Entrance Antiphon
O Lord, hear my voice, for I have called to you; be my help.
Do not abandon or forsake me, O God, my Saviour!
First Reading. Exodus 19:2-6. A reading from the book of Exodus
You will be a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.
From Rephidim the Israelites set out again; and when they reached the wilderness of Sinai, there in the wilderness they pitched their camp; there facing the mountain Israel pitched camp.
Moses then went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, ‘Say this to the House of Jacob, declare this to the sons of Israel, “You yourselves have seen what I did with the Egyptians, how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. From this you know that now, if you obey my voice and hold fast to my covenant, you of all the nations shall be my very own, for all the earth is mine. I will count you a kingdom of priests, a consecrated nation.”’
Responsorial Psalm: We are his people: the sheep of his flock.
- Cry with joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing for joy. (R.)
- Know that he, the Lord, is God.
He made us, we belong to him,
we are his people, the sheep of his flock. (R.)
- Indeed, how good is the Lord,
eternal his merciful love.
He is faithful from age to age. (R.)
Second Reading: Romans 5:6-11. A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans
We have been reconciled to God through the death of his Son; we are saved by his life.
We were still helpless when at his appointed moment Christ died for sinful men. It is not easy to die even for a good man – though of course for someone really worthy, a man might be prepared to die – but what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Having died to make us righteous, is it likely that he would now fail to save us from God’s anger? When we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, we were still enemies; now that we have been reconciled surely we may count on being saved by the life of his Son? Not merely because we have been reconciled but because we are filled with joyful trust in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have already gained our reconciliation.
Gospel Acclamation: Alleluia, alleluia! The kingdom of God is near; repent and believe the Good News! Alleluia!
Gospel: Matthew 9:36 – 10:8. A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
He summoned his twelve disciples, and sent them out.
When Jesus saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’
He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness.
These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the one who was to betray him. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows:
‘Do not turn your steps to pagan territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town; go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand. Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You received without charge, give without charge.’
REFLECTION
by Nick Brodie (Leo’s Lens)
Pope Leo suggests that ‘the equality of all the baptised’ is a critical starting point for understanding our calling as Christians.
He reminds us that being baptised in Christ we share ‘the dignity and freedom of the children of God’ and indeed ‘participate in the very priesthood of Christ’. This means that we are called to serve the world, working with the Christ who works through us!
This beautiful calling requires us to become open to change and challenge. Like Pope Francis, Pope Leo wants us to rediscover our calling to be ‘a Church embodied in history, always open to mission, in which we are all called to be missionary disciples, apostles of the Gospel, witnesses of the Kingdom of God, bearers of the joy of Christ whom we have encountered!’
As Pope Leo adds, ‘the Church is present wherever her children profess and bear witness to the Gospel: in the workplace, in civil society and in all human relationships, wherever they, through their choices, show the beauty of Christian life, which foretells here and now the justice and peace that will be accomplished in the Kingdom of God.’