Month: April 2023

by

(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 23 April 2023 : 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.

by

(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 23 April 2023 : 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.”

by

(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 23 April 2023 : 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.

by

(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 23 April 2023 : 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.

by

(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 23 April 2023 : 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.

by

Saturday, 22 April 2023 : 2nd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to continue following the Lord, to be faithful to Him and His commandments, doing our best to serve Him and to walk in the path that He has shown us so that each and every one of us may come to His Holy Presence and be fully reconciled and reunited with Him. The Lord has sent His Holy Spirit to strengthen to guide us all within His Church, to help and lead us down the right path as He continued to lead us through the path of righteousness, helping and guiding us in our Christian living and existence to be the beacons of His light and truth, to be the bearers of His love and compassion into this world, and therefore, all of us as Christians should spend our time and effort in doing what the Lord has called on all of us to do. Each and every one of us should follow the good examples set by our holy predecessors, the saints and the followers of the Lord as we heard in our Sacred Scriptures.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the moment during the early Church when the Church began to grow rapidly, as more and more people became believers and followers of the Lord, as the Apostles and the other disciples went forth to proclaim the Good News of the Lord to more and more people. Back then, as the Acts of the Apostles themselves highlighted, the early Christian community existed in a state of loving grace, as they shared their blessings, graces and possessions with one another, and many of the early Christians lived in the community of believers, caring for one another. However, as we heard from our first reading passage today, there were indeed difficulties and challenges that the early Christians faced, particularly because of the friction and disagreements between those Christians who came from among the Jewish people and from among the Pharisees, and those Christian converts from the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people.

We heard of the disparity between the distribution of resources and support those who belonged to the Jewish Christians group and those who belonged to the Hellenists, likely the ones who came from Gentile background. This was in fact understandable as back then there was quite a bit of racial and religious superiority shown by the Jewish people, especially the Pharisees among them, who considered themselves better and more worthy as compared to the Gentiles. But such divisions and disparities should not have existed among the Christian community, as they have been made through their sacred baptism, as the adopted sons and daughters of God, all equal and same before the Holy Presence of God. Each and every one of them had been called to get rid from themselves whatever prejudices and bias that they used to have against each other, and to follow the Lord wholeheartedly.

The Apostles decided as we heard, to appoint seven men to become the first of the Deacons of the Church. This was in fact the moment when the office of Deacons came to be in the Church, which served to complement the role of the priestly ministry of the Apostles and their successors. If the Lord Himself has instituted the Sacred Priesthood at the Last Supper, entrusting the priestly ministry to His Apostles, thus the Deacons served to help and assist the Apostles and their successors in their work and ministry to the people of God. It was obvious that the Apostles and the other leaders of the Church could not be everywhere at once and they could not minister to all the faithful effectively without assistance. Hence, the office of the Deaconate was established as the holy office meant for those who answered God’s call to minister to the people, to care for their needs, both physical and spiritual, assisting the works of the Lord through His Church.

Those holy deacons dedicated themselves to the ministry to the people of God, and one of them, St. Stephen, was well-known due to his suffering and martyrdom at the hands of the opponents of the Lord and His Church, becoming the very first martyr or Protomartyr of the Church. The other deacons and other holy servants of God also faced great trials and challenges, but they lived their lives and carried out their missions with great dedication, becoming great role models and inspiration for many of the faithful, gaining for the Lord and His Church many people touched by their efforts and works, new converts and rejuvenated members of the Church which led to the even more rapid growth of the Church in the early years of its existence despite the increasingly intensified persecutions and challenges facing them from both the Jewish and the Roman authorities.

They remained firmly faithful and dedicated themselves wholeheartedly to the Lord, just as the Gospel passage today reminded us all that none of us can survive or do our part well without entrusting ourselves to the Lord. We are reminded through what we heard in our Gospel passage today that the Church of God has survived and endured through so many challenges and trials because the Lord has always been there for us, guiding us through His Presence and the Holy Spirit. As the disciples of the Lord panicked and feared amidst the great winds and waves that battered against their boat in the storm, the Lord appeared to them walking on the water, and reassured and calmed them down, reminding all of them that He was there, and that they had nothing to be worried or fearful about. He calmed the storm and the wind down, and led the disciples to where they were about to go.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the boat represents the Church of God and the disciples are those who lead the Church. The Lord was with His Church and guided all of His faithful ones to the right path, and helped His Church and those who trusted in Him to walk the path of righteousness, enduring the trials and challenges facing them, and not allowing the Church to be swallowed and destroyed by the forces of all those who opposed the Lord and His faithful ones. God has promised us His providence, love and guidance, and each and every one of us are called to walk faithfully in His path, and we should do our best to do our part in the mission and works of the Church, to proclaim the Lord in all things, and to do what we can so that we may be great role models and sources of inspiration for one another in how we live our lives, that many more people may come to believe in God through us.

May the Risen Lord continue to help and guide us in our journey of faith through life, and may He empower each and every one of us so that we may continue to strive and persevere through the many challenges and trials that we may have to endure as faithful disciples and followers of the Lord. May God be with us always and may He bless our every efforts and endeavours, our every good works for the greater glory of His Name. May all of us have a most blessed and wonderful Easter season, have a most fruitful time in our obedience to the Lord. Amen.

by

Saturday, 22 April 2023 : 2nd Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 16-21

At that time, when evening came, the disciples went down to the shore. After a while they got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the sea, for it was now dark and Jesus had not yet come to them. But the sea was getting rough because a strong wind was blowing.

They had rowed about three or four miles, when they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and He was drawing near to the boat. They were frightened, but He said to them, “It is I! Do not be afraid!” They wanted to take Him into the boat, but immediately the boat was at the shore to which they were going.

by

Saturday, 22 April 2023 : 2nd Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 32 : 1-2, 4-5, 18-19

Rejoice in the Lord, you who are just, praise is fitting for the upright. Give thanks to Him on the harp and lyre, making melody and chanting praises.

For upright is the Lord’s word and worthy of trust is His work. The Lord loves justice and righteousness; the earth is full of His kindness.

But the Lord’s eyes are upon those who fear Him, upon those who trust in His loving-kindness to deliver them from death and preserve them from famine.

by

Saturday, 22 April 2023 : 2nd Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 6 : 1-7

In those days, as the number of disciples grew, the so-called Hellenists complained against the so-called Hebrews, because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution.

So the Twelve summoned the whole body of disciples together and said, “It is not right that we should neglect the word of God to serve at tables. So, friends, choose from among yourselves seven respected men full of Spirit and wisdom, that we may appoint them to this task. As for us, we shall give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word.”

The whole community agreed and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and Holy Spirit : Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenus and Nicolaus of Antioch who was a proselyte. They presented these men to the Apostles who first prayed over them and then laid hands upon them.

The Word of God continued to spread, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly and even many priests accepted the faith.

by

Friday, 21 April 2023 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the love and compassion, the kindness and all of the things which our Lord and Saviour has always shown us, in being present with us and for us, in our every journeys and paths, in all the roads that we are travelling through within our respective lives. God has always been ever present in all of that, and He will not abandon us no matter what. Everything that the Church and the Christian brothers and sisters had done, all have been guided and protected by the Lord. God will not abandon all those who put their trust and faith in Him. His love and kindness have always been shown to us, and none of us will be left without help, in our hour and time of need. For if we depend solely only on our own power, we will likely face defeat and failure, but with God’s help, everything is possible.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the time when the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish High Council was pondering on what to do with the Apostles who had courageously opposed them and refused to follow their orders not to proclaim and teach in the Name of the Risen Christ, with many of the members of the Sanhedrin were desiring to destroy those Apostles, angry and inflamed as they were with the Apostles who defied them and spoke with great Wisdom and courage, in resisting the pressures and coercions levied against them. But with the rising tension and passionate anger, one figure came forth seeking calm and rationale argument, namely the highly respected Gamaliel, a renowned and highly respected teacher of the faith, an elder Pharisee of great reputation. This Gamaliel told the Sanhedrin members to listen to reason and wisdom, and not persecute the Apostles.

The reasons presented by Gamaliel were very compelling, as he brought up the recent so-called False Messiahs, all those who have claimed to be the Messiah or the Saviour sent by God, and how their following and works quickly disappeared and were scattered after their leaders were put to death. Thus, following the same logic and example, Gamaliel convinced the other members of the Sanhedrin to let the Lord’s disciples be, as if their Lord and Master had indeed been a False Messiah like the others before Him, His movement and the works of His disciples would have quickly disappeared and they would be quickly scattered. On the other hand, as what was actually the case, if their Lord and Master was truly the true Messiah, the Saviour of the world, then no matter what efforts or persecutions the Sanhedrin would carry out against them, the works of the Lord would continue and triumph in the end.

That is why, all of us are called and reminded to put our trust and faith in the Lord, remembering that He has always been by our side, guiding us and providing for us, protecting and helping us even in ways that we may not realise at first. The Lord has always been with His Church and His disciples, and as we also then heard from our Gospel passage today, He has provided for us all that we need by His love and compassion towards us. In that Gospel passage we heard of the time when the Lord Jesus performed His well-known miracle of the feeding of the five thousand men and more people, by the multiplication of the five loaves and two fishes that He was offered with. This great miracle showed to all of us that God really cared very much about us, and He truly loved all of us, providing for us not just spiritually but also physically, as a wholesome guidance and providence to us.

The Lord showed pity on all those people who were following Him, as they were hungry without sustenance and food, and had been following Him for many days, as they listened to Him teaching and preaching to them. It was in the countryside and wilderness, and there was no food readily and easily available for them to buy and eat. Hence, the Lord told His disciples to provide for all of them food to eat, which when the lack of food was told to Him, He gathered the five loaves of bread and two fishes presented to Him, and miraculously multiplied them before everyone, as the bread and fishes did not run out despite the huge number of people assembled, at least five thousand men and many thousands more of the women and their children. The Lord showed all of these to His people and those disciples to show them that He has always been with them and that He would not abandon them in their time of need.

This is why each and every one of us are called today to renew our faith and trust in the Lord, remembering His love and providence towards us, which will not change and which will always be by our side. All of us are reminded that as Christians, we have all been chosen by the Lord and called to follow Him, and each and every one of us should dedicate ourselves, our time and effort, our whole entire being to the Lord. Let us all turn towards the Lord with love and devotion, with faith and commitment, as we commit ourselves to walk down His path and to proclaim His truth and commandments, His Law and providence to all the people, to all of mankind. Let us all dedicate ourselves to the Lord with renewed vigour and zeal this Easter, and follow Him, as vigorously as the Apostles themselves had done. And today, we have yet another good role model and example to follow.

St. Anselm, whose feast day we celebrate today, also known as St. Anselm of Canterbury was a great and dedicated servant of God, who committed himself to the ministry and the calling that he had been entrusted with. The Lord has called him to be His servant, becoming eventually a monk and abbot, and then after years of faithful work and ministry, he was appointed a bishop and was sent to minister the faithful as shepherd, which during his time of leadership and ministry, had become a great centre of learning and many were touched by his dedication and efforts. St. Anselm eventually was sent to England, to become the Archbishop of Canterbury, as the leader of all the faithful in all of England. He faced great trials and challenges throughout his ministry, and even went through exile during his work, having to endure persecution and rejection from his enemies. Yet he continued to dedicate himself and kept on going in his works and ministry regardless, entrusting himself to the Lord wholeheartedly.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, can we be inspired by the courage and the hard work shown by all those holy predecessors of ours, in all the trust and faith in the Lord which they had shown us through their lives. Let us all be courageous and committed as they had done in their own lives. Let us all commit ourselves to the Lord and do our best to follow Him in all of our lives, doing whatever we can even in the smallest things, to proclaim and glorify Him by our exemplary lives. May God, our Risen Lord and Saviour be with us always and may He empower each one of us to live ever more faithfully in His Holy Presence, now, always and forevermore. Amen.