THE BREATH OF LIFE

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

The Lord God fashioned man out of dust

At the time when the Lord God made earth and heaven there was as yet no wild bush on the earth nor had any wild plant yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth, nor was there any man to till the soil. However, a flood was rising from the earth and watering all the surface of the soil. The Lord God fashioned man of dust from the soil. Then he breathed into his nostrils a breath of life, and thus man became a living being.

The Lord God planted a garden in Eden which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. The Lord God caused to spring up from the soil every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden. The Lord God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it. Then the Lord God gave the man this admonition, ‘You may eat indeed of all the trees in the garden. Nevertheless of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat, for on the day you eat of it you shall most surely die.’

Responsorial Psalm
Bless the Lord, my soul!

Saint Scholastica

Gospel

It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean

Jesus called the people to him and said, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that goes into a man from outside can make him unclean; it is the things that come out of a man that make him unclean. If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen to this.’ 

When he had gone back into the house, away from the crowd, his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, ‘Do you not understand either? Can you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot make him unclean, because it does not go into his heart but through his stomach and passes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he pronounced all foods clean.) And he went on, ‘It is what comes out of a man that makes him unclean. For it is from within, from men’s hearts, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within and make a man unclean.’ 

My Father in heaven, thank you for I am wonderfully and fearfully made. You fashioned me out of dust from the soil. Father then you breathed into my nostrils a breath of life, and thus I became a living being. 

Loving Father my life is a mystery.  Father, you so much love me, to keep me from harm and from self destruction you gave me admonition with a free will to choose from good and evil. The  choice from my heart will determine my actions towards my fellow creatures. 

My choice according to your will Father will preserve lives and your work of creation (protection of humanity and the environment).  Father the choice from my heart will make me clean or unclean. The knowledge from good and evil as a result of the free will you give to me emerge from my heart. Give me your Holy Spirit, for I am created in your image. Free my heart from all evil.

Father create in me a pure heart. Give me a loving heart free from evil intentions like fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly according to today's gospel.  Father preserve my heart. May these negative actions not dwell in my heart for they really defile the Spirit, your breath of life you gave me when you fashioned me in your image, and in your unfailing love. Lord Jesus Christ my Saviour make my heart like yours.