Memory of the Mother of the Lord
Feast of Saint Charles Lwanga (+1886) who with twelve companions suffered martyrdom in Uganda.
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
The child you shall bear will be holy.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Acts 20,17-27
From Miletus he sent for the elders of the church of Ephesus. When they arrived he addressed these words to them: 'You know what my way of life has been ever since the first day I set foot among you in Asia, how I have served the Lord in all humility, with all the sorrows and trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. I have not hesitated to do anything that would be helpful to you; I have preached to you and instructed you both in public and in your homes, urging both Jews and Greeks to turn to God and to believe in our Lord Jesus. 'And now you see me on my way to Jerusalem in captivity to the Spirit; I have no idea what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit, in town after town, has made it clear to me that imprisonment and persecution await me. But I do not place any value on my own life, provided that I complete the mission the Lord Jesus gave me -- to bear witness to the good news of God's grace. 'I now feel sure that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will ever see my face again. And so on this very day I swear that my conscience is clear as far as all of you are concerned, for I have without faltering put before you the whole of God's purpose.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Look down, O Lord, on your servants.
Be it unto us according to your word.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
After landing in Miletus, the apostle sends for the 'elders' of the community of Ephesus to join him. He feels the desire to greet them and leave them his 'pastoral testament,' as they will soon become the community's leaders. Paul opens his speech by bringing his example: "You yourselves know how I lived among you." The apostle wants the 'elders' to be 'the models of the flock' and therefore invites them to consider his way of being a shepherd, during the three years of ministry in Ephesus. His was a ministry conceived above all as 'service to the Lord' carried out in meekness, which opens hearts and disposes them to listen to the Gospel and encounter God. Paul then confides to the elders of Ephesus that he will go to Jerusalem, not on his own whim but because he is 'moved by the Spirit.' He is not sure what will happen to him, but he is aware that serving the Lord involves opposition and trials: he speaks of 'tribulation' and even hints at death. Martyrdom' is essential to the Gospel. Albert Schweitzer, the well-known Protestant biblical scholar of the last century who went to live in Africa in a leper colony, wrote: 'We must become capable again of feeling in ourselves what is heroic in Jesus... Only then will our Christianity and our conception of the world rediscover the heroic and be enlivened by it.' To be a 'martyr,' Mgr. Romero recalled, is to 'give one's life' for the Lord and for others, no matter if with blood or in some other way. What matters is to spend oneself totally so that the Gospel is communicated.