MONday  13  MARCH

Blessed Agnello of Pissa

He lived from 1195-1236, he was admitted into the Franciscan Order by St. Francis himself. His reputation for sanctity and prudence stood high amongst his fellows. He served as first minister provincial in England 1224-1236

Entrance Antiphon: Ps 83: 3

My soul is longing and yearning for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out to the living God.

Collect

May your unfailing compassion, O Lord, cleanse and protect your Church, and, since without you she cannot stand secure, may she be always governed by your grace. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

First reading: 2 Kings 5: 1- 15

Naaman, army commander to the king of Aram, was a man who enjoyed his master’s respect and favour, since through him the Lord had granted victory to the Aramaeans. But the man was a leper. Now on one of their raids, the Aramaeans had carried off from the land of Israel a little girl who had become a servant of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would approach the prophet of Samaria. He would cure him of his leprosy.” Naaman went and told his master. “This and this”, he reported, “is what the girl from the land of Israel said.” “Go by all means,” said the king of Aram. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold and ten festal robes. He presented the letter to the king of Israel. It read: “With this letter, I am sending my servant Naaman to you for you to cure him of his leprosy.” When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his garments. “Am I a god to give death and life,” he said, “that he sends a man to me and asks me to cure him of his leprosy? Listen to this, and take note of it and see how he intends to pick a quarrel with me.” When Elisha heard that the king of Israel had torn his garments, he sent word to the king, “Why did you tear your garments? Let him come to me, and he will find there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his team and chariot and drew up at the door of Elisha’s house. And Elisha sent him a messenger to say, “Go and bathe seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will become clean once more.” But Naaman was indignant and went off, saying, “Here was I thinking he would be sure to come out to me, and stand there, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the spot and cure the leprous part. Surely Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than any water in Israel? Could I not bathe in them and become clean?” And he turned round and went off in a rage. But his servants approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had asked you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? All the more reason, then, when he says to you,  bathe, and you will become clean.” So he went down and immersed himself seven times in the Jordan, as Elisha had told him to do. And his flesh became clean once more like the flesh of a little child. Returning to Elisha with his whole escort, he went in and stood before him. “Now I know”, he said, “that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel.”

Psalm 41: 2 – 3, 42: 3 – 4

R/ My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life: when can I enter and see the face of God?

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, So my soul is yearning for you, my God. My soul is thirsting for God, the God of my life; When can I enter and see the face of God?

O send forth your light and your truth; Let these be my guide. Let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

And I will come to the altar of God, the God of my joy. My redeemer, I will thank you on the harp, O God, my God.

Gospel Acclamation: 2 Co: 6 – 2

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus! Now is the favourable time: This is the day of salvation. Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Gospel: Luke 4, 24-30

Jesus came to Nazara and spoke to the people in the synagogue: “I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country. There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Naaman.” When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.

Prayer over the Offerings

May what we offer you, O Lord, in token of our service, be transformed by you into the sacrament of salvation. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon

O praise the Lord, all you nations, for his merciful love towards us is great.

Prayer after Communion

May communion in this your Sacrament, we pray, O Lord, bring with it purification and the unity that is your gift. Through Christ our Lord.

Prayer over the People

May your right hand, we ask, O Lord, protect this people that makes entreaty to you: graciously purify them and give them instruction, that, finding solace in this life, they may reach the good things to come. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Meditation

Beloved of God, it is often difficult for us to recognize, accept and value the merits of a family member or friend. Thus contempt, sabotage, slander, mockery and lies are, among many others, manoeuvres that we often use to make a mockery of their gift. Possessed by the spirit of wickedness and evil, we may even wish for its disappearance. Not only does Jesus explain this reality in the Gospel, but he also experiences it. Many times, strangers take advantage of the gifts and talents that our brothers and sisters have while we refuse to recognize them. And this is often the fruit of the hardness of heart that makes us blind. Let us pray to the Lord this day that he may help us to recognize and encourage the blossoming of the talents and merits of our brethren for the good of all.