Celebración de la palabra

Saturday June 27

Saturday of 12th Week of Ordinary Time

GOD AS VISITOR, GREAT FAITH

Introduction

“Cry aloud to the Lord! Lift your hands to him.” The message is one of hope, that when punishment comes for sin we should not blame God and abandon hope, but turn to God.
At a mere word of Jesus the health of the centurion’s servant is restored in response to the marvelous faith of the pagan centurion. He is a model of faith to all of us. His faith makes him worthy to take his place at the table of the kingdom.

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
you come and visit us
often when we are not aware of your coming.
Make us aware of your presence,
that we may eagerly receive you
and be enriched by your visit.
Make us highly appreciate your hospitality
when you set for us the table
of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Reading 1 LAM 2:2, 10-14, 18-19

The Lord has consumed without pity
all the dwellings of Jacob;
He has torn down in his anger
the fortresses of daughter Judah;
He has brought to the ground in dishonor
her king and her princes.

On the ground in silence sit
the old men of daughter Zion;
They strew dust on their heads
and gird themselves with sackcloth;
The maidens of Jerusalem
bow their heads to the ground.

Worn out from weeping are my eyes,
within me all is in ferment;
My gall is poured out on the ground
because of the downfall of the daughter of my people,
As child and infant faint away
in the open spaces of the town.

In vain they ask their mothers,
"Where is the grain?"
As they faint away like the wounded
in the streets of the city,
And breathe their last
in their mothers' arms.

To what can I liken or compare you,
O daughter Jerusalem?
What example can I show you for your comfort,
virgin daughter Zion?
For great as the sea is your downfall;
who can heal you?

Your prophets had for you
false and specious visions;
They did not lay bare your guilt,
to avert your fate;
They beheld for you in vision
false and misleading portents.

Cry out to the Lord;
moan, O daughter Zion!
Let your tears flow like a torrent
day and night;
Let there be no respite for you,
no repose for your eyes.

Rise up, shrill in the night,
at the beginning of every watch;
Pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord;
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your little ones
Who faint from hunger
at the corner of every street.

Responsorial Psalm 74:1B-2, 3-5, 6-7, 20-21

R. (19b) Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.
Why, O God, have you cast us off forever?
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
Remember your flock which you built up of old,
the tribe you redeemed as your inheritance,
Mount Zion, where you took up your abode.
R. Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.
Turn your steps toward the utter ruins;
toward all the damage the enemy has done in the sanctuary.
Your foes roar triumphantly in your shrine;
they have set up their tokens of victory.
They are like men coming up with axes to a clump of trees.
R. Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.
With chisel and hammer they hack at all the paneling of the sanctuary.
They set your sanctuary on fire;
the place where your name abides they have razed and profaned.
R. Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.
Look to your covenant,
for the hiding places in the land and the plains are full of violence.
May the humble not retire in confusion;
may the afflicted and the poor praise your name.
R. Lord, forget not the souls of your poor ones.

Alleluia MT 8:17

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Christ took away our infirmities
and bore our diseases.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 8:5-17

When Jesus entered Capernaum,
a centurion approached him and appealed to him, saying,
"Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully."
He said to him, "I will come and cure him."
The centurion said in reply,
"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed.
For I too am a man subject to authority,
with soldiers subject to me.
And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes;
and to another, 'Come here,' and he comes;
and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him,
"Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.
I say to you, many will come from the east and the west,
and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
at the banquet in the Kingdom of heaven,
but the children of the Kingdom
will be driven out into the outer darkness,
where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth."
And Jesus said to the centurion,
"You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you."
And at that very hour his servant was healed.

Jesus entered the house of Peter,
and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.
He touched her hand, the fever left her,
and she rose and waited on him.

When it was evening, they brought him many
who were possessed by demons,
and he drove out the spirits by a word and cured all the sick,
to fulfill what had been said by Isaiah the prophet:

He took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.

Commentary

In our reading from Lamentations today, the sad lot of Jerusalem and the towns of Judah is graphically depicted. All forms of protection have been torn down. The old and the young are equally distraught. The glory of Zion exists no more. The people have listened to false prophets, who spoke only specious lies and failed to confront the people with their guilt. Daughter Zion is encouraged to repent and bewail her guilt with loud lamentations.
One is reminded of the Franciscan penitent, St. Margaret of Cortona, who, in her hilltop town of central Italy, would cry out for her sins throughout the night—often to the dismay of the villagers!
All of this makes the compassion and goodness of Jesus even more touching. In this early cycle of miracles in Matthew, Christ stands ever ready to extend himself and the goodness of his Father to all those who were sick or beset by demons. As tired as he was by day’s end, he was still pressed to respond to those who needed him, as the living expression of the goodness of God. In the spirit of Isaiah, he took away our infirmities and bore our diseases.

Points to Ponder

The destruction of Jerusalem and Judah’s guilt
Sorrow for sin
The forgiveness of God.

Intercessions

– That all the peoples of the earth may hear where the Lord can be found, come to know his name and pray to him, we pray:
– That we may care for the sick and bring them healing and strength by our friendship and encouraging words, we pray:
That we may welcome foreigners and strangers in our Christian communities and invite them to form community with us, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

God of all people,
we bring bread and wine before you
to celebrate our gratitude to you
as we are gathered around Jesus your Son.
For in him you have accepted us.
From his hospitable table
may men and women from all peoples and cultures
eat his bread of life
and drink his wine of joy,
that all may know your name
and praise your healing love.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Prayer after Communion

Father in heaven,
we thank you that your Son
has spoken his healing word to us
even though we are not worthy.
May he find great faith in us.
We also thank you
that the promise of Jesus has been fulfilled:
Many have come from east and west
to eat from the same table with your people,
as they have joined us in the Eucharist.
Accept our thanks
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing

May the Lord speak to us also the words he spoke to the centurion when we sincerely pray to him: “Let it be done for you according to your faith,” and may God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.