to in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit grace to you and peace from god our father and the lord jesus christ my brothers and sisters welcome to morning mass here at st patrick's cathedral and as we prepare to celebrate the sacred mystery let us call to mind our  you were sent to heal the contrite of heart lord have mercy you came to call centers christ have mercy you are seated at the right hand of the father to intercede for us lord have mercy may almighty god have mercy on us forgive us our sins and bring us to everlasting life let us pray  god whom wonderfully chose the priest saint john used to proclaim the unfathomable riches of christ grant us by his example and teach chains that growing in knowledge of  we may live faithfully by the light of the gospel through our lord jesus christ your son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god forever and a reading from the book of judges the children of israel offended the lord by serving the bowels abandoning the lord the god of their fathers who let them out of the land of egypt they followed the other g of the various nations around them and by their worship of these gods provoked the lord because they had thus abandoned him and served and the ashtar of the anger of the lord flared up against israel and he delivered them over to wonders who despoiled them he allowed them to fall into the power of their enemies round about whom they were no longer able to withstand whatever they undertook the lord turned into disaster for them as in his warning he had sworn he would do till they were in great distress even when the lord raised up judges to deliver them from the power of their despoil as they did not listen to their judges but abandoned themselves to the worship of other gods they were quick to stray from the way of their fathers had taken and did not follow their example of obedience to the commandments of the lord whenever the lord raised up judges for them he would be with the judge and save them from the power of their enemies as long as the judge lived it was thus the lord took pity on their distressful cries of affliction under their oppressors but when the judge died they would relapse and do worse and their ancestors following other gods in service and worship relinquishing none of their evil practices or stubborn conduct the word of the lord thank remember us all the lord as you favor your people remember remember us the lord i was in favor of your people they did not exterminate the peoples as the lord has commanded them but mingled with the nations and learned their works remember they served their idols which became a snare for them they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons remember us they became defiled by their works and wanton in their crimes and the lord grew angry with their people and aboard his inheritance many times did he rescue them but they him bittered him with their counsels yet he had regard for their affliction when he heard their pride remember  the lord be with a reading from the holy gospel according to matthew a young man approached jesus and said teacher must i do to gain eternal life and he answered him why do you ask me about the good there was only one who was good if you wish to enter into life keep the command asked him which one and the lord replied you shall not kill you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not bear false witness honor your father and your mother and you shall love your neighbor as yourself the young man said to him all of these i have observed what do i still laugh said to him if you wish to be perfect go sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and then come follow me when the young man heard this statement he went away sad for he had many possessions the gospel of the lord we're also familiar with this gospel story mainly because over the course of the liturgical year it's presented to us by a number of the evangelists and also on different occasions and it always impresses me because there are a number of items in there that challenge me cause me to stop and pause a little bit this this good young man is portrayed sometimes as a teacher of the law a lawyer sometimes who one who is just desirous of gaining eternal life and like us he's a good young man he is someone who observes the law as best as he could you see the dialogue between him and jesus he keeps the commands like us who try to live by the ten commandments look at how we come to mass every day we worship the lord and experience prayer we do all of these things and so he asked the lord for his his life's desire how do i get to heaven what do i need to do and jesus said do all these things and you'll get to heaven and the the man is able to say well i do them a lot so what impresses me is that jesus says to him ok but you're lacking in one thing there's still another thing that you need to do and of course he says to the man take your possessions and sell them get rid of them get them out of your life and come and follow me and you'll be perfect you'll have eternal life and the punchline of the gospel is that he went away very sad because he had many positions i'll tell you what what intrigues me he one avoid very sad why was that was it because he had so many possessions that he didn't want to get rid of them or was he saying because he had many possessions and he had to get ready we'll never know the outcome of this story matthew the gospel writer doesn't tell us tells us that he went away to have to face a major decision in life hold on to everything and be sad that he missed the opportunity for perfection or give it all away and and be free to be able to follow the lord in his desire for us to attain eternal salvation us pray my brothers and sisters in great humility before the father who leads us to abandon all obstacles to perfection and bring our petitions for the needs of his people for all the leaders of the church that their fresh proclamation of the gospel will bring new life to those who are separated from god let us pray to the lord for the leaders of our country that they will fulfill the duties of their office by acting justly and honoring the dignity of every human life let us pray to the lord for all those who are still unemployed that they will find purposeful work we pray to the lord for those in our community who are in need of the basic necessities of life that hope in the lord will sustain them in their suffering until all their needs are met let us pra the lord and for our brother in christ michael and for all who have died that they may rest in peace in the kingdom of heaven let us pray to the lord pray brothers and sisters that my sacrifice and yours will be acceptable to god almighty father receive the lord we pray the offerings placed upon your altar in commemoration of bless a john hughes so that as you brought him glory you may through these sacred mysteries grant to wash your car through christ our lord the lord be with you lift up your hearts let us give thanks for the lord our god it is truly ri just our duty and our salvation always and everywhere to give you thanks lord holding father almighty any turn with god through our lord jesus christ for eyes on the festival of st john you see you big your church rejoice so to you strengthen her by the example of his holy life teach her by his words of preaching and keep her safe in answer to his prayers and so with the company of angels you are indeed holding your lord the fount of all holiness make holy the end for these gifts we pray by sending down your spirit upon them like they do for all so that they may become for us the body and blood of our lord jesus christ at the time he was be trade and entered willingly into his passion he took bread and giving thanks broke it and gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you when to eat of it for this is my body which will be given up for you in a similar way when supper was and he took the chalice and once more giving thanks he gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you and drink from it for this is the chalice of my blood the blood of the new and eternal covenant which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this in memory of me humbly we pray that partaking of the body and blood of christ we may be gathered into one by the holy spirit remember lord your church spread throughout the world and bring her to the fullness of charity together give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but the liver us from evil deliver us lord we pray f every evil graciously grant peace in our days but by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the bless at home and the coming of our savior jesus christ lord jesus christ who said to your apostles peace side leave you my peace i give you a look not on our sins but on the faith of your church and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will live in reign for ever endeavor the peace of the lord be with you always let us offer each other the sign of the behold the lamb of god the hold him who takes away the sins of the world blessed are those who are called to the supper of the land lord i am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word in my may partaking at this heavenly table almighty god confirm an increased strength from on high and all who celebrate the feast day of bless a john hughes that we may preserve an integrity the gift  faith and walk in the path of salvation you trace for us through christ our lord the lord be with you and may almighty god bless you the father the son and the holy spirit