SAINT Kilian
He was born in County Cavan, Ireland. He was a missionary bishop and preached the Gospel in Würzburg and converted the local Duke and much of the population. He was martyred by beheading, possibly at the behest of the Duke’s wife, possibly because she was the widow of the Duke’s brother and Kilian had declared her subsequent marriage to the Duke to be illegal.
Entrance Antiphon: Ps 46: 2
All peoples, clap your hands. Cry to God with shouts of joy!
Collect
O God, who through the grace of adoption, chose us to be children of light; grant, we pray, that we may not be wrapped in the darkness of error but always be seen to stand in the bright light of truth. 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: Genesis 27:1-5,15-29
Isaac had grown old, and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see. He summoned his elder son Esau, “My son!” he said to him, and the latter answered, “I am here.” Then he said, “See, I am old and do not know when I may die. Now take your weapons, your quiver and bow; go out into the country and hunt me some game. Make me the kind of savoury I like and bring it to me, so that I may eat, and give you my blessing before I die.” Rebekah happened to be listening while Isaac was talking to his son Esau. So when Esau went into the country to hunt game for his father, Rebekah took her elder son Esau’s best clothes, which she had in the house, and dressed her younger son Jacob in them, covering his arms and the smooth part of his neck with the skins of the kids. Then she handed the savoury and the bread she had made to her son Jacob. He presented himself before his father and said, “Father.” “I am here;” was the reply “who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your first-born; I have done as you told me. Please get up and take your place and eat the game I have brought and then give me your blessing.” Isaac said to his son, “How quickly you found it, my son!” “It was the Lord your God” he answered “who put it in my path.” Isaac said to Jacob, “Come here, then, and let me touch you, my son, to know if you are my son Esau or not.” Jacob came close to his father Isaac, who touched him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice but the arms are the arms of Esau!” He did not recognise him, for his arms were hairy like his brother Esau’s, and so he blessed him. He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” And he replied, “I am.” Isaac said, “Bring it here that I may eat the game my son has brought, and so may give you my blessing.” He brought it to him and he ate; he offered him wine, and he drank. His father Isaac said to him, “Come closer, and kiss me, my son.” He went closer and kissed his father, who smelled the smell of his clothes. He blessed him, saying: “Yes, the smell of my son is like the smell of a fertile field blessed by the Lord. May God give you dew from heaven, and the richness of the earth, abundance of grain and wine! May nations serve you and peoples bow down before you! Be master of your brothers; may the sons of your mother bow down before you! Cursed be he who curses you; blessed be he who blesses you!”
Psalm 134(135):1-6
R/ Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
Praise the name of the Lord, praise him, servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the Lord for the Lord is good. Sing a psalm to his name for he is loving. For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself and Israel for his own possession.
For I know the Lord is great, that our Lord is high above all gods. The Lord does whatever he wills, in heaven, on earth, in the seas.
Gospel Acclamation: Ps118:135
Alleluia, alleluia! Let your face shine on your servant, and teach me your decrees. Alleluia!
Gospel: Matthew 9:14-17
John’s disciples came to him and said, “Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?” Jesus replied, “Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse. Nor do people put new wine into old wineskins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost. No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.”
Prayer over the Offerings
O God, who graciously accomplish the effects of your mysteries, grant, we pray, that the deeds by which we serve you may be worthy of these sacred gifts. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Cf. Ps 102: 1
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all within me, his holy name.
Prayer after Communion
May this divine sacrifice we have offered and received fill us with life, O Lord, we pray, so that, bound to you in lasting charity, we may bear fruit that lasts for ever. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
“Could the wedding guests then be in mourning while the bridegroom is with them?” John the Baptist’s disciples are puzzled to see Jesus’ disciples blooming and unrestricted. This seems inappropriate because they are waiting for the Messiah and the waiting period involves fasting and mortification. Later, from the depths of his cell, John the Baptist will even send a question to Jesus: “Are you the one who is to come or must we wait for another”? But the Bridegroom is already among his disciples, so why fast? Let us bring the “Joy of the Gospel” to the world. Let us be new wineskins, receptacles and bearers of the living Christ in us. Mgr. Pirenne, Cicm. Says of that: “Christ is alive and he wants us alive”.