Give thanks to the Lord, for his great love is without end.
Year: C(I). Psalm week: 1. Liturgical Colour: Green.
In other years: St Peter Chrysologus (380 - 450)
He was born and died in Imola in northern Italy. He was made bishop of Ravenna, the new capital of the Roman Empire, and was responsible for many of the building works there. The name “Chrysologus” means “golden speech”, and was given to Peter because he was such a gifted preacher; unfortunately, most of his writings have perished, and only a collection of short sermons remains.
Other saints: St Justin de Jacobis (1800 - 1860)
Kenya, Southern Africa
Justin was born in Italy in 1800. He joined the Vincentians (Lazarists) and later was sent to Abyssinia (Ethiopia-Eritrea) as a missionary. He studied the local language and culture and slowly developed a special love for the Abyssinian traditions which he used in his missionary ministry. Made bishop in 1849, De Jacobis worked hard for the formation of the Catholic Church, establishing a seminary together with Blessed Ghebre Michael, and ordaining several priests. He died in Eritrea on 31 July 1860. His missionary methodology, rooted in inculturation, is both a legacy and a challenge for missionaries today.
About the author of the Second Reading in today's Office of Readings:
Second Reading: The 'Epistle of Barnabas'
The so-called Epistle of Barnabas is a Greek epistle written between AD 70 and 132. It was respected enough to be included in early codices of the Bible, such as the famous Codex Sinaiticus. Some early Fathers of the Church ascribed it to the Barnabas who is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, but it is now generally attributed to an otherwise unknown early Christian teacher, perhaps also called Barnabas. Like the Epistle of James, the later letters of Peter and John, the Apocalypse and the Shepherd of Hermas, it was accepted as canonical by some people but not by others. As time went on, the status of these various books was settled. Although the Epistle of Barnabas has not in the end been found to be part of scripture, it is still a valuable way of reflecting on scripture itself, especially in the way that it applies specifically Jewish modes of exposition to the events of the New Testament and their prefiguring in the Old. It is used several times in the Liturgy of the Hours.
Liturgical colour: green
The theological virtue of hope is symbolized by the colour green, just as the burning fire of love is symbolized by red. Green is the colour of growing things, and hope, like them, is always new and always fresh. Liturgically, green is the colour of Ordinary Time, the orderly sequence of weeks through the year, a season in which we are being neither single-mindedly penitent (in purple) nor overwhelmingly joyful (in white).
| Mid-morning reading (Terce) | Philippians 2:2-4 © |
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Be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind. There must be no competition among you, no conceit; but everybody is to be self-effacing. Always consider the other person to be better than yourself, so that nobody thinks of his own interests first but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead.
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| Noon reading (Sext) | 2 Corinthians 13:4 © |
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He was crucified through weakness, but still he lives now through the power of God. So then, we are weak, as he was, but we shall live with him, through the power of God, for your benefit.
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| Afternoon reading (None) | Colossians 3:12-13 © |
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You are God’s chosen race, his saints; he loves you, and you should be clothed in sincere compassion, in kindness and humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive each other as soon as a quarrel begins. The Lord has forgiven you; now you must do the same.
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