Month: March 2024

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Sunday, 17 March 2024 : Fifth Sunday of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 12-13, 14-15

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me again, the joy of Your salvation; and sustain me, with a willing spirit. Then I will show wrongdoers Your ways and sinners will return to You.

Alternative Psalm (Psalm from Year A)

Psalm 129 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7bc-8

Out of the depths I cry to You, o Lord, o Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears pay attention to the voice of my supplication.

If You should mark our evil, o Lord, who could stand? But with You is forgiveness.

For that You are revered. I waited for the Lord, my soul waits, and I put my hope in His word. My soul expects the Lord more than watchmen the dawn.

O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with Him is unfailing love and with Him full deliverance. He will deliver Israel from all its sins.

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Sunday, 17 March 2024 : Fifth Sunday of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 31 : 31-34

The time is coming – it is YHVH Who speaks – when I will forge a new Covenant with the people of Israel and the people of Judah. It will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. For they broke My Covenant although I was their Master, YHVH declares.

This is the Covenant I shall make with Israel after that time : I will put My Law within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God and they will be My people. And they will not have to teach each other, neighbour or brother, saying : ‘Know YHVH,’ because they will all know Me, from the greatest to the lowliest, for I will forgive their wrongdoing and no longer remember their sin.

Alternative reading (Reading from Year A)

Ezekiel 37 : 12-14

YHVH said to Ezekiel, “So prophesy! Say to them : This is what YHVH says : I am going to open your tombs, My people, and lead you back to the land of Israel. You will know that I am YHVH, o My people! When I open your graves and bring you out of your graves.”

“When I put My Spirit in you and you live. I shall settle you in your land and you will know that I, YHVH, have done what I said I would do.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Passion Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 17 March 2024 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Preface, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Offertory

Psalm 118 : 17, 107

Confitebor Tibi, Domine, in toto corde meo : retribue servo Tuo : vivam, et custodiam sermones Tuos : vivifica me secundum verbum Tuum, Domine.

English translation

I will confess to You, o Lord, with my whole heart, render to Your servant. I shall live and keep Your words. Enliven me according to Your word, o Lord.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Haec munera, quaesumus Domine, et vincula nostrae pravitatis absolvant, et Tuae nobis misericordiae dona concilient. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

May these offerings, we pray to You, o Lord, both loosen the bonds of our sins, and win for us the gifts of Your mercy. 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 the Holy Cross

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos Tibi semper et ubique gratias agere : Domine, Sancte Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus : Qui salutem humani generis in ligno Crucis constituisti : ut, unde mors oriebatur, inde vita resurgeret : et, qui in ligno vincebat, in ligno quoque vinceretur : 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 Holy Lord, Father Almighty, Eternal God. Who had established the salvation of mankind in the wood of the cross, that from whence death came into the world, thence a new life might spring, and that he who by a tree overcome, by a tree might be overthrown. 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 do magnify. And may You command that it be permitted to our lowliness to join with them in confessing You and unceasingly to repeat :

Communion

1 Corinthians 11 : 24, 25

Hoc corpus, quod pro vobis tradetur : hic calix novi Testamenti est in Meo sanguine, dicit Dominus : hoc facite, quotiescumque sumitis, in Meam commemorationem.

English translation

This is My Body, which shall be delivered for you. This is the chalice of the New Testament in My Blood, says the Lord. Do this, as often as you receive it, in commemoration of Me.

Post-Communion Prayer

Adesto nobis, Domine, Deus noster : et, quos Tuis mysteriis recreasti, perpetuis defende subsidiis. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Draw near to us, o Lord, our God, and with Your perpetual succour defend those whom You have refreshed with Your mysteries. 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) Passion Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 17 March 2024 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : Violet

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

John 8 : 46-59

In illo tempore : Dicebat Jesus turbis Judaeorum : Quis ex vobis arguet me de peccato? Si veritatem dico vobis, quare non creditis mihi? Qui ex Deo est, verba Dei audit. Propterea vos non auditis, quia ex Deo non estis.

Responderunt ergo Judaei et dixerunt ei : Nonne bene dicimus nos, quia Samaritanus es tu, et daemonium habes? Respondit Jesus : Ego daemonium non habeo, sed honorifico Patrem Meum, et vos inhonorastis Me. Ego autem non quaero gloriam Meam : est, qui quaerat et judicet.

Amen, amen, dico vobis : si quis sermonem Meum servaverit, mortem non videbit in aeternum. Dixerunt ergo Judaei : Nunc cognovimus, quia daemonium habes. Abraham mortuus est et Prophetae; et Tu dicis : Si quis sermonem Meum servaverit, non gustabit mortem in aeternum. Numquid Tu major es patre nostro Abraham, qui mortuus est? Et Prophetae mortui sunt. Quem teipsum facis?

Respondit Jesus : Si Ego glorifico meipsum, gloria Mea nihil est : est Pater Meus, qui glorificat Me, quem vos dicitis, quia Deus vester est, et non cognovistis eum : Ego autem novi eum : et si dixero, quia non scio eum, ero similis vobis, mendax. Sed scio eum et sermonem ejus servo. Abraham pater vester exsultavit, ut videret diem meum : vidit, et gavisus est.

Dixerunt ergo Judaei ad Eum : Quinquaginta annos nondum habes, et Abraham vidisti? Dixit eis Jesus : Amen, amen, dico vobis, antequam Abraham fieret, Ego sum. Tulerunt ergo lapides, ut jacerent in Eum : Jesus autem abscondit se, et exivit de Templo.

English translation

At that time, Jesus said to the multitudes of the Jews, “Which of you shall convince Me of sin? If I say truth to you, why do you not believe Me? He Who is of God, hears the words of God. Therefore you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

The Jews therefore answered and said to Him, “Do we not say well, that You are a Samaritan, and had a devil?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a devil, but I honour My Father, and you have dishonoured Me. But I do not seek My own glory, there is one who seeks and judges.”

“Amen, Amen, I say to you, if any man keeps My word, he shall not see death forever.” The Jews therefore said, “Now we know that You have a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets, and You said, ‘If any man keeps My word, he shall not taste death forever. Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself?”

Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing. It is My Father Who glorified Me, of Whom you say that He is your God. And you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I shall say that I do not know Him, I shall be like to you, a liar. But I do know Him, and do keep His word. Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see My day. He saw it, and was glad.”

The Jews therefore said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made, I AM.” They took up stones therefore to cast at Him, but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the Temple.

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(Usus Antiquior) Passion Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 17 March 2024 : Gradual and Tract

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Gradual

Psalm 142 : 9, 10 and Psalm 17 : 48-49

Eripe me, Domine, de inimicis meis : doce me facere voluntatem Tuam.

Response : Liberator meus, Domine, de gentibus iracundis : ab insurgentibus in me exaltabis me : a viro iniquo eripies me.

English translation

Deliver me from my enemies, o Lord, teach me to do Your will.

Response : My Deliverer, o Lord, from the angry nations, You will lift me up above those who rise up against me, from the unjust man You will deliver me.

Tract

Psalm 128 : 1-4

Saepe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea.

Response : Dicat nunc Israel : saepe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea.

Response : Etenim non potuerunt mihi : supra dorsum meum fabricaverunt peccatores.

Response : Prolongaverunt iniquitates suas : Dominus justus concidit cervices peccatorum.

English translation

Often have they fought against me from my youth.

Response : Let Israel now say, often have they fought against me from my youth.

Response : But they could not prevail over me, the wicked have wrought upon my back.

Response : They have lengthened their iniquities, the Lord Who is just will cut the neck of sinners.

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(Usus Antiquior) Passion Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 17 March 2024 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : Violet

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

Hebrews 9 : 11-15

Fratres : Christus assistens Pontifex futurorum bonorum, per amplius et perfectius tabernaculum non manufactum, id est, non hujus creationis : neque per sanguinem hircorum aut vitulorum, sed per proprium sanguinem introivit semel in Sancta, aeterna redemptione inventa.

Si enim sanguis hircorum et taurorum, et cinis vitulae aspersus, inquinatos sanctificat ad emundationem carnis : quanto magis sanguis Christi, qui per Spiritum Sanctum semetipsum obtulit immaculatam Deo, emundabit conscientiam nostram ab operibus mortuis, ad serviendum Deo viventi?

Et ideo novi Testamenti mediator est : ut, morte intercedente, in redemptionem earum, praevaricationum, quae erant sub priori Testamento, repromissionem accipiant, qui vocati sunt aeternae hereditatis, in Christo Jesu, Domino nostro.

English translation

Brethren, Christ having come, a High Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, neither by the blood of goats or of calves, but by His own Blood, entered once into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption.

For if the blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of an heifer being sprinkled sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh, how much more shall the Blood of Christ, Who, through the Holy Spirit, offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the Living God?

And therefore He is the Mediator of the New Testament, that by means of His death, for the redemption of those transgressions which were under the former testament, they who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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(Usus Antiquior) Passion Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 17 March 2024 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Introit

Psalm 42 : 1-2 and 3

Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta : ab homine iniquo et doloso eripe me : quia Tu es Deus meus et fortitudo mea.

Emitte lucem Tuam et veritatem Tuam : ipsa me deduxerunt et adduxerunt in montem sanctum Tuum et in tabernacula Tua.

Response : Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta : ab homine iniquo et doloso eripe me : quia Tu es Deus meus et fortitudo mea.

English translation

Judge me, o God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy. Deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man. For You are my God and my Strength.

Send forth Your light and Your truth, they have conducted me, and brought me unto Your holy hill, and into Your tabernacles.

Response : Judge me, o God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy. Deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man. For You are my God and my Strength.

Collect

Quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, familiam Tuam propitius respice : ut, Te largiente, regatur in corpore : et, Te servante, custodiantur 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

Look with favour upon Your household, we beseech You, o Almighty God, that, by Your gift, it may be governed in body and, by Your preservation, may be guarded in Spirit. 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, 16 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that we are drawing ever nearer to the end of the season of Lent, as we are about to enter into Holy Week in just over a week’s time. That is why we have heard of the words of the Scriptures speaking to us all about the coming of tribulation for the One Whom the Lord had sent into our midst for our salvation, namely Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, the Son of God, Who would suffer and die for our sake, enduring bitter punishments and struggles, persecutions and hardships for the sake of us sinners. Through all these, God has opened the path and sure way for us leading to His salvation and the eternal life which He has promised to us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in which Jeremiah spoke with the Lord regarding the persecutions and hardships that he had endured during his ministry among the people of the kingdom of Judah. At that time, it was during the final years of the existence of Judah as a kingdom and entity, and the people there continued to live in sin and rebellion against God despite all the efforts which the Lord had done in sending His many messengers and prophets to them to remind and guide them in their path. They chose rather to believe in the false prophets and the falsehoods propagated by their leaders rather than to believe in the prophets like Jeremiah, who were oppressed and even killed on occasion.

But Jeremiah remained firm in his conviction to continue serving the Lord despite having faced such struggles and difficulties. He did grumble and complained to the Lord on occasions because of the hardships and trials that he had to face, and because of the stubborn attitude and the lack of faith among the people who continued to resist his efforts and rejected God’s generous offer of love and mercy to them. Jeremiah nonetheless kept his faith and obeyed the Lord, doing whatever he had been told to do, to proclaim God’s messages and will to the people even if it would mean suffering and hardships for him. He also brought to the people of Judah, the reassurance that while they would have to suffer the consequences for their sins against God, but God’s love for them endured nonetheless, and one day, God would lead them all towards His Presence and reconcile them with Him.

That same passage from the Book of Jeremiah also contained the prophecy of what would happen to the Saviour Whom God would send to His people, in the words that the prophet Jeremiah himself said, that ‘he is like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter’ and how the people treated him badly, and ‘would plot to remove him from the land of the living’. While this firstly referred directly to what Jeremiah had himself experienced, but it was in fact also a prediction of what the Messiah, Our Lord Himself would experience during His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross. The Lord Jesus would endure all these challenges, trials and hardships, and eventually be slaughtered and killed, as the Paschal Lamb, sacrificed for us all, for our redemption and salvation.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the discord and disagreements between the members of the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish High Council with regards to the Lord Jesus, in what they were trying to decide to do about Him. Many of them were against the Lord and were skeptical about His teachings and works, while some were outright hostile in their opposition against Him, seeing Him as a great threat to the order and the influence that the members of the Sanhedrin, be it Sadducees or Pharisees, had over the community. And yet, there were also those like Nicodemus, who were sympathetic and supportive of the Lord, believing in Him.

The disagreements arose because those who supported the Lord tried to defend Him and His actions, while the majority who refused to believe in Him used arguments such as the fact that the Lord Jesus came from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to disprove the authenticity and the authority of the Lord as the Messiah promised by God, not knowing that the Lord Himself was born in Bethlehem, in the city of David, just as prophesied by the prophets, and all that He had done, essentially had affirmed and manifested that Jesus is truly the One Whom God had sent. He was opposed and persecuted because those religious leaders and societal elites could not bring it to humble themselves before God and listen to reason and truth.

Therefore, just as we listened from the Scripture readings today, let us all be reminded of everything that God had done for us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, as we come ever closer to the beginning of the Holy Week, so that first of all we can be reminded of His love and kindness, His compassion and mercy for each and every one of us, and then, that we may be able to prepare ourselves well so that we can celebrate the Holy Week and the most wonderful mysteries and events surrounding the Easter Triduum with hearts and minds that are truly attuned to the Lord, and to be filled with the strong desire and love for God, as we all should have.

Let us all therefore do our part from now on, to live our lives worthily of the Lord, heeding His call and doing whatever He has asked us all to do, following the faithful example and perseverance of the prophet Jeremiah and the many other prophets and servants of God, and of course, ultimately, that of the Lord Himself, Who obeyed His Father’s will so perfectly, that He chose willingly to embrace His Cross, to suffer and die for us on that Cross, so that by His death and Resurrection, He may restore us all to new life with God. May all of us be blessed and guided by God, in all of our whole lives, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 16 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 7 : 40-53

At that time, many who had been listening to these words began to say, “This is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some wondered, “Would the Christ come from Galilee? Does Scripture not say that the Christ is a descendant of David and from Bethlehem, the city of David? The crowd was divided over Him. Some wanted to arrest Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

The officers of the Temple went back to the chief priests, who asked them, “Why did you not bring Him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this Man.” The Pharisees then said, “So you, too, have been led astray! Have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in Him? Only those cursed people, who have no knowledge of the Law!”

Yet one of them, Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier, spoke out, “Does our law condemn people without first hearing them and knowing the facts?” They replied, “Do you, too, come from Galilee? Look it up and see for yourself that no prophet is to come from Galilee.” And they all went home.

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Saturday, 16 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 7 : 2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12

O Lord, my God, in You I take shelter; deliver me and save me from all my pursuers, lest lions tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

O Lord, my righteousness; You see that I am blameless. Bring to an end the power of the wicked, but affirm the just, o righteous God, searcher of mind and heart.

You cover me as a shield. Oh God, for You protect the upright. A righteous judge is God, His anger ever awaiting those who refuse to repent.