September 5:
ST. TERESA OF CALCUTTA
Mass proper and readings .
Virgin and Foundress.
ST. TERESA OF CALCUTTA
Come, you blessed of my Father, says the Lord: I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; behold now I give you the water of everlasting life.
God, who called the virgin Saint Teresa to respond to the love of your Son thirsting on the Cross with outstanding charity to the poor, grant us, we beseech you, by her intercession, to minister to Chtist in our suffering brothers nad sisters. Who lives and reigns.
Isa 58:6-11
Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose: releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; Setting free the oppressed, breaking off every yoke? Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry, bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house; Clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: “Here I am!” If you remove the yoke from among you, the accusing finger, and malicious speech; If you lavish your food on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; Then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your gloom shall become like midday; Then the LORD will guide you always and satisfy your thirst in parched places, will give strength to your bones And you shall be like a watered garden, like a flowing spring whose waters never fail.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM (Ps 33:2-3. 4-5. 6-7. 8-9. 10-11)
R. (2a) I will bless the Lord at all times
Give thanks to the LORD on the harp;
on the ten-stringed lyre offer praise.
Sing to him a new song;
skillfully play with joyful chant.
R.
For the LORD’s word is upright;
all his works are trustworthy.
He loves justice and right.
The earth is full of the mercy of the LORD.
R.
By the LORD’s word the heavens were made;
by the breath of his mouth all their host.
He gathered the waters of the sea as a mound;
he sets the deep into storage vaults.
R.
Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all who dwell in the world show him reverence.
For he spoke, and it came to be,
commanded, and it stood in place.
R.
The LORD foils the plan of nations,
frustrates the designs of peoples.
But the plan of the LORD stands forever,
the designs of his heart through all generations.
R.
READING II (in places where it is a solemnity)
1 Jn 4:7-16
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love. In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.
This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us, that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testify that the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God.We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us.God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.
ALLELUIA (Cf. Mt 11:25)
Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth; you have revealed to little ones the mysteries of the kingdom.
GOSPEL
Mt 25: 31-46 (longer form)
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nationswill be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous* will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.’ Then they will answer and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?’ He will answer them, ‘Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.’ And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
OR
Mt 25:31-40 (shorter form)
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nationswill be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous* will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’
Receive, O Lord, the homage of our humble service, which we present to you in commemoration of the Virgin Saint Teresa, and grant through the one unblemished sacrifice that we may constantly burn with devoted and holy love in your sight. Through Christ our Lord.
Missionary of Charity
For you granted Saint Teresa
a share in the thirst of your Son dying on the Cross,
making her a missionary of Charity:
she took upon herself the rejection of the poor and,
placing herself at their service,
she radiated the light of your merciful love.
And so, with all the Angels and Saints, we praise you as without end we acclaim:
[–» Holy, holy, holy…]
Amen, I say to you: Whatever you did to one of the least of my brethren you did it to me, says the Lord.
May the sacred mysteries we have received, O Lord our God,
foster within us the fire of charity
by which Saint Teresa, with a joyful spirit,
served Jesus Christ your Son in the poor.
Through Our Lord.