Liturgy of the Sunday

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Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
Remembrance of Saint Irenaeus, bishop of Lyon and martyr (†202); he went to France from Anatolia to preach the Gospel.


First Reading

2 Kings 4,8-11.14-16

One day as Elisha was on his way to Shunem, a woman of rank who lived there pressed him to stay and eat there. After this he always broke his journey for a meal when he passed that way. She said to her husband, 'Look, I am sure the man who is constantly passing our way must be a holy man of God. Let us build him a small walled room, and put him a bed in it, and a table and chair and lamp; whenever he comes to us he can rest there.' One day when he came, he retired to the upper room and lay down. 'What can I do for you then?' he asked. Gehazi replied, 'Well, she has no son and her husband is old.' Elisha said, 'Call her.' The servant called her and she stood at the door. 'This time next year', he said, 'you will hold a son in your arms.' But she said, 'No, my lord, do not deceive your servant.'

Psalmody

Psalm 88

Antiphon

I will sing of the Lord's great love forever.

I will sing forever of your live, O Lord;
through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth.

Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever,
that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.

'With my chosen one I have made a covenant;
I have sworn to David my servant;

I will establish your dynasty for ever
and set up your throne through all ages.'

The heavens proclaim your wonders, O Lord;
the assembly of your holy ones proclaims your truth

For who in the skies can compare with the Lord
or who is like the Lord among the sons of God?

A God to be feared in the council of the holy ones,
great and dreadful to all around him.

O Lord God of hosts, who is your equal?
You are mighty, O Lord, and truth is your garment.

It is you who rule the sea in its pride;
it is you who still the surging of its waves.

It is you who trod Rahab underfoot like a corpse,
scattering your foes with your mighty arm.

The heavens are yours, the world is yours.
It is you who founded the earth and all it holds;

it is you who created the North and the South.
Tabor and Hermon shout with joy at your name.

Yours is a might arm, O Lord;
your hand is strong, your right hand ready.

Justice and right are the pillars of your throne,
love and truth walk in your presence.

Happy the people who acclaim such a king,
who walk, O Lord, in the light of your face,

who find their joy every day in your name,
who make your justice the source of their bliss.

For you, O Lord, are the glory of their strength;
by your favour it is that our might is exalted:

for our ruler is in the keeping of the Lord;
our king in the keeping of the Holy One of Israel.

Of old you spoke in a vision.
To your friends the prophets you said:

'I have set the crown on a warrior,
I have exalted one chosen from the people.

I have found David my servant
and with my holy oil anointed him.

My hand shall always be with him
and my arm shall make him strong.

The enemy shall never outwit him
nor the evil man oppress him.

I will beat down his foes before him
and smite those who hate him.

My truth and my love shall be with him;
by my name his might shall be exalted.

I will stretch out his hand to the Sea
and his right hand as far as the River.

He will say to me "You are my father,
my God, the rock who saves me."

And I will make him my first-born,
the highest of the kings of the earth.

I will keep my love for him always;
with him my covenant shall last.

I will establish his dynasty for ever,
make his throne endure as the heavens.

If his sons forsake my law
and refuse to walk as I decree

and if ever they violate my statutes,
refusing to keep my commands;

then I will punish their offences with the rod,
then I will scourge them on account of their guilt

but I will never take back my love;
my truth will never fail.

I will never violate my covenant
nor go back on the word I have spoken.

Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness.
"I will never lie to David.

His dynasty shall last for ever.
In my sight his throne is like the sun;

like the moon, it shall endure for ever,
a faithful witness in the skies"'

As yet you have spurned, rejected,
you are angry with the one you have anointed.

You have broken your covenant with your servant
and dishonoured his crown in the dust.

You have broken down all his walls
and reduced his fortresses to ruins.

He is despoiled by all who pass by;
he has become the taunt of his neighbours.

You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all the enemies rejoice.

You have made his sword give way,
you have not upheld him in battle.

You have brought his glory to an end;
you have hurled his throne to the ground.

You have cut short the years of his youth;
you have heaped disgrace upon him.

How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself for ever?
How long will your anger burn like a fire?

Remember, Lord the shortness of my life
and how frail you have made the sons of men.

What man can live and never see death?
Who can save himself from the grasp of the grave?

Where are your mercies of the past, O Lord,
which you have sworn in your faithfulness to David?

Remember, Lord, how your servant is taunted,
how I have to bear all the insults of the peoples.

Thus your enemies taunt me O Lord,
mocking your anointed at every step.

Blessed be the Lord for ever. 
Amen, Amen!

Second Reading

Romans 6,3-4.8-11

You cannot have forgotten that all of us, when we were baptised into Christ Jesus, were baptised into his death. So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glorious power, we too should begin living a new life. But we believe that, if we died with Christ, then we shall live with him too. We know that Christ has been raised from the dead and will never die again. Death has no power over him any more. For by dying, he is dead to sin once and for all, and now the life that he lives is life with God. In the same way, you must see yourselves as being dead to sin but alive for God in Christ Jesus.

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Matthew 10,37-42

'No one who prefers father or mother to me is worthy of me. No one who prefers son or daughter to me is worthy of me. Anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. Anyone who finds his life will lose it; anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. 'Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me; and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 'Anyone who welcomes a prophet because he is a prophet will have a prophet's reward; and anyone who welcomes an upright person because he is upright will have the reward of an upright person. 'If anyone gives so much as a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple, then in truth I tell you, he will most certainly not go without his reward.'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Jesus asks the disciples for a love so radical that it even overcomes the love for their families. Only those who have this love are "worthy" of the Lord. Three times in a few lines he repeats: "to be worthy of me"; an insistence that contrasts with the words of the centurion that we repeat in every Eucharistic celebration: "O Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof." Indeed, who can call themselves worthy of welcoming the Lord? Just a realistic look at our lives and we realize our littleness and our sin. Being a disciple of Jesus is neither easy nor taken for granted, and is not the fruit of belonging or tradition. We are Christians only by choice, not by birth. And the Gospel tells us what height this choice is. Jesus' disciples are those who stand unreservedly with Jesus and share his destiny, to the point of identifying with him. In this sense the disciple finds himself finding Jesus.
This is the meaning of the words that follow: "Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it." It is one of the most handed down phrases of Jesus (six times it is present in the Gospels). Obviously the first Christian community had understood its importance and saw it realized above all in Jesus himself. He "found again" his life (in the resurrection) "losing it" (that is, giving it on the cross). It is exactly the opposite of the current mentality that believes being happy means holding back one's life, one's time, one's wealth, one's interests.
The directions to disciples on mission conclude with some notes on how they are welcomed. It is natural that the one who is sent expects to be welcomed by those to whom he is sent. Jesus himself wishes it and highlights the underlying reason: "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me." In this verse the reason for disciple's dignity is condensed: total dependence on the Lord, to the point that their presence is the same as Jesus'. Obviously, it is a matter of welcoming the disciple as a "prophet," that is, as the one who brings the Gospel, who announces the Word of God, not his own word. And the reception of the Word is the reward that the Lord promises to those who welcome his disciples. Jesus also calls them "little": the disciple, in fact, has neither silver nor gold; he does not have a bag or even two tunics, and he must walk without wearing sandals or a cane (Mt 10:9-10). His only richness is the Gospel, before which he too is small and totally dependent. We must welcome this wealth; we must transmit this wealth.