Month: April 2018

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Sunday, 15 April 2018 : Third Sunday of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 24 : 35-48

Then the two disciples told what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how Jesus had made Himself known, when He broke bread with them. While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood in their midst. (He said to them, “Peace to you.”)

In their panic and fright they thought they were seeing a ghost, but He said to them, “Why are you upset, and how does such an idea cross your minds? Look at My hands and feet, and see that it is I Myself! Touch Me, and see for yourselves, for a ghost has no flesh and bones as I have!” (As He said this, He showed His hands and feet.)

In their joy they did not dare believe, and were still astonished; so He said to them, “Have you anything to eat?” And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish. He took it, and ate it before them. Then Jesus said to them, “Remember the words I spoke to you when I was still with you : Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

And He said, “So it was written : the Messiah had to suffer, and on the third day rise from the dead. Then repentance and forgiveness in His Name would be proclaimed to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.”

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Sunday, 15 April 2018 : Third Sunday of Easter (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 1-5a

My little children, I write to you, that you may not sin. But if anyone sins, we have an intercessor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One. He is the sacrificial victim, for our sins, and the sins of the whole world. How can we know that we know Him? If we fulfil His commands.

If you say, “I know Him,” but do not fulfil His commands, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. But if you keep His word, God’s love is made complete in you.

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Sunday, 15 April 2018 : Third Sunday of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 4 : 2, 4, 6b-7, 9

Answer when I call, o God, my Justice! When I was in distress, You gave me solace. Have compassion on me and hear my plea.

But you must know that YHVH has shown His kindness to me. When I call to Him, He hears me.

Put your trust in YHVH, your God. Many ask, “Who will give us a happy time? Would, that His favour shine upon us!”

I lie down and sleep in peace, for You, alone, o YHVH, make me feel safe and secure.

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Sunday, 15 April 2018 : Third Sunday of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 13-15, 17-19

From Paphos, Paul and his companions set sail and came to Perga in Pamphylia. There, John left them and returned to Jerusalem, while they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the Law and the prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent this message to them, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the assembly, please speak up.”

Paul spoke to them, “The God of our people Israel chose our ancestors; and after He had made them increase during their stay in Egypt, He led them out by powerful deeds. For forty years He fed them in the desert; and after He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them their land as an inheritance.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 15 April 2018 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : White

Offertory

Psalm 62 : 2, 5

Deus, Deus meus, ad Te de luce vigilo : et in Nomine Tuo levabo manus meas, Alleluja.

 

English translation

O God, my God, to You do I watch at break of day, and in Your Name I will lift up my hands, Alleluia.

 

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Benedictionem nobis, Domine, conferat salutarem sacra semper oblatio : ut, quod agit mysterio, virtute perficiat. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

 

English translation

Let the sacred offering, o Lord, ever confer salutary benediction upon us, perfecting in power what it has done in mystery. 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

John 10 : 14

Ego sum Pastor Bonus, Alleluja : et cognosco oves meas, et cognoscunt me meae, Alleluja, Alleluja.

 

English translation

I am the Good Shepherd, Alleluia. And I know My sheep and My sheep know Me. Alleluia, Alleluia.

 

Post-Communion Prayer

Praesta nobis, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus : ut, vivificationis Tuae gratiam consequentes, in Tuo semper munere gloriemur. 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 us, we beseech You, o Almighty God, that quickened by Your grace, we may ever glory in Your gifts. 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 after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 15 April 2018 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : White

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. John

John 10 : 11-16

In illo tempore : Dixit Jesus pharisaeis : Ego sum Pastor Bonus. Bonus pastor animam suam dat pro ovibus suis. Mercennarius autem et qui non est pastor, cujus non sunt oves propriae, videt lupum venientem, et dimittit oves et fugit : et lupus rapit et dispergit oves : mercennarius autem fugit, quia mercennarius est et non pertinet ad eum de ovibus.

Ego sum Pastor Bonus : et cognosco meas et cognoscunt me meae. Sicut novit me Pater, et ego agnosco Patrem, et animam meam pono pro ovibus meis. Et alias oves habeo, quae non sunt ex hoc ovili : et illas oportet me adducere, et vocem meam audient, et fiet unum ovile et unus pastor.

 

English translation

At that time, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for His sheep, but the hireling, and he who is not the shepherd, who did not own the sheep will not. And when they see the wolf coming, they leave the sheep and flee, and the wolf catches and scatters the sheep. And the hireling flees, because he is a hireling, and had no care for the sheep.”

“I am the Good Shepherd, and I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me. As the Father knows Me, and I know the Father, and I lay down My life for My sheep. And other sheep I have, that are not of this fold, they too I must bring, and they shall hear My voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 15 April 2018 : Alleluia

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 24 : 35 and John 10 : 14

Alleluja, Alleluja.

Response : Cognoverunt discipuli Dominum Jesum on fractione panis.

Alleluja.

Response : Ego sum pastor bonus : et cognosco oves meas, et cognoscunt me meae. Alleluja.

 

English translation

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Response : The disciples knew the Lord Jesus in the breaking of the bread.

Alleluia.

Response : I am the Good Shepherd, and I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me. Alleluia.

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 15 April 2018 : Epistle

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.

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 15 April 2018 : Introit and Collect

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.

Response : 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.

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 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.

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Saturday, 14 April 2018 : 2nd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we continue to follow through the story of the Apostles and the first years of the Church, as we heard from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, about the time when it was decided that seven men would be chosen as deacons, to serve the growing needs of the then rapidly growing numbers of Christians, as more and more people chose to turn towards the Lord.

The deacons were instituted as an order of consecrated men within the Church, with the intention of assisting the Apostles and their successors in the administration of the Church, taking care of the worldly affairs such as the distribution of goods and taking care of the poor and the needy, so that the Apostles and their successors, the priests and the bishops can focus on their primary mission to care for the souls of the faithful and for the salvation of all peoples.

And the deacons did not have it easy, and challenges immediately faced them right away. Most prominently, in the later part of the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we saw how the most well-known of the seven deacons, St. Stephen, was assaulted by the enemies of the Lord, and as he stood by his faith with a very eloquent defence of God by the courage and wisdom given to him by the Holy Spirit, he was martyred by stoning.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us then look at our Gospel passage today, in which we heard about the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord, who were in the middle of the lake of Galilee, stranded in a boat battered by heavy winds and storms. The disciples were afraid as the waters were rough and they were concerned that their boat would sink and then they would all perish.

But the Lord Jesus appeared before them on the waters, and the disciples were again afraid, as they thought that they had seen a ghost. He calmed them down and reassured them that He was their Lord and their Master. In another account from the other Gospels, the Lord calmed the seas before them, and the waves and the wind died down, and everything was calm once again.

In all these, we see a very meaningful symbolism linking what we have heard from our Acts of the Apostles passage and the Gospel passage. The boat and the disciples represent the Church of God as together we embark through this journey of life in this world. The storms and the waves represent the challenges and troubles, the oppositions and difficulties we will encounter as those who are faithful to Christ’s ways.

But we should not be fearful or be paralysed by fear, as each and every one of us have also received the Holy Spirit by the virtue of our baptism, and then by the laying of the hands when we receive the sacrament of Confirmation, just as the Apostles laid their hands on the seven men chosen as deacons. And therefore, just as these holy men received strength and encouragement from God, we too share the same gift that they had.

Now, what we all need to do is that we need to continue their hard work and persevere in the challenges we are likely to face as those who are faithful to God. Let us all seek to be wholeheartedly committed to God, and let us all strive to do our very best day after day. May the Lord be with us all, and may He empower us and continue to guide us in our journey of faith. Amen.