Presider’s Page for 15 August (Assumption of the BVM) Note: This feast originated in Jerusalem before the fifth century as the “Falling-Asleep of the Mother of God.” It was adopted in Rome in the mid-seventh century and was renamed the “Assumption” in the next century. It celebrates Mary’s passing over, body and soul, from this…
13 Aug 2024 – Tuesday of Week 19 Optional Memorials: Ss Pontian, pope, and Hippolytus, priest, martyrs. St Fachtna (Ross, Feast), scripture scholar, founded the monastery at Ross Carbery (Ross Ailithir), West Cork, died circa 600. 1st Reading: Ezekiel 2:8-3:4 The prophet eats the scroll, then goes to speak the word of God The Lord…
12 Aug 2024 – Monday of Week 19 Optional Memorials: St Jane Frances de Chantral, 1572-1641, founded the Congregation of the Visitation with St Frances de Sales. St Muredach, (Killala, Feast) founder of church in Killala; St Attracta, virgin (Achonry, Feast) sixth century healer whose convents were noted for hospitality and charity to the poor. 1st Reading: Ezekiel…
11 Aug 2024 – 19th Sunday (Year B) (1) 1 Kings 19:4-8 Revived by miraculous food and drink, Elijah reaches the mountain of God Elijah went a day’s journey into the desert, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O Lord, take…
Presider’s Page for 11 August (Ordinary Time 19) We gather together as friends, called by the Lord to forgive each other as quickly as God forgives us. Penitential Rite Let us call to mind our sins (pause) I confess….. Alternative Opening Prayer (from 1998 ICEL Missal) God, our Father and provider, whose Son has given his flesh…
10 Aug 2024 – St Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr Readings: 2 Cor 9:6-10; Ps 111:1-2, 5-9, R/ v5. John 12: 24-26 First Reading: 2 Corinthians 9:6-10 The one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the one who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each of you must give as you have made up…
09 Aug 2024 – Saint Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein) 1st Reading: Hosea 2:16-17; 21-22 God’s love for his people, Israel, is like a husband’s love for a wife On that day, says the Lord, you will call me, “My husband,” and no longer will you call me, “My Baal.” For I will remove the names…
08 Aug 2024 – Thursday of Week 18 Memorial: St Dominic, 1170-1221, a Spaniard who founded the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) to counteract the Albigensian heresy. 1st Reading: Jeremiah 31:31-34 The new covenant will not be inscribed on rock but on the flesh of the heart; all will know the Lord and be forgiven their…
07 Aug 2024 – Wednesday of Week 18 Optional Memorials: Ss Sixtus 11, pope, and four deacon Companions, all martyred in 258. St Cajetan, 1480-1547, founded the Theatines to renew sacramental life within the Church. 1st Reading: Jeremiah 31:1-7 Jeremiah foretells the joyful reunion of Israel’s northern tribes with Jerusalem At that time, says the Lord,…
06 August 2024 – The Transfiguration of the Lord Theme: Three apostles were priveleged to witness the inner life of Christ, revealed to them in splendour oh4>the holy mountain. We pray for a deeper experience of God in our own lives, and to share in his divine life 1st Reading: Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14 Daniel sees…
05 Aug 2024 – Monday of Week 18 Optional Memorial: Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major, built by Pope Sixtus 111 after the Council of Ephesus (431). It is the first church in the West named in honour of the Mother of God. 1st Reading: Jeremiah 28:1-17 By word and gesture Jeremiah…
04 Aug 2024 – 18th Sunday (Year B) (1) Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15 God feeds the hungry Israelites with manna and quails The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the desert. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of…
03 Aug 2024 – Saturday of Week 17 1st Reading: Jeremiah 26:11-16, 24 In spite of threats, Jeremiah stands by his threats against Jerusalem and its temple Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, “This man deserves the sentence of death because he has prophesied against this…
02 Aug 2024 – Friday of Week 17 Optional Memorials: St Eusebius of Vercelli, bishop who preached against Arianism; St Peter Julian Eymard, 1811-6, priest who established the Blessed Sacrament Fathers and with Marguerite Guillot, the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. 1st Reading: Jeremiah 26:1-9 Jerusalem will be devastated like Shiloh where the ark was earlier enshrined…
01 Aug 2024 – Thursday of Week 17 Memorial: St Alphonsus Liguoiri, 1696-1787, founder of the Redemptorist Congregation, a great preacher and writer of theology. 1st Reading: Jeremiah 18:1-6 Like a potter, God re-forms Israel from clay that was previously formless The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Come, go down to the…
31 July 2024 – Wednesday of Week 17 Memorial: St Ignatius of Loyola, 1491-1556 – The founder of the Jesuits was on his way to military fame and fortune when a cannon ball shattered his leg. Having seen the Mother of God in a vision, he made a pilgrimage to her shrine at Montserrat near…
Presider’s Page for 4 August (Ordinary Time 18) From the days when the Jewish people wandered in the desert to this very day, God has been ‘food to the hungry’ and ‘meaning to those who lose their way’. We celebrate our Lord’s loving-kindness and call to mind moments when we forgot his mercy (pause): You…
30 July 2024 – Tuesday of Week 17 Optional Memorial: St Peter Chrysologus, died c 450, Bishop of Ravenna, famous for preaching. 1st Reading: Jeremiah 14:17-22 Jeremiah laments his people’s destruction and begs God for mercy You shall say to them this word: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and let…
29 July 2024 – Saint Martha (and Mary and Lazarus) of Bethany Martha is mentioned in the Gospels of Luke and John. She lived in the village of Bethany near Jerusaleh4>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….
28 July 2024 – 17th Sunday (Year B) World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly (see prayer at bottom of page) (1) 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…
