YOU BELONG TO CHRIST AND CHRIST BELONG TO GOD

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

Make no mistake about it: if any  one of you thinks of himself as wise, in the ordinary sense of the world, then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As scripture says: The Lord knows wise men's thoughts: he knows how useless they are; or again: God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise. So there is nothing to boast about in anything human: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life and death, the present and the future, are all your servants; but you belong to Christ and Christ belong to God.  Pope Gregory

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out to them and were washing their nets. He go into one of the boats - it was Simon's - and asked him to put out a little from the shore.  Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

When he finished speaking he said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch. 'Master, 'Simon replied, 'we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.' And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point. When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, 'Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.' For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. But Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.' Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

Father you guide your people with kindness and govern us with love. By the prayers of Saint Gregory give the spirit of wisdom to those you called to lead your Church. May the growth of your people in holiness be the eternal joy of our shepherds.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. 

from  Pauline Prayer of the Church

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YOU BELONG TO CHRIST AND CHRIST BELONG TO GOD

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

Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to wait on them.
Pope St Gregory 
Make no mistake about it: if any  one of you thinks of himself as wise, in the ordinary sense of the world, then he must learn to be a fool before he really can be wise. Why? Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As scripture says: The Lord knows wise men's thoughts: he knows how useless they are; or again: God is not convinced by the arguments of the wise. So there is nothing to boast about in anything human: Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life and death, the present and the future, are all your servants; but you belong to Christ and Christ belong to God.

Luke 5:1-11
Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out to them and were washing their nets. He go into one of the boats - it was Simon's - and asked him to put out a little from the shore.  Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.


When he finished speaking he said to Simon, 'Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch. 'Master, 'Simon replied, 'we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.' And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point. When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, 'Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.' For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. But Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.' Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

Father you guide your people with kindness and govern us with love. By the prayers of Saint Gregory give the spirit of wisdom to those you called to lead your Church. May the growth of your people in holiness be the eternal joy of our shepherds.  We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. 
from  Pauline Prayer of the Church


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I MUST PROCLAIM THE GOOD NEWS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

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

Brothers, I myself was unable to speak to you as people of the Spirit: I treated you as sensual men, still infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk, not solid food, for you were not read for it; and indeed, you are still not ready for it since you are still unspiritual, Isn't that obvious from all the jealousy and wrangling that there is among you, from the way that you go on behaving like ordinary people? What could be more unspiritual than your slogans, 'I am for Paul' and 'I am for Apollos'?

After all, what is Apollos and what is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you. Even the different ways in which thy brought it were assigned  to them by the Lord. I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the waterer matters: only God, who makes things grow. It is all one who does the planting and who does the watering and each will duly be paid according to his share in the work. We are fellow workers with God; you are God's farm, God's building.

Leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon's house. Now Simon's mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to wait on them.

At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people, howling, 'You are the Son of God' But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew he was the Christ.

When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, 'I must proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the other towns too, because this is what I was sent to do.' And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judea.


Lord Jesus Christ my Lord and Master, you must have spent all night healing and delivering people from all sickness and diseases since it was at sunset all those that had friends suffering from diseases brought them to you. You were patient, you were gentle, you were compassionate and loving. Dear Lord help me to have compassion towards all creatures. Make my heart like yours my Lord. H.G.

SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE OF GOD

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

The Spirit reaches the depths of everything, even the depths of God. After all, the depth of a man can only be known by his own spirit, by not any other man, and in the same way the depths of God can only be known by the Spirit of God. Now instead of the spirit of the world, we have received the Spirit that comes from God, to teach us to understand the gifts that he has given us.  Therefore we teach, not the way in which philosophy is taught, but in the way that the Spirit teaches us: we teach spiritual things spiritually. An unspiritual person is one who does not accept anything of the Spirit of God: he sees it all as nonsense; it is beyond his understanding because it can only be understood by mean of the Spirit.
The spiritual man, on the other hand, is able to judge the value of everything, and his own value is not to be judged by other men. As the scripture says: Who can know the mind of the Lord, so who can teach him? But we are those who have the mind of Christ.

Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath. And his teaching made a deep impression on them because he spoke with authority.  In the synagogue there was a man who was possessed by the spirit of  unclean devil, and it shouted at the top of its voice, 'Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God.' But Jesus said sharply, 'Be quiet! Come out of him!' And the devil, throwing the man down in front of everyone, went out of him without hurting him at all. Astonishment seized them and they were all saying to one another, 'What teaching! He gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and power and they come out.' And report of him went all through the surrounding countryside.

Father in Heaven, open my heart. May your Spirit fill me with knowledge of you. Come Holy Spirit into my heart. Open my eyes that I may see your power and presence in our world.