ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
Give peace, Lord, to those who wait for you, and your prophets will proclaim you
as you deserve. Hear the prayers of your servant and of your people Israel.
PENITENTIAL RITE
In today’s Gospel, St Mark adds words of Christ which illustrate what practical
form our appreciation and gratitude for Christ’s sufferings should take. We must
be ready to follow him on the road to Calvary. We must deny ourselves – deprive
ourselves not only of sinful pleasure or gain, but even of lawful things at
times, in order to be Christ-like. As we are gathered around the Eucharistic
table let us ask pardon from the Lord, for the times we have not willingly
accepted sufferings and crosses in our life.
I confess...
Glory to God...
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray: Almighty God, our creator and guide, may we serve you with all our
heart and know your forgiveness in our lives. We ask this…
FIRST READING
(Prophet Isaiah conveys to us that one who perseveres in faith and trusts in God
will not come to any harm even if one is subjected to sufferings and trials.)
A reading from the Book of Isaiah (50:5-9)
The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I turned not backward.
I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard;
I hid not my face from shame and spitting.
For the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been confounded; therefore I
have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame; he
who vindicates me is near. Who will contend with me? Let us stand up together.
Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God helps me; who
will declare me guilty?
This is the Word of the Lord
PSALM (114)
Response: I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.
Alleluia! I love the Lord for he has heard the cry of my appeal; for he turned
his ear to me in the day when I called him. R./
They surrounded me, the snares of death, with the anguish of the tomb; they
caught me, sorrow and distress. I called on the Lord’s name. O Lord my God,
deliver me! R./
How gracious is the Lord, and just; our God has compassion. The Lord protects
the simple hearts; I was helpless so he saved me. R./
He has kept my soul from death, my eyes from tears and my feet from stumbling, I
will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living. R./
SECOND READING
(Faith alone, that is, the acceptance of all revealed truths, is of no avail
toward eternal life, unless we show our faith through our good works of
charity.)
A reading from the Letter of St James (2:14-18)
What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works?
Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily
food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without
giving them the things needed for the body, what does it profit? So faith by
itself, if it has no works, is dead.
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith
apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.
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 asks the disciples: first, as to whom the people thought him to be and
secondly, what they themselves thought. Peter declares their belief in him as
the promised Messiah. And then Jesus makes the first prediction of his passion
and death.)
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Mark (8:27-35)
Jesus went on with his disciples, to the village of Caesarea Philippi; and on
the way he asked his disciples, “Who do men say that I am?” And they told him,
“John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others one of the prophets.” And
he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the
Christ.” And he charged them to tell no one about him.
And he began to teach them that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be
rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and
after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him, and
began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and
said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not on the side of God, but of men.”
And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any
man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow
me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for
my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”
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, as Christians called to share the life of God,
let us praise the Lord Jesus, the High Priest of our faith. Trusting in the love
of the Father, let us bring before Him all our needs, saying:
Response: Lord God, deepen our faith in you.
1. For the Pope, the Bishops, the Priests and all our Christian leaders; sustain
their faith, their love and their courage. R./
2. Enlighten and guide the leaders and governments; give them wisdom and
integrity, that they may work for the upliftment of all citizens without
discrimination. R./
3. Give courage and strength to the young; help them to choose their career and
to make the right decisions for their way of life. R./
4. Help us to be considerate and kind; grant that we may bring joy, not pain, to
those we meet. May we by our good works become witness of Christian faith. R./
(Pray for local and personal needs)
Cel: Heavenly Father, we praise and thank you for all your blessings. Grant us
health of mind and body, and strength to do good works and glorify your name. We
ask this…
PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS
Lord, hear the prayers of your people and receive our gifts. May the worship of
each one here bring salvation to all. Grant this…
PREFACE (P 30)
Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to
give you thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. Out of love for sinful man, he
humbled himself to be born of the Virgin. By suffering on the cross he freed us
from unending death, and by rising from the dead he gave us eternal life.
And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your glory and join
in their unending hymn of praise:
All: Holy, holy, holy...
COMMUNION ANTIPHON
O God, how much we value your mercy! All mankind can gather under your
protection.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Lord, may the Eucharist you have given us influence our thoughts and actions.
May your spirit guide and direct us in your way. We ask this…
LITURGY AND LIFE
The disciples were with Jesus almost for three years now. The time to
complete his mission on earth and to entrust the same to the disciples was fast
approaching. How well are they prepared for the job? Did they understand him and
his mission? Jesus puts two questions: “Who do men say that I am?” and “Who do
you say that I am?”
The public opinion about Jesus is rather unanimous: all agree that Jesus is a
very great man—one of the great prophets. But that is all. Jesus expects that
his disciples should know him better, and so he poses the second question.
With Peter as spokesman, the little group of Twelve goes far beyond the
prevailing answers of the masses, and says “You are the Christ.” At once Jesus
commanded secrecy about his identity. He wanted to prevent misunderstanding.
Everyone assumed that the long awaited Messiah, God’s anointed servant, would be
the central figure in a glorious success story. Jesus knew that his disciples
too shared this view of the Messiah as a national hero who would lead his people
to new heights of worldly success. He had to make them realize that this could
not be. The future held not triumph but, by all ordinary standards, bitter
defeat. This was too much for the disciples to understand and accept. Peter,
speaking in the name of all again, took Jesus aside to remonstrate with him.
Matthew gives us Peter’s words: “Heaven preserve you, Lord, this must not happen
to you.” (Mt.16:22).
Jesus’ response to Peter was severe. Calling the man he had chosen as leader of
his inner circle “Satan”, Jesus told Peter: “You are not judging by God’s
standards but by man’s!” This sharp rebuke shows that Peter’s words were a real
temptation for Jesus. Abandoning the early hopes of success and accepting
rejection, suffering, and death—all that cost Jesus an agonizing struggle.
Jesus’ harsh words to Peter reveal how intense this inner conflict was.
So he made it clear that the road he was travelling would have its parallel in
the life of anyone who wished to be his follower. The final words of Jesus in
today’s Gospel are addressed to all of us, his followers: “If anyone would come
after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever
would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the
gospel’s will save it.” The powerful message is: Don’t dream of becoming a true
follower of Jesus if you are not ready to deny yourself and carry your cross!
—Fr Joseph Thenasserril, ssp
September 2009
READINGS OF THE WEEK
Psalter Week 4
14 Mon (R) THE TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS (Fst) Num 21:4b-9 or Phil 2:6-11;
Ps 77:1-2,34-35,36-37,38; Jn 3:13-17
15 Tue (W) Our Lady of Sorrows (mem) Heb 5:7-9;Ps 30:2-3a,3b-4,5-6ab,15-16,20;
Jn 19:25-27
16 Wed (R) Sts Cornelius, Pp, & Cyprian, (mem)1 Tim 3:14-16; Ps 110:1-2,3-4,5-6;
Lk 7:31-35
17 Thu (W) St Robert Bellarmine, 1 Tim 4:12-16; Ps 110:7-8,9,10; Lk 7:36-50
18 Fri (G) 1 Tim 6:2c-12; Ps 48:6-7,8-10,17-18,19-20; Lk 8:1-3
19 Sat (G) 1 Tim 6:13-16; Ps 99:1-2,3,4,5; Lk 8:4-15
