Saint Antony Mary Claret, Bishop, Founder (1807 – 1870)
White
He was born in 1807 and ordained priest in 1835. His uncompromising preaching raised hostility against him, and he suffered fifteen assassination attempts. He is the founder of the Claretians and supported in the foundation of other Institutes. He founded a great religious library and publishing house in Barcelona which published millions of cheap copies of ancient and modern Catholic works. In 1851 the Pope appointed him Bishop of Santiago de Cuba. Recalled to Spain in 1857 by Queen Isabella II to act as her confessor, he did further great work for the Church. In 1868, revolution caused him to go into exile in France, where he died in 1870.
Entrance Antiphon : Cf. Ps 16: 6, 8
To you I call; for you will surely heed me, O God; turn your ear to me; hear my words. Guard me as the apple of your eye; in the shadow of your wings protect me.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, grant that we may always conform our will to yours and serve your majesty in sincerity of heart. 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 : Ephesians 3:14-21
This is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name: Out of his infinite glory, may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God. Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine; glory be to him from generation to generation in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 32:1
2,4-5,11-12,18-19
R/ The Lord fills the earth with his love.
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just; for praise is fitting for loyal hearts. Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp, with a ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
For the word of the Lord is faithful and all his works to be trusted. The Lord loves justice and right and fills the earth with his love.
His own designs shall stand for ever, the plans of his heart from age to age. They are happy, whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen as his own.
The Lord looks on those who revere him, on those who hope in his love, to rescue their souls from death, to keep them alive in famine.
Gospel Acclamation : Jn8:12
Alleluia, alleluia! I am the light of the world, says the Lord; anyone who follows me will have the light of life. Alleluia!
Gospel : Luke 12:49-53
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over! ‘Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.’
Prayer over the Offerings
Grant us, Lord, we pray, a sincere respect for your gifts, that, through the purifying action of your grace, we may be cleansed by the very mysteries we serve. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Cf. Ps 32: 18-19
Behold, the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, who hope in his merciful love, to rescue their souls from death, to keep them alive in famine.
Prayer after Communion
Grant, O Lord, we pray, that, benefiting from participation in heavenly things, we may be helped by what you give in this present age and prepared for the gifts that are eternal. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Jesus promises to bring fire to the earth. In the imagery of the Old Testament, fire is a symbol of God’s powerful presence: we remember Moses at the burning bush, the pillar of fire that accompanied the Israelites by night as they wandered through the desert to the Promised Land, as well as the tongues of fire that hovered over the disciples at Pentecost. The fire that came at Pentecost is a fire that burns people’s hearts and draws them to change the direction of their lives. For Jesus’ wish to be fulfilled, we must play our part in helping to spread some of that fire of God’s love everywhere. One of our baptismal commitments is being messengers of God’s love. Jesus refers to a baptism which is his immersion in the terrible suffering and death by which we will be liberated. He also spoke of division which seems to contradict his identity as Prince of Peace. But no. After his death, we have been witnesses of persecution even today and tensions over our practice of the faith. But only those who hold firm with him to the end shall see his saving power.