[Commemoration]
SIMPLE / PURPLE
It
is man's perennial temptation to forget whence he comes, why he exists,
and to whom he owes worship. Disavowing his true Creator, man sometimes
makes a god out of an ambition and burns up his energies in a holocaust
of devotion to it; or he makes a god of himself by saying that his own
nobility of action and his own sense of achievement are sufficient
guarantee of truth and morality, as well as sufficient reward. Such
subtle but monstrous pride forgets that only God is sufficient reason
for His own action and glory. "He who speaks on his own authority seeks
his own glory."
INTROIT (Ps. 54:2-3)
Hearken, O God, to my prayer and turn not away from my pleading; give heed to me, and answer me.
Ps. 54:3-4. I am tossed about in my grief, and am troubled at the uproar of th enemy and the oppression of the wicked.
V. Glory be . . .
COLLECT
O
Lord, may our observance of the Lenten fast increase our piety and
bring us Your continued merciful help. Through Our Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT BENEDICT
Even more importantly, the spirituality of Western Christianity has been shaped by the famous Rule Benedict devised for his monks. With this Rule he provided a "school of the Lord's service" which embraced a program of liturgical prayer, sacred study, and work, lived socially in community under one common father, with noticeable emphasis on peace, moderation (especially as regards austerities), and charity towards all men.
Let the blessed Abbot Benedict intercede for us, O Lord. May his prayers win us Your help, since our own actions cannot merit it. Through Our Lord . . .
LESSON (Ex. 32:7-14)
In
those days, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: "Go, get thee down: thy
people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned.
They have quickly strayed from the way which thou didst shew them: and
they have made to themselves a molten calf, and have adored it, and
sacrificing victims to it, have said: 'These are thy gods, O Israel,
that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.' "
And
again the Lord said to Moses: "I see that this people is stiffnecked:
Let me alone, that my wrath may be kindled against them, and that I may
destroy them, and I will make of thee a great nation." But Moses
besought the Lord his God, saying: "Why, O Lord, is thy indignation
enkindled against thy people, whom thou hast brought out of the land of
Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand? Let not the Egyptians
say, I beseech thee: 'He craftily brought them out, that he might kill
them in the mountains, and destroy them from the earth': let thy anger
cease, and be appeased upon the wickedness of thy people. Remember
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thy
own self, saying: 'I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven: and
this whole land that I have spoken of, I will give to your seed, and
you shall possess it for ever' ": And the Lord was appeased from doing
the evil which he had spoken against his people.
GRADUAL (Ps. 43:26, 2)
Arise, O Lord, and help us, and save us for Your name's sake.
V. O God, our ears have heard, our fathers have declared to us the deeds You performed in their time, in the days of old.
GOSPEL (John 7:14-31)
At
that time, about the midst of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple
and taught. And the Jews wondered, saying: "How doth this man know
letters, having never learned?" Jesus answered them and said: "My
doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do the will
of him, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether
I speak of myself. He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory:
but he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, he is true and there
is no injustice in him. Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of
you keepeth the law? Why seek you to kill me?" The multitude answered and said: "Thou hast a devil. Who seeketh to kill thee?" Jesus answered and said to them: "One
work I have done: and you all wonder. Therefore, Moses gave you
circumcision (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers): and on
the sabbath day you circumcise a man. If a man receive circumcision on
the sabbath day, that the law of Moses may not be broken: are you angry
at me, because I have healed the whole man on the sabbath day? Judge not
according to the appearance: but judge just judgment." Some
therefore of Jerusalem said: "Is not this he whom they seek to kill?
And behold, he speaketh openly: and they say nothing to him. Have the
rulers known for a truth that this is the Christ? But we know this man,
whence he is: but when the Christ cometh, no man knoweth, whence he is."
Jesus therefore cried out in the temple, teaching and saying: "You
both know me, and you know whence I am. And I am not come of myself:
but he that sent me is true, whom you know not. I know him, because I am
from him: and he hath sent me." They
sought therefore to apprehend him: and no man laid hands on him,
because his hour was not yet come. But of the people many believed in
him.
OFFERTORY ANTIPHON (Ps. 39:2, 3, 4)
I
have waited and waited for the Lord, and He inclined towards me and
heard my cry. And He put a new song into my mouth, a hymn to our God.
SECRET
May
this offering cleanse us from our sins, O Lord, and may it sanctify
Your servants in body and soul for the celebration of this Sacrifice.
Through Our Lord . . .
Commemoration of SAINT BENEDICT
Accept
this offering which we humbly present in honor of Your Saints, O God,
and through it purify our bodies and our souls. Through our Lord . . .
Communion Antiphon
Ps 19:6
May we shout for joy at Your victory and raise the standards in the Name of the Lord our God.
POSTCOMMUNION
O
Lord, cleanse us from sin through the reception of this Sacrament and
lead us toward the kingdom of heaven. Through Our Lord . . .
PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE
O Lord, have mercy on Your people and strengthen them in their daily trials and labors. Through Our Lord . . .
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