SAINT John Mary Vianney,
Priest
He was the son of a peasant farmer, and a slow and unpromising candidate for the priesthood. He was eventually ordained on account of his devoutness rather than any achievement or promise. He was a noted preacher, and a celebrated confessor.
Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Ps 131: 9
Your priests, O Lord, shall be clothed with justice; your holy ones shall ring out their joy.
Collect
Almighty and merciful God, who made the Priest Saint John Vianney wonderful in his pastoral zeal, grant, we pray, that through his intercession and example we may in charity win brothers and sisters for Christ and attain with them eternal glory. 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: Leviticus 23:1,4-11,15-16,27,34-37
The Lord spoke to Moses. He said: “These are the Lord’s solemn festivals, the sacred assemblies to which you are to summon the sons of Israel on the appointed day. The fourteenth day of the first month, between the two evenings, is the Passover of the Lord; and the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of Unleavened Bread for the Lord. For seven days you shall eat bread without leaven. On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you must do no heavy work. For seven days you shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord. The seventh day is to be a day of sacred assembly; you must do no work.” The Lord spoke to Moses. He said: “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: ‘When you enter the land that I give you, and gather in the harvest there, you must bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest, and he is to present it to the Lord with the gesture of offering, so that you may be acceptable. The priest shall make this offering on the day after the Sabbath. From the day after the Sabbath, the day on which you bring the sheaf of offering, you are to count seven full weeks. You are to count fifty days, to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then you are to offer the Lord a new oblation. The tenth day of the seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly. You must fast, and you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord. The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of Tabernacles for the Lord, lasting seven days. The first day is a day of sacred assembly; you must do no heavy work. For seven days you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly, you must offer a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a day of solemn meeting; you must do no heavy work. These are the solemn festivals of the Lord to which you are to summon the children of Israel, sacred assemblies for the purpose of offering burnt offerings, holocausts, oblations, sacrifices and libations to the Lord, according to the ritual of each day.’”
Psalm 80(81):3-6,10-11
R/ Ring out your joy to God our strength.
Raise a song and sound the timbre, the sweet-sounding harp and the lute; blow the trumpet at the new moon, when the moon is full, on our feast.
For this is Israel’s law, a command of the God of Jacob. He imposed it as a rule on Joseph, when he went out against the land of Egypt.
Let there be no foreign god among you, no worship of an alien god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
Gospel Acclamation: cf.1Th2:13
Alleluia, alleluia! Accept God’s message for what it really is: God’s message, and not some human thinking. Alleluia!
Gospel: Matthew 13:54-58
Coming to his home town, Jesus taught the people in their synagogue in such a way that they were astonished and said, “Where did the man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? This is the carpenter’s son, surely? Is not his mother the woman called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Jude? His sisters, too, are they not all here with us? So where did the man get it all?” And they would not accept him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is only despised in his own country and in his own house”, and he did not work many miracles there because of their lack of faith.
Prayer over the Offerings
Receive, O Lord, we pray, the offerings placed on your altar in commemoration of blessed N., so that, as you brought him glory, you may, through these sacred mysteries, grant to us your pardon. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Cf. Mt 24: 46-47
Blessed is the servant whom the Lord finds watching when he comes. Amen I say to you: He will put that servant in charge of all his property.
Prayer after Communion
May partaking at the heavenly table, almighty God, confirm and increase strength from on high in all who celebrate the feast day of blessed N., that we may preserve in integrity the gift of faith and walk in the path of salvation you trace for us. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
We are certainly shocked at the attitude of the people of Nazareth. They were so sure they knew Jesus well; they thought they knew everything about him that they could not admit anything new. The denial of Jesus by his neighbours prompts us to ask the following questions: Am I sure that I know Jesus well? Couldn’t I know him better? Have I lost my disposition to be “surprised” by Jesus, by his way of acting and by what he expects from me? May we have the grace to open ourselves to his presence and not remain deaf to his call.