August 29 2010 22nd  SUNDAY  OF  THE  YEAR  Cycle - C     ENTRANCE ANTIPHON I call to you all day long, have mercy on me, O Lord. You are good and forgiving, full of love for all who call to you. PENITENTIAL RITE Today’s liturgy focuses on the virtue of humility. Jesus, who humbled himself and became obedient unto death on a cross, teaches his followers to be humble so that they will be exalted in heaven. As we gather together for this Eucharistic celebration, let us be sorry for our sins of pride, selfishness, greed, for seeking after places of honour, and for rejecting the poor and humble from our lives. (Pause)  I confess... Glory to God... OPENING PRAYER Almighty God, every good thing comes from you. Fill our hearts with love for you, increase our faith, and by your constant care protect the good you have given us. We ask this... FIRST READING (Humility is the sign of true greatness. The greater one becomes, the more humble he should be. This is the sure and only way to find favour with God and being loved by people.)  A reading from the Book of Sirach      (3:17-20,28-29) My son, perform your tasks in meekness; then you will be loved by those whom God accepts. The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favour in the sight of the Lord. For great is the might of the Lord; he is glorified by the humble. The affliction of the proud has no healing, for a plant of wickedness has taken root in him. The mind of the intelligent man will ponder a parable, and an attentive ear is the wise man’s desire. This is the Word of the Lord PSALM    (67) Response: In your goodness, O God, you prepare a home for the poor. The just shall rejoice at the presence of God, they shall exult and dance for joy. O sing to the Lord, make music to his name; rejoice in the Lord, exult at his presence. R./ Father of the orphan, defender of the widow, such is God in his holy place. God gives the lonely a home to live in; he leads the prisoners forth into freedom. R./ You poured down, O God, a generous rain: when your people were starved you gave them new life. It was there that your people found a home, prepared in your goodness, O God, for the poor. R./ SECOND READING (Christians are called to approach ‘the heavenly Jerusalem’ where the just are made perfect in the presence of God and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.)   A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews   (12:18-19,22-24) You have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers entreat that no further messages be spoken to them. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. This is the Word of the Lord ACCLAMATION   (Jn 6:51) Alleluia, alleluia! I am the living bread which came down from heaven, says the Lord; if any one eats of this bread, he will live for ever. Alleluia! GOSPEL (Jesus, noticing how people were choosing places of honour at a wedding banquet, teaches us a lesson in humility. The paradox is that those who are humble will be exalted and those who exalt themselves will be humbled.) A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Luke  (14:1,7-14) One Sabbath when Jesus went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him. He told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honour, saying to them, “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honour, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; and he who invited you both will come, and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher’; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbours, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” This is the Gospel of the Lord I believe in God,/the Father Almighty,/ Creator of heaven and earth./ I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./ He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/ and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into Heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the Holy Catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./ Amen. PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, at this Eucharistic celebration we approach the living God. Let us come with humble hearts and total trust in His divine providence and pray for all our needs and the needs of the whole world.   Response: Lord, graciously hear our prayer.  1. We pray for the leaders of the Church. May they always show the path of humble service in discharging their duties and governing God’s people. R./ 2. We pray for our civic leaders. May they use their positions of leadership for serving the people, especially the poor and the needy. R./ 3. We pray for those called to be teachers. May they understand the importance of their call and impart true values and knowledge to those whom they are called to teach. R./ 4. We pray for those who do not know Christ and his gospel message. May they come to know the true faith and knowledge of the one mediator, Jesus the Saviour of the world. R./  5. We pray for the poor, the deaf, the dumb, the lame, the blind and all those who are less privileged in society. May they find welcome homes in our churches, communities and families. R./   (Pray for local and personal needs) Cel: Lord we thank you for gathering us together in this place of worship. We ask you to listen to our petitions which we humbly offer along with the sacrifice of your Son Jesus who is Lord for ever and ever. Amen.   PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS Lord, may this holy offering bring us your blessing and accomplish within us its promise of salvation. Grant this... PREFACE    (35) Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. So great was your love that you gave us your Son as our redeemer. You sent him as one like ourselves, though free from sin, that you might see and love in us what you see and love in Christ. Your gifts of grace, lost by disobedience, are now restored by the obedience of your Son. We praise you, Lord, with all the angels and saints in their song of joy: All: Holy, holy, holy... COMMUNION ANTIPHON O Lord, how great is the depth of the kindness which you have shown to those who love you. PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION   Lord, you renew us at your table with the bread of life. May this food strengthen us in love and help us to serve you in each other. We ask this...     LITURGY  AND  LIFE   Mahatma Gandhi’s daily prayer was to be lower than the dust under his feet. In his ceaseless struggle for the independence of India, he lived as a poor Indian and never sought any positions of power and glory. Yet the British rulers would tremble at his very presence. He is held in highest esteem by the people all over the world who call him ‘Mahatma’ or ‘great soul’.   Blessed Teresa of Kolkata, when expressing her desire to retire as the Superior General of her Congregation, said: “God will find another person, more humble, more devoted, more obedient to Him, and the society will go on”. The whole world admires and appreciates not only what the Mother did for the poor, but for what she was: a simple, humble and devoted nun. Once she wrote: “Humility is the mother of all virtues; purity, charity and obedience. It is in being humble that our love becomes real, devoted and ardent. If you are humble nothing will touch you, neither praise nor disgrace, because you know what you are. If you are blamed you will not be discouraged. If they call you a saint you will not put yourself on a pedestal.”  Blessed Virgin Mary, when called to become the Mother of the Saviour, humbly submitted herself to God and said: “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.” And later she exclaimed to Elizabeth in her song: “The almighty has done great things for me, holy is His name” (Lk 1:49). In her humility she attained the highest position any human being could achieve in this world and next.  St Paul wrote to the Philippians about Jesus’ humility: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:5-8)  The challenge of today’s liturgy is to have the same attitude of Jesus, Blessed Virgin Mary, Blessed Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi and many other leaders who attained true greatness by being truly humble. Humility, as Blessed Teresa says, is the mother of all virtues. The English word humility derives from the Latin word humus meaning earth. The word therefore means being close to the earth or, to put it better, being true to what we are. Humility, then we can say, is truthfulness. A truly humble person simply does not feel the inclination to exalt his ego because he is true to himself. There is no desire to dominate others. When one attains this attitude, all the other virtues follow. And such people, in spite of themselves, are respected and esteemed by other people. They become beacons of light for others to follow. Jesus puts the challenge of this paradox before every Christian today: “Every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Lk 14:11). Becoming humble is the work of a lifetime for most of us, so we have to learn from our failures and mistakes and be patient with ourselves, as God is. The real answer to our quest for humility lies in Christ’s own words: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart” (Mt 11:29). –Fr Joe Eruppakkatt, ssp   August/September  2010 READINGS  OF  THE  WEEK  Psalter  Week  2 30 Mon (G)   1 Cor 2:1-5; Ps 118:97-98,99-100,101-102;                         Lk 4:16-30 31 Tue (G) 1 Cor 2:10b-16; Ps 144:8-9,10-12,13-14; Lk 4:31-37 1 Wed (G) 1 Cor 3:1-9; Ps 32:12-13,14-15,20-21; Lk 4:38-44 2 Thu (G) 1 Cor 3:18-23; Ps 23:1-2,3-4ab,5-6; Lk 5:1-11 3 Fri (W) St Gregory the Great, mem                 1 Cor 4:1-5; Ps 36:3-4,5-6,27-28ab,39-40; Lk 5:33-39 4 Sa (G) 1 Cor 4:6b-15; Ps 144:17-18,19-20,21; Lk 6:1-5