(Feast: Saint Ignatius of Loyola; see below) 1st Reading: Leviticus 23:1, 4-11 etc Sacred festivals of Pasch, Pentecost, Atonement and Tabernacles. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: These are the appointed festivals of the Lord, the holy convocations, which you shall celebrate at the time appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth…
(Feast: Saint Peter Chrysologus; see below) 1st Reading: Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38 The tabernacle and its contents are consecrated and God’s glory settles there. Moses did everything just as the Lord had commanded him. In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the tabernacle was set up. Moses set…
Martha of Bethany Martha is mentioned in the Gospels of Luke and John. She lived in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem with her siblings Lazarus and Mary. She welcomed Jesus and the disciples into her home, and was witness to the raising of her brother, Lazarus. 1st Reading: 1 John 4:7-16. Beloved, let us…
1st Reading: Exodus 33:7-11; etc Moses face to face with God, fasts 40 days and receives the Ten Commandments. Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp; he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the…
1st Reading: Exodus 32:15-24 etc Despite the scandal of the golden calf, Moses leads his people onward Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain, carrying the two tablets of the covenant in his hands, tablets that were written on both sides, written on the front and on the back. The tablets were the…
United with Christians all over the world, we acknowledge one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God as our Father. We worship as one family, and pray for greater charity and love among all the baptised.
1st Reading: 2 Kings 4:42-44 Elisha provides food for a hundred men. A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing food from the first fruits to the man of God: twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. Elisha said, “Give it to the people and let them eat.” But his servant said,…
(Ambition versus the need for humble service) 1st Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:7-15. The grace of God is like a treasure in a clay jar. Hope in spite of everything But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come…
(Feast: St Declan of Ardmore; see below) 1st Reading: Exodus 20:1-17 God gives the Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai. Then God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me….
Bridget of Sweden, Patron of Europe Bridget of Sweden (1303-1373) was a mystic also given to works of charity and founder of the Bridgettines nuns after the death of her husband, to whom she had borne eight children. She is one of the six patron saints of Europe, along with Benedict of Nursia, Cyril and…
Mary Magdalene Mary (Mariam) of Magdala is the woman whom Jesus cleansed of “seven demons.” She traveled with Jesus and his followers and was present at two crucial moments: the crucifixion and the resurrection. She is often named in the Gospels, more than any of the apostles except Peter. She is mainly honoured for her…
(also, feast of Saint Lawrence of Brindisi) First Reading Exodus 14:21-15:1 The Egyptians hunt Israel into the sea – and are drowned Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were…
1st Reading: Exodus 14:5-18 Is it better to be slaves in Egypt than risk death in the desert? When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” So…
Our God is like a shepherd who always looks after the flock: the Lord cares for us in all our needs.
1st Reading: Jeremiah 23:1-6 God will raise up shepherds for his people “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: “It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven…
1st Reading: Exodus 12:37-42 Israel’s escapes from Egypt is a night to commemorate The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. A mixed crowd also went up with them, and livestock in great numbers, both flocks and herds. They baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they…
1st Reading: Exodus 11:10-12:14 Passover is a reminder of our deliverance from slavery and death. Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of…
(Also, Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel) 1st Reading: Exodus 3:13-20 The name Yahweh : I am who/what I am But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what…
1st Reading: Exodus 3:1-6, 9-12 Revelation to Moses at the burning bush, at Mount Horeb/Sinai Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame…
Saint Camillus de Lellis Camillus (1550-1614) was a soldier and a dissipated gambler as a young man in Rome, until his conversion at the age of 25, under the influence of the gentle Saint Philip Neri. He became a priest with a special devotion to caring for sick people, for whom, along with a group…
