THE GOOD NEWS

Altar Server Prayer Before Mass: Oh Jesus, my King and Lord, by the grace of the heavenly Father and the power of the Holy Spirit, guide me as I serve you today at the Altar so I may always worthy of Your presence.

If I happen to make an error, may it be a lesson so my service will be perfect tomorrow.

Jesus, I love you with all my heart.   Amen.  Mass Readings

When I came to you, brothers, it was not with any show of oratory or philosophy, but simply to tell you what god had guaranteed. During my stay with you, the only knowledge I claimed to have was about Jesus, and only about him as the crucified Christ. Far from relying on any power of my own. I came among you in a great 'fear and trembling' and in my speeches and the sermons that I gave, there were none of the arguments that belong to philosophy: only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit. And I did this so that your faith should not depend on human philosophy but on the power of God.

Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.  Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written:

The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me.

He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor,  to proclaim

liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set downtrodden free,

to proclaim the Lord's year of favor.

He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him.  Then he began to speak to them, 'This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.' And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came out from his lips. They said, 'This is Joseph's son, surely?' Luke 4:16-30

Heavenly Father remove from me everything that may cripple my spirit in hearing the Good News.

Lord Jesus Christ may my love abound more and more with knowledge and discernment. Free me from every form of captivity.

DISCOVERING GOD'S WILL

Altar Server Prayer Before Mass: Father in Heaven, your Son Jesus Christ, showed his love for you by serving his brothers and sisters in need. I now ask you to give me your help as I serve you and your people. Open my mouth to praise you in word and song. Open my ears to hear your word. Open my hand to do your work well. Take from my heart all evil and distracting thoughts. Help me to know what I should do, and do it well.  Help me to serve reverently at your holy altar, and so give you praise ad glory, now and forever. Amen.

Mass Readings 

You have seduced me, Lord, and I have let myself be seduced; you have overpowered me: you were the stronger. I am a daily laughing-stock, everybody's butt. Each time I speak the word, I have to howl and proclaim: 'Violence and ruin!' The word of the Lord has meant for me insult, derision, all day long. I used to say, 'I will not think about him, I will not speak in his name any more.' Then there seemed to be a fire burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones. The effort to restrain it wearied me, I could not bear it.

Romans 12:1-2

Think of God's mercy, my brothers, and worship him, I beg you, in a way that is worthy of thinking beings, by offering your living bodies as a holy sacrifice, truly pleasing to God. Do not model yourselves on the behaviour of the world around you, but let your behaviour change, modelled by your new mind. This is the only way to discover the will of God and know what is good, what it is that God wants, what is the perfect thing to do.

Jesus began to make it clear to his disciples that he was destined to go to Jerusalem and suffer grievously in the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, to be put to death and to be raised up on the third day. Then, taking him aside, Peter started to remonstrate with him. 'Heaven preserve you, Lord;'  he said 'this must not happen to you.'  But he turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle in my path, because the way you think is not God's way but man's.' 

The Jesus said to his disciples, 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.  What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruin his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life?

'For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour.'

Lord Jesus Christ my Master, I offer you every situation that seems overwhelming to me. Shine your light, let me know your will, give me the courage to obey for nothing is impossible with God.

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THE BEHEADING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

Altar Server Prayer Before Mass: Father in Heaven, your Son Jesus Christ, showed his love for you by serving his brothers and sisters in need. I now ask you to give me your help as I serve you and your people. Open my mouth to praise you in word and song. Open my ears to hear your word. Open my hand to do your work well. Take from my heart all evil and distracting thoughts. Help me to know what I should do, and do it well.  Help me to serve reverently at your holy altar, and so give you praise ad glory, now and forever. Amen.

Mass Readings

John the Baptist

Take yourselves for instance, brothers, at the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame what is strong that that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen - those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything. The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members of Christ Jesus and by God's doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and our freedom. As scriptures says: if anyone wants to boast, let him boast about the Lord.

SAINT AUGUSTIN

ALTAR SERVER'S PRAYER BEFORE MASS:  Open my mouth, O Lord, to bless your Holy Name. Cleanse my heart from all evil and distracting thoughts. Enlighten my understanding and inflame my will that I may serve worthily at your Holy Altar.

O Mary Mother of Christ the High Priest, obtain for me the most important grace of knowing my vocation life. Grant me a true spirit of faith and humble obedience so that I may ever behold the Priest as a representative of God and willingly follow him in the Way and Truth, and the Life of Christ. Amen Catholic Prayer: Yenra

Mass Readings
St. Augustin

Christ did not send me to baptise, but to preach the Good News, and not to preach that in the terms of philosophy in which the crucifixion of Christ cannot be expressed. The language of the cross my be illogical to those who are not on the way to salvation, but those of us who are on the way see it as God's power to save. As scripture says: I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing all the learning of the learned. Where are the philosophers now? Where are the scribes? Where are any of our thinkers today? Do you see now how God has shown up foolishness of human wisdom? If it was God's wisdom that human wisdom should not know God, it was because God wanted to save those who have faith through the foolishness of the message that we preach. And so, while the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the pagans madness, but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who has the power and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

Jesus told this parable to his disciples: 'The kingdom of heaven will be like this: Then bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were sensible: the foolish ones did take their lamps, but they brought no oil, whereas the sensible ones took flasks of oil as well as their lamps. The bridegroom was late, and they all grew drowsy and fell asleep. But at midnight there was a cry, "The bridegroom is here! Go and meet him." At this, all those bridesmaids woke up and trimmed their lamps, and the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, "Give us some of your oil: our lamps are going out." But they replied, "There may not be enough for us and for you; you had better go to those who sell it and buy some for yourselves." They had gone off to buy it when the bridegroom arrived. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding hall and the door was closed. The other bridesmaids arrived later.  "Lord, Lord," they said "open the door for us." But he replied, "I tell you solemnly, I do not know you." So stay awake, because you do not know wither the day or the hour.'

Lord Jesus Christ my Master, I marvel at your words. Open my heart that I may understand your teaching. Grant me a deeper insight of the scripture that I may grow in wisdom. In knowledge of your word, give me the grace to obey you.  H.G. 

MEMORIAL OF SAINT MONICA

Altar Server's Prayer: Open my mouth, O Lord, to bless your Holy Name. Cleanse my heart from all evil and distracting thoughts. Enlighten my understanding and inflame my will that I may serve more worthily at you holy altar.
O Mary Mother of Christ the High Priest, obtain for me the most important grace of knowing my vocation life. Grant me a true spirit of faith and humble obedience so that I may ever behold the priest as a representative  of  God and willing follow him in the Way and Truth, and the Life of Christ Amen. Catholic Prayer: Yenra
Mass Readings

JESUS CHRIST AND THE TRADITION

To turn, brothers, to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we shall all be gathered round him:please do not get excited too soon or alarmed by any prediction or rumour or any letter claiming to come from us, implying that the Day of the Lord has already arrived. Never let anyone deceive you in this way.

Through the Good News that we brought God called you to this so that you should share the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stand firm and ; then, brothers, and keep the traditions that we taught you, whether by word of mouth or by letter. May our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father who has give us his love and, through his grace, such inexhaustible comfort and such sure hope, comfort you and strengthen you in everything good that you do or say.

Mass Readings
Jesus said: "Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who pay your tithe of mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier matters of the Law - justice, mercy, good faith! These you should have practised, without neglecting the others. You blind guides! Straining out gnats and swallowing camels!"

"Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of cup and dish and leave the inside full of extortion and intemperance. Blind Pharisee! Clean the inside of the cup and dish first so that the outside may become clean as well."

Heavenly Father thank you for your great mercy and love. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus Christ my Lord and Master. By Christ Sacrifice, He has forgiven and cleanse me. Father I am weak in my journey of faith, send me your Holy Spirit to be my teacher and guide. Lord Jesus Christ make me faithful to your teaching I don't want to be hypocrite. Help me LORD.