MASS (TUESDAY, AUGUST 25)

Mass

Tuesday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

SAINT LOUIS (Optional memorial)

Saint Louis IX reigned as king of France from 1226 to 1270. He labored to create a just Christian order throughout his own kingdom. On the world stage, he promoted Christian Europe, boldly supporting the last two Crusades. Louis and his wife Margaret had five sons and six daughters. In what is said to have been Louis’ final testament, he urged his son Philip: “fix your whole heart upon God.” He counseled Philip to avoid sin, make frequent confession, and rule his people with justice and moderation, always bearing a “tender, pitiful heart for the poor.” Louis died while on his second Crusade, in Tunisia, in 1270.

ENTRANCE ANTIPHON – Cf. Ps 21 (20):2-3

In your strength, O Lord, the just one rejoices;/ how greatly your salvation makes him glad!/ You have granted him his soul’s desire.

COLLECT 

O God, who brought Saint Louis

from the cares of earthly rule

to the glory of a heavenly realm,

grant, we pray, through his intercession,

that, by fulfilling our duties on earth,

we may seek out your eternal Kingdom.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity

of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Hold fast to the traditions that you were taught.

A reading from the second Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians 2:1-3a, 14-17

We ask you, brothers and sisters, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling with him, not to be shaken out of your minds suddenly, or to be alarmed either by a “spirit,” or by an oral statement, or by a letter allegedly from us to the effect that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no one deceive you in any way.

To this end he has also called you through our Gospel to possess the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting encouragement and good hope through his grace, encourage your hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word.

The word of the Lord.

PSALM 96

R/ (13b) The Lord comes to judge the earth.

Say among the nations: The Lord is king.

He has made the world firm, not to be moved;

he governs the peoples with equity. R/

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice;

let the sea and what fills it resound;

let the plains be joyful and all that is in them!

Then shall all the trees of the forest exult. R/

Before the Lord, for he comes;

for he comes to rule the earth.

He shall rule the world with justice

and the peoples with his constancy. R/

Alleluia, alleluia. The word of God is living and effective,/ able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. Alleluia, alleluia.

But these you should have done, without neglecting the others.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 23:23-26

Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity. But these you should have done, without neglecting the others. Blind guides, who strain out the gnat and swallow the camel!

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You cleanse the outside of cup and dish, but inside they are full of plunder and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may be clean.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

PRAYER OVER OFFERINGS 

Through the present oblation, O Lord,

which we offer in commemoration of blessed Louis,

bestow on your faithful, we pray,

the gifts of unity and peace.

Through Christ our Lord.

COMMUNION ANTIPHON Mt 6:33

Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,/ and all these things will be given you besides, says the Lord.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION 

May the Sacrament we have received, O Lord,

in commemoration of blessed Louis,

sanctify our minds and hearts,

that we may merit to be made sharers in the

divine nature.

Through Christ our Lord.