PRAISE THE LORD WHO HEALS THE BROKEN HEARTED

Prayer before Mass: Almighty and ever-living God, I approach the sacrament of Your only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. I come sick to the doctor of life, unclean to the fountain of mercy, blind to the radiance of eternal light, and poor and needy to the Lord of heaven and earth. Lord, in Your great generosity, heal my sickness, wash away my defilement, enlighten my blindness, enrich my poverty, and clothe my nakedness. May I receive the Bread of Angels, the King of kings and Lord of lords, with humble reverence, with the purity and faith, the repentance and love, and the determined purpose that will help  to bring me to salvation. 

 May I receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, and its reality and power. Kind God, may I receive the Body of Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, born from the womb of the Virgin Mary, and so be received into His mystical body and numbered among His members.

Loving Father, as on my earthly pilgrimage I now receive Your beloved Son under the veil of a  sacrament, may I one day see Him face to face in glory, who lives and reigns with You forever. Amen. By Knights of the Holy Eucharist.  Readings Lectures  Reflection 

First Reading

My life is but a breath

Job began to speak:
Is not man’s life on earth nothing more than pressed service, 
his time no better than hired drudgery? 
Like the slave, sighing for the shade,
or the workman with no thought but his wages,
months of delusion I have assigned to me,
nothing for my own but nights of grief.
Lying in bed I wonder, ‘When will it be day?’
Risen I think, ‘How slowly evening comes!’
Restlessly I fret till twilight falls.
Swifter than a weaver’s shuttle my days have passed,
and vanished, leaving no hope behind.
Remember that my life is but a breath,
and that my eyes will never again see joy.

Responsorial Psalm

Praise the Lord who heals the broken-hearted

Second Reading

I should be punished if I did not preach the Gospel

I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands. Do you know what my reward is? It is this: in my preaching, to be able to offer the Good News free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me.

So though I am not a slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many as I could. For the weak I made myself weak: I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the gospel, to have a share in its blessings.

Gospel

He cast out devil and cured many who were suffering from disease

On leaving the synagogue, Jesus went with James and John straight to the house of Simon and Andrew. Now Simon’s mother-in-law had gone to bed with fever, and they told him about her straightaway. He went to her, took her by the hand and helped her up. And the fever left her and she began to wait on them.

That evening, after sunset, they brought to him all who were sick and those who were possessed by devils. The whole town came crowding round the door, and he cured many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another; he also cast out many devils, but he would not allow them to speak, because they knew who he was. 

In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there. Simon and his companions set out in search of him, and when they found him they said, ‘Everybody is looking for you.’ He answered, ‘Let us go elsewhere, to the neighbouring country towns, so that I can preach there too, because that is why I came.’ And he went all through Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out devils.

My Father in heaven, sometimes the challenge and battle of life makes me cry and I ask if my life on earth is nothing more than pressed service, that my time is not better than hired drudgery? Like the slave, sighing for shade, or the workman with no thought but his wages, months of delusion, nothing but grief. I count the number of days on my bed, my days passed like a weaver's shuttle and vanished leaving no hope behind.  In my all my trials I remember your saving grace.

Thank you Father for sending your Son Jesus Christ for I know that in my battles in life, in grief or in pain, in sickness, in temptations, and battle against every form of principalities and negative forces His name alone is my protection. He is ever near to answer my call for help in all my distress. In Christ I hope remembering that my life is but a breath and that in Him is my joy for Christ is merciful. He heals the broken hearted. Thank you Father for your Son Jesus Christ. My compassionate Lord and Saviour thank  for loving me.