Saint Wilfried
(634 – 709)
Green/White
Wilfrid was born in Northumbria in 634. He took part in the Synod of Whitby (664), where he promoted Rome’s way of calculating the date of Easter, and the Roman form of Christian worship. He was missionary, evangelist, monk and bishop. He died in Oundle, in October 709.
Entrance Antiphon : Cf. Est 4: 17
Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, and there is none that can resist your will. For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth, and all that is held within the circle of heaven; you are the Lord of all.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. 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 : Galatians 3:22-29
Scripture makes no exceptions when it says that sin is master everywhere. In this way the promise can only be given through faith in Jesus Christ and can only be given to those who have this faith. Before faith came, we were allowed no freedom by the Law; we were being looked after till faith was revealed. The Law was to be our guardian until the Christ came and we could be justified by faith. Now that that time has come we are no longer under that guardian, and you are, all of you, sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. All baptised in Christ, you have all clothed yourselves in Christ, and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Merely by belonging to Christ you are the posterity of Abraham, the heirs he was promised.
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 104:2-7
R/ The Lord remembers his covenant for ever.
O sing to the Lord, sing his praise; tell all his wonderful works! Be proud of his holy name, let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice.
Consider the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, the judgements he spoke.
O children of Abraham, his servant, O sons of the Jacob he chose. He, the Lord, is our God: his judgements prevail in all the earth.
Gospel Acclamation : Jn14:23
Alleluia, alleluia! If anyone loves me he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we shall come to him. Alleluia!
Gospel : Luke 11:27-28
As Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, ‘Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’ But he replied, ‘Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!’
Prayer over the Offerings
Accept, O Lord, we pray, the sacrifices instituted by your commands and, through the sacred mysteries, which we celebrate with dutiful service, graciously complete the sanctifying work by which you are pleased to redeem us. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Lam 3: 25
The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to the soul that seeks him.
Prayer after Communion
Grant us, almighty God, that we may be refreshed and nourished by the Sacrament which we have received, so as to be transformed into what we consume. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Just as a wayward child is a disgrace to his/her parents, a successful child is a blessing to his/her parents. After listening to the gracious words from the lips of Jesus, a woman in the crowd cannot hide her feelings. She raises her voice and says: ‘Happy the womb that bore you and the breasts you sucked!’ Jesus, in response to the woman, says: ‘Still happier those who hear the word of God and keep it!’ In other words, the mother of Jesus is not only happy for having given birth to a successful son; she is even happier because she lives according to the word of God, to which she has given her definitive yes. Whoever hears the word of God, welcomes it and lives according to it will also be happy, like Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mary is indeed “ full of grace”, and we pray to her, “Blessed are you among women.” The true greatness of Mary comes from her “Fiat”, her unconditional “Yes” to the message of the Angel Gabriel. She remained faithful to the “Yes” right to the day she stood in grief at the foot of the cross. She heard the word and kept it right to the end.