Day: February 23, 2018

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Sunday, 25 February 2018 : Second Sunday of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Mark 9 : 2-10

At that time, six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain. There, His appearance was changed before their eyes. Even His clothes shone, becoming as white as no bleach of this world could make them. Elijah and Moses appeared to them; the two were talking with Jesus.

Then Peter spoke and said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” For he did not know what to say; they were overcome with awe. But a cloud formed, covering them in a shadow, and from the cloud came a voice, “This is My Son, the Beloved : listen to Him!”

And suddenly, as they looked around, they no longer saw anyone except Jesus with them. As they came down the mountain, He ordered them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept this to themselves, although they discussed with one another what ‘to rise from the dead’ could mean.

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Sunday, 25 February 2018 : Second Sunday of Lent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Romans 8 : 31b-34

If God is with us, who shall be against us? If He did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not give us all things with Him? Who shall accuse those chosen by God : He takes away their guilt? Who will dare to condemn them?

Christ, Who died, and better still, rose, and is seated at the right hand of God, interceding for us?

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Sunday, 25 February 2018 : Second Sunday of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 115 : 10 and 15, 16-17, 18-19

I have kept faith, even when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” It is painful to YHVH to see the death of His faithful.

O YHVH, I am Your servant, truly Your servant, Your handmaid’s son. You have freed me from my bonds. I will offer You a thanksgiving sacrifice; I will call on the Name of YHVH.

I will carry out my vows to YHVH in the presence of His people, in the courts of the House of YHVH, in your midst, o Jerusalem.

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Sunday, 25 February 2018 : Second Sunday of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 22 : 1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18

Some time later, God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I shall point out to you.”

They came to the place to which God had directed them. Abraham then stretched out his hand to seize the knife and slay his son. But the Angel of YHVH called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

And he said, “Here I am.” “Do not lay your hand on the boy; do not harm him, for now I know that you fear God, and you have not held back from Me your only son.” Abraham looked around and saw behind him a ram caught by its horns in a bush. He offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son.

And the Angel of YHVH called from heaven a second time. “By Myself I have sworn, it is YHVH Who speaks, because you have done this and not held back your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the land of their enemies. All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your descendants because you have obeyed Me.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 25 February 2018 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Preface, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Offertory

Psalm 118 : 47, 48

Meditabor in mandatis Tuis, quae dilexi valde : et levabo manus meas ad mandata Tua, quae dilexi.

 

English translation

I will meditate on Your commandments, which I have loved exceedingly, and I will lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I have loved.

 

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Sacrificiis praesentibus, Domine, quaesumus, intende placatus : ut et devotioni nostrae proficiant et saluti. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

 

English translation

Look graciously we beg, o Lord, upon the sacrifices here before You, that they may profit both our devotion and our salvation. 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.

 

Preface of Lent

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos Tibi semper et ubique gratias agere : Domine, Sancte Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus : Qui corporali jejunio vitia comprimis, mentem elevas, virtutem largiris et praemia : per Christum, Dominum nostrum.

Per quem majestatem Tuam laudant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates. Caeli caelorumque Virtutes ac beata Seraphim socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces ut admitti jubeas, deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes :

 

English translation

It is truly meet and just, right and profitable, for us, at all times, and in all places, to give thanks to You, o Lord, the Holy One, the Father Almighty, the Everlasting God, Who on those who chastise their bodies by fasting had bestowed the restraining of evil passions, uplifting of heart, and the enjoying of virtue with its reward. Through Christ our Lord.

Through Whom the Angels praise, the Dominations adore, the Powers, trembling with awe, worship Your majesty, which the heavens, and the forces of heaven, together with the blessed Seraphim, joyfully magnify. And may You command that it be permitted to our lowliness to join with them in confessing You and unceasingly to repeat :

 

Communion

Psalm 5 : 2-4

Intellege clamorem meum : intende voci orationes meae, Rex meus et Deus meus : quoniam ad Te orabo, Domine.

 

English translation

Understand my cry, hearken to the voice of my prayer, o my King and my God. For to You will I pray, o Lord.

 

Post-Communion Prayer

Supplices Te rogamus, omnipotens Deus : ut quos Tuis reficis sacramentis, Tibi etiam placitis moribus dignanter deservire concedas. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

 

English translation

Grant, we beseech You, o Almighty God, that we, whom You refreshed with Your sacraments, may also serve You worthily with conduct to Your liking. 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.

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 25 February 2018 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Matthaeum – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

Matthew 17 : 1-9

In illo tempore : Assumpsit Jesus Petrum, et Jacobum, et Joannem fratrem eius, et duxit illos in montem excelsum seorsum : et transfiguratus est ante eos. Et resplenduit facies Ejus sicut sol : vestimenta autem Ejus facta sunt alba sicut nix.

Et ecce, apparuerunt illis Moyses et Elias cum Eo loquentes. Respondens autem Petrus, dixit ad Jesum : Domine, bonum est nos hic esse : si vis, faciamus hic tria tabernacula, Tibi unum, Moysi unum et Eliae unum.

Adhuc eo loquente, ecce, nubes lucida obumbravit eos. Et ecce vox de nube, dicens : Hic est Filius Meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui : Ipsum audite. Et audientes discipuli, ceciderunt in faciem suam, et timuerunt valde. Et accessit Jesus, et tetigit eos, dixitque eis : Surgite, et nolite timere.

Levantes autem oculos suos, neminem viderunt nisi solum Jesum. Et descendentibus illis de monte, praecepit eis Jesus, dicens : Nemini dixeritis visionem, donec Filius Hominis a mortuis resurgat.

 

English translation

At that time, Jesus took Peter and James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain apart, and He was transfigured before them. And His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as snow.

And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him. And Peter answering, said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You will, let us make here three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

And as he was still speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them, and lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said to them, “Arise and do not fear.”

And they lifting up their eyes saw no one, but only Jesus. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, “Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 25 February 2018 : Gradual and Tract

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Gradual

Psalm 24 : 17-18

Tribulationes cordis mei dilatatae sunt : de necessitatibus meis eripe me, Domine.

Response : Vide humilitatem meam et laborem meum : et dimitte omnia peccata mea.

 

English translation

The troubles of my heart are multiplied; deliver me from my necessities, o Lord.

Response : See my abjection and my labour, and forgive all my sins.

 

Tract

Psalm 105 : 1-4

Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus : quoniam in saeculum misericordia Ejus.

Response : Quis loquetur potentias Domini : auditas faciet omnes laudes Ejus?

Response : Beati, qui custodiunt judicium et faciunt justitiam in omni tempore.

Response : Memento nostri, Domine, in beneplacito populi Tui : visita nos in salutari Tuo.

 

English translation

Give glory to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.

Response : Who shall declare the powers of the Lord? Who shall set forth all His praises?

Response : Blessed are those who keep judgment, and do justice at all times.

Response : Remember us, o Lord, in the favour of Your people, visit us with Your salvation.

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 25 February 2018 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : Violet

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

1 Thessalonians 4 : 1-7

Fratres : Rogamus vos et obsecramus in Domino Jesu : ut, quemadmodum accepistis a nobis, quomodo oporteat vos ambulare et placere Deo, sic et ambuletis, ut abundetis magis. Scitis enim, quae praecepta dederim vobis per Dominum Jesum.

Haec est enim voluntas Dei, sanctificatio vestra : ut abstineatis vos a fornicatione, ut sciat unusquisque vestrum vas suum possidere in sanctificatione et honore; non in passione desiderii, sicut et gentes, quae ignorant Deum : et ne quis supergrediatur neque circumveniat in negotio fratrem suum : quoniam vindex est Dominus de his omnibus, sicut praediximus vobis et testificati sumus.

Non enim vocavit nos Deus in immunditiam, sed in sanctificationem : in Christo Jesu, Domino nostro.

 

English translation

Brethren, we pray and beseech you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received of us, how you ought to walk, and to please God, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. For you know what precepts I have given to you by the Lord Jesus.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess His vessel in sanctification and honour, not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God, and that no man overreach, nor deceive his brother in business, because the Lord is the Avenger of all these things, as we have told you before, and have testified.

For God had not called us unto uncleanness, but unto sanctification, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 25 February 2018 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Introit

Psalm 24 : 6, 3, 22 and 1-2

Reminiscere miserationum Tuarum, Domine, et misericordiae Tuae, quae a saeculo sunt : ne umquam dominentur nobis inimici nostri : libera nos, Deus Israel, ex omnibus angustiis nostris.

Ad Te, Domine, levavi animam meam : Deus meus, in Te confido, non erubescam.

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

 

English translation

Remember, o Lord, Your bowels of compassion, and Your mercies that are from the beginning of the world, lest at any time our enemies rule over us. Deliver us, o God of Israel, from all our tribulations.

To You, o Lord, have I lifted up my soul. In You, o My God, I put my trust. Let me not be ashamed.

Response : 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 conspicis omni nos virtute destitui : interius exteriusque custodi; ut ab omnibus adversitatibus muniamur in corpore, et a pravis cogitationibus mundemur in mente. 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, Who saw how we are destitute of all strength, keep us inwardly and outwardly, that in body we may be defended from all adversities, and in mind cleansed of evil thoughts. 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.

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Saturday, 24 February 2018 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the passages from the Scripture, speaking to us about obeying the laws and commandments set by God and which He has revealed to us, His beloved people. God has set those laws and commandments that we may walk in the right paths and do what is pleasing to Him, and as we have been made God’s own people, and adopted as His own children, we must do what God, Our Lord and Our Father, has done and taught us.

But what does it mean for us to obey God’s laws and commandments? What is it like for us to be truly faithful to Him? Is it that we have to follow the rules and regulations as set by the Church and all of the teachings passed down unto us through the bishops and the priests? Is it that we have to attend and participate in the Mass every Sundays and also on the days of obligation as set by the Church?

If we have done all of these and nothing else, then I am afraid that we may not have gotten the essence of what it truly means to be Christians. It does not mean that we should not have done what we have done. In fact, it is absolutely necessary that we fulfil our obligations to the rules and the requirements that the Church has clearly stated for us. However, have we done our duty as Christians and fulfilled our obligations with the right purpose and intention in mind?

If we did not do all our actions with the right purpose and intention, even if we obey the Lord’s laws and commandments, it is likely that we will end up getting no better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, those whom the Lord Jesus rebuked and condemned for their hypocrisy and lack fo faith, as they obeyed the laws and commandments, and in fact, strictly enforced a rigid and excessive obedience to the laws as taught by Moses and preserved by the elders of Israel.

But they have not done these for the greater glory of God, or because they truly love God or His people. They did not have God or His people in their minds, and they even misused their authority to gain more prestige, power and approval for themselves. Whatever they have done, have not been considered to be righteous in the sight of God, but instead wicked and sinful, as God is not at the forefront of their minds.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what is it that we need to do, with our lives, that we may be faithful to the Lord in all the things that we do? We have to realise that the Law of God is not mere formality or empty without meaning. Instead, God gave us the Law and the commandments, because He wants each and every one of us to know about love, that is first and foremost, the love which He has for each and every one of us, His beloved children.

The Law of God is not about all the rules and regulations which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law often enforced on the people, without understanding, realising and appreciating the true meaning and purpose of those laws. The Law of God is about love, loving God, the One Who created us and loved us, with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and indeed our entire being and effort. That is the essence of the first three commandments of the Ten Commandments.

And then, after having loved God sincerely and tenderly, then we should also show the same love to our brothers and sisters, to those who we encounter in our lives, our friends and neighbours, our relatives and family members. But the Lord in the Gospel passage today challenged us even further, calling on us to also love those who have wronged us and considered us as enemies. He called on us to forgive those who have wronged us and trespassed against us, and show them love, mercy and compassion.

That, brothers and sisters in Christ, is the true essence of discipleship, that is Christian discipleship, following the Lord with all of our strength, and doing our best to love our brethren, in the same way, with all of our hearts, and pray for the sake of and forgive our enemies, in the footsteps of Our Lord Himself, Who forgave all of those who have condemned Him to death on the cross, and prayed for the sake of those who cried out for His death.

Let us all strive, that in this blessed season of Lent, a season of forgiveness and realisation of God’s most abundant mercy, we may come ever closer to the Lord, and reexamine our life’s actions, so that in everything we do, in everything we say and act, we may come ever closer to God’s ways and be ever more worthy of Him, day after day, as we turn away from our sinful past, and embrace God’s love ever more, and share that love with one another.

May the Lord bless us all, and may He empower each and every one of us to live ever more faithfully and appreciate the love with which Our God has shown us every day and every moment of our lives. May we be able to find our way to Him and to His redemption, that all of us as Christians may be worthy of His saving grace, at the end of time. Amen.