Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 24 : 35 and John 10 : 14
Alleluja, Alleluja.
Priest : Cognoverunt discipuli Dominum Jesum on fractione panis.
Alleluja.
Priest : Ego sum pastor bonus : et cognosco oves meas, et cognoscunt me meae. Alleluja.
English translation
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Priest : The disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
Alleluia.
Priest : I am the Good Shepherd, and I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me. Alleluia.
Liturgical Colour : White
Lectio Epistolae Beati Petri Apostoli – Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Peter the Apostle
1 Peter 2 : 21-25
Carissimi : Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum, ut sequamini vestigia ejus. Qui peccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus in ore ejus : qui cum malediceretur, non maledicebat : cum pateretur, non comminabatur : tradebat autem judicanti se injuste : qui peccata nostra ipse pertulit in corpore suo super lignum: ut, peccatis mortui, justitiae vivamus : cujus livore sanati estis.
Eratis enim sicut oves errantes, sed conversi estis nunc ad pastorem et episcopum animarum vestrarum.
English translation
Dearly beloved, Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps, He who had not sinned, and neither was guile found in His mouth. He who, when He was reviled, did not revile. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but delivered Himself to those who judged Him unjustly. He who by Himself bore our sins in His body upon the tree, that we, who were dead to sins, should live to justice, by whose stripes we have been healed.
For you were as sheep that went astray, but you are now converted to the shepherd and bishop of your souls.
Liturgical Colour : White
Introit
Psalm 32 : 5-6 and 1
Misericordia Domini plena est terra, Alleluja : verbo Domini caeli firmati sunt, Alleluja, Alleluja.
Exsultate, justi, in Domino : rectos decet collaudatio.
Priest : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
English translation
The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord, Alleluia. By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, Alleluia, Alleluia.
Rejoice in the Lord, all you who are just, praise becoming those who are upright.
Priest : Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Collect
Deus, qui in Filii Tui humilitate jacentem mundum erexisti : fidelibus Tuis perpetuam concede laetitiam; ut, quos perpetuae mortis eripuisti casibus, gaudiis facias perfrui sempiternis. Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
English translation
O God, who by the humility of Your Son had lifted up a fallen world, grant that to those whom You have delivered from the misfortunes of eternal death, You may ensure them everlasting happiness. Through the same Lord, Jesus Christ, Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about two stories, one from the Acts of the Apostles which told us of an account of how the deacons were selected and chosen for the community of the faithful, to serve them and distribute the communal goods to them. And in the Gospel we heard also about how Jesus came to the disciples in the midst of a storm, and calmed the Apostles who were afraid of the sudden apparition.
The deacons are an extant order in the Church, which we know even until today, as one of the hierarchy within the servants of God, who were once initially meant for the distribution of goods in the community of the faithful, who shared everything they had in a truly communal way of living, filled with love and care for each other. The deacons helped the people of God, serving them even as they still do today, albeit in a much different way.
Today’s readings are calling us to give more to the Lord, more of our dedication and efforts, and more of our faith and trust for Him. The deacons have been called and chosen by our Lord to give their loving and heartful service to the people of God, to minister to them and guide them on the path towards the Lord. They assisted the Apostles and the priests of the Lord, who taught the faith to the people and led them in their journey of faith.
Therefore, all of us are also called to do the same too. The servants of our Lord, all in the order of priesthood, our Pope, the Cardinals, the bishops and all the priests, and even the deacons themselves, be it transitional ones on their journey to the priesthood, or those who have committed themselves to a lifetime of permanent deaconate, all of them need our help, assistance and active participation.
Many of us falsely thought that it is the job and duty of the priesthood and the deacons to serve the people, the poor and the unloved, and that we all in the laity can just sit back and relax while we see these faithful servants of God doing their job. And many of us even criticised them when we thought that they were not doing their ‘supposed’ and ‘expected’ duty.
But do we know that we ourselves also have responsibility and duty as fellow members of God’s Church and community of the faithful? We have to carry out this duty, that is to care and love for each other, and to give what we have more to those who have less or none. The laity formed the vast majority of the faithful, and those who have given themselves to the service of the Lord is just a tiny minority amongst the faithful.
We have to realise that within the Church, there should be clear division of labour. We who have been baptised have also shared in the ministry which God had entrusted to His disciples. Today serves as a reminder for all of us to help one another, and most importantly, to help all the faithful servants of God who had dedicated their time and effort for the cause of us all.
Let us all therefore renew our faith and commitment to our Lord, that inspired by the example of the holy deacons, especially that of St. Stephen, who worked hard and zealously to spread the Good News of Christ until his death, as the first martyr of the Faith, we too may grow to serve the Lord in ever more ways and devote ourselves ever more to Him. God bless us all. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 