Liturgical Readings for : Tuesday, 23rd July, 2024
23-07 – Bridget of Sweden, Patron of Europe, Feast
FIRST READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Galatians 2:19-20
I live not with my own life but with the life of Christ who lives in me.
Through the Law I am dead to the Law, so that now I can live for God.
I have been crucified with Christ, and I live now not with my own life
but with the life of Christ who lives in me.
The life I now live in this body I live in faith: faith in the Son of God
who loved me and who sacrificed himself for my sake.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Responsorial Psalm Ps 33
Response I will bless the Lord at all times.
Or Taste and see that the Lord is good.
I. I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise always on my lips;
in the Lord my soul shall make its boast. The humble shall hear and be glad. Response
2. Glorify the Lord with me. Together let us praise his name.
I sought the Lord and he answered me; from all my terrors he set me free. Response
3. Look towards him and be radiant; let your faces not be abashed.
This poor man called; the Lord heard him and rescued him from all his distress. Response
4. The angel of the Lord is encamped around those who revere him, to rescue them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good. He is happy who seeks refuge in him. Response
5. Revere the Lord, you his saints. They lack nothing, those who revere him.
Strong lions suffer want and go hungry but those who seek the Lord lack no blessing. Response
Gospel Acclamation Jn 15: 9. 5
Alleluia, alleluia!
Remain in my love, says the Lord;
whoever remains in me, me in him, bears fruit in plenty.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL
The Lord be with you. And with your spirit
A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 15:1-8 Glory to you, O Lord.
Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty.
Jesus said to his disciples;
‘I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that bears no fruit he cuts away,
and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes to make it bear even more.
You are pruned already, by means of the word that I have spoken to you.
Make your home in me, as I make mine in you.
As a branch cannot bear fruit all by itself, but must remain part of the vine,
neither can you unless you remain in me.
I am the vine, you are the branches.
Whoever remains in me, with me in him, bears fruit in plenty;
for cut off from me you can do nothing.
Anyone who does not remain in me is
like a branch that has been thrown away
–he withers; these branches are collected and thrown on the fire, and they are burnt.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask what you will and you shall get it.
It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit, and then you will be my disciples.’
The Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Gospel Reflection July 23rd Feast of St Bridget of Sweden, Patron of Europe John 15:1-8
St. Bridget of Sweden was a mystic, a woman of deep prayer. She married when she was fourteen, and bore eight children, four daughters and four sons. Bridget’s saintly and charitable life soon made her known far and wide. After her husband died, she became a member of the Third Order of St. Francis and devoted herself wholly to a life of prayer and caring for the sick. She was inspired to form the religious community called the Order of the Most Holy Saviour, or the Brigittines. One distinctive feature of the houses of her order was that they were ‘double’ monasteries, with both men and women forming a joint community, though with separate cloisters. In 1350 she went to Rome, accompanied by her daughter and a small party of disciples. She wanted to obtain from the Pope authorisation for her new order. This was during the time of the Great Schism in the church.
Along with Catherine of Siena, she worked hard to get Pope Clement VI to return from Avignon to Rome. Bridget became known in Rome for her kindness and good works. While in Rome, she went on many pilgrimages to Italy and also made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. She remained in Rome until her death on 23rd July, 1373. Her remains were returned to Sweden. She was canonized in 1391, eighteen years after she died. She exemplified what it is to be a contemplative in action. Through a deep prayer life, she made her home in the Lord and allowed the Lord to make his home in her, in the language of the gospel reading. As a result, her life bore rich fruit, the fruit of a love that reflected the Lord’s love for us. As branches on the vine who is Jesus, we are all called to remain in him and to allow him to remain in us, so that our lives too can show forth the self-emptying servant love of the Lord in our own time and place.
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The Scripture Readings are taken from The Jerusalem Bible, published 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd Ltd.
