Month: June 2020

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(Usus Antiquior) Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (I Classis) – Friday, 19 June 2020 : Gradual and Alleluia

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 24 : 8-9 and Matthew 11 : 29

Dulcis et rectus Dominus : propter hoc legem dabit delinquetibus in via.

Response : Diriget mansuetos in judicio, docebit mites vias suas.

Alleluja, Alleluja.

Response : Tollite jugum meum super vos, et discite a me, quia mitis sum et humilis Corde, et invenietis requiem animabus vestris. Alleluja.

 

English translation

The Lord is sweet and righteous, therefore He will give a law to sinners in the way.

Response : He will guide the mild in judgment. He will teach the meek His ways.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Response : Take up My yoke upon you and learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of heart, and you shall find rest to your souls. Alleluia.

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(Usus Antiquior) Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (I Classis) – Friday, 19 June 2020 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : White

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

Ephesians 3 : 8-12, 14-19

Fratres : Mihi, omnium sanctorum minimo, data est gratia haec, in gentibus evangelizare investigabiles divitias Christi, et illuminare omnes, quae sit dispensatio sacramenti absconditi a saeculis in Deo, qui omnia creavit : ut innotescat principatibus et potestatibus in caelestibus per Ecclesiam multiformis sapientia Dei, secundum praefinitionem saeculorum, quam fecit in Christo Jesu, Domino nostro, in quo habemus fiduciam et accessum in confidentia per fidem ejus.

Hujus rei gratia flecto genua mea ad Patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ex quo omnis paternitas in caelis ei in terra nominatur, ut det vobis, secundum divitias gloriae suae, virtute corroborari per Spiritum ejus in interiorem hominem, Christum habitare per fidem in cordibus vestris : in caritate radicati et fundati, ut possitis comprehendere cum omnibus sanctis, quae sit latitudo, et longitudo, et sublimitas, et profundum : scire etiam supereminentem scientiae caritatem Christi, ut impleamini in omnem plenitudinem Dei.

 

English translation

Brethren, to me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to enlighten all men, that they may see what is the dispensation of the mystery which had been hidden from eternity in God, who created all things, that the manifold wisdom of God may be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places through the Church, according to the eternal purpose, which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him.

For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit with might unto the inward man, that Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts, that being rooted and founded in charity, you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height and depth, to know also the charity of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.

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(Usus Antiquior) Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (I Classis) – Friday, 19 June 2020 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : White

Introit

Psalm 32 : 11, 19

Cogitationes Cordis Ejus in generatione et generationem : ut eruat a morte animas eorum et alat eos in fame.

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 thoughts of His heart to all generations : to deliver their souls from death and feed them in famine.

Rejoice in the Lord, o all of you who are just, praise becoming of the 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 nobis in Corde Filii Tui, nostri vulnerato peccatis, infinitos dilectionis thesauros misericorditer largiri dignaris : concede, quaesumus; ut, illi devotum pietatis nostrae praestantes obsequium, dignae quoque satisfactionis exhibeamus officium. 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 in the Heart of Your Son, wounded by our sins, had designed mercifully to bestow infinite treasures of love upon us; grant, we beseech You, that as we offer Him the faithful service of our devotion, we may also make worthy reparation. 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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Thursday, 18 June 2020 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today through the Sacred Scriptures we heard about the praises of the prophet Elijah as recounted by the prophet Sirach. In that passage we heard how the prophet Elijah had worked hard for the Lord and eventually was taken up into heaven at the end of his ministry. Then in the Gospel passage we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples and followers on the matter of how they ought to pray and then taught them His prayer.

Let us first begin with our first reading today, in which we heard the account of the life and works of the prophet Elijah. In that account, we heard a summary of Elijah’s many achievements during his ministry and how he laboured hard for the sake of God’s people, a most thankless and tiring task, as he was persecuted, oppressed and rejected by those same people that he had been sent to minister. He had to flee many times for fear of his life during his ministry, with many people opposing him.

The Lord had worked through Elijah, as he performed many wonderful miracles, as mentioned by the prophet Sirach, as he brought fire down from heaven to burn the sacrificial offerings during the trial of faith with the priests of Baal and his opponents, bringing down fire on the agents of the king who demanded him to come down from the mountain and see the king, to raising the dead child of the widow of Zarephath to whom he also showed God’s grace and love with the miraculous and endless supply of flour and oil for her family to eat and survive during the great famine and drought.

But the people would still not be turned by all these efforts, although some were definitely touched by the faith and the efforts of the prophet. Most of the people, like that of their king, Ahab, and his successors remained in sin, living in sin and continuing to worship the pagan gods and idols, save for Jehu, the successor of the house of Ahab, whom God had chosen to be the king of Israel, and whom Elijah had helped to put in place. In all these, we see how God has cared so much about His people, that He sent them a great prophet to help them and reach out to them, and in the end, when that prophet had completed his ministry, God also took him up into heaven for the greater glory of His works.

How is this related to our Gospel passage today? We heard of the Lord Jesus ministering to the people, spreading the words of God’s truth among them. He was the new great Prophet sent into the world, and His role was affirmed as at the moment of Transfiguration, the prophet Elijah and Moses appeared before the Lord and spoke to Him on Mount Tabor as witnessed by three of the Apostles. This highlighted the Lord as the fulfilment of all the prophecies, and He Himself, as the one and true Prophet of prophets, would complete God’s plan to save mankind.

The Lord Himself faced challenges, opposition, rejection and difficulties, just as the prophet Elijah and myriads of other prophets had experienced. But He still carried on His work and ministry, for the wonderful and enduring love which He has for each and every one of us, the sons and daughters of mankind. And He has always reminded His followers and disciples to focus their hearts, their minds and their attention on God, and the way to do this is through having stronger and more authentic relationship with Him.

And how do we do this, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is through prayer! Just as the Lord taught His disciples how to pray, the Lord’s Prayer composed by Himself as the inspiration and example of what prayers should be like, and what prayers are meant to be. Prayer is the intimate form of communication between us and God, for us to get close to God and to open ourselves to Him. But many of us often got it wrong about prayer, thinking of prayer as a means for us to gain ourselves what we want and need from God.

That is why when we prayed, many of us often ended up falling into the temptation of focusing on ourselves, looking inward and immersed in our ego, desire, pride and ambition rather than to focus our attention in God. The Lord Jesus taught us to focus our attention on God, to honour and glorify Him, to thank Him for all the wonderful blessings He has given to us, and to devote ourselves to Him, and then, surely, God will guide us and help us. And in prayer, we ought to open ourselves to the Lord, to listen to Him and to follow Him in whatever He wants us to do.

Let us all therefore deepen our relationship to the Lord, our Father through prayer and by drawing ever closer to Him. Let us all follow Him faithfully much as how the prophet Elijah had dedicated his life to serve Him, by doing what we can, in our own lives, in our own respective communities and places, to obey the Lord and to do our best in serving Him, at all times. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 18 June 2020 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 6 : 7-15

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do; for they believe that, the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask Him.”

“This, then, is how you should pray : Our Father in heaven, holy be Your Name, Your kingdom, come, Your will, be done on earth, as in heaven. Give us today, our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us.”

“Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their wrongdoings, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you.”

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Thursday, 18 June 2020 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 96 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7

YHVH reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Clouds and darkness surround Him; justice and right, are His throne.

Fire goes before Him, burning His foes on every side. His lightning lights up the world; the earth watches and trembles.

The mountains melt like wax before YHVH, the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His justice, all peoples see His glory.

Shame on worshippers of idols, on those proud of their worthless images. Let all spirits bow before Him.

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Thursday, 18 June 2020 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Sirach 48 : 1-15 (Greek Septuagint – Sirach 48 : 1-14)

Then came the prophet Elijah, like a fire, his words a burning torch. He brought a famine on the people and in his zealous love had them reduced in number. Speaking in the Name of the Lord he closed down the heavens, and on three occasions called down fire.

How marvellous you were, Elijah, in your wondrous deeds! Who could ever boast of being your equal? By the word of the Most High you brought a dead man back to life; you brought kings to destruction and thrust famous men from their beds. You heard a rebuke at Sinai and sentences of punishment at Horeb; you anointed kings to be avengers and prophets to succeed you.

You were taken up by a whirlwind of flames in a chariot drawn by fiery horses. It was written that you should be the one to calm God’s anger in the future, before it broke out in fury, to turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and to restore the tribes of Jacob.

Happy are those who will see you and those who die in love, for we too shall live. Such was Elijah, taken up in a whirlwind, and Elisha was filled with his spirit. During his life no leader could shake him, no one dominated him. Nothing was too difficult for him and even in death his body prophesied. In life he worked wonders, in death his deeds were amazing.

Despite all this, the people were not converted and did not turn away from sin; not until they were deported far from their country and scattered over the earth.

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Wednesday, 17 June 2020 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture that spoke to us about the need for us to follow the Lord with genuine faith and commitment, and doing everything in our everyday lives with the focus on God and not on our own ego and desire. We live our lives to serve God and to give ourselves to His cause, and in the end, the Lord shall glorify us with eternal life and true joy He has promised us.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to us about how His followers should pray and practice their faith. In their almsgiving, charity and works, they ought not to show off their actions, to give with genuine intention and compassion, and to pray and fast with the focus centred on God, not for appearances and fame, but rather out of the sincere desire to return to God, to be reconciled with Him and to follow Him.

These comments and words were made in particular in opposition and as criticism against the actions and attitudes of many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who often paraded their piety, made a show of their prayers, fasting and rituals, but the Lord Who knew all things saw right through them and their facade of piety, and inside, what He found was not faith and love for God, but rather, ego, pride, desire and the greed for worldly glory, fame and honours.

The Lord therefore reminded all of us not to be swayed and tempted by the temptations and corrupting nature of power, worldly glory and fame, the allure of ambition and the greed for wealth and possessions. Instead, all of us as Christians should seek not for the glory and greatness of the world, but instead, look forward for the eternal and true glory in the life that is to come, as what the Lord has promised us, and which the prophet Elijah showed us all in our first reading today.

In our first reading today, we heard of the account of the moment when the prophet Elijah was taken up into heaven in a great flaming chariot, as witnessed by his successor, the prophet Elisha. For many years, the prophet Elijah had laboured very hard to spread God’s words to the people and called them to repent them from their many sins. He had laboured hard, often suffering from the persecutions and oppressions at the hands of the king and his enemies.

In doing all of his thankless works and labours, risking his life and his own safety for the sake of the Lord, the prophet Elijah had shown us the true meaning of what being Christians and the disciples of the Lord is all about. To follow the Lord, we ought to give of ourselves to the Lord and focus ourselves and our attention on Him. We should not seek personal glory and satisfaction, and neither should we let those things guide our lives’ paths and actions.

We are all called to have deeper faith in God, and that we do not need to worry about things in life that often concern us. Instead, let us all do our best to serve the Lord and be good examples of faithful Christian living in our various respective communities. We ought to do what we can, through our daily living and actions in life to contribute to the greater works of the Church and to glorify God.

In turn, we can be sure that God will know of our faith in Him, and as long as we firmly hold on to this faith, we shall never be disappointed. If we seek worldly satisfaction, glory, power, fame and all these related things, all these things will eventually run out and disappear one day. This year alone, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, economic crisis due to the pandemic and other issues, many people had seen their incomes, savings, their pride and glory wiped out by the troubles that occurred. This is why we need to put our trust instead in the Lord.

And let us all be good and charitable as the Lord had taught us to do. In these difficult times and moments, let us offer helping hands and assistance to our fellow brethren, even if we ourselves are encountering difficulties. After all, there are bound to be people who suffer more than we are suffering. Let us be kind, compassionate, generous and righteous in all of our actions and in our interactions with each other. May the Lord also be our guide and may He strengthen us in the resolve to live faithfully as good and devout Christian from now on, and be the light of hope and strength for our fellow brothers and sisters in these dark times and situations. Amen.

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Wednesday, 17 June 2020 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 6 : 1-6, 16-18

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Be careful not to make a show of your righteousness before people. If you do so, you do not gain anything from your Father in heaven. When you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted before you, as do those who want to be seen in the synagogues and in the streets, in order to be praised by the people. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.”

“If you give something to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift remains really secret. Your Father, Who sees what is kept secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not be like those who want to be seen. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.”

“When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father Who is with you in secret; and your Father Who sees what is kept secret will reward you. When you fast, do not put on a miserable face as do the hypocrites. They put on a gloomy face, so that people can see they are fasting. I tell you this : they have already been paid in full.”

“When you fast, wash your face and make yourself look cheerful, because you are not fasting for appearances or for people, but for your Father Who sees beyond appearances. And your Father, Who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.”

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Wednesday, 17 June 2020 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 30 : 20, 21, 24

How great is the goodness which You have stored for those who fear You, which You show, for all to see, in those who take refuge in You!

In the shelter of Your presence You hide them from human wiles; You keep them in Your dwelling, safe from the intrigues of wagging tongues.

Love the Lord, all you His saints! The Lord preserves His faithful, but He fully requites the arrogant.