Friday 02nd September 2022
Blessed André Grasset
(1758 – 1792)
He was born in Montréal on 3 April 1758 and ordained priest in 1783. In the face of persecution he took shelter with the Eudist Fathers in Paris. He was executed in 1792 together with almost 200 other priests. He was beatified by Pope Pius XI on 17 October 1926.
Entrance Antiphon : Cf. Ps 85: 3, 5
Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I cry to you all the day long. O Lord, you are good and forgiving, full of mercy to all who call to you.
Collect
God of might, giver of every good gift, put into our hearts the love of your name, so that, by deepening our sense of reverence, you may nurture in us what is good and, by your watchful care, keep safe what you have nurtured. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading : 1 Corinthians 4:1-5
People must think of us as Christ’s servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust. Not that it makes the slightest difference to me whether you, or indeed any human tribunal, find me worthy or not. I will not even pass judgement on myself. True, my conscience does not reproach me at all, but that does not prove that I am acquitted: the Lord alone is my judge. There must be no passing of premature judgement. Leave that until the Lord comes; he will light up all that is hidden in the dark and reveal the secret intentions of men’s hearts. Then will be the time for each one to have whatever praise he deserves, from God.
Psalm 36:3-6,27-28,39-40
R/ The salvation of the just comes from the Lord.
- If you trust in the Lord and do good, then you will live in the land and be secure. If you find your delight in the Lord, he will grant your heart’s desire.
- Commit your life to the Lord, trust in him and he will act, so that your justice breaks forth like the light, your cause like the noon-day sun.
- Then turn away from evil and do good and you shall have a home for ever; for the Lord loves justice and will never forsake his friends.
- The salvation of the just comes from the Lord, their stronghold in time of distress. The Lord helps them and delivers them and saves them: for their refuge is in him.
Gospel Acclamation : cf.Ps18:9
Alleluia, alleluia! Your words gladden the heart, O Lord, they give light to the eyes. Alleluia!
Gospel : Luke 5:33-39
The Pharisees and Scribes said to Jesus, ‘John’s disciples are always fasting and saying prayers, and the disciples of the Pharisees too, but yours go on eating and drinking.’ Jesus replied, ‘Surely you cannot make the bridegroom’s attendants fast while the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come, the time for the bridegroom to be taken away from them; that will be the time when they will fast. He also told them this parable, ‘No one tears a piece from a new cloak to put it on an old cloak; if he does, not only will he have torn the new one, but the piece taken from the new will not match the old. And nobody puts new wine into old skins; if he does, the new wine will burst the skins and then run out, and the skins will be lost. No; new wine must be put into fresh skins. And nobody who has been drinking old wine wants new. “The old is good” he says.’
Prayer over the Offerings
May this sacred offering, O Lord, confer on us always the blessing of salvation, that what it celebrates in mystery it may accomplish in power. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Ps 30: 20
How great is the goodness, Lord, that you keep for those who fear you.
Prayer after Communion
Renewed by this bread from the heavenly table, we beseech you, Lord, that, being the food of charity, it may confirm our hearts and stir us to serve you in our neighbour. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
There will always be tensions between the old and the new because the Christian life is always marked by renewal and a constant effort to understand the Gospel; the ever ancient, ever new. As a matter of fact, that’s God’s nature; He is always old and new. Walking with Jesus is a new experience, an opportunity to enjoy a joyful relationship. The old wine skin of our mind resists it. The teaching of Jesus presents a new way of looking at God and religion and/or worship. Pope Francis reminds us: “Whenever we make the effort to return to the source and to recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new paths of creativity open up, with different forms of expression, more eloquent signs and words with new meaning for today’s world. Every form of authentic evangelization is always ‘new.’” (Evangelii Gaudium no. 11). Let us experience things in newer ways.