Month: July 2015

by

(Usus Antiquior) Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : Green

Offertory

Psalm 16 : 5, 6-7

Perfice gressus meos in semitis Tuis, ut non moveantur vestigia mea : inclina aurem Tuam, et exaudi verba mea : mirifica misericordias Tuas, qui salvos facis sperantes in Te, Domine.

English translation

May You perfect my goings in Your paths, that my footsteps may not be moved. Incline Your ear, and hear my words. Show forth Your wonderful mercies, You who saved those who trust in You, o Lord.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Propitiare, Domine, supplicationibus nostris, et has populi Tui oblationes benignus assume : et, ut nullius sit irritum votum, nullius vacua postulatio, praesta; ut, quod fideliter petimus, efficaciter consequamur. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Be propitious to our supplications, o Lord, and graciously accept these offerings of Your people, and that the prayer of none may be without effect, the petition of none that is vain, grant that what we ask in faith we may effectually obtain. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Communion

Psalm 26 : 6

Circuibo et immolabo in tabernaculo ejus hostiam jubilationis : cantabo et psalmum dicam Domino.

English translation

I will go round, and offer up in His tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation; I will sing and recite a psalm to the Lord.

Post-Communion Prayer

Repleti sumus, Domine, muneribus Tuis : tribue, quaesumus; ut eorum et mundemur effectu et muniamur auxilio. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

We have been filled with Your gifts, o Lord, grant we beseech You, that by their effect we may be both cleansed and fortified. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

by

(Usus Antiquior) Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : Green

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Marcum – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark

Mark 8 : 1-9

In illo tempore : Cum turba multa esset cum Jesu, nec haberent, quod manducarent, convocatis discipulis, ait illis : Misereor super turbam : quia ecce jam triduo sustinent me, nec habent quod manducent : et si dimisero eos jejunos in domum suam, deficient in via : quidam enim ex eis de longe venerunt.

Et responderunt ei discipuli sui : Unde illos quis poterit hic saturare panibus in solitudine? Et interrogavit eos : Quot panes habetis? Qui dixerunt : Septem. Et praecepit turbae discumbere super terram. Et accipiens septem panes, gratias agens fregit, et dabat discipulis suis, ut apponerent, et apposuerunt turbae.

Et habebant pisciculos paucos : et ipsos benedixit, et jussit apponi. Et manducaverunt, et saturati sunt, et sistulerunt quod superaverat de fragmentis, septem sportas. Erant autem qui manducaverant, quasi quatuor milia : et dimisit eos.

English translation

At that time, when there was a great multitude with Jesus, and they had nothing to eat, calling His disciples together, He said to them, “I have compassion on the multitude, for behold they have now been with Me for three days, and have nothing to eat, and if I shall send them away fasting to their home they will faint in the way, for some of them came from afar off.”

And His disciples answered Him, “From where can any one fill those who are here with bread in the wilderness?” And He asked them, “How many loaves do you have,” and they answered, “Seven.” And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground. And taking the seven loaves, giving thanks He broke them, and gave them to His disciples to set before them, and they set them before the people.

And they had a few little fishes, and He blessed them, and commanded them to be set before them. And they did eat, and were filled, and they took up those that were left of the fragments and filled seven baskets, and those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away.

by

(Usus Antiquior) Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Gradual and Alleluia

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 89 : 13, 1 and Psalm 30 : 2-3

Convertere, Domine, aliquantulum, et deprecare super servos Tuos.

Priest : Domine, refugium factus es nobis, a generatione et progenie.

Alleluja, Alleluja.

Priest : In Te, Domine, speravi, non confundar in aeternum : in justitia Tua libera me et eripe me : inclina ad me aurem Tuam, accelera, ut eripias me. Alleluja.

English translation

Return, o Lord, a little, and be entreated in favour of Your servants.

Priest : Lord, You have been our refuge from generation to generation.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Priest : In You, o Lord, I have hoped, let me never be confounded, deliver me in Your justice, and release me. Bow down Your ear to me, make haste to deliver me. Alleluia.

by

(Usus Antiquior) Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : Green

Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Romanos – Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Romans

Romans 6 : 3-11

Fratres : Quicumque baptizati sumus in Christo Jesu, in morte ipsius baptizati sumus. Consepulti enim sumus cum illo per baptismum in mortem : ut, quomodo Christus surrexit a mortuis per gloriam Patris, ita et nos in novitate vitae ambulemus. Si enim complantati facti sumus similitudini mortis ejus : simul et resurrectionis erimus.

Hoc scientes, quia vetus homo noster simul crucifixus est : ut destruatur corpus peccati, et ultra non serviamus peccato. Qui enim mortuus est, justificatus est a peccato. Si autem mortui sumus cum Christo : credimus, quia simul etiam vivemus cum Christo : scientes, quod Christus resurgens ex mortuis, jam non moritur, mors illi ultra non dominabitur.

Quod enim mortuus est peccato, mortuus est semel : quod autem vivit, vivit Deo. Ita et vos existimate, vos mortuos quidem esse peccato, viventes autem Deo, in Christo Jesu, Domino nostro.

English translation

Brethren, all of us who are baptised in Christ Jesus are baptised into His death. For we are buried together with Him by baptism unto death, that as Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.

Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin may be destroyed, and that we may serve sin no longer. For he who is dead is justified from sin. Now if we are dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live together with Christ. Knowing that Christ, rising again from the dead, dies no more, death shall no longer have dominion over Him.

For in that He died to sin, He died once, but in that He lives, He lives unto God. So if you also reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

by

(Usus Antiquior) Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 July 2015 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : Green

Introit

Psalm 27 : 8-9, 1

Dominus fortitudo plebis suae, et protector salutarium Christi sui est : salvum fac populum Tuum, Domine, et benedic hereditati Tuae, et rege eos usque in saeculum.

Ad Te, Domine, clamabo, Deus meus, ne sileas a me : ne quando taceas a me, et assimilabor descendentibus in lacum.

Priest : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

The Lord is the strength of His people, and the protector of the salvation of His anointed. Save, o Lord, Your people, and bless Your inheritance, and rule them forever.

Unto You I will cry, o Lord, o my God, may You be not silent to me, lest if You are silent to me, I become like those who go down into the pit.

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 virtutum, cujus est totum quod est optimum : insere pectoribus nostris amorem Tui Nominis, et praesta in nobis religionis augmentum; ut, quae sunt bona, nutrias, ac pietatis studio, quae sunt nutrita, custodias. Per 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 of virtues, to Whom belongs every excellent things, implant in our hearts the love of Your Name, and bestow upon us the increase of religion, fostering what things are good, and, by Your loving care, guarding what You have fostered. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who with You lives and reigns, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

by

Saturday, 4 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how Isaac blessed his younger son Jacob with the blessing which was intended for Esau, the eldest son. And in the Gospel we heard how Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who criticised the way that the disciples of Jesus followed, not fasting and following what the norm of traditions at the time dictated.

It may be difficult to see the link and connection between the two readings, but the truth is that the two are indeed very related, considering what Jesus told them about how new wine ought to be placed in new wineskins, and how old wine ought to be placed in old wineskins. This is related to the two sons of Isaac, Esau and Jacob, each of whom represent the old ways of the world, and the new ways of the Lord and His salvation.

The triumph of Jacob over his brother Esau showed the incompatibility of the old ways with the new ways, and that we must indeed make a choice between the two of them. This also means that if we call ourselves followers and disciples of the Lord, then all of us cannot do what is contrary to what is expected of us as the followers of the Lord.

If we call ourselves the disciples of the Lord, and then we commit things wicked and evil in the sight of God and men, then we discredit and trample on our own faith. In this manner, we are exactly like the old wine being placed into new wineskins. The incompatibility between the two will tear apart the whole wineskin and wine inside it will be spilt and wasted. In the same manner, therefore, if we believe in God and yet did not do as is expected from us, then it created a scandal for us.

We have to realise, brothers and sisters in Christ, that in order to be true disciples of our Lord, then all of us have to show it not just by mere words or proclamations of faith, but instead, we must also show it through work and devotion, which will vindicate our faith, that it is indeed real and genuine. This is what we ought to do, and what we must stand up for.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we have to wake up to the realisation that we have to listen to what the Lord had taught us. He had taught us about love, for He is love Himself, and by showing that love for us, He taught us that we need to love Him and love one another in the same manner. Yet, we know that even among us the faithful, we see so much discord and divisions, infighting and conflict among us.

We should know that faith is meaningless and dead without action and commitment. True faith requires us to go forth and do what the Lord had commanded us to do, to be righteous in all of our dealings, to defend the truth which He had revealed to us, and to stand up for the Lord. Indeed, the world will be hard on us and it will oppose us with all of its might.

But remember, they have also rejected the Lord when He came into the world, and they refused to listen to Him, and persecuted Him and His servants and disciples. This is why we have to have courage in our faith, and do not fear, for God is always with us, and He will guide us on the path, and if we remain faithful to Him, we will receive the fullness of the richness of God’s grace and blessings.

On this day, we commemorate the feast of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, who was the Queen of Portugal in the middle ages, who was renowned for her great faith and piety, and who after her husband’s death, she left everything behind and chose to devote the rest of her life in a prayerful retreat in a monastery. She continued to do great works of charity, even in her old age, helping those who were less fortunate, poor, weak and ostracised.

The examples of St. Elizabeth of Portugal reminds us that while we live in this world, filled with much vices and evil, it does not mean that we have to succumb to it and to follow the way of this world. We can choose to be righteous and just, as St. Elizabeth of Portugal and the other holy men and women of God had done throughout the ages. Let us all go forth and show God’s love to one another, a concrete show of our faith.

May Almighty God be with all of us, strengthen our faith and devotion to Him, and empower us to be even more devoted disciple of His cause. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Saturday, 4 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Matthew 9 : 14-17

At that time, the disciples of John came to Jesus with the question, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not Your disciples?”

Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The time will come, when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

“No one patches an old coat with a piece of unshrunken cloth, for the patch will shrink and tear an even bigger hole in the coat. In the same way, you do not put new wine in old wineskins. If you do, the wineskins will burst and the wine will be spilt. No, you put new wine in fresh skins; then both are preserved.”

by

Saturday, 4 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Psalm 134 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Alleluia! Praise the Name of the Lord. O servants of the Lord, praise Him, you who serve in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.

Praise the Lord, for He is good, praise His Name, for it is beautiful; for the Lord has chosen Jacob as His own, Israel as His possession.

I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, He does – in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in their depths.

by

Saturday, 4 July 2015 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Genesis 27 : 1-5, 15-29

When Isaac was old and his eyes so weak that he could no longer see, he called Esau, his older son, and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” he answered. Isaac continued, “You see I am old and I do not know when I shall die; so take your weapons, your bow and arrow, go out into the country and hunt some game for me. Then prepare some of the savoury food I like and bring it to me so that I may eat and give you my blessing before I die.”

Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went into the country to hunt game and bring it back, then Rebekah took the best clothes of her elder son Esau that she had in the house and put them on Jacob, her younger son. With the goatskin she covered his hands and the smooth part of his neck, and she handed to him the bread and food she had prepared.

He went to his father and said, “Father!” He answered, “Yes, my son, who is it?” And Jacob said to his father, “It is Esau, your firstborn; I have done what you told me to do. Come, sit up and eat my game so that you may give me your blessing.” Isaac said, “How quick you have been my son!” Jacob said, “YHVH, your God, guided me.”

Isaac said to Jacob, “Come near and let me feel you, my son, and know that it is you, Esau my son, or not.” When Jacob drew near to Isaac, his father felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He did not recognise him, for his hands were hairy like the hands of Esau his brother and so he blessed him.

He asked, “Are you really my son Esau?” And Jacob answered, “I am.” Isaac said, “Bring me some of your game, my son, so that I may eat and give you my blessing.” So Jacob brought it to him and he ate. And he brought him wine and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.”

So Jacob came near and kissed him. Isaac them caught the smell of his clothes and blessed him, saying, “The smell of my son is like the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed. May God give you the dew of heaven; and of the richness of the earth; and abundance of grain and wine.”

“Let peoples serve you and nations bow down before you. Be lord over your brothers, and let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone that curses you and blessed be everyone that blesses you!”

by

Friday, 3 July 2015 : Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of one of the Twelve Apostles, namely that of St. Thomas, known also as St. Thomas Didymus or the Twin, whom many of us would know from the Gospels, as the doubting disciple, who did not believe and indeed refused to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead.

St. Thomas had always been a doubtful disciple, even before the suffering and death of Jesus. When at one moment Jesus mentioned that He ought to go back to Judea despite opposition and plotting by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, St. Thomas commented that they ought to go forth and follow Him, so they could die together with Him. He made such a comment because of his lack of faith, and the doubt in his heart.

And similarly therefore, he refused to believe when the other disciples told him about the resurrection of Christ from the dead, when he was not there while Christ appeared to them the first time after His resurrection. It was indeed noteworthy what he said in that occasion, that unless he saw with his own eyes and touched with his own hands and fingers the very wounds on the Body of Christ, then he would not believe.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters? It is part of our human nature as well, to demand tangible and real explanation for phenomena and things that we do not understand. We want to touch it first, feel it first, and be able to experience it first with our senses, and then only then we believe in something, and even so, we are still often filled with doubt and uncertainty.

And that comes to the problem which our world is facing today, as more and more people refused to believe in the Lord, because they thought that He does not exist, and that He is not real, just because they were unable to see Him, or touch Him, or interact with Him directly, in a way that we normally interact between one another. So, some of us think that God does not exist, and therefore drift away from His path towards salvation and into the uncertainties of the world.

This is our vulnerability, trying to reason and find proof of the existence of God, without realising that God has always been present with us, and indeed, without Him, there would not have been life in us. If we truly know love, and if we truly have love in us, then we would have known God being present in and around us. For God Himself is love. And the manifestation of that love is none other than by the sending of His Son, Jesus, to be our Saviour.

Jesus came into the world, manifesting the love of God which He had given us. And even at that time, those who saw His miracles and works refused adamantly to believe in Him, including the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who have seen so many of His works and yet continued to oppose Him. Better was the faith of St. Thomas, who at least believed when Jesus finally appeared to him and showed him the truth about Himself and His resurrection.

And as Jesus had told His disciples, indeed, we are all truly blessed, for we have believe in Him, even though we have not seen Him, heard Him or touched Him. We believe in Him, because deep inside, we know that, we live by His grace and love, and His tender love and care is always around us, surrounding us and is with us, and to all those who are faithful to Him, He will bless and give all His promised salvation and entry into the eternal life in bliss prepared for us.

Let us all learn from the examples of St. Thomas the Apostle and the many other faithful disciples of our Lord, who remained true to Him despite all the difficulties and challenges. May this be our destination in life, the goal we ought to look out for. May God be with us always, now and forever. Amen.