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First Reading: Col 1:15-20
Brothers and sisters:
Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.
For in him were created all things in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers;
all things were created through him and for him.
He is before all things,
and in him all things hold together.
He is the head of the Body, the Church.
He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he himself might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile all things for him,
making peace by the Blood of his cross
through him, whether those on earth or those in heaven.
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5
R (2b) Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
serve the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful song.
R./ Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Know that the LORD is God;
he made us, his we are;
his people, the flock he tends.
R./ Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
his courts with praise;
Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R./ Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
For he is good,
the LORD, whose kindness endures forever,
and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R./ Come with joy into the presence of the Lord.
Gospel Reading: Lk 5:33-39
Some people asked him, "The disciples of John fast often and say long prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why is it that your disciples eat and drink?" Then Jesus said to them, "You can't make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them. But later the bridegroom will be taken from them and they will fast in those days."
Jesus also told them this parable, "No one tears a piece from a new coat to put it on an old one; otherwise the new will be torn and the piece taken from the new will not match the old. No one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed as well. But new wine must be put into fresh skins. Yet no one who has tasted old wine is eager to get new wine, but says: The old is good."
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT
Pope and Church Doctor
September 3
Introduction
Gregory the Great (540–604) was civil prefect (governor) of Rome; he became a Benedictine monk, later papal envoy to Constantinople. Elected Pope, he reluctantly accepted, as he preferred the monastic life. He was a very capable administrator, looking upon his task as service. His incumbency during difficult times was marked by his efforts to care for the socially deprived, to reconcile factions within the Church, to create cordial relations with the Church in Spain and France and to evangelize England. He reformed the Roman liturgy, though his relation to "Gregorian chant" is mere fantasy, for the "old Roman" music he promoted disappeared in the 14th century. Let us honor him today especially as a reformer of the Church and "servant of the servants" as he called himself.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God,
St. Gregory followed Jesus, your Son,
in his commitment to you
and his service to the people entrusted to him.
May the Spirit of Jesus be alive in us
and dispose us to become, like your Son,
powerless and vulnerable,
so that we can serve one another,
especially the weakest of our brothers and sisters.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Prayer over the Gifts
God of all people,
as Jesus serves us himself at table
in the signs of bread and wine,
let him fill us with that love,
which alone can understand
that to be great is to serve others
and to use up our lives
to give people a chance to live and be free.
May we seek no other reward
than to share the destiny of Jesus,
our Lord and Savior for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Loving God,
your Son, Jesus, has been with us
in this Eucharistic celebration
as the servant of us all.
Let him dispose our hearts
and fill it with the courage
to understand and accept others,
to accompany them on the road of life
to suffer their pains
and to rejoice with their joys,
that we may serve them with Jesus,
our Savior and Lord for ever.
