Churches of the Day
Pictorial Thought for Today
Oct 15 - St Teresa of Avila: (1) a woman for all ages
Summary: St Teresa of Jesus, virgin, Doctor of the Church. Born at Avila (Spain) in 1515; died at Alba de Tormes in 1582. Honoured as a spiritual writer and mystic who experienced and comprehensively described the life of prayer. She was honoured as a strong, practical reformer who restored the strict Carmelite observance of poverty, solitude, and prayer.
Eugene McCaffrey OCD looks at how St Teresa of Avila harnessed the enormous power of her personality and made it available for the greater glory of God.
Teresa of Avila was born in Holy Week in the year 1515. She died in October 1582, just over four hundred years ago. Her life and her achievements have earned her many titles – reformer, writer, foundress, doctor of the church and saint – and these, together with her warm human personality, her wit and her single-minded courage, have made her one of the great women of all ages.
Teresa was not a Born Saint.
Her strong, vibrant personality yielded only gradually to the powerful workings of God's grace in her life. She was a woman of immense desires, rugged determination and generous spirit. She had a gift for friendship and an ability to please. She loved life and all things human and was not afraid either of her own weakness or her own strength. It is hardly any wonder that she has become one of the most endearing of all Christian saints and the most approachable of the mystics.
Explorer and Reformer
Teresa lived in an age not at all unlike our own; an age of exploration and discovery, an age of revolution and reform and one of religious and political upheaval. Twenty years before she was born Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America and the thrill and excitement of this 'new world' was very much part of the climate of sixteenth century Spain. In her own way, Teresa was an explorer, too, but of a different kind. Her world was the world of the spirit, that intimate abode of love and friendship where God and the human soul meet and converse. While Columbus died without ever realising what it was he had discovered, Teresa became ever more fully aware of the treasures and riches of the kingdom within – the 'interior castle' which she encountered on her 'way of perfection'.
Two years after Teresa was born, Martin Luther, a German Augustinian friar, lit the fire of the Protestant Reformation which, within the space of a single generation swept across Europe with unprecedented religious and political consequences. The sixteenth century became an age of revolt and reform to which Teresa was not immune, nor did she wish to be: her revolt and her reform were of a different kind.
Though she understood Luther's passion for reform, she did not share his vision of how this was to be achieved. She experienced, as he did, the reality of sin and evil and the weakness of human nature, but she knew also God's mercy and the transforming power of his grace. She knew, too, that the only revolt was against the sin and evil in her own heart and that reform, wherever it ultimately ended, had to begin from within. Teresa's answer to Luther was not the chilled statements of the Council of Trent, but the witness of her own grace-filled soul, so powerfully portrayed in her writings and in her life.
A Conciliar Age
Like ourselves, Teresa lived in the age of a great council. The Council of Trent opened in 1545 and continued intermittently till 1563. These years correspond to one of the most crucial periods in Teresa's life – her own interior struggle to surrender herself whole-heartedly to God and her exterior struggle to begin the Carmelite Reform (with the foundation of St Joseph's in Avila). It is not difficult to discern in God's providence the profound relationship between the work of Trent and the efforts of Teresa.
The object of the Council of Trent was not simply to counteract the Protestant Reformation, but to renew the life of the Church, externally through its doctrines and decrees, and internally through a thorough-going programme of Christian renewal. Teresa's object was the reform, first and foremost, of her own life, and then of one particular religious family within the Church.
Teresa understood prayer and contemplation only in terms of 'service of the Church'. She was in every way a daughter of the Church. She strove with all her might to implement the spirit of the great Council by the reform of the one particular religious family under her care, her whole aim being to support, strengthen and build-up the Body of Christ in whatever way this was possible for her. Not without reason, then, has she been called the 'Saint of Trent.'
On Eagle's Wings
If Teresa was not a born saint she seems to have been a born writer. Despite all her protests about her inability to write, and despite her reluctance to do so – she wrote, for the most part under obedience - she seems to have belonged to that privileged few who are truly original and creative writers. Endowed with a keen intelligence and a creative imagination, she had that feeling for life and insight into people and events that is the essential characteristic of all great writers. Above all else she was rich in human qualities – compassion, humour and a sanctified common sense – that enabled her to express human as well as divine truths in a language that was clear, colloquial and unaffected. And it is this human and universal quality that has endeared her to so many readers down through the centuries.
With some writers it is possible to separate their teaching from their personality; not so with St Teresa: all her books radiate her presence. To read her writings is to come to know the person. Practically every page bears the impress of her forceful and vivid personality. The reason is simple – she wrote solely out of her own experience. Indeed the unique validity of her writings is that they reflect in such a personal way the richness of her own interior life.
So strong and persuasive is this influence even today that it is difficult at times to realise that she wrote four hundred years ago. Even a casual reader is impressed by the freshness and relevancy of so much of what she wrote. And the more we read the more we realise just how sensible a woman she was, able to say in plain words what others hide in clichés. Her guidance is sure, her word of counsel accurate, her laughter infectious. With her own love and generosity she inspires, while her common sense and good practical judgement support and sustain us; and in the rich contrast of her great spiritual depth we find re-assurance in our own searching and questioning. The Martha- and Mary-like duality that could blend the highest contemplation with the most practical common sense, hold an easy balance between a rugged asceticism and a gentle compassion for the frailty of human nature. At one and the same time she was a woman of solitude, yet one who needed and loved companionship and friendship.
Homely, Vivid and Humorous
All Teresa's writings teem with homely comparisons and vivid, graphic metaphors. They add colour and, so often, a touch of humour to many of her ideas. Some, like the great allegories of the way, the castle or the garden, provide the basic structure for her more important books. Others, more casual and throw-away, are scattered across almost every page, adding wit and sparkle to many of her comments and observations: images of chess and bullfights, of caterpillars and butterflies, of diamonds and precious jewels, of plants, flowers and herbs.
Of all her writings, perhaps the most famous is her Life, written when she was forty-seven years old, as a spiritual testimony for her confessors. A book she herself referred to as 'my very soul,' it is generally accepted as one of the great spiritual classics. It is a candid and brilliant portrait of the journey of one human soul, struggling with her own frailty and the increasing urgency of God's invitation to intimacy and friendship. Her second book, 'The Way of Perfection', was written for her own nuns in the convent of St Joseph. Essentially, it is a book about prayer and the practice of the Christian virtues. It is the most distinctly motherly and domestic of all her writings, written in easy familiar style, a mother talking to her daughters.
But perhaps, the greatest of all her works is 'The Interior Castle' written only a few years before she died. It is a spiritual gem and a literary masterpiece. Here we see her at her best, an unrivalled guide and counsellor along the path of prayer and contemplation. In some of the most beautiful passages in all spiritual literature she describes the greatest journey of all, the journey of the human soul homewards to that deepest mansion of all, where God abides in 'second heaven' of the human soul.
A Friend of God
The real greatness of Teresa is neither in her achievements nor in her writings, but in her sanctity. Ultimately, it is the genius of her own life, a life lived totally for God, that stamps all her achievements and transforms every page of her writing. Undoubtedly Teresa would have made her mark as a woman and as a writer in whatever walk of life she chose, but that life would not have been transfused by the brilliance of her sanctity and the radiance of her intimate relationship with God.
Teresa's greatness does not consist in what she tells us about herself but in what she tells us about God and his dealings with us. She was privileged as few have been to live and move in the presence of the living God revealed in the depths of her soul, to speak with him there and share the intimate communion of his divine life. But not only did she experience, she also recorded. She was able to enter, so to speak, pen in hand, into the divine presence and record for others what she had seen and heard. And this we call her witness, her witness to the reality of God and of the spiritual world.
So powerful is her communication of this reality,
so authentic her words and
so genuine are its fruits in her life,
that like the Jewish philosopher and convert, Edith Stein, we cannot but help reply in our own heart: 'this is the truth.'
It is often said that Teresa's writings are chiefly about prayer, yet this is so only in the sense that they are first and foremost about God and his dealings with us; and prayer is, for her, the atmosphere, the milieu in which this relationship with God grows and develops. The essential witness of Teresa is to the reality of the spiritual world in which God is encountered as a living God, a God who is personal, close and loving and who is intimately involved in this world of ours.
Nothing More Real than God
God and the love of God alone give meaning to everything Teresa wrote and did. She sought and found the deepest friendship possible with God and everything about her reflects that discovery. For her nothing was more real than God, his love, his providential care and concern. God was her axiom; she not only lived for him, she lived in him and with him. The reality of God became the reality of her life: the truth about God, the truth about herself.
For St Teresa, God and things of God are central and this is the fundamental witness expressed in her achievements and in her writings. She was a friend of God, a daughter of the Church and a 'service of love.'
This article first appeared in Spirituality (Sept-Oct 2000), a publication of the Irish Dominicans.
Eugene McCaffrey OCD looks at how St Teresa of Avila harnessed the enormous power of her personality and made it available for the greater glory of God.Teresa of Avila was born in Holy Week in the year 1515. She died in October 1582, just over four hundred years ago. Her life and her achievements have earned her many titles – reformer, writer, foundress, doctor of the church and saint – and these, together with her warm human personality, her wit and her single-minded courage, have made her one of the great women of all ages.
Teresa was not a Born Saint.
Her strong, vibrant personality yielded only gradually to the powerful workings of God's grace in her life. She was a woman of immense desires, rugged determination and generous spirit. She had a gift for friendship and an ability to please. She loved life and all things human and was not afraid either of her own weakness or her own strength. It is hardly any wonder that she has become one of the most endearing of all Christian saints and the most approachable of the mystics.
Explorer and Reformer
Teresa lived in an age not at all unlike our own; an age of exploration and discovery, an age of revolution and reform and one of religious and political upheaval. Twenty years before she was born Christopher Columbus 'discovered' America and the thrill and excitement of this 'new world' was very much part of the climate of sixteenth century Spain. In her own way, Teresa was an explorer, too, but of a different kind. Her world was the world of the spirit, that intimate abode of love and friendship where God and the human soul meet and converse. While Columbus died without ever realising what it was he had discovered, Teresa became ever more fully aware of the treasures and riches of the kingdom within – the 'interior castle' which she encountered on her 'way of perfection'.
Two years after Teresa was born, Martin Luther, a German Augustinian friar, lit the fire of the Protestant Reformation which, within the space of a single generation swept across Europe with unprecedented religious and political consequences. The sixteenth century became an age of revolt and reform to which Teresa was not immune, nor did she wish to be: her revolt and her reform were of a different kind.
Though she understood Luther's passion for reform, she did not share his vision of how this was to be achieved. She experienced, as he did, the reality of sin and evil and the weakness of human nature, but she knew also God's mercy and the transforming power of his grace. She knew, too, that the only revolt was against the sin and evil in her own heart and that reform, wherever it ultimately ended, had to begin from within. Teresa's answer to Luther was not the chilled statements of the Council of Trent, but the witness of her own grace-filled soul, so powerfully portrayed in her writings and in her life.
A Conciliar Age
Like ourselves, Teresa lived in the age of a great council. The Council of Trent opened in 1545 and continued intermittently till 1563. These years correspond to one of the most crucial periods in Teresa's life – her own interior struggle to surrender herself whole-heartedly to God and her exterior struggle to begin the Carmelite Reform (with the foundation of St Joseph's in Avila). It is not difficult to discern in God's providence the profound relationship between the work of Trent and the efforts of Teresa.
The object of the Council of Trent was not simply to counteract the Protestant Reformation, but to renew the life of the Church, externally through its doctrines and decrees, and internally through a thorough-going programme of Christian renewal. Teresa's object was the reform, first and foremost, of her own life, and then of one particular religious family within the Church.
Teresa understood prayer and contemplation only in terms of 'service of the Church'. She was in every way a daughter of the Church. She strove with all her might to implement the spirit of the great Council by the reform of the one particular religious family under her care, her whole aim being to support, strengthen and build-up the Body of Christ in whatever way this was possible for her. Not without reason, then, has she been called the 'Saint of Trent.'
On Eagle's Wings
If Teresa was not a born saint she seems to have been a born writer. Despite all her protests about her inability to write, and despite her reluctance to do so – she wrote, for the most part under obedience - she seems to have belonged to that privileged few who are truly original and creative writers. Endowed with a keen intelligence and a creative imagination, she had that feeling for life and insight into people and events that is the essential characteristic of all great writers. Above all else she was rich in human qualities – compassion, humour and a sanctified common sense – that enabled her to express human as well as divine truths in a language that was clear, colloquial and unaffected. And it is this human and universal quality that has endeared her to so many readers down through the centuries.
With some writers it is possible to separate their teaching from their personality; not so with St Teresa: all her books radiate her presence. To read her writings is to come to know the person. Practically every page bears the impress of her forceful and vivid personality. The reason is simple – she wrote solely out of her own experience. Indeed the unique validity of her writings is that they reflect in such a personal way the richness of her own interior life.
So strong and persuasive is this influence even today that it is difficult at times to realise that she wrote four hundred years ago. Even a casual reader is impressed by the freshness and relevancy of so much of what she wrote. And the more we read the more we realise just how sensible a woman she was, able to say in plain words what others hide in clichés. Her guidance is sure, her word of counsel accurate, her laughter infectious. With her own love and generosity she inspires, while her common sense and good practical judgement support and sustain us; and in the rich contrast of her great spiritual depth we find re-assurance in our own searching and questioning. The Martha- and Mary-like duality that could blend the highest contemplation with the most practical common sense, hold an easy balance between a rugged asceticism and a gentle compassion for the frailty of human nature. At one and the same time she was a woman of solitude, yet one who needed and loved companionship and friendship.
Homely, Vivid and Humorous All Teresa's writings teem with homely comparisons and vivid, graphic metaphors. They add colour and, so often, a touch of humour to many of her ideas. Some, like the great allegories of the way, the castle or the garden, provide the basic structure for her more important books. Others, more casual and throw-away, are scattered across almost every page, adding wit and sparkle to many of her comments and observations: images of chess and bullfights, of caterpillars and butterflies, of diamonds and precious jewels, of plants, flowers and herbs.
Of all her writings, perhaps the most famous is her Life, written when she was forty-seven years old, as a spiritual testimony for her confessors. A book she herself referred to as 'my very soul,' it is generally accepted as one of the great spiritual classics. It is a candid and brilliant portrait of the journey of one human soul, struggling with her own frailty and the increasing urgency of God's invitation to intimacy and friendship. Her second book, 'The Way of Perfection', was written for her own nuns in the convent of St Joseph. Essentially, it is a book about prayer and the practice of the Christian virtues. It is the most distinctly motherly and domestic of all her writings, written in easy familiar style, a mother talking to her daughters.
But perhaps, the greatest of all her works is 'The Interior Castle' written only a few years before she died. It is a spiritual gem and a literary masterpiece. Here we see her at her best, an unrivalled guide and counsellor along the path of prayer and contemplation. In some of the most beautiful passages in all spiritual literature she describes the greatest journey of all, the journey of the human soul homewards to that deepest mansion of all, where God abides in 'second heaven' of the human soul.
A Friend of GodThe real greatness of Teresa is neither in her achievements nor in her writings, but in her sanctity. Ultimately, it is the genius of her own life, a life lived totally for God, that stamps all her achievements and transforms every page of her writing. Undoubtedly Teresa would have made her mark as a woman and as a writer in whatever walk of life she chose, but that life would not have been transfused by the brilliance of her sanctity and the radiance of her intimate relationship with God.
Teresa's greatness does not consist in what she tells us about herself but in what she tells us about God and his dealings with us. She was privileged as few have been to live and move in the presence of the living God revealed in the depths of her soul, to speak with him there and share the intimate communion of his divine life. But not only did she experience, she also recorded. She was able to enter, so to speak, pen in hand, into the divine presence and record for others what she had seen and heard. And this we call her witness, her witness to the reality of God and of the spiritual world.
So powerful is her communication of this reality,
so authentic her words and
so genuine are its fruits in her life,
that like the Jewish philosopher and convert, Edith Stein, we cannot but help reply in our own heart: 'this is the truth.'
It is often said that Teresa's writings are chiefly about prayer, yet this is so only in the sense that they are first and foremost about God and his dealings with us; and prayer is, for her, the atmosphere, the milieu in which this relationship with God grows and develops. The essential witness of Teresa is to the reality of the spiritual world in which God is encountered as a living God, a God who is personal, close and loving and who is intimately involved in this world of ours.
Nothing More Real than God
God and the love of God alone give meaning to everything Teresa wrote and did. She sought and found the deepest friendship possible with God and everything about her reflects that discovery. For her nothing was more real than God, his love, his providential care and concern. God was her axiom; she not only lived for him, she lived in him and with him. The reality of God became the reality of her life: the truth about God, the truth about herself.
For St Teresa, God and things of God are central and this is the fundamental witness expressed in her achievements and in her writings. She was a friend of God, a daughter of the Church and a 'service of love.'
This article first appeared in Spirituality (Sept-Oct 2000), a publication of the Irish Dominicans.
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Memorable Quote for Today
When your best friend is God, you are never alone.
~a friend of St Teresa ~
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Liturgical Readings for: Tuesday, 15th October, 2024
Tuesday of the 28th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2
Memorial of St Teresa of Avila, religious and doctor of the Church
Jesus reminds us that what matters in God’s eyes is a clean heart and a pure spirit.
FIRST READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Galatians 5:1-6
Whether you are circumcised or not makes no difference - what matters is faith that makes its power felt through love.
When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not
submit again to the yoke of slavery. It is I, Paul, who tell you this: if you allow yourselves to be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you at all. With all solemnity I repeat my warning: Everyone who accepts circumcision is obliged to keep the whole Law. But if you do look to the Law to make you justified, then you have separated yourselves from Christ, and have fallen from grace. Christians are told by the Spirit to look to faith for those rewards that righteousness hopes for, since in Christ Jesus whether you are circumcised or not makes no difference - what matters is faith that makes its power felt through love.
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 118
Response Lord, let your love come upon me.
1. Lord, let your love come upon me, the saving help of your promise.
Do not take the word of truth from my mouth for I trust in your decrees. Response
2. I shall always keep your law for ever and ever.
I shall walk in the path of freedom for I see your precepts. Response
3. Your commands have been my delight; these I have loved.
I will worship your commands and love them and ponder your statutes. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 118: 135
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Let your face shine on your servant, and teach me your decrees.
Alleluia!
or Heb 4: 12
Alleluia, alleluia!
The word of God is something alive and active:
it can judge the secret emotions and thoughts.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you And with your spirit.
A reading from the Gospel according to Luke 11:37-41 Glory to you, O Lord
Give alms from what you have and then indeed everything will be clean for you.
Jesus had just finished speaking when a Pharisee invited him to dine at his house. He went in and sat down at the table. The Pharisee saw this and was surprised that he had not first washed before the meal.But the Lord said to him,
'Oh, you Pharisees! You clean the outside of cup and plate,
while inside yourselves you are filled with extortion and wickedness.
Fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside too?
Instead, give alms from what you have and then indeed everything will be clean for you.
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Tuesday, Twenty Eighth Week in Ordinary Time Luke 11:37-41
We all find ourselves asking the question at some time in our lives, ‘What is it that matters in life?’ ‘What is more important than anything else?’ For people of faith, that question becomes, ‘What is it that matters to the Lord?’ ‘What is most important in his eyes?’ Both of today’s readings give us a sense of what matters most to the Lord. In the gospel reading, Jesus is the guest of a Pharisee, someone who tried to live by God’s law. The Pharisee was concerned that Jesus had not followed the Jewish laws about hand washing before he sat down to eat. For Jesus, however, such regulations were not all that important. He goes on to say that what is really important, what really matters, is what is to be found in a person’s heart.
Is there something of God’s own love in our hearts? Jesus had a heart that was full of God’s love, and he looks for a loving heart in us, a heart that expresses itself in almsgiving, the service of those in greatest need. As Jesus says to his host, ‘Give alms from what you have’. In the first reading too Paul is upset that some members of the church are giving so much importance to the demands of the Jewish Law. What is it that matters, according to Paul? He states it very clearly at the end of the reading, ‘what matters is faith that makes its power felt through love’. What matters to the Lord, according to Paul, is faith, a loving relationship with the Lord, that then flows over into the loving service of others. It is worth holding on to that statement of Paul as we try to find our way in life, ‘What matters is faith that makes its power felt through love’.
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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 2024: The Word is near to you, on your lips and in your heart by Martin Hogan and published by Messenger Publications 2022/ 24, c/f www.messenger.ie/bookshop/
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Liturgical Readings for: Tuesday, 15th October, 2024
CÉAD LÉACHTSliocht as an céad Litir Naomh Pól chuig na Galataigh 5:1-6
Is cuma an timpeall ghearradh ann nó as, ach an creideamh a oibríonn trí ghrá.
D’fhonn is go mbeimis saor is ea a d’fhuascail Críost sinn. Seasaigí go daingean dá bhrí
sin agus ná cuirtear sibh faoi chuing na daoirse athuair. Seo mise Pól á rá libh nach ndéanfaidh Críost aon mhaitheas daoibh má dhéantar timpeallghearradh oraibh. Dearbhaím arís don uile dhuine a ndéantar timpeallghearradh air, go bhfuil sé de dhualgas air an dlí a choimeád ina iomláine.Agus sibhse a bhíonn ag lorg na fíréantachta sa dlí tá sibh dealaithe ó Chríost agus tá gnaoi Dé caillte agaibh. Is ón gcreideamh, áfach, atáimidne ag súil leis an bhfíréantacht a fháil faoi luí an Spioraid. Mar in Íosa Críost is cuma an timpeall ghearradh ann nó as, ach an creideamh a oibríonn trí ghrá.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Salm le freagra Sm 118
Freagra Go dtaga do bhuanghrá orm, a Thiarna
1. Go dtaga do bhuanghrá orm, a Thiarna, agus do chabhair de réir do ghealltanais.
Tabharfaidh mé freagra ar lucht mo cháinte; toisc gur muinín liom do bhriathar. Freagra
2. Coimeádfaidh mé do dhlí de shíor, go brách na breithe.
Siúlfaidh mé i slí na saoirse, mar táim ar lorg do theagaisc. Freagra
3. Is i d’aitheanta a bheidh mo thaitneamh ós dóibh a thugaim grá.
Agus tógfaidh mé mo lámha chun d’aitheanta; déanfaidh mé machnamh ar do reachtanna. Freagra
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as an Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Lúcás 11:37-41 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
Ach tugaigí uaibh ina dhéirc an ní atá agaibh, agus tá gach aon ní glan daoibh feasta.
San am sin thug Fairisíneach cuireadh d’ Íosa chun a mheán lae ina theach. Chuaigh sé isteach agus lig faoi ag bord. Ar a fheiceáil sin don Fhairisíneach, b’ionadh leis nach ndearna sé an t-ionladh ar dtús roimh an bproinn. Ach dúirt an Tiarna leis:“Sea, is Fairisínigh sibh féin: glanann sibh an taobh amuigh den chupa agus den mhias, ach tá an taobh istigh díbh lán de shlad agus de mhallaitheacht. A dhaoine gan chiall, nach é an Té a rinne an taobh amuigh a rinne an taobh istigh freisin?
Ach tugaigí uaibh ina dhéirc an ní atá agaibh, agus tá gach aon ní glan daoibh feasta.
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 20th October, 2024
Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Cycle B
World Mission Sunday
FIRST READING
A reading from the Book of the prophet Isaiah 53:10-11
If he offers his life in atonement, he shall see his heirs, he shall have a long life.
The Lord has been pleased to crush his servant with suffering.If he offers his life in atonement, he shall see his heirs,
he shall have a long life and through him what the Lord wishes will be done.
His soul's anguish over he shall see the light and be content.
By his sufferings shall my servant justify many,
taking their faults on himself.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 32:4-5. 18-20.22.
Response May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
1. 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, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you. Response
SECOND READING
A reading from the letter to the Hebrews 4:14-16
Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace.
Since in Jesus, the Son of God, we have the supreme high priest who has gone through to the highest heaven, we must never let go of the faith that we have professed. For it is not as if we had a high priest who was incapable of feeling our weaknesses with us; but we have one who has been tempted in every way that we are, though he is without sin. Let us be confident, then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from him and find grace when we are in need of help.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation Jn 14:15
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the way, the truth and the life, says the lord:
no one can come to the Father except through me.
Alleluia!
or Mk 10: 45
Alleluia, alleluia!
The Son of Man came to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 10: 35-45 Glory to you, O Lord.
The Son of Man came to give his life as a ransom for many.
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached Jesus.
Master,' they said to him 'we want you to do us a favour.'
He said to them, 'What is it you want me to do for you?'
They said to him, 'Allow us to sit one at your right hand and the other at your left in your glory.’
You do not know what you are asking". Jesus said to them.
'Can you drink the cup that I must drink, or be baptised with the baptism with which I must be baptised’
They replied, 'We can.'
Jesus said to them,
'The cup that I must drink you shall drink, and with the baptism with which I must be baptised you shall be baptised,
but as for seats at my right hand or my left, these are not mine to grant; they belong to those to whom they have been allotted.'
When the other ten heard this they began to feel indignant with James and John,
so Jesus called them to him and said to them,
'You know that among the pagans their so-called rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you.
No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant,
and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all.
For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve,
and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Shorter form of the Gospel
GOSPEL
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark 10: 42-45
Glory to you, O Lord.
Anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant
Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them,
'You know that among the pagans their so-called rulers lord it over them, and their great men make their authority felt. This is not to happen among you. No; anyone who wants to become great among you must be your servant, and anyone who wants to be first among you must be slave to all.
For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
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.
Liturgical Readings for: Sunday, 20th October, 2024
CÉAD LÉACHTSliocht as Leabhar Íseáia, Fáidh Íseáia 53:10-11
Má thugann sé a anam in éiric an pheaca, feicfidh sé a shliocht, cuirfidh sé fad lena shaol.
Ba thoil leis an Tiarna é a bhascadh le breoiteacht.Má thugann sé a anam in éiric an pheaca,
feicfidh sé a shliocht, cuirfidh sé fad lena shaol,
agus rachaidh toil an Tiarna chun cinn ina lámha.
Tar éis saothar a anama, feicfidh sé an solas agus beidh sásamh air.
Lena phianta déanfaidh mo ghiolla fíréin de na sluaite,
á luchtú féin le hualach a gcionta.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia.
Salm le Freagra Sm 32
Freagra Tabhair dúinn do bhuanghrá, a Thiarna,
de réir an dóchais a chuirimid ionat.
1. Is dílis é briathar an Tiarna, agus is iontaofa a obair uile.
Is ionúin leis an chóir is an ceart; tá an talamh lán de bhuanghrá an Tiarna. Freagra
2. Féach, tá súile an Tiarna ar lucht a eaglaithe, orthu sin a chuireann a ndóchas ina bhuanghrá,
chun go bhfuadódh sé a n-anamacha ón mbas is go gcothódh sé iad in am an ghorta. Freagra
3. Bíonn ár n-anam ag feitheamh leis an Tiarna: is é sin ár gcabhair is ár sciath.
Tabhair dúinn do bhuanghrá, a Thiarna, de réir an dóchais a chuirimid ionat. Freagra
DARA LÉACHT
Sliocht as an litir chuig na Eabhraig 4;14-16
Druidimis go muiníneach le ríchathaoir an ghrásta.
A bhráithre, ós rud é, mar sin, go bhfuil ardsagart againn atá gafa tríd na flaithis, Íosa, Mac Dé, coinnímis greim docht ar ár gcreideamh. Ní amhlaidh atá ardsagart againn nach féidir dó tuiscint a bheith aige dár laigí ach ceann a triaileadh i ngach slí cosúil linn féin ach nach ndearna peaca riamh. Dá bhrí sin, druidimis go muiníneach le ríchathaoir an ghrásta le súil go ndéanfar trócaire orainn agus go bhfaighimis grásta a chabhróidh linn in am an ghátair.
Briathar an Tiarna Buíochas le Dia
Alleluia Véarsa Marcas 10:45
Alleluia, alleluia!
Tháinig Mac an Duine chun go ndéanfadh sé féin freastal,
agus a anam a thabhairt mar cheannach ar mhórán.
Alleluia!
SOISCÉAL
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as an Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Marcas 10: 42-45 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
Tháinig Mac an Duine chun a anam a thabhairt mar cheannach ar mhórán.
San am sin tháinig Séamas agus Eoin, clann Zeibidé; chuig Íosa á rá leis:
“A Mhaistir, is mian linn go ndéanfá dúinn cibé ní a iarrfaimid ort.”
Dúirt seisean leo:
“Cad ab áil libh a dhéanfainn daoibh?”
Agus dúirt siadsan leis:
“Tabhair dúinn go suífimis, duine againn ar do dheis, agus duine againn ar do chlé, i do ghlóir.”
Dúirt Íosa leo:
“Níl a fhios agaibh cad atá sibh a iarraidh. An bhféadann sibh an cupa a ól atá á ól agamsa,
agus sibh do bhur mbaisteadh leis an mbaisteadh lena bhfuilimse do mo bhaisteadh?”
Dúirt siad leis: “Féadaimid.”
Dúirt Íosa leo:
“An cupa atáim a ól, ólfaidh sibh, agus leis an mbaisteadh lena bhfuilim do mo bhaisteadh, baistfear sibh;
ach maidir le suí ar mo dheis nó ar mo chlé, ní agamsa atá sin le tabhairt, ach is dóibh siúd é dá bhfuil sé i ndán.”
Ar a chloisteáil sin don deichniúr thosaigh siad ar a bheith míchéadfach i dtaobh Shéamais agus Eoin.
Agus ghlaoigh Íosa chuige iad agus dúirt sé leo:“Tá fhios agaibh go mbíonn an mhuintir, a shamhlaíonn a bheith ag rialú na ngintlithe, ag tiarnú orthu, agus a gcuid uaisle ag smachtúchán orthu. Ach ní mar sin atá an scéal eadraibhse, ach an duine ar mian leis a bheith ina uasal eadraibh, beidh sé ina sheirbhíseach daoibh, agus an duine ar mian leis a bheith ina cheann oraibh, beidh sé ina sclábhaí ag cách.
Óir níor tháinig Mac an Duine chun go mbeifí ag freastal air, ach chun go ndéanfadh sé féin freastal, agus a anam a thabhairt mar cheannach ar mhórán.”
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost _________________
SOISCÉAL Gearr
Go raibh an Tiarna libh. Agus le do spiorad féin
Sliocht as an Soiscéal naofa de réir Naomh Marcas 10: 42-45 Glóir duit, a Thiarna.
Tháinig Mac an Duine chun a anam a thabhairt mar cheannach ar mhórán.
Agus ghlaoigh Íosa orthe agus dúirt sé leo:
“Tá fhios agaibh go mbíonn an mhuintir, a shamhlaíonn a bheith ag rialú na ngintlithe, ag tiarnú orthu, agus a gcuid uaisle ag smachtúchán orthu. Ach ní mar sin atá an scéal eadraibhse, ach an duine ar mian leis a bheith ina uasal eadraibh, beidh sé ina sheirbhíseach daoibh, agus an duine ar mian leis a bheith ina cheann oraibh, beidh sé ina sclábhaí ag cách.
Óir níor tháinig Mac an Duine chun go mbeifí ag freastal air, ach chun go ndéanfadh sé féin freastal, agus a anam a thabhairt mar cheannach ar mhórán.”
Soiscéal an Tiarna. Moladh duit, a Chriost
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Machtnamh ar Bhriathar Dé dia Domhnaigh
Ainseo le freastal ort
Nach minic a bhímid féinéiseach lenár gcuid ama agus fuinnimh. Tá an oiread sin leithscéal inmhuirearaithe chun dul siar ón a’r nduailgasaí agus obair a chaithfear a dhéanamh a chur ar leath-taobh. Cé chomh héasca ná maireachtáil díreach dúinn féin agus ligean don chómharsa cúnamh dó féin. Ach iarrann an Tiarna orainn sinn a cheistiú, "Cad is féidir liom a dhéanamh do mo phobal?" seachas "Cad is féidir le mo phobal a dhéanamh domsa?" Is ceacht bhunúsach í gur mór dúinn a bheith ag fhoghlaim ar fud ár saol. Léiríonn Séamus agus Eoin, sa Soiscéal inniu, sampla ar conas a bheith féinéiseach fiú amháin in ár bpaidreacha. íarann siad ó íosa na suíocháan is áirde ina ríocht. Bfhéidir nach ndéanaimíd urnaí i ndáiríre ach nuair is mian linn rud éigin a thaithneóch go mór linn féin. Ar iarratas an bheirt aspail, freagraíonn Íosa le ceist dá chuid féin, le tuiscint go gcaithfidh siad a gcuid tosaíochtaí a athrú. Is é seo an t-iarratas agus an urnaí is fearr is féidir linn a dhéanamh le Dia: "Déanfar do dhéantar ar an talamh mar atá sé ar neamh" (Mt 6:10). Agus is é toil Dhia ná go mairimid ár saol tar éis eiseamlár Chríost a Mhic, agus ár dtabhairt féin i seirbhís do dhaoine eile.
Pádraig Ó Rúairí, cp,
Sliabh Argus, Átha Cliath.
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AN BÍOBLA NAOFA
© An Sagart
