The 11th Sunday after Pentecost the church puts her hope in God from whom she receives her help our Lord has healed the wounds of mankind and has given us strength infinite charity and mercy of God is what this celebration underlines today.
The Introit
God in HIs holy place; God who maketh men of one mind to dwell in a house; He shall give power and strength to His people. Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered: and let them that hate Him flee from before His face. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and the Holy Ghost.
And here we have the 2nd of the propers for today’s mass.
The Collect
O almighty and everlasting God, who in the abundance of Thy loving kindness are wont, to go beyond both the merits and prayers of Thy suppliant people, pour down upon us Thy mercy: that Thou mayest forgive us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and grant us what our prayer does not dare to ask. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Epistle
Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, !. Chapter 15 verses 1 – 10.
Brethern:
I make known unto you the Gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried and He rose again on the third day and that He was seen by Cephas, and after that by the eleven. Then was He seen by more than five hundred brethren at once; of whom many remain until this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the Apostles . And last of all He was seen also by me as one born out of due time. For I. am the least of the Apostles, who am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. I am what I am; and His grace in me hath not been void.
Now We will draw aside a little; while I will share with you a few words by the holy priest Father Leonard Goffine’s as he ponders on the epistle. Father writes:
An Explanation of the Epistle
Saint Paul warns the Corinthians against those who denied the resurrection of Christ and of the deceased faithful and exhort them to persevere in the faith which they have received to live in accordance with it. Learn from this how we in our days in which the true faith in Jesus and his church is in so many ways attacked and denied should firmly preserve in the one only saving catholic faith which is the same that Paul preached.
Paul in this Epistle gives to the Corinthians and to us, a beautiful example of humility by calling himself, because of the sin he had committed before his conversion, one born out of time. The least of all the apostles and not worthy of being called an apostle although he had laboured so much in the service of Christ.
He acknowledges also that all that he was, was by God’s grace only. Thus speaks the truly humble man as he sees in himself nothing but weakness sin and wrong and therefore despises himself and desires to be despised by others.
All the good which he professes or practices he describes to God and gives Him the honour. Dear Christian you too must Strive for such humility. You have far more reason to do so than Paul had, because of the sins which you have committed, and of the grace which you have abused and the inactive useless life you have led.
An aspiration. Dispel from me most loving saviour the spirit of pride and grant me the humility I need so much. Let me realise that of myself I can do nothing and that all my power to do good comes from thee alone, who alone does cause me to have the will to do the good and to accomplish it.
And now the Gradual
In God has my heart confided and I have been helped and my flesh has flourished again and with my will I will give praise to him.
Onto thee oh Lord have I cried, oh Lord; oh my God be not thus silent . Depart not from me hallelujah hallelujah.
rejoice in God our helper, sing aloud to the God of Jacob, make a pleasant psalm with the harp. hallelujah
The Gospel
Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St Mark, chapter 7 verses 31 – 37
At that time Jesus going out to the coasts of tyre came by Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. And they bring to him one deaf and dumb. And they besought him that he would lay his hands upon him. And taking him from the multitude apart, he put his fingers into his ears and spitting, he touched his tongue and looking up to heaven he groaned and said to him ephpeta, that is be opened and immediately his ears were opened and a string of his tongue was loosed. And he charged them that they should tell no man but the more he charged them so much more a great deal did they publish it and so much the more did they wonder, saying he has done all things well; he has made both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak. Amen
Now as we have done in past episodes we use father’s ways of meditation on the Gospel. Incourageing us to look deeper he asks us to consider
Who may we understand by the deaf and dumb man?
The answer:
those who desire neither to hear nor to speak of things concerning salvation.
Why did Christ take the death and dumb man apart, that is, away from the others?
To teach us that he who wishes to live piously and be comforted must avoid the noisy world and dangerous society and must love solitude for their God speaks to the heart.
Why did Christ forbid them to mention this miracle?
And the answer: So that we might learn to fly from the praise of men always vain and fickle.
What do we learn from those who brought the deaf and dumb man to Jesus. And although Jesus had asked them not to broadcast the miracle did so anyway?
That in want and sickness we should tenderly assist our neighbour and not neglect to announce and praise the works of God for God works his miracles that his goodness and omnipotence may be known and honoured.
Father now shares a prayer of supplication: oh Lord Jesus who during thy life on earth did cure the sick and the infirm, open my ears that they may listen to thy will. And loosen my tongue that I may honour and announce thy works. Take away from me most bountiful Jesus the desire for human praise that I may not be led in order to obtain it: to reveal my good works and thus lose my heavenly father’s reward. Matthew chapter 6 verse 1 .
The Offertory
I will extol thee lord for thou hast upheld me and has not made my enemies to rejoice over me I have cried to thee and thou has healed me.
The Secret
Look graciously oh Lord, upon our service that what we offer may be a gift acceptable onto thee and a support to us in our weakness through Jesus Christ our Lord amen
Communion
Honour the Lord with thy substance and with the first of all the fruits. And thy Barnes shall be filled with abundance and thy press shall run over with wine.
Post communion
By the reception of the sacrament we see oh Lord may we find support for our mind and body; so that healed in both we may glory in the fullness of the heavenly remedy. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen
