Churches of the Day

Tuesday of the First Week of Lent

 Jesus gives us a model prayer which he lived by and his favourite prayer for us to use daily. 

FIRST READING

A reading from the prophet Isaiah           55: 10-11
My word will  succeed in what it was sent to do.


Thus says the Lord:
As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return without watering the earth, making it yield and giving growth to provide seed for the sower and bread for the eating, so the word that goes from my mouth does not return to me empty, without carrying out my will and succeeding in what it was sent to do.

The Word of the Lord.                      Thanks be to God


Responsorial Psalm                    Ps 33: 4-5, 16-17, 18-19
Response                                         The Lord rescues the just from all their distress.

1. Glorify the Lord with me. Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me; from all my terrors he set me free.                 Response

2. Look towards him and be radiant; let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called; the Lord heard him and rescued him from all his distress.      Response

3. The Lord turns his face against the wicked to destroy their remembrance from the earth.
The Lord turns his eyes to the just and his ears to their appeal.                                     Response

4. They call and the Lord hears and rescues them in all their distress.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted; those whose spirit is crushed he will save. Response

Gospel  Acclamation                 Mt 4:4
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!
Man does not live on bread alone but on
every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

GOSPEL  

The Lord be with you.                               And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to  Matthew     6: 7-15            Glory to you, O Lord
You should pray like this.

Jesus said to his disciples: 'In your prayers do not babble as the pagans do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard. Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
So you should pray like this:
'Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
And do not put us to the test, but save us from the evil one.

'Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours; but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.'

The Gospel of the Lord.          Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.


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Gospel Reflection      Tuesday,      First Week of Lent           Matthew 6:7-15                                                


In today’s gospel reading, Jesus says, ‘Your Father knows what you need before you ask him’. Whereas Jesus encourages us to petition God for our needs, he is saying that our prayers of petition are not about making God aware of something God is ignorant of. In that sense, our prayer of petition does not change God, giving him information God doesn’t have, prompting God to do something God was not intending to do. Our prayer of petition changes us. It makes us more receptive to what God wants to give us. By naming what we need to God, we become more aware of what we need from God and become more open to what God wants to give us.

In the prayer that has become known as the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus names for us what it is we really need. We often pray for what we want, but what we want does not always correspond to what we need. According to Jesus, in the prayer he has given us, we need to acknowledge in our thoughts, words and deeds, the priority of God’s kingdom over all earthly kingdoms. When the promotion of earthly kingdoms is the priority, the result is very often destructive conflict. We are to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom, which Jesus identifies with the doing of God’s will, as Jesus reveals it to us in his teaching and by his life.

According to Jesus’ prayer, we need ‘daily bread’. We need sustenance for body and soul, and when others are deprived of such sustenance, we need to provide for them out of our resources. According to Jesus’ prayer, we need to pray for forgiveness for our sins against God and God’s people, while being ready to pass on that forgiveness to those who sin against us. Finally, we need to pray for the grace to remain faithful to the Lord’s way, especially when we are tempted to take a path that is not God’s will for us. We pray this prayer so often that we can fly through it. It is worth praying slowly and meditatively because it brings us in touch with our deepest needs before God.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd. and used with the permission of the publishers.  http://dltbooks.com/
The Scripture Reflection is made available with our thanks from his book Reflections on the Weekday Readings  The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications  c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/

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For Video Scripture Reflections for next Sunday’s Gospel click here:  https://www.catholicireland.net/lent-videos/



 

 Second Sunday of Lent, Year A

Lent brings us into the heart of the Paschal Mystery. The selected disciples are brought to the mountain top where they are given a vision of a transfigured Jesus talking with prophets Moses and Elijah about his upcoming death and resurrection.

Saint of the Day: March 1st; St David, abbot and bishop, and patron saint of Wales,
C/f A short life of this saint can be found below todays' Readings and Reflection.

FIRST READING

A reading from the Book of Genesis 12:1-4
The call of Abraham, father of the people of God.

The Lord said to Abram,
'Leave your country, your family and your father's house, for the land I will show you.
I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you and make your name so famous that it will be used as a blessing.
 I will curse those who slight you.
'I will bless those who bless you:
All the tribes of the earth shall bless themselves by you.'

So Abram went as the Lord told him, and Lot went with him.

The Word of the Lord              Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm          Ps 33: 4-5, 18-20. 22.R/v 22
Response                              May your love be upon us, O Lord,  as we place all our hope in you.

l. The word of the Lord is faithful and all his works to be trusted.
   The Lord loves justice and right and fills the earth with his love.        Response

2. The Lord looks on those who revere him, on those who hope in his love,
    to rescue their souls from death, to keep them alive in famine.          Response

3. Our soul is waiting for the Lord.  The Lord is our help and our shield,
    May your love be upon us, 0 Lord, as we place all our hope in you.   Response

SECOND READING

A reading from the second letter of St Paul to Timothy   1:8-10
 God calls and enlightens us.

With me, bear the hardships for the sake of the Good News, relying on the power of God who has saved us and called us to be holy - not because of anything we ourselves have done but for his own purpose and by his own grace.

This grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before the beginning of time, but it has only been revealed by the Appearing of our saviour Christ Jesus. He abolished death, and he has proclaimed life and immortality through the Good News.

The Word of the Lord                            Thanks be to God.

Gospel  Acclamation                       Mt 17:5
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !
From the bright cloud the Father's voice was heard '
This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen t0 him.'
Glory and praise to you, O Christ !

GOSPEL   

The Lord be with you.                        And with your spirit

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew        17:1-9
His face shone like the sun.

Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone. There in their presence he was transfigured: his face shone like the sun and his clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly Moses and Elijah appeared to them; they were talking with him. Then Peter spoke to Jesus.
'Lord,' he said 'it is wonderful for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.'
He was still speaking when suddenly a bright cloud covered them with shadow, and from the cloud there came a voice which said,
'This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.'
When they heard this the disciples fell on their faces overcome with fear.
But Jesus came up and touched them. 'Stand up,' he said 'do not be afraid.'
And when they raised their eyes they saw no one but only Jesus.
As they came down from the mountain Jesus gave them this order.
"Tell no one about this vision until the Son of Man has risen from the dead."

The Gospel of the Lord            Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

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For homily resources for this Sunday's Gospel click here:  https://www.catholicireland.net/sunday-homily/



Taken from THE JERUSALEM BIBLE, published 1966, by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.

Saint of the Day: March 1st; St David, abbot and bishop, and patron saint of Wales.

St David, abbot and bishop in the sixth century. He is reputed to have founded a number of monasteries, of strict regime.  

Patrick Duffy presents the traditions about David

St David is patron of Wales, where he was abbot and bishop. Several Irish saints were his pupils and he seemed to influenced monastic development in Ireland.

Accounts of David's life are scarce and based on oral tradition and a 'Life' written by Rhygyfarch (11th century bishop of St David's) at a time when the Norman bishop of Canterbury Lanfranc was trying to impose Roman dedications on churches in England and Wales. Rhygyfarch was keen to impress on the recently arrived leaders the importance of the Welsh saint and was not above a little exaggeration.

Family
The tradition is that David was born at Henvynyw (Vetus-Menevia) in Cardiganshire, and that his father was a prince called Sant who violated David's  mother, a nun. Norman bishop Rhygyfarch, who lived from 1057-1099 and wrote a 'Life of David' in Latin to impress the Normans, called him Sant 'holy' (sanctus by name and by merit). David is said to have been baptised by Ailbe, 'a bishop of the Munstermen', who is known to have been in Wales about that time.

At Monastic School 
David studied at the local monastic school and after he was ordained priest, he went to study under Paulinus of Wales near the Brecon Beacons. He remained with Paulinus for several years and is said to have cured him of blindness. Paulinus sent David out to make his own monastic foundations.

Rhygyfarch says David founded monasteries at Glastonbury, Bath and Leominster, but these are more likely to be Rhygyfarch's own claims to impress the Normans. But the one monastery we know he founded was that of Mynyw (Menevia) near his own birth place on the extreme south west of South Wales, facing Ireland, and now called St David's. David lived an austere life of prayer and fasting.

Strict Discipline
The monastery had a most austere regime. Instead of oxen to pull the plough, the monks had to pull their plough on their own shoulders. The diet was strict - consisting of bread, bitter herbs and salt with water or a little milk. David was called Aquaticus, because he drank only water and his monks became known as the Aquatici or "watermen". Finian of Clonard and Modhomhnoc (see 13th February) both spent time at his monastery.

Resolving Disputes
When the Pelagian heresy was being discussed at the Synod of Brevi (Llandewi Brefi in Cardiganshire), David was summoned to resolve the dispute. Shortly afterwards, in 569, he presided over another Synod held at a place called Lucus Victoriae.

The Holy Land and first bishop of Menevia
Rhygyfarch says David went to the Holy Land with two other Welsh monks Teilo and Padarn and that he was consecrated Archbishop of Wales by the patriarch of Jerusalem - probably another exaggeration! He was bishop (probably not archbishop) of Menevia, the Roman port of Menapia in Pembrokeshire, later known as St. David's, then the chief point of departure for Ireland. He died around 601 but he continued to be remembered in Ireland, and he is mentioned in the Martyrology of Oengus and in the Catalogue of the Saints of Ireland.

Diocese of Menevia
The cult of St. David was approved by Pope Callistus II in the year 1120 and two pilgrimages to St David's were 'declared' to be equal in merit to one pilgrimage to Rome. The Catholic diocese of that area of Wales is still called Menevia; the bishop currently lives in Swansea.

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Memorable Saying for Today

Be joyful, keep the faith, and do the little things
that you have heard and seen me do. '

~ Last words of David (Dewi Sant) of Wales ~

(The phrase 'Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd' -
'Do the little things in life' - is still a well-known maxim in Wales.)

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