12
November
St. Josaphat
(c.1580 – 1623)
Red
He was born in Ukraine of Orthodox parents. Josaphat joined the first monastery of the order of St Basil to be united to the Catholic Church: he was the first person to do so. He was ordained priest and, eventually and reluctantly, appointed bishop of Polotsk in 1617. Josaphat was murdered by a mob in 1623 while on a pastoral visit to Vitebsk.
Entrance Antiphon :
Because of the Lord’s covenant and the ancestral laws, the Saints of God persevered in loving brotherhood, for there was always one spirit in them, and one faith.
Collect
Stir up in your Church, we pray, O Lord, the Spirit that filled Saint Josaphat as he laid down his life for the sheep, so that through his intercession, we too may be strengthened by the same Spirit and not be afraid to lay down our life for others. 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: Wisdom 13:1-9
Naturally stupid are all men who have not known God and who, from the good things that are seen, have not been able to discover Him-who-is, or, by studying the works, have failed to recognise the Artificer. Fire however, or wind, or the swift air, the sphere of the stars, impetuous water, heaven’s lamps, are what they have held to be the gods who govern the world. If, charmed by their beauty, they have taken things for gods, let them know how much the Lord of these excels them, since the very Author of beauty has created them. And if they have been impressed by their power and energy, let them deduce from these how much mightier is he that has formed them, since through the grandeur and beauty of the creatures we may, by analogy, contemplate their Author. Small blame, however, attaches to these men, for perhaps they only go astray in their search for God and their eagerness to find him; living among his works, they strive to comprehend them and fall victim to appearances, seeing so much beauty. Even so, they are not to be excused: if they are capable of acquiring enough knowledge to be able to investigate the world, how have they been so slow to find its Master?
Psalm 18(19):2-5
R/ The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
1. The heavens proclaim the glory of God, and the firmament shows forth the work of his hands. Day unto day takes up the story and night unto night makes known the message.
2. No speech, no word, no voice is heard yet their span extends through all the earth, their words to the utmost bounds of the world.
Gospel Acclamation: Heb4:12
Alleluia, alleluia! The word of God is something alive and active: it can judge secret emotions and thoughts. Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 17:26-37
Jesus said to the disciples: ‘As it was in Noah’s day, so will it also be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating and drinking, marrying wives and husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It will be the same as it was in Lot’s day: people were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but the day Lot left Sodom, God rained fire and brimstone from heaven and it destroyed them all. It will be the same when the day comes for the Son of Man to be revealed. When that day comes, anyone on the housetop, with his possessions in the house, must not come down to collect them, nor must anyone in the fields turn back either. Remember Lot’s wife. Anyone who tries to preserve his life will lose it; and anyone who loses it will keep it safe. I tell you, on that night two will be in one bed: one will be taken, the other left; two women will be grinding corn together: one will be taken, the other left.’ The disciples interrupted. ‘Where, Lord?’ they asked. He said, ‘Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.’
Prayer over the Offerings
Most merciful God, pour out your blessing upon these offerings and confirm us in the faith that Saint Josaphat professed by the shedding of his blood. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Mt. 10: 39
Whoever loses his life for my sake, will find it in eternity, says the Lord.
Prayer after Communion
May this heavenly table, O Lord, bestow on us a spirit of fortitude and peace, so that, following Saint Josaphat’s example, we may willingly spend our lives working for the honour and unity of the Church. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
We are gradually moving towards the end of the liturgical year, and the sacred texts that the Church proposes to us speak of end times when Christ will return to judge the earth. Jesus shows us that disorderly attachment to the things of this world and seeking to preserve earthly life will do us no good. Only one thing is necessary: to surrender to the will of God and to keep our eyes fixed on the Kingdom of our Lord. Let us not be like the contemporaries of Noah and Lot. They received the warning, but they refused to listen and believe. Let us trust in God and ask him for the grace to be attentive to his word and to put it into practice.