Sunday, September 7, 2014: (TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME) Readings for today: Ezekiel 33:7-9 / Romans 13:8-10 / Matthew 18:15-20:
Readings from: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/090714.cfm (Pics from elsewhere on the internet)
Reading 1 - A reading from the book of the Prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 33:7-9):
Thus says the LORD:
You, son of man, I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel;
when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.
If I tell the wicked, “O wicked one, you shall surely die, ”
and you do not speak out to dissuade the wicked from his way,
the wicked shall die for his guilt,
but I will hold you responsible for his death.
But if you warn the wicked,
trying to turn him from his way,
and he refuses to turn from his way,
he shall die for his guilt,
but you shall save yourself.
Responsorial Psalm - ("If today you hear His voice, Harden not your hearts." David Haas):
Video From: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04q6gETTah4
Lyrics: http://www.lyrics007.com/David Haas Lyrics/If Today You Hear God's Voice Lyrics.html
Refrain: If today you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts. (repeat)
1. Come, ring out our joy to the Lord. Hail the Rock who saves us.
Let us come now before our God. With songs let us hail the Lord.
Refrain: If today you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts. (repeat)
2. Come, let us bow and bend low.
Let us kneel before God who made us,
for he is our God, we the people, the flock that is led by God's hand.
Refrain: If today you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts. (repeat)
3. O that today you would hear God's voice,
"Harden not your hearts, as on that day in the dessert,
when your parents put me to the test."
Refrain: If today you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts. (repeat)
Reading 2 - A reading from the letter of St. Paul to the Romans (Romans 13:8-10):
Brothers and sisters:
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet, ”
and whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.
Gospel - A reading from the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew (Matthew 18:15-20):
Jesus said to his disciples:
“If your brother sins against you,
go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.
If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.
If he does not listen,
take one or two others along with you,
so that ‘every fact may be established
on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church.
If he refuses to listen even to the church,
then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.
Amen, I say to you,
whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Again, amen, I say to you,
if two of you agree on earth
about anything for which they are to pray,
it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.
For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them.”
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09/07/2014 - St. Jean-Gabriel Perboyre (1802-1840) (Feast day: September 11) - Best known as a missionary in China:
From: http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/saint.aspx?id=1135&calendar=1
September 11
St. Jean-Gabriel Perboyre
(1802-1840)
A sermon he heard at age 15 inspired today’s saint to become a missionary in China. There he met a brutal death on a cross for refusing to renounce his faith.
Born in France in 1802, Jean-Gabriel became a Vincentian priest. He displayed so many gifts and had such fine personal and spiritual qualities that, for a time, his religious order kept him busy closer to home.
He finally received permission to begin his missionary endeavors in 1835. After a 1,000-mile trip by boat and foot across three provinces, he arrived in central China. In one early letter written to his community in Paris he described himself as a curious sight: “my head shaved, a long pig-tail, stammering my new languages, eating with chopsticks.”
He soon joined the Vincentians in helping to rescue abandoned Chinese children and in educating them in the Catholic faith. He was arrested in 1839 under an edict that banned Christianity. He was tortured and interrogated for months. Almost one year later he was executed by strangling while hanging on a cross.
St. Jean-Gabriel was canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1996. Chinese government officials denied permission for any public Mass commemorating the new saint.
