1st Reading: Sirach 5:1-8 Do not delay to turn back to the Lord Do not rely on your wealth, or say, “I have enough.”Do not follow your inclination and strength in pursuing the desires of your heart.Do not say, “Who can have power over me?” for the Lord will surely punish you.Do not say, “I…
Today we celebrate Saint Peter’s leadership of the church in Rome. The magnificent marble cathedra, fashioned (c.1650) by Gian Lorenzo Bernini for St. Peter’s basilica surrounds a small wooden chair that may have been used by Peter himself, as his throne of office. 1st Reading: 1 Pet 5:1-4 Peter’s advice to his fellow Church leaders:…
Saint Peter Damian, bishop and doctor of the Church 1st Reading: Sirach 2:1-11 Experience shows that those who hope in the Lord are not forsaken My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for testing.Set your heart right and be steadfast, and do not be impetuous in time of calamity.Cling to him…
1st Reading: Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 1:1-10 All wisdom comes from God and returns to him All wisdom is from the Lord, and with him it remains forever. The sand of the sea, the drops of rain, and the days of eternity–who can count them? The height of heaven, the breadth of the earth, the abyss, and…
Loving the enemy and praying for those who make life difficult are two marks of a Christian, or so Jesus teaches us today. We gather, aware of how difficult love can be, yet united by the saving mercy of God, on which we rely.
Theme: We naturally resent those who do us wrong. But hatred, if nurtured, can come between us and God, whose ideal of perfection is mercy. 1st Reading: Leviticus 19:1-2, 17-18 God calls us to love our neighbour as ourselves The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel…
1st Reading: Hebrews 11:1-7 Heroic examples of faith, from the Scriptures Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith our ancestors received approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from…
The Seven Founders of the Servite Order; Saint Fintan, abbot 1st Reading: Genesis 11:1-9 When people sought independence from God, their language is scrambled Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there….
1st Reading: Genesis 9:1-13 The rainbow, a perpetual sign of God’s covenant with Noah and the human race God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of…
1st Reading: Genesis 8:6-13, 20-22 The Lord promises never again to destroy the earth At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent out the raven; and it went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent out…
1st Reading: Acts 13:46-49 The missionary courage of the apostles, later emulated by the mission of Cyril and Methodius to the Slavs. Then both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy…
1st Reading: Genesis 4:1-15 Cain’s jealousy leading to the murder of his brother Abel Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have produced a man with the help of the Lord.” Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a…
Theme: Using our freedom well. It is not so much individual acts that can separate us from God, but our disorientated hearts, drawn to self-assertion and selfishness. Jesus insists that our conscience must go deeper than external deeds. The vital question is what is going on within our hearts, our thoughts and motives? He teaches…
Our Lady of Lourdes; Saint Gobnait, virgin 1st Reading: Genesis 3:9-24 The Lord sentences the serpent, and Adam and Eve are expelled from the garden The Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because…
Saint Scholastica, virgin 1st Reading: Genesis 3:1-8 The woman and man eat the forbidden fruit, then try to hide from God in the garden Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any…
Today’s readings ask for decisions, challenging Christians to choose the right path. We gather to worship God, who can help us in all our choices.
1st Reading: Genesis 2:18-25 Woman stands equal to man; they are to be joined as one flesh Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field…
Saint Jerome Emiliani, priest; Saint Josephine Bakhita, virgin 1st Reading: Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17 God creates Adam and sets him in the garden to cultivate it These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant…
Saint Mel of Ardagh, bishop 1st Reading: Genesis 1:20–2:4 God forms man and woman in the divine likeness, then rests on the seventh day And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea…
Saint Paul Miki and Companions, martyrs 1st Reading: Genesis 1:1-19 God creates light, sky, earth and sun, moon and stars, in the act of creation In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God…
