Liturgical Readings for : Saturday, 6th July, 2024
Saturday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time, Cycle 2
Optional memorial of St Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr
Optional memorial of St Moninne of Killeavy, virgin
FIRST READING Amos 9:11-15
I mean to restore the fortunes of my people Israel and I will plant them in their own country.
It is the Lord who speaks –
‘That day I will re-erect the tottering hut of David,
make good the gaps in it, restore its ruins and rebuild it as it was in the days of old,
so that they can conquer the remnant of Edom and all the nations that belonged to me.’
It is the Lord who speaks, and he will carry this out.
‘The days are coming now-it is the Lord who speaks–
when harvest will follow directly after ploughing,
the treading of grapes soon after sowing,
when the mountains will run with new wine and the hills all flow with it.
I mean to restore the fortunes of my people Israel;
they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them,
plant vineyards and drink their wine, dig gardens and eat their produce.
I will plant them in their own country, never to be rooted up again
out of the land I have given them, says the Lord, your God.’
The Word of the Lord Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 84
Response The Lord speaks peace to his people.
1. I will hear what the Lord God has to say, a voice that speaks of peace,
peace for his people and his friends and those who turn to him in their hearts. Response
2. Mercy and faithfulness have met; justice and peace have embraced.
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth and justice look down from heaven. Response
3 The Lord will make us prosper and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him and peace shall follow his steps. Response
Gospel Acclamation Ps 118: 135
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Let your face shine on your servant, and teach me your decrees.
Alleluia!
Or Jn 10: 27
Alleluia, Alleluia!
The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, says the lord,
I know them and they follow me.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 9:14-17 Glory to you, O Lord
Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them?
John’s disciples came to Jesus and said,
‘Why is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not?’
Jesus replied,
‘Surely the bridegroom’s attendants would never think of mourning as long as the bridegroom is still with them? But the time will come for the bridegroom to be taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a piece of unshrunken cloth on to an old cloak, because the patch pulls away from the cloak and the tear gets worse.
Nor do people put new wine into old wine skins; if they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are lost.
No; they put new wine into fresh skins and both are preserved.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection Saturday Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 9:14-17
In today’s first reading, the prophet Amos announces the coming of a time when ‘the mountains will run with new wine’ when people will again ‘plant vineyards and drink their wine’. In the gospel reading, Jesus declares that the ‘new wine’ of his ministry requires new wineskins. The traditional regulations relating to fasting are not compatible with the new wine Jesus brings because they are more suited to a time of mourning that to the period of his ministry which had more of the character of a wedding celebration. A wedding celebration often drew in the entire village. It was a rare opportunity for people to enjoy a feast with good food and wine. In every age the community of believers needs to find wineskins that can contain the new wine of Jesus’ ministry.
Is there a celebratory element to the way we preach the gospel, to how we live out our faith, to how we worship together? On one occasion, Jesus associated children enacting a funeral with the ministry of John the Baptist and children pretending to play the flute (as at a wedding) with his own ministry, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed and you did not weep’ (Lk 7:32). In the past, certain expressions of the Christian faith, including within the Roman Catholic tradition, have seemed more funereal than celebratory. God’s gift of Jesus to us is always good news, even when our own personal circumstances leave a lot to be desired. This is why Paul, while in prison, could say to the members of the church in Philippi, many of whom ‘were suffering for him (Christ)’ (Phil 1:29) to ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice’ (Phil 4:4).
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TThe Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
