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Today, 3rd of December, we celebrate
Saint Francis Xavier
Paul, a slave of God and Apostle of Jesus Christ
for the sake of the faith of God’s chosen ones
and the recognition of religious truth,
in the hope of eternal life
that God, who does not lie, promised before time began,
who indeed at the proper time revealed his word
in the proclamation with which I was entrusted
by the command of God our savior,
to Titus, my true child in our common faith:
grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.
For this reason I left you in Crete
so that you might set right what remains to be done
and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you,
on condition that a man be blameless,
married only once, with believing children
who are not accused of licentiousness or rebellious.
For a bishop as God’s steward must be blameless, not arrogant,
not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive,
not greedy for sordid gain, but hospitable, a lover of goodness,
temperate, just, holy, and self-controlled,
holding fast to the true message as taught
so that he will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine
and to refute opponents.
R./ Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The Lord’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R./ Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R./ Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R./ Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Jesus said to his disciples, "Scandals will necessarily come and cause people to fall; but woe to the one who has brought it about. It would be better for that one to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around the neck. Truly this would be better for that person than to cause one of these little ones to fall.
"Be careful. If your brother offends you, rebuke him and if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he offends you seven times in a day but says to you seven times: 'I'm sorry,' forgive him."
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." And the Lord said, "If you have faith even the size of a mustard seed, you may say to this tree: 'Be uprooted and plant yourself in the sea,' and it will obey you.
ST. MARTIN OF TOURS, Bishop
Memorial
November 11
Introduction
During a military campaign, Martin (317-397) cut his mantle into two to save a poor beggar from freezing to death. This gesture became the symbol of a sharing Christianity. Ordained a priest by St. Hilary of Tours, he introduced the monastic life in France. Later, as bishop of Tours, he created and organized many rural parishes and monasteries, whose monks evangelized much of Gaul in the 4th and 5th centuries. Tours became a center of pilgrimages.
Opening Prayer
Our loving God,
you let St. Martin of Tours remind us today,
that we have to recognize and love your Son
by welcoming him in those who are naked,
in all who are hungry and thirsty,
abandoned and lonely,
in refugees, in the poor and the sick.
Let our love become free and spontaneous,
like the tenderness you have shown us in your Son.
Welcome us in the everlasting kingdom
prepared for us through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer over the Gifts
Our generous God,
this is the bread you give us
to share with the poor
and here is the wine you wish us to drink
with all who have forgotten what joy is.
In these signs, let your Son come among us
and give us the love and the strength to meet him
in all who hunger and thirst,
for food and affection,
in all that is little and insecure.
Let this be the sacrifice you accept
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
with the inspiration of his stirring words
and by the strength of this bread of life
may we go to you the royal way of Jesus
and to our neighbor the way of sharing.
Make us aware that what we are and have
is a gift from you, not just for ourselves
but for our brothers and sisters.
Let us meet Christ in the underprivileged,
for they are a treasure you have entrusted to us
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
