Churches of the Day

Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2

Saint of the Day: Aug 17 – Our Lady of Knock, Co Mayo, Ireland
C/f A short look at this memory can be found below today's Readings and Reflection

FIRST READING

A reading from the book of the Prophet Ezekiel        24:15-24
Ezekiel is to be a sign for you. Do just as he has done 

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows,
'Son of man, I am about to deprive you suddenly of the delight of your eyes. But you are not to lament, not to weep, not to let your tears run down. Groan in silence, do not go into mourning for the dead, knot your turban round your head, put your sandals on your feet, do not cover your beard, do not eat common bread.'

I told this to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening, and the next morning I did as I had been ordered. The people then said to me,
'Are you not going to explain what meaning these actions have for us?'
I replied, 'The word of the Lord has been addressed to me as follows, Say to the House of Israel: The Lord says this.
"I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the delight of your eyes, the passion of your souls. Those of your sons and daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword. And you are to do as I have done;
you must not cover your beards or eat common bread; 'you must keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you must not lament or weep.
You shall waste away owing to your sins and groan among yourselves.
Ezekiel is to be a sign for you. You are to do just as he has done. And when this happens, you will learn that I am the Lord."

The Word of the Lord.          Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm        Deut 32: 18-21.R/v 18
Response                              You forget the God who fathered you

1. You forget the Rock who begot you, unmindful now of the God who fathered you.
The Lord has seen this, and in his anger cast off his sons and his daughters.                Response

2. 'I shall hide my face from them,' he says and see what becomes of them.
For they are a deceitful blood, children with no loyalty in them.                                      Response

3 They have roused me to jealousy with what is no god,
they have angered me with their beings of nothing:
I, then, will rouse them to jealousy with what is no people,
I will anger them with an empty-headed nation.'                                                                 Response

Gospel Acclamation      Ps 118: 34
Alleluia, alleluia!
Train me to observe your law, to keep it with all my heart.
Alleluia !

Or                                         Mt 5: 3
Alleluia, alleluia!
How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia !

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you                      And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 19:16-22         Glory to you, O Lord
If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven.

There was a man who came to Jesus and asked,
'Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?'
Jesus said to him, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.'
He said, 'Which?'
'These:' Jesus replied 'You must not kill. You must not commit adultery. You must not bring false witness. Honour your father and mother, and: you must love your neighbour as yourself'
The young man said to him, 'I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?'
Jesus said,
'If you wish to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me'.
But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

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

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Gospel Reflection           Monday          Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time       Matthew 19:16-22

The question the young man asked Jesus in today’s gospel reading, ‘What good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’ was a question of great importance to him. Here was a serious young man who wanted to live as well as he could, in a way that was in accordance with God’s will. It is clear from his conversation with Jesus that he was already living a very good life. Jesus put before him the commandments that have to do with how we relate to others, and he could confidently say that he had kept all these commandments.

Yet, he felt there was something more he could be doing, ‘What more do I need to do?’ It is admirable when people who are living good lives want to live even better lives. We sense that desire within ourselves. We may be living well, in ways that are in keeping with God’s desire for our lives, but we sense there is another step we could take. We could launch further out into the deep. We could be more generous in response to the Lord’s call. That realisation can leave us a little unsettled, just as the young man was unsettled, in spite of all his good qualities. This sense of feeling unsettled is ultimately something good. It brings home to us that the Lord is always calling us beyond where we are in some way.

In the gospel reading, the young man couldn’t respond to the Lord’s call to him to go beyond where he was. In his case, it would have involved letting go of his great wealth, giving it to the poor and following Jesus in a very radical way. As a result, he went away sad. The Lord’s call to us to go beyond where we are, to grow in our relationship with him, will take a different form for each one of us. The ‘more’ the Lord is calling us into will always take account of our own unique circumstances and situation in life. If we can discern what that call of the Lord means for me personally and respond to it, then we will find life, both in the here and now and in eternity.

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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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Saint of the Day: Aug 17 – Our Lady of Knock Shrine , Co Mayo, Ireland

On the 21st August 1879 when Our Lady, St Joseph and St John, the Evangelist, and a lamb appeared at the south gable of Knock Parish Church. Knock is an internationally recognised Marian Shrine in the Co. Mayo in the west of Ireland, and was visited by Pope St John Paul II, in 1979 and more recently Pope Francis. The date of the memorial is within the annual novena conducted at the Shrine.

Maria Casey writes

At about 8.30pm, 15 people saw a light coming from the parish church so they made their way over to the gable wall to see what it was. “They saw the apparition of Our Lady, St Joseph, St John the Evangelist and a lamb.
“They said the apparition lasted for two hours. “They all recited the rosary, and after the apparition news spread very quickly. Each of those witnesses were asked to give a testimony to a commission of enquiry.

“There was an investigation a couple months after and that’s when people started to descend on Knock – it spread to newspapers across Ireland, England and America. “People started to come here in the hope of receiving cures, and Knock became synonymous for that. And people came to the spot of the apparition to get some clay or holy water to send (to families and friends) abroad.
“It has developed over the years and it has a very unique story in the sense that it’s the only shrine in the world where the 'Lamb of God' has appeared.“ - As well as being a Marian shrine, it is a Eucharistic shrine.

People have a special affinity with the place. “It has a beautiful atmosphere and that’s what draws people to it.”

Popes, The late St John Paul II and Pope Francis both have visited and prayed at this shrine.

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Memorable Proverb for Today

"We all have in our hearts some areas of unbelief.
Let us say to the Lord: I believe! Help my unbelief. 

                                                                              ~ Pope Francis ~

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Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Because of Peter’s faith the promise is given to him. It is through faith that the Church at all times can have trust in the promise of God’s protecting power. So encouraged, we can meet the difficulties and human weaknesses that are part of the Church’s life. We all need to search for deeper faith through study of the Scriptures and the teaching of the Church, and by attentive prayer.

FIRST READING

A reading from the book of the Prophet Isaiah             22:19-23
I place the key of the House of David upon his shoulder.

Thus says the Lord of hosts to Shebna, the master of the palace:
I dismiss you from your office, I remove you from your post,
and the same day I call on my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah.
I invest him with your robe, gird him with your sash,
entrust him with your authority; and he shall be a father
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and to the House of Judah.

I place the key of the House of David on his shoulder;
should he open, no one shall close, should he close, no one shall open.
I drive him like a peg into a firm place; he will become a throne of glory for his father's house.

The Word of the Lord.              Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm           Ps 137: 1-3. 6. 8. R/ v8
Response                               Your love, O Lord, is eternal,
discard not the work of your hands.

1. I thank you, Lord, with all my heart, you have heard the words of my mouth.
Before the angels I will bless you. I will adore before your holy temple.             Response

2. I thank you for your faithfulness and love which excel all we ever knew of you.
On the day I called, you answered; you increased the strength of my soul.         Response

3. The Lord is high though he looks on the lowly and the haughty he knows from afar
Your love, O Lord, is eternal, discard not the work of your hands.                        Response

SECOND READING

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans    11:33-36
All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him.

How rich are the depths of God - how deep his wisdom and knowledge - and how impossible to penetrate his motives or understand his methods!

Who could ever know the mind of the Lord? Who could ever be his counsellor? Who could ever give him anything or lend him anything? All that exists comes from him; all is by him and for him. To him be glory for ever! Amen.

The Word of the Lord.          Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation         2 Cor 5:19
Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.
Alleluia!

Or                                           Mt 16:16
Alleluia, alleluia!
You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.
And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew               16:13-20
You are Peter, and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi he put this question to his disciples,
'Who do people say the Son of Man is?'
And they said, 'Some say he is John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets'.
'But you,' he said 'who do you say I am?'
Then Simon Peter spoke up, 'You are the Christ,' he said 'the Son of the living God'.

Jesus replied, 'Simon son of Jonah, you are a happy man! Because it was not flesh and blood that revealed this to you but my Father in heaven. So I now say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my Church.
And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.'

Then he gave the disciples strict orders not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

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 and copyright 1966, by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House Inc, and used by permission of the publishers.
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