TUESday 09 MAY

SAINT George Preca

He founded the Society for Christian Doctrine in 1907. He composed the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary in 1957. He was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI on 3 June 2007, being described as “Malta’s second father in faith” after St Paul.

Entrance Antiphon: Rv 19: 5; 12: 10

Sing praise to our God, all you who fear God, both small and great, for now salvation and strength have come, and the power of his Christ, alleluia.

Collect

O God, who restore us to eternal life in the Resurrection of Christ, grant your people constancy in faith and hope, that we may never doubt the promises of which we have learned from you. 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 : Acts 14:19-28

Some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and turned the people against the apostles. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the town, thinking he was dead. The disciples came crowding round him but, as they did so, he stood up and went back to the town. The next day he and Barnabas went off to Derbe. Having preached the Good News in that town and made a considerable number of disciples, they went back through Lystra and Iconium to Antioch. They put fresh heart into the disciples, encouraging them to persevere in the faith. “We all have to experience many hardships”, they said, “before we enter the kingdom of God.” In each of these Churches, they appointed elders, and with prayer and fasting they commended them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. They passed through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. Then after proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia and from there sailed for Antioch, where they had originally been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On their arrival they assembled the Church and gave an account of all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the pagans. They stayed there with the disciples for some time.

Psalm 144:10-13, 21

R/ Your friends, O Lord, shall make known the glorious splendour of your reign.

All your creatures shall thank you, O Lord, and your friends shall repeat their blessing. They shall speak of the glory of your reign and declare your might, O God, to make known to men your mighty deeds and the glorious splendour of your reign.

Yours is an everlasting kingdom; your rule lasts from age to age.

Let me speak the praise of the Lord, let all mankind bless his holy name for ever, for ages unending.

Gospel Acclamation: cf.Lk24:46

Alleluia, alleluia! It was ordained that the Christ should suffer and rise from the dead, and so enter into his glory.

Gospel: John 14:27-31

Jesus said to his disciples: “Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me say: I am going away, and shall return. If you loved me you would have been glad to know that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. I have told you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe. I shall not talk with you any longer, because the prince of this world is on his way. He has no power over me, but the world must be brought to know that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father told me.”

Prayer over the Offerings

Receive, O Lord, we pray, these offerings of your exultant Church, and, as you have given her cause for such great gladness, grant also that the gifts we bring may bear fruit in perpetual happiness. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon Rm 6: 8

If we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Christ, alleluia.

Prayer after Communion

Look with kindness upon your people, O Lord, and grant, we pray, that those you were pleased to renew by eternal mysteries may attain in their flesh the incorruptible glory of the resurrection. Through Christ our Lord.

Meditation.

Lord, I need your gift of peace! Very often I find myself unsure, anxious, worried, angry. Tell me about how you faced the Father when things were out of control in your life, especially at the end. What kept you going? You seem to have had such a firm conviction that your Father was with you and was asking you to reveal the limitless scope of divine love for the world. Jesus’ parting wish is ‘Peace!’ His gift of peace is not a state, but a relationship. It is the fruit of a deep abiding in him. This relationship will never fail. He offers you the same peace, but you alone can decide whether or not to establish this relationship with him.