Neither seek what is too difficult for you,
nor investigate what is beyond your power.
Reflect upon what you have been commanded,
for what is hidden is not your concern.
Do not meddle in matters that are beyond you,
for more than you can understand has been shown to you.
For their conceit has led many astray,
and wrong opinion has impaired their judgement.
This is the word of the Lord.
Ecclesiasticus 3.17–24
Responsorial Psalm
R: Great is the might of the Lord;
[by the humble he is glorified].
How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul has a desire and longing to enter the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God. R
The sparrow has found her a house
and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young:
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God. R
Blessed are they who dwell in your house:
they will always be praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion. R
Who going through the barren valley
find there a spring,
and the early rains will clothe it with blessing.
They will go from strength to strength
and appear before God in Zion. R
From Psalm 84
A reading from the First Letter of Paul to Timothy.
Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness; fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time – he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.
This is the word of the Lord.
1 Timothy 6.11b–16
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.
When Jesus noticed how the guests chose the places of honour, he told them a parable. ‘When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honour, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place”, and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, “Friend, move up higher”; then you will be honoured in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Luke 14.7–11
Post Communion
Holy Father,
who gathered us here around the table of your Son
to share this meal with the whole household of God:
in that new world where you reveal
the fullness of your peace,
gather people of every race and language
to share with Chad and all your saints
in the eternal banquet of Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 March
John and Charles Wesley
Evangelists, Hymn Writers
Scotland: Commemoration
See 24 May
4 March
Adrian of May Island
Adrian of May Island, Abbot, and his Companions, Martyrs
Scotland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Martyrs
Adrian, who according to tradition was of Hungarian descent, settled with many companions in Fife to evangelize the Picts. During the Viking raids he is said to have softened the raider’s fury and to have converted some. A fierce raid in 875 obliged him to retire with his companions to the island of May in the Firth of Forth. There they were killed by the Danes. The island, with a monastery founded by King David i, became an important centre of pilgrimage.
5 March
Non
Mother of David of Wales
Wales: V
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Religious
According to Rhygyfarch’s Life of St David, Non (whom he assumes was a nun) was raped by Sant, King of Ceredigion. She gave birth to a son: Dewi Sant or St David. The Welsh version of her story says that he was her only child, but Irish tradition also makes her the mother of two daughters, Mor and Magna. She is said to have moved to Brittany, where her cult is centred on Dirinon. Her tomb can be seen there and her life was the subject of a Breton mystery play performed at Dirinon in her honour. In Brittany her protection during childbirth has long been invoked by pregnant women. Non’s holy well and the ruins of her chapel are just outside St Davids. She is also connected with Llannon (Ceredigion), Llannon (Carmarthenshire) and traditionally with Altarnon in Cornwall.
Collect
God our Father,
who entrusted your only begotten Son
to the care of an earthly mother
that she might guide his first steps in the paths of faith and love:
grant that we who revere the mother of our patron David
may work to bring up a new generation
in the fear and love of your name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be all honour and glory,
now and for ever.
5 March
Kieran of Seirkieran
Bishop and Monk
Ireland: Commemoration
If celebrated otherwise, Common of Religious
Kieran or Ciaran was both bishop and monk. Born in West Cork, but from an Ossory family, he appears to have travelled to Europe, where he was ordained. On his return to Ireland, he settled at Seir (Saighir) near Birr, first as a hermit and then as abbot of the large monastery there. He also had a hermitage on the island of Cape Clear, off West Cork. Fascinating tales of his life surrounded by the animals of his