news of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Blessing
Brothers and sisters of Jesus… How much are we united with him and like him? We pray very often the Our Father and ask him that his will be done on earth as in heaven. That’s what we pray for, so that’s what we are committed to. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!