01 July 2024 – Monday of Week 13 Memorial: St Oliver Plunkett of Irish nobility, ordained in Rome 1654; AB Armagh 1669; arrested in 1679 in Dundalk, found guilty in London of ‘promoting the Catholic faith’; hanged, drawn and quartered in Tyburn, London on 1 July 1681. Beatified in 1920; canonised by Pope Paul VI…
30 June 2024 – 13th Sunday (Year B) (1) Wisdom 1:13-15, 2:23-24 All that God does is wholesome, and he intends us to enjoy a blessed immortality God did not make death, and he does not delight in the death of the living. For he created all things so that they might exist; the generative…
29 June 2024 – Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles 1st Reading: Acts 2:1-11 Peter is imprisoned, but an angel sets him free to continue leading the church About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. After he…
28 June 2024 – Friday of Week 12 Memorial: St Iraneus, lived just after the Apostles. Bishop of Lyons in Gaul. More details: https://biblical.ie/page.php?fl=Patristic/Irenaeus_1 1st Reading: 2 Kings 25:1-12 After Jerusalem revolts again, the Babylonians destroy the city and deports the survivors And in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth…
27 June 2024 – Thursday of Week 12 Optional Memorial: St Cyril of Alexandria, 370-444, patriarch of Alexandria, fought against Nestorianism (the independence of the divine and human natures of Christ) at the Council of Ephesus 431, which proclaimed Mary the Mother of God. 1st Reading: 2 Kings 24:8-17 The first deportation of the Jews…
26 June 2024 – Wednesday of Week 12 1st Reading: 2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3 When Deuteronomy is rediscovered in the temple, it leads to reform The high priest Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord.” When Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan,…
25 June 2024 – Tuesday of Week 12 1st Reading: 2 Kings 19:9-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36 The Assyrians attack Jerusalem; but Isaiah promises that a remnant will be saved When the king heard concerning King Tirhakah of Ethiopia, “See, he has set out to fight against you,” he sent messengers again to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus…
24 June 2024 – Birth of Saint John the Baptist 1st Reading: Isaiah 49:1-6 The Lord called me before I was born; in my mother’s womb he named me Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born, while I was in my mother’s…
23 June 2024 – 12th Sunday (Year B) (1) Job 38:1, 8-11 Job’s pride is curbed by awe The Lord addressed Job out of the storm and said: “Who shut within doors the sea, when it burst forth from the womb; when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling bands? When…
Presider’s Page 7 July (Ordinary Time 14) Opening Comment As weak and sinful people, we gather to ask the Lord’s mercy. We know his grace is sufficient for us. Together, we praise and thank our God for the constant care we receive. Alternative Opening Prayer (from 1998 ICEL Missal) God of the prophets, in every age you…
Presider’s Page 30 June (Ordinary Time 13) Opening Comment As summer takes hold, we give thanks to God for all the gifts we enjoy. We rejoice in God’s saving power: death itself is in his hand and all the living depend on God alone. Alternative Opening Prayer (from 1998 ICEL Missal) God of the living, in whose image…
22 June 2024 – Saturday of Week 11 Optional Memorials: St Paulinus of Nola, bishop, 355-431; Ss John Fisher, bishop, 1469-1535 built Christ’s and St John’s Colleges, Cambridge as Vice-Chancellor. Bishop of Rochester, a lover of truth and Thomas More, martyrs, 1478-1535, the first commoner to be Lord Chancellor of England, martyred under Henry V111. Patron lawyers and…
21 June 2024 – Friday of Week 11 Memorial: St Aloysius Gonzaga, religious, born in Lombardy 1568, became a Jesuit in Rome, worked in teh plague hospital, caught the fever, died in 1591, aged 23. Patron of youth. 1st Reading: 2 Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20 The life of prince Joash is saved from Athaliah’s fury…
20 June 2024 – Thursday of Week 11 Memorial: The Irish Martyrs – see bottom of page for full details. 1st Reading: Sirach 48:1-14 Elijah arose, a prophet like fire, and his word burned like a torch. He brought a famine upon them, and by his zeal he made them few in number. By the…
19 June 2024 – Wednesday of Week 11 Optional Memorials: St Romauld, abbot in Tuscany. Died in 1027. (Cashel and Emly): Bl Dermot O’Hurley, bishop and Companions, martyrs – Bp Terence Albert O’Brien OP, John Kearney OFM and William Tirry OSA. Martyred in 1584 1st Reading: 2 Kings 2:1, 6-14 Elijah is carried up to heaven in…
Presider’s Page for 23 June (Ordinary Time 12) Opening Comment The sight of people being rescued from ricketty boats in the Mediterranean in recent years brings home the plight of immigrants and refugees; seeing rescuers coming to their aid inspires us. God is master of the deep; Jesus stilled the storm. May all in need…
18 June 2024 – Tuesday of Week 11 1st Reading: 1 Kings 21:17-29 Under Elijah’s warning, King Ahab repents and is forgiven Then word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he…
17 June 2024 – Monday of Week 11 1st Reading: 1 Kings 21:1-16 Ahab and Jezebel rob and kill Naboth the Jezreelite Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. And Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a…
16 June 2024 – 11th Sunday (Year B) (1) Ezekiel 17:22-24 It is the Lord who plants and grows; who raises and humbles Thus says the Lord God: “I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will set it out. I will break off a tender one from the…
15 June 2024 – Saturday of Week 10 1st Reading: 1 Kings 19:19-22 Elijah chooses Elisha as his attendant and successor Elijah set out and found Elisha son of Shaphat, who was ploughing. There were twelve yoke of oxen ahead of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and threw his…
