Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 144 : 10-11, 15-16, 17-18
All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your power.
All creatures look to You to be fed in due season; with open hand, You satisfy the living, according to their needs.
Righteous is YHVH in all His ways, His mercy shows in all His deeds. He is near those who call on Him, who call trustfully upon His Name.
Liturgical Colour : Green
2 Kings 4 : 42-44
A man came from Baal-shal-ishah bringing bread and wheat to the man of God. These were from the first part of the harvest, twenty loaves of barley and wheat. Elisha told him, “Give the loaves to these men that they may eat.”
His servant said to him, “How am I to divide these loaves among one hundred men?” Elisha insisted, “Give them to the men that they may eat, for YHVH says : ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’” So the man set it before them; and they ate and had some left, as YHVH had said.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Offertory
Psalm 24 : 1-3
Ad Te, Domine, levavi animam meam : Deus meus, in Te confido, non erubescam : neque irrideant me inimici mei : etenim universi, qui Te exspectant, non confundentur.
English translation
To You, o Lord, have I lifted up my soul. In You, o my God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed, neither let my enemies laugh at me, for none of those who wait on You shall be confounded.
Secret Prayer of the Priest
Tibi, Domine, sacrificia dicata reddantur : quae sic ad, honorem Nominis Tui deferenda tribuisti, ut eadem remedia fieri nostra praestares. 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 sacrifices dedicated to You, o Lord, be rendered back, since You have given them to be presented for the honour of Your Name, so that in them You might afford us a remedy for all our ills. 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
Psalm 50 : 21
Acceptabis sacrificium justitiae, oblationes et holocausta, super altare Tuum, Domine.
English translation
You will accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and holocausts upon Your altar, o Lord.
Post-Communion Prayer
Quaesumus, Domine, Deus noster : ut, quos divinis reparare non desinis sacramentis, Tuis non destituas benignus auxiliis. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
English translation
O Lord, our God, we pray that in Your loving kindness You will not deprive of Your assistance those whom You do not cease to restore with divine sacraments. 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.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke
Luke 18 : 9-14
In illo tempore : Dixit Jesus ad quosdam, qui in se confidebant tamquam justi et aspernabantur ceteros, parabolam istam : Duo homines ascenderunt in templum, ut orarent : unus pharisaeus, et alter publicanus.
Pharisaeus stans, haec apud se orabat : Deus, gratias ago Tibi, quia non sum sicut ceteri hominum : raptores, injusti, adulteri : velut etiam hic publicanus. Jejuno bis in sabbato : decimas do omnium, quae possideo.
Et publicanus a longe stans nolebat nec oculos ad caelum levare : sed percutiebat pectus suum, dicens : Deus, propitius esto mihi peccatori. Dico vobis : descendit hic justificatus in domum suam ab illo : quia omnis qui se exaltat, humiliabitur : et qui se humiliat, exaltabitur.
English translation
At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others, “Two men went up into the Temple to pray, the one was a Pharisee, and the other a publican.”
“The Pharisee standing, prayed thus with himself, ‘O God, I give You thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.'”
“And the publican, standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven, but struck his breast saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I say to you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, because every one who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 16 : 8, 2 and Psalm 64 : 2
Custodi me, Domine, it pupillam oculi : sub umbra alarum Tuarum protege me.
Response : De vultu Tuo judicium meum prodeat : oculi Tui videant aequitatem.
Alleluja, Alleluja.
Response : Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion : et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Alleluja.
English translation
Keep me, o Lord, as the apple of Your eye. Protect me under the shadow of Your wings.
Response : Let my judgment come forth from Your countenance, let Your eyes behold the things that are equitable.
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Response : A hymn, o God, becomes Yours in Zion, and a vow shall be paid to You in Jerusalem. Alleluia.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios – Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians
1 Corinthians 12 : 2-11
Fratres : Scitis, quoniam, cum gentes essetis, ad simulacra muta prout ducebamini euntes. Ideo notum vobis facio, quod nemo in Spiritu Dei loquens, dicit anathema Jesu. Et nemo potest dicere, Dominus Jesus, nisi in Spiritu Sancto.
Divisiones vero gratiarum sunt, idem autem Spiritus. Et divisiones ministrationum sunt, idem autem Dominus. Et divisiones operationum sunt, idem vero Deus, qui operatur omnia in omnibus. Unicuique autem datur manifestatio Spiritus ad utilitatem.
Alii quidem per Spiritum datur sermo sapientiae, alii autem sermo scientiae secundum eumdem Spiritum : alteri fides in eodem Spiritu : alii gratia sanitatum in uno Spiritu : alii operatio virtutum, alii prophetia, alii discretio spirituum, alii genera linguarum, alii interpretatio sermonum.
Haec autem omnia operatur unus atque idem Spiritus, dividens singulis, prout vult.
English translation
Brethren, you know that when you were heathens, you went to dumb idols, according as you were led. Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God, said Anathema to Jesus, and no man can say, the Lord Jesus, but by the Holy Spirit.
Now there are diversities of graces, but the same Spirit, and there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord, and and there are diversities of operations, but the same God, He Who works all in all. And the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man unto profit.
To one indeed, by the Spirit, is given the word of wisdom, and to another, the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit. To another, the grace of healing in one Spirit, to another, the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discerning of spirits, to another, divers kinds of tongues, to another, interpretation of speeches.
But all these things one and the same Spirit works, dividing to every one according as He will.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Introit
Psalm 54 : 17, 18, 20, 23, 2
Dum clamarem ad Dominum, exaudivit vocem meam, ab his, qui appropinquant mihi : et humiliavit eos, qui est ante saecula et manet in aeternum : jacta cogitatum tuum in Domino, et ipse te enutriet.
Exaudi, Deus, orationem meam, et ne despexeris deprecationem meam : intende mihi et exaudi me.
Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
English translation
When I cried to the Lord He heard my voice, from those who draw near to me, and He humbled them, He Who is before all ages, and remains forever, cast your care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you.
Hear o God, my prayer, and do not despise my supplication. Be attentive to me and hear me.
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 omnipotentiam Tuam parcendo maxime et miserando manifestas : multiplica super nos misericordiam Tuam; ut, ad Tua promissa currentes, caelestium bonorum facias esse consortes. Per 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, You Who had chiefly manifested Your power in forbearance and mercy, multiply upon us Your pity, that, hastening on to Your promises, we may be made partakers of the blessings of heaven. 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.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are reminded that as His holy and beloved people, that is as those who profess our Christian faith and truth, our obedience and commitment to Him, each and every one of us must always live our lives worthily and commit ourselves to follow the Lord in all things, to do what He has taught us to do, to follow His own examples in everything we do. Each and every one of us as Christians are called to fulfil our respective missions in life, to do what the Lord has entrusted to us to do, He, Who is the Chief and Good Shepherd, so that in all the things that we say and do, we will help to ensure that we inspire and are good role models for our fellow brothers and sisters around us, thus helping and inspiring each other to come ever closer to God.
In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in which the Lord first began by chiding His faithless and wicked people, especially all those who have misled them all into the wrong and wicked paths, namely the ‘shepherds’ and guides of the people, referring to the wicked and unfaithful kings of Judah who have disobeyed the Lord and established the worship of pagan gods and idols on the holy sites and places of worship of the Lord, as well as those false prophets who were aplenty, claiming to represent God’s will and speak His words, when they in fact advanced their own ideas, preferences and agenda, desiring to gain things and benefits for themselves rather than to do what is right to the people of God and to truly do God’s will.
The prophet Jeremiah had often spoken against those false prophets and all the wicked practices of the people of Judah and their kings, prophesying about the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem, which would indeed happen very soon at that time, when the Babylonians came to conquer the kingdom of Judah, destroying Jerusalem and its Temple. And everything that the prophet Jeremiah had said would indeed come to pass with the Babylonians bringing many of the people of Judah into exile in distant lands away from the lands that they and their ancestors had lived in, a consequence of the rebelliousness and wickedness of their lives and actions before God and men alike.
But at the same time, the Lord also reassured His people of His continued love and generous mercy and forgiveness, as He told them that He would gather them all back and then appoint over them shepherds and guides who would take good care of them all, referring first of all to how they would eventually return to their homeland after many years and decades in exile, and how the Lord would allow and help them to rebuild their lives once again, as they would reestablish their homes and cities, rebuilding the Temple of Jerusalem which would once again be the centre of the proper and worthy worship of the Lord. All these things would indeed come to be just as the Lord had decreed and willed them all to be.
In our second reading this Sunday, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Ephesus in which the Apostle spoke of this great love and salvation which God had made available to all of us, His beloved ones, through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Who has come into our midst, to all of us, the beloved children of God, so that by His coming into this world, and by everything that He has willingly done for us, all of us may receive from Him the assurance of eternal life and true happiness with Him. And He did all these by the willing and most selfless sacrifice, all the sufferings that He endured from His Cross, which He brought and carried with Him all the way to Calvary.
Yes, indeed, God had saved us all and shown us all the most perfect and worthy example of His ever enduring love for us by His Son’s Passion, the suffering and all that He experienced, as He offered for us, on our behalf, the most worthy offering and sacrifice of His own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, the Body and Blood of the Lamb of God, persecuted and slain at the Altar of the Cross at Calvary, on the day of our salvation, that is Good Friday, so that through His offering and sacrifice, all of us may receive the full assurance and guarantee of eternal life and salvation through Him. This is truly the perfect example of God’s ever enduring and generous love for us, which we ought to remember at each and every moments of our lives.
Then, in our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark, we heard of the Lord Jesus Who continued to teach to the people and care for them despite Him and His disciples being physically tired from all the works and missions that they carried out among the people. The disciples had wanted to go off to a secluded place to avoid the crowd so that they all could have a rest after the continuous and ceaseless streams of people coming to the Lord to have Him heal their sick ones or to listen to His teachings and words. But the Lord had pity on the people, who were described in the Gospel as those who were without any shepherd and guidance.
This was in fact a fulfilment of what the Lord had proclaimed earlier on through the prophet Jeremiah and the other prophets, that God would indeed send to His beloved people a new Shepherd, the One Who would gather all of them and show them the path towards Himself, He Who is the Good Shepherd and the Lord of all, none other than Jesus Christ Himself, the Saviour. Through His Son, the Lord gathered everyone back to Himself, calling upon everyone to embrace once again His love and providence, and to follow the path that He Himself has shown us so that we may not be lost again to Him through our disobedience and sins. God wants each and every one of us to be fully reconciled and reunited with Him.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all have heard from the Sacred Scriptures and as we have discussed and discerned them all earlier in their messages, we are all reminded that as God’s most beloved ones, we must always realise just how beloved and precious each and every one of us by God, Who has done everything for us so that we may have the path towards eternal life. Let us all therefore reject all sorts of wickedness and evils in our lives and strive from now on to be ever more committed to God, in all the things that we say and do, in our every interactions with one another. May the Lord be with us always and may He continue to empower and strengthen us all so that we will continue to follow Him and be faithful to Him, ever reminded of the great and ever enduring, most wonderful love that He has for each one of us, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 6 : 30-34
At that time, the Apostles returned and reported to Jesus all they had done and taught. Then He said to them, “Let us go off by ourselves into a remote place and have some rest.” For there were so many people coming and going that the Apostles had no time even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a secluded area by themselves.
But people saw them leaving, and many could guess where they were going. So, from all the towns, they hurried there on foot, arriving ahead of them. As Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He had compassion on them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Ephesians 2 : 13-18
But now, in Christ Jesus, and by His Blood, you, who were once far off, have come near. For Christ is our peace; He, Who has made the two people, one; destroying, in His own flesh, the wall – the hatred – which separated us. He abolished the Law, with its commandments and precepts. He made peace, in uniting the two people, in Him; creating, out of the two, one New Man.
He destroyed hatred and reconciled us both to God, through the cross, making the two, one body. He came to proclaim peace; peace to you who were far off, peace to the Jews who were near. Through Him, we – the two people – approach the Father, in one Spirit.
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