Entrance Antiphon
The Lord is the strength of his people,
a saving refuge for the one he has anointed.
Save your people, Lord, and bless your heritage,
and govern them for ever.
First Reading: Jeremiah 20:10-13. A reading from the prophet Jeremiah
He has delivered the soul of the needy from the hands of those who are evil.
Jeremiah said:
‘I hear so many disparaging me,
“Terror from every side!
Denounce him! Let us denounce him!”
All those who used to be my friends
watched for my downfall,
“Perhaps he will be seduced into error.
Then we will master him
and take our revenge!”
But the Lord is at my side, a mighty hero;
my opponents will stumble, mastered,
confounded by their failure;
everlasting, unforgettable disgrace will be theirs.
But you, Lord of Hosts, you who probe with justice,
who scrutinise the loins and heart,
let me see the vengeance you will take on them,
for I have committed my cause to you.
Sing to the Lord,
praise the Lord,
for he has delivered the soul of the needy
from the hands of evil men.’
Responsorial Psalm: Lord, in your great love, answer me.
- It is for you that I suffer taunts,
that shame covers my face,
that I have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my own mother’s sons.
I burn with zeal for your house
and taunts against you fall on me. (R.)
- This is my prayer to you,
my prayer for your favour.
In your great love, answer me, O God,
with your help that never fails:
Lord, answer, for your love is kind;
in your compassion, turn towards me. (R.)
- The poor when they see it will be glad
and God-seeking hearts will revive;
for the Lord listens to the needy
and does not spurn his servants in their chains.
Let the heavens and the earth give him praise,
the sea and all its living creatures. (R.)
Second Reading: Romans 5:12-15. A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans
God’s gift to us is nothing like our sin against him.
Sin entered the world through one man, and through sin death, and thus death has spread through the whole human race because everyone has sinned. Sin existed in the world long before the Law was given. There was no law and so no one could be accused of the sin of ‘law-breaking’, yet death reigned over all from Adam to Moses, even though their sin, unlike that of Adam, was not a matter of breaking a law.
Adam prefigured the One to come, but the gift itself considerably outweighed the fall. If it is certain that through one man’s fall so many died, it is even more certain that divine grace, coming through the one man, Jesus Christ, came to so many as an abundant free gift.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia! The Spirit of Truth will bear witness to me, says the Lord, and you also will be my witnesses. Alleluia!
Gospel: Matthew 10:26-33. A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Do not fear those who can kill the body.
Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Do not be afraid. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the house-tops.
‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.
‘So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.’
REFLECTION
by Nick Brodie (Leo’s Lens)
‘The Church,’ Pope Leo explains, ‘journeys through this earthly history always looking towards her final destination, which is the heavenly homeland.’ This is the measure of who we are and what we do as Christians.
Sometimes we can become ‘too focused on what is immediately visible’, the Pope says, worrying about how the Church looks rather than what it does. At such times, the Pope intimates, we need reminding that the Church exists as ‘God’s people journeying through history, which has the Kingdom of God as the purpose of all her action.’
The Church, the Pope explains, ‘lives in history in the service of the coming of the Kingdom of God in the world.’
This means that the Church is called to be ‘the sign and instrument of that fullness of life and peace promoted by God.’ We walk through time as ‘guardian of a hope that enlightens the path’, the Pope says. We are ‘invested with the mission of speaking clearly to reject everything that mortifies life and prevents its development.’
Therefore, we must always ‘take a position in favour of the poor, the exploited, the victims of violence and war, and all those who suffer in body and in spirit,’ the :Pope declares. The Church, he reminds us, ‘does not proclaim herself.’ Rather, ‘everything within her must point to salvation in Christ.’