people of every race and language
to share with Timothy and Titus and all your saints
in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord.
27 January
John Chrysostom
Bishop of Constantinople, Teacher of the Faith
Scotland: Commemoration – Wales: V
See 13 September
28 January
Thomas Aquinas
White
Priest, Philosopher, Teacher of the Faith
England: Lesser Festival – Scotland: Commemoration – Wales: V
Thomas Aquinas has been described as the greatest thinker and teacher of the mediæval church. Born at Rocca Secca, near Aquino, in Italy, Thomas was educated first by the Benedictines at Monte Cassino and then at the University of Naples. Against his family’s wishes, he joined the mendicant Dominican Order of Preachers. His profound theological wisdom and capacity to impart this, as well in homilies as in hymns, along with his gentleness of spirit in dealing with all, earned him the title ‘the angelic doctor’. He died on 7 March 1274, en route to the Council of Lyons, and his feast has been celebrated on this day since 1970.
Collect
Eternal God,
who enriched your Church with the learning and holiness
of your servant Thomas Aquinas:
give to all who seek you
a humble mind and a pure heart
that they may know your Son Jesus Christ
as the way, the truth and the life;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
A reading from the Wisdom of Solomon.
I prayed, and understanding was given me;
I called on God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to sceptres and thrones,
and I accounted wealth as nothing in comparison with her.
Neither did I liken to her any priceless gem,
because all gold is but a little sand in her sight,
and silver will be accounted as clay before her.
I loved her more than health and beauty,
and I chose to have her rather than light,
because her radiance never ceases.
15 May God grant me to speak with judgement,
and to have thoughts worthy of what I have received;
for he is the guide even of wisdom
and the corrector of the wise.
For both we and our words are in his hand,
as are all understanding and skill in crafts.
This is the word of the Lord.
Wisdom 7.7–10, 15, 16
Responsorial Psalm
R: Let the words of my mouth,
O Lord, be acceptable in your sight.
The heavens are telling the glory of God
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
One day pours out its song to another
and one night unfolds knowledge to another. R
They have neither speech nor language
and their voices are not heard,
Yet their sound has gone out into all lands
and their words to the ends of the world. R
Keep your servant also from presumptuous sins
lest they get dominion over me;
so shall I be undefiled,
and innocent of great offence. R
From Psalm 19
A reading from the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians.
As it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him’ – these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.
Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.
‘For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.
This is the word of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 2.9–end
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
John 16.12–15
Post Communion
God of truth,
whose Wisdom set her table
and invited us to eat the bread and drink the wine
of
