The IV Sunday after Pentecost will be commemorated and elsewhere is the primary Mass celebrated. The IV Sunday reflects the call of St. Peter as a fisher of men. The Introit express es our confidence in God to overcome enemies that oppose us. The Collect is a prayer that the course of the world may be ordered by the Lord and “joyfully serve Thee to quiet devotion.”
In the Epistle we ask for “deliverance” from corruption into the “liberty” enjoyed by a child of God. The Gradual continues the theme of asking for help from God lest the “Gentiles” ridicule our religion. The Gospel teaches that Christ is the great Fisher of Men who relies upon the Apostles, priests and Bishops, for success. We are the fish drawn out of the water by the teaching of Christ from the sea of the world.
In the Offertory we ask Jesus to “enlighten my eyes” and in the Secret entreat Him to “draw our rebellious wills” to Him. The Communion reflects the sentiment that the Lord is my “firmament...and ...refuge,” while the Postcommunion tells us that the Mass and Holy Sacrament of the Altar will “purify” our hearts and protect us.
Had today not been a Sunday, the feast would have been that of Ss Cyril and Methodius Ee. Cc., Apostles of Moravia, Bohemia, and Bulgaria, brothers, sent by Pope Adrian II to evangelize the Slavic people. The Saints developed the Slavonic Alphabet, a Liturgy and translated the Holy Scriptures. St. Cyril returned to Rome and passed away in 869 while his brother, St. Methodius, expired from life in Moravia in 885.