ENTRANCE SONG 1 Cor. 2:2
I resolved that while I was with you I would think think of nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.
PRAYER
Father,
you gave your priest St. Paul
a special love for the cross of Christ.
May his example inspire us
to embrace our own cross with courage.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
FIRST READING1 Corinthians 1:18-25
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will thwart." Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM117:1bc, 2 R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
Praise the LORD, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples! R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
For steadfast is his kindness toward us,
and the fidelity of the LORD endures forever. R. Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
GOSPELJohn 15:1-8
Jesus told his disciples, "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life? For the Son of man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay every man for what he has done.
PRAYER OVER THE OFFERINGS
All-powerful God,
receive the gifts we offer
in memory of Saint Paul of the Cross.
May we who celebrate the mystery
of the Lord's suffering and death
put into effect the self-sacrificing love
we proclaim in the Eucharist.
We ask this through Christ the Lord.
COMMUNION ANTIPHON1 Cor. 1:23-24
We preach a Christ who was crucified; he is the power and wisdom of God.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Lord,
in the life of St. Paul
you helped us to understand the mystery of the cross.
May the sacrifice we have offered strengthen us,
keep us faithful to Christ,
and help us to work in the Church
for the salvation of all mankind.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
From a letter by St. Paul of the Cross, priest
(Epist. 1, 43; 2, 440. 825)
We preach Christ crucified
It is very good and holy to consider the passion of our Lord and to meditate on it, for by this sacred path we reach union with God. In this most holy school we learn true wisdom, for it was there that all the saints learned it. Indeed when the cross of our dear Jesus has planted its roots more deeply in your hearts, then will you rejoice: "To suffer and not to die," or, "Either to suffer or to die," or better: "Neither to suffer, nor to die, but only to turn perfectly to the will of God."
Love is a unifying virtue which takes upon itself the torments of its beloved Lord. It is a fire reaching through to the inmost soul. It transforms the lover into the one loved. More deeply, love intermingles with grief, and grief with love, and a certain blending of love and grief occurs. They become so united that we can no longer distinguish love from grief nor grief from love. Thus the loving heart rejoices in its sorrow and exults in its grieving love.
Therefore, be constant in practicing every virtue, and especially in imitating the patience of our dear Jesus, for this is the summit of pure love. Live in such a way that all may know that you bear outwardly as well as inwardly the image of Christ crucified, the model of all gentleness and mercy. For if a man is united inwardly with the Son of the living God, he also bears his likeness outwardly by his continual practice of heroic goodness, and especially through a patience reinforced by courage, which does not complain either secretly or in public. Conceal yourselves in Jesus crucified and hope for nothing except that all men be thoroughly converted to his will.
When you become true lovers of the Crucified, you will always celebrate the feast of the cross in the inner temple of the soul, bearing all in silence and not relying on any creature. Since festivals ought to be celebrated joyfully, those who love the Crucified should honor the feast of the cross by enduring in silence with a serene and joyful countenance, so that their suffering remains hidden from men and is observed by God alone. For in this feast there is always a solemn banquet, and the food presented is the will of God, exemplified by the love of our crucified Christ.
RESPONSORYGalatians 6:14; Habakkuk 3:18
God forbid that I should boast
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Through it the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will exult in God my Savior.
- Through it the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
PRAYER
Father,
you gave your priest St. Paul
a special love for the cross of Christ.
May his example inspire us
to embrace our own cross with courage.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.