Churches of the Day

Thursday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2

Saint of the Day: Sept 3; – St Gregory the Great, pope, religious and doctor of the Church
C/f A short look at this saint’s life can be found below today's Readings and Reflection.

FIRST READING

A reading from the first letter of St Paul to the Corinthians       3:18-23
All things are your servants; but you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.

Make no mistake about it: if any one of you thinks of himself as wise, in the ordinary sense of the word, then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As scripture says:
The Lord knows wise men's thoughts: he knows how useless they are: or again: God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise.
So there is nothing to boast about in anything human:
Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life and death, the present and the future, are all your servants; but you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.

The Word of the Lord.        Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm      Ps 23: 1-6 R/v 1
Response                           The Lord's is the earth and its fullness.

1. The Lord's is the earth and its fullness, the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas; on the waters he made it firm.                                Response

2. Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart, who desires not worthless things. Response

3. He shall receive blessings from the Lord and reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the men who seek him, seek the face of the God of Jacob.                    Response

Gospel Acclamation          2 Thess 2: 14
Alleluia, alleluia!
Through the Good News God called us to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Alleluia!

Or                                                Mt 4: 19
Alleluia, alleluia!
Follow me , says the Lord, and I will make you fishers of men.
Alleluia!

GOSPEL

The Lord be with you.                       And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke        5:1-11          Glory to you, O Lord
They left everything and followed him.

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats-it was Simon's-and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

When he had finished speaking he said to Simon,
'Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch'.
'Master,' Simon replied 'we worked hard all night long and caught nothing,
but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.'
And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.

When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, 'Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man'.
For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made;
so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners.
But Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch'.

Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

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

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Gospel Reflection        Thursday       Twenty Second Week in Ordinary Time    Luke 5:1-11

Today’s gospel reading suggests that just when a situation seems hopeless, without promise, there is often an abundance of life just below the surface, if only we could see it. Simon Peter and his companions had worked hard all night long, fishing on the Sea of Galilee, and had caught nothing. Night time was the best time to catch fish. There was no reason to think that it was worthwhile to go out again in full daylight. However, Jesus could see that there was life below the surface of the sea and he told them to put out into deep water and let down their nets for a catch. When they did so, they were overwhelmed by the abundance of the catch. They had to call on other boats to come and help them.

Very often the Lord can see signs of life that we miss. Our past failures, the size of the task before us, our sense of our own limitations, can immobilize us and leave us feeling despondent and even hopeless. It is at such times that we need to turn to the Lord and ask him to help us to see as he sees, with eyes that are sensitive to the promise and hope that even the most difficult situations can hold. We might think in our wisdom that some situation, or even some person, is a lost cause, but as Saint Paul says in the first reading ‘the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God’. God brought new life out of the most unpromising situation imaginable, the crucifixion of his own Son, who was the embodiment of his love for the world. The God whom Jesus revealed is a God who sees abundance in the most unpromising of situations. With the help of the Holy Spirit we can begin to see life as the Lord does, with eyes that are attentive to the signs of life beneath the surface.

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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published by Darton, Longman and Todd Ltd and used with the permission of the publishers. http://dltbooks.com/
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/



Saint of the Day: Sept 3; – St Gregory the Great, pope, religious and doctor of the Church

St Gregory was born about 540; died in Rome in 604, he founded monasteries in Rome and in Sicily. Called to be a deacon of Rome by Benedict I, then sent as papal legate to Constantinople, he was elected Pope in 590AD. He reorganised Church life and administration in a time of crisis, sponsored liturgical reform, and initiated the evangelisation of the English. Known also for his extensive writings on pastoral care, spirituality, and morals, and for his self-designation as "servant of the servants of God."

Pope St Gregory I was probably the most influential pope of the first millennium. Both a contemplative and a man of action, he established the papal states and sent missionaries to England. Along with Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome, he is one of the four 'Fathers of the Western Church'.

Patrick Duffy tells his story.

Early Life
Gregory was born in Rome in 540, the son of a Roman senator. He received a good education and served as an administrator in the city as his father had also done. When his father died in 573 he made over his estates to the Church and had seven monasteries founded mostly in Sicily. He turned the family house on the Coelian Hill in Rome into a monastery and spent four years there in intense asceticism and prayer before becoming a deacon and priest.

Papal Legate in Constantinople
Pope Pelagius II (579-590) sent Gregory as papal legate to the court of the emperor at Constantinople. On his return after six years he became abbot of the monastery on the Coelian Hill. Three years later a flood caused the Tiber to burst its banks destroying the city's grain stores and an outbreak of the plague. Gregory organised practical help and following this, was elected pope in 590.

Papal States and Peace Initiatives
Through estates owned by the papacy he secured the Roman food supply, thus unwittingly starting the idea of the papal states. He made peace with the Lombards, who were Arians, and with the Visigoths in Spain.

Missionaries to England
In 597 AD, Gregory sent Augustine and monk missionaries to Kent in England. The story is that he was so impressed by the blond beauty of Anglo-Saxon slaves he saw for sale in the Roman forum that he had them liberated so they could be trained as missionary monks. Hence the famous saying: non Angli, sed angeli. (Not Angles but Angels)

Liturgy and Writings
Keenly interested in the liturgy, Gregory composed presidential prayers (the Gregorian Sacramentary) and oversaw musical development (Gregorian chant). He also wrote extensively: his Dialogues record the life of St Benedict and in his Moralia in Job he gives a literal, allegorical and moral exposition of the text of the Book of Job to promote Christian ethical teaching.

Influence and Papal Power
Only two other popes, both saints, are called "the Great" - Leo I (440-461) and Nicholas I (858-867). Gregory saw himself as the leader of a Christian society, "God's consul", as the epitaph on his tombstone says.

But he was also the one who first applied to himself as pope the title borrowed from St Augustine, "the servant of the servants of God". He died in 604 AD.

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Memorable Proverb for Today

A servant of God has but one Master.
It ill becomes that servant to seek to be rich, great and honoured in that world
where his Lord was poor, humble and despised.

                                                                                  ~ George Muller ~

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The Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

The three readings today deal with the same theme - neighbourly correction. This is a difficult art and can only be exercised through genuine love, the purest of motives and diplomatic skill. We have to learn to help and to heal each other. In this we have to avoid attitudes of prying, denunciation, jealousy and informing. The spirit of the Gospel lays down a procedure that must be our guide- The Jesus way

FIRST READING

A reading from the book of the Prophet Ezekiel         33:7-9
If you do not speak to warn the wicked man I will hold you responsible for his death.

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows:
'Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them in my name.
If I say to a wicked man:
Wicked wretch, you are to die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked man to renounce his ways, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death.
If, however, you do warn a wicked man to renounce his ways and repent, and he does not repent, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved your life.'

The Word of the Lord.            Thanks be to God

Responsorial Psalm         Ps 94: 1-2. 6-9. R: v8
Response                               O that today you would listen to his voice!
Harden not your hearts.

1. Come, ring out our joy to the Lord; hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come before him, giving thanks, with songs let us hail the Lord.                      Response

2. Come in; let us bow and bend low; let us kneel before the God who made us
for he is our God and we the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.                                                                                            Response

3. O that today you would listen to his voice! 'Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert when your fathers put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.'                                                               Response

SECOND READING     

A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans  13:8-10
Love is the answer to every one of the commandments.


Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love.
If you love your fellow men you have carried out your obligations.
All the commandments:
You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this single command: You must love your neighbour as yourself.

Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments.

The Word of the Lord.            Thanks be to God


Gospel Acclamation          Jn 17: 17
Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord, consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!

Or                                            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!

GOSPEL

A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew       18:15-20
If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.

Jesus said to his disciples:

'If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.

If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you:
the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.

'I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.

'I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.'

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