SAINT IGNATIUS LOYOLA
Ignatius was born in Loyola in the Spanish Basque country. Initially a soldier, he was wounded in the battle of Pamplona. With his companions, in 1540, they formed the Society of Jesus. Ignatius wrote the Spiritual Exercises, a systematic step-by-step retreat that can be followed by anyone – and has been followed by many, not all of them Catholics, ever since.
Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Phil 2: 10-11
At the name of Jesus, every knee should bend of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Collect
O God, who raised up Saint Ignatius of Loyola in your Church to further the greater glory of your name, grant that by his help we may imitate him in fighting the good fight on earth and merit to receive with him a crown in heaven. 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: Exodus 32:15-24,30-34
Moses made his way back down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, tablets inscribed on both sides, inscribed on the front and on the back. These tablets were the work of God, and the writing on them was God’s writing engraved on the tablets. Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting. “There is the sound of battle in the camp”, he told Moses. Moses answered him: “No song of victory is this sound, no wailing for defeat this sound; it is the sound of chanting that I hear.” As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the groups dancing, Moses’ anger blazed. He threw down the tablets he was holding and broke them at the foot of the mountain. He seized the calf they had made and burned it, grinding it into powder which he scattered on the water; and he made the sons of Israel drink it. To Aaron Moses said, “What has this people done to you, for you to bring such a great sin on them?” “Let not my lord’s anger blaze like this”, Aaron answered. “You know yourself how prone this people is to evil. They said to me, “Make us a god to go at our head; this Moses, the man who brought us up from Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” So I said to them, “Who has gold?” and they took it off and brought it to me. I threw it into the fire and out came this calf.” On the following day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a grave sin. But now I shall go up to the Lord: perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” And Moses returned to the Lord. “I am grieved,” he cried. “This people has committed a grave sin, making themselves a god of gold. And yet, if it pleased you to forgive this sin of theirs…! But if not, then blot me out from the book that you have written.” The Lord answered Moses, “It is the man who has sinned against me that I shall blot out from my book. Go now, lead the people to the place of which I told you. My angel shall go before you but, on the day of my visitation, I shall punish them for their sin.”
Psalm 105(106):19-23
R/ O give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
They fashioned a calf at Horeb and worshipped an image of metal, exchanging the God who was their glory for the image of a bull that eats grass.
They forgot the God who was their saviour, who had done such great things in Egypt, such portents in the land of Ham, such marvels at the Red Sea.
For this he said he would destroy them, but Moses, the man he had chosen, stood in the breach before him, to turn back his anger from destruction.
Gospel Acclamation: cf.2Th2:14
Alleluia, alleluia! Through the Good News God called us to share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia!
Gospel: Matthew 13:31-35
Jesus put a parable before the crowds: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the biggest shrub of all and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and shelter in its branches.” He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour till it was leavened all through.” In all this Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; indeed, he would never speak to them except in parables. This was to fulfil the prophecy: I will speak to you in parables and expound things hidden since the foundation of the world.
Prayer over the Offerings
May these offerings we make to you as we celebrate Saint Ignatius be pleasing, Lord God, and grant that the sacred mysteries, which you have made the fount of all holiness, may sanctify us, too, in the truth. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Cf. Lk 12: 49
Thus says the Lord: I have come to cast fire on the earth, and how I wish that it were kindled!
Prayer after Communion
May the sacrifice of praise that we have offered with thanksgiving in honour of Saint Ignatius, O Lord, bring us to exalt your majesty without end. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Brothers and sisters, the kingdom of heaven, whose seeds we represent as Christians, is called to grow and become a dwelling place for the whole of creation, as the tree does for the birds. This path of growth is strewn with successes, but also with mistakes, which we must not hesitate to confess in order to be reconciled with the one who loves us with an eternal and unshakeable love. Lord, help us to grow in your kingdom and to be converted when we have gone astray.