Day: August 3, 2018

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Sunday, 5 August 2018 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

John 6 : 24-35

At that time, when the people saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found Him on the other side of the lake, they asked Him, “Master, when did You come here?”

Jesus answered, “Truly, I say to you, you look for Me, not because of the signs which you have seen, but because you ate bread and were satisfied. Work then, not for perishable food, but for the lasting food which gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give it to you, for He is the One on Whom the Father has put His mark.”

Then the Jews asked Him, “What shall we do? What are the works that God wants us to do?” And Jesus answered them, “The work God wants is this : that you believe in the One Whom God has sent.” They then said, “Show us miraculous signs, that we may see and believe You. What sign do You perform? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert; as Scripture says : They were given bread from heaven to eat.”

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the True Bread from heaven. The Bread God gives is the One Who comes from heaven and gives life to the world.” And they said to Him, “Give us this Bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me shall never be thirsty.”

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Sunday, 5 August 2018 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 4 : 17, 20-24

I say to you, then, and with insistence I advise you, in the Lord : do not imitate the pagans, who live an aimless kind of life. But it is not for this, that you have followed Christ. For, I suppose, that you have heard of Him, and received His teaching, which is seen in Jesus Himself. You must give up your former way of living, the old self, whose deceitful desires bring self-destruction.

Renew yourselves, spiritually, from inside, and put on the new self, or self, according to God, that is created in true righteousness and holiness.

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Sunday, 5 August 2018 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 77 : 3 and 4bc, 23-24, 25 and 54

Mysteries which we have heard and known, which our ancestors have told us. We will announce them to the coming generation : the glorious deeds of the Lord, His might and the wonders He has done.

Yet, He commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven; He rained down manna upon them, and fed them with the heavenly grain.

They ate and had more than their fill of the bread of Angels. He brought them to His holy land, to the mountain His right hand had won.

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Sunday, 5 August 2018 : Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Exodus 16 : 2-4, 12-15

In the desert the whole community of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of YHVH in Egypt when we sat down to caldrons of meat and ate all the bread we wanted, whereas you have brought us to this desert to let the whole assembly die of starvation!”

YHVH then said to Moses, “Now I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to gather what is needed for that day. In this way I will test them to see if they will follow My teaching or not.”

“I have heard the complaints of Israel. Speak to them and say : Between the two evenings you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have bread to your heart’s content; then you shall know that I am YHVH, your God!”

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp. And in the morning, dew had fallen around the camp. When the dew lifted, there was on the surface of the desert a thin crust like hoarfrost. The people of Israel upon seeing it said to one another, “What is it?” for they did not know what it was. Moses told them, “It is the bread that YHVH has given you to eat.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 August 2018 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : Green

Offertory

Psalm 29 : 2-3

Exaltabo Te, Domine, quoniam suscepisti me, nec delectasti inimicos meos super me : Domine, clamavi ad Te, et sanasti me.

 

English translation

I will extol You, o Lord, for You have uphold me, and had not made my enemies to rejoice over me. O Lord, I have cried to You, and You have healed me.

 

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Respice, Domine, quaesumus, nostram propitius servitutem : ut, quod offerimus, sit Tibi munus acceptum, et sit nostrae fragilitatis subsidium. 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 with mercy, we beseech You, o Lord, upon our homage, that the gift we offer may be accepted by You and be the support of our frailty. 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

Proverbs 3 : 9-10

Honora Dominum de tua substantia, et de primitiis frugum tuarum : et implebuntur horrea tua saturitate, et vino torcularia redundabunt.

 

English translation

Honour the Lord with your substance, and with the first of all your fruits and your barns shall be filled with abundance, and your presses shall run over with wine.

 

Post-Communion Prayer

Sentiamus, quaesumus, Domine, Tui perceptione sacramenti, subsidium mentis et corporis : ut, in utroque salvati, caelestis remedii plenitudine 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

By receiving Your sacrament, we beseech You, o Lord, may we experience help in soul and body, that, being saved in both, we may glory in the fullness of our heavenly remedy. 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) Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 August 2018 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : Green

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

Mark 7 : 31-37

In illo tempore : Exiens Jesus de finibus Tyri, venit per Sidonem ad mare Galilaeae, inter medios fines Decapoleos. Et adducunt Ei surdum et mutum, et deprecabantur Eum, ut imponat illi manum.

Et apprehendens Eum de turba seorsum, misit digitos Suos in auriculas ejus : et exspuens, tetigit linguam ejus : et suspiciens in caelum, ingemuit, et ait illi : Ephphetha, quod est adaperire. Et statim apertae sunt aures ejus, et solutum est vinculum linguae ejus, et loquebatur recte.

Et praecepit illis, ne cui dicerent. Quanto autem eis praecipiebat, tanto magis plus praedicabant : et eo amplius admirabantur, dicentes : Bene omnia fecit : et surdos fecit audire et mutos loqui.

 

English translation

At that time, Jesus going out to the coasts of Tyre, came by Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. And they bring to Him one deaf and dumb, and they besought Him that He would lay His hand upon him.

And taking him from the multitude apart, He put His fingers into his ears and spitting, He touched his tongue, and looking up to heaven, He groaned and said to him, “Ephphetha!” that is, “May you be opened!” and immediately his ears were opened, and the ligaments of his tongue was loosened, and he spoke rightly.

And He charged them that they should tell no man, but the more He charged them so much the more a great deal did they publish it, the so much more did they wonder, saying, “He had done all things well, He had made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 August 2018 : Gradual and Alleluia

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 27 : 7, 1 and Psalm 80 : 2-3

In Deo speravit cor meum, et adjutus sum : et refloruit caro mea, et ex voluntate mea confitebor illi.

Response : Ad Te, Domine, clamavi : Deus meus, ne sileas, ne discedas a me.

Alleluja, Alleluja.

Response : Exsultate Deo, adjutori nostro, jubilate Deo Jacob : sumite psalmum jucundum cum cithara. Alleluja.

 

English translation

In God had my heart confided, and I have been helped, and my flesh had flourished again, and with my will I will give praise to Him.

Response : Unto You I will cry, o Lord. O my God, may You be not silent, and do not depart from me.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Response : Rejoice in God our helper, sing aloud to the God of Jacob. Take a pleasant psalm with the harp. Alleluia.

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(Usus Antiquior) Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 August 2018 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : Green

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

1 Corinthians 15 : 1-10

Fratres : Notum vobis facio Evangelium, quod praedicavi vobis, quod et accepistis, in quo et statis, per quod et salvamini : qua ratione praedicaverim vobis, si tenetis, nisi frustra credidistis.

Tradidi enim vobis in primis, quod et accepi : quoniam Christus mortuus est pro peccatis nostris secundum Scripturas : et quia sepultus est, et quia resurrexit tertia die secundum Scripturas : et quia visus est Cephae, et post hoc undecim.

Deinde visus est plus quam quingentis fratribus simul, ex quibus multi manent usque adhuc, quidam autem dormierunt. Deinde visus est Jacobo, deinde Apostolis omnibus : novissime autem omnium tamquam abortivo, visus est et mihi.

Ego enim sum minimus Apostolorum, qui non sum dignus vocari Apostolus, quoniam persecutus sum Ecclesiam Dei. Gratia autem Dei sum id quod sum, et gratia ejus in me vacua non fuit.

 

English translation

Brethren, I make known unto you the gospel which I preached to you, which you have also received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all, which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, and after that by the Eleven.

Then He was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once, of whom many remain until this present day, and some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all of the Apostles. And last of all He was also seen by me, as by one born out of due time.

For I am the least of the Apostles, who am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God, but by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace in me had not been void.

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(Usus Antiquior) Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 August 2018 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : Green

Introit

Psalm 67 : 6-7, 36, 2

Deus in loco sancto suo : Deus qui inhabitare facit unanimes in domo : ipse dabit virtutem et fortitudinem plebi suae.

Exsurgat Deus, et dissipentur inimici Ejus : et fugiant, qui oderunt eum, a facie Ejus.

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

 

English translation

God in His holy place; God Who made men of one mind to dwell in a house. He shall give power and strength to His people.

Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered, and let those who hate Him flee from before His face.

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

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui, abundantia pietatis Tuae, et merita supplicum excedis et vota : effunde super nos misericordiam Tuam; ut dimittas quae conscientia metuit, et adjicias quod oratio non praesumit. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

 

English translation

Almighty, eternal God, You Who in the abundance of Your loving kindness, had exceeded both the deserts and the hopes of Your suppliants, pour forth Your mercy upon us, to take away from us those things which our conscience feared, and to add that which our prayer did not presume to ask. 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, 4 August 2018 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture telling us about the trouble and opposition which the prophet Jeremiah had to face during his ministry in the kingdom of Judah, during the years just prior to the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The prophet Jeremiah warned the remaining people of God in Judah about the coming destruction, but they refused to listen to the Lord speaking through His prophet.

The king and his advisers, the nobles and the elites, the priests and most likely, most of the people hardened their hearts and minds, and closed their ears off from listening to the word of God. They persecuted Jeremiah and cast him out, and he had to suffer many rejections and troubles throughout the years of his ministry, just as the many other prophets and messengers of God had also suffered. The people of God had turned a deaf ear to their God.

Then, in the Gospel passage today, we heard about the story of St. John the Baptist, God’s herald and messenger, the last of the prophets who was sent to proclaim the coming and arrival of the Messiah into the world, that is Our Lord Jesus Christ. St. John the Baptist himself also encountered many oppositions, especially from the priests and the Pharisees, much as Jeremiah had once suffered.

St. John the Baptist has spoken the truth to the people, telling them of their sins and wickedness, of all their vile works and all the things that have kept them out of the grace and love of God. He was much reviled for this, and his enemies were aplenty, just as many people came to him to seek repentance and baptism in the Jordan. Yet, St. John the Baptist did not mince his words and continued to preach the truth.

And in the end, when he spoke up against the king, Herod, who had committed adultery with his own brother’s wife, Herodias, he was imprisoned and put to much suffering. Herod refused to kill the holy man of God outright, but Herodias, who was likely very angry at St. John the Baptist for his outspoken attitude towards her irregular and wicked relationship with Herod, plotted to kill him.

Although it was not exactly specified in the Scriptures, but it was likely because by being taken up as Herod’s wife, she would have real power, earthly glory, wealth and privileges that being the wife of a deceased former king, Herod’s brother, could not have given her. Thus, pride and worldly greed had likely caused that woman to fall into such a great sin, as described in the Gospel passage today.

Herodias had her daughter to dance seductively before Herod to get him to agree to the conditions she would prepare beforehand. Herod made promises and vows in his stupor, promising to give everything the daughter of Herodias asked for, even half of his own kingdom. In that state, Herodias managed to trick Herod into killing St. John the Baptist by asking for his head on a platter.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we also celebrate the feast of another famous holy servant of God, namely St. John Vianney, the patron saint of all priests. He was a French priest of a small parish in the town called Ars. As such he was affectionately called as the Cure of Ars. He was remembered for his great humility, his piety and devotion to God, his commitment to the flock entrusted under his care, as he ministered to them and listening to their confessions.

He became so popular and renowned throughout France and even beyond, that thousands came to him, seeking to have their sins confessed to him, or to have evil spirits cast out from them through exorcism. Yet despite his apparent popularity and charm, St. John Vianney remained humble, and in fact, with his popularity and apparent success, there were many trials and difficulties which many may not have realised, that all of them happened to this holy saint of God.

He had many opponents and naysayers who refused to believe in him, doubted him, persecuted him and made his life difficult, saying perjuries and lies about him, and slandering him before others. But St. John Vianney continued to carry out his priestly duties as best as he could, and he remained humble and obedient to God and to the will of his superiors in the Church. Nonetheless, the impact of his examples and actions reached out far and wide.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in all of the readings of this day and from the lives of the holy servants of God, we should come to realise that to be a faithful disciple and follower of Our God is not something that will be easy for us. Instead, there will be undoubtedly plenty of challenges, obstacles, difficulties, trials and all sorts of things that will cause us to want to give up the faith and abandon the Lord.

This is when we should be inspired by the examples and the courage of the prophets, such as Jeremiah and many other servants of God who suffered and yet did their best to show their faith to others, calling many others to righteousness in their footsteps. Let us all seek to follow the good examples and the dedication shown by St. John Vianney, that through our own exemplary and good faith, we may show many others how we should love God and dedicate ourselves to Him with all of our hearts. May God be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.