Feast

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(Usus Antiquior) Exaltation of the Holy Cross (II Classis) – Wednesday, 14 September 2022 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : Red

Introit

Galatians 6 : 14 and Psalm 66 : 2

Nos autem gloriari oportet in Cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi : in quo est salus, vita et resurrectio nostra : per quem salvati et liberati sumus.

Deus misereatur nostri, et benedicat nobis : illuminet vultum suum super nos, et misereatur nostri.

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

English translation

But it behooves us to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ in Whom is our salvation, life and resurrection, by Whom we are saved and delivered.

May God have mercy on us, and bless us, may He cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us, and may He have mercy on us.

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 nos hodierna die Exaltationis sanctae Crucis annua sollemnitate laetificas : praesta, quaesumus; ut, cujus mysterium in terra cognovimus, ejus redemptionis praemia in caelo mereamur. 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, You Who had gladdened us this day by the annual solemnity of the exaltation of the Holy Cross, grant, we beseech You, that, as we have known its mystery on earth, we may deserve in heaven the reward which it had purchased. 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, 8 September 2022 : Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates together the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which marks the birthday of Mary, the Mother of God, the moment when she came into this world, as the future Mother of the Saviour of the world. Today the whole Church rejoices in this anniversary of the birthday of this most blessed Woman through whom the salvation of this world has come from. The Lord has fulfilled His long-awaited promise to His people through Mary, the simple young woman living in the unassuming small town of Nazareth in Galilee, and who would become the great Mother of our Saviour and also the greatest among all the saints. That is what we are celebrating today, the memorial of our blessed Mother Mary on her birthday.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Micah, we heard the Lord’s reassurance for His people that His salvation would come to them just as He has promised previously through the other prophets. We heard how the Lord proclaimed that Bethlehem, the city of David, would be the place where His Saviour and Deliverance came from, and although that city might have been a small and insignificant one among the other cities of Israel and Judah, but it was through this place that the Lord’s great plan of salvation would be accomplished, through the Woman whom the Lord Himself proclaimed to be the bearer of the Messiah or Saviour.

That was how the Lord brought His salvation into this world, through a humble woman from a small little town at the periphery of the Jewish community at that time, someone utterly unremarkable in the eyes of the world. And yet, it was through Mary that God willed to bring His salvation into this world, Christ, His own Begotten and Beloved Son, the Divine Word Incarnate, born of the House of David through Mary’s marriage to St. Joseph, the one who was descended and also the rightful heir of David. According to Scriptural evidence and Apostolic traditions, Mary herself also belonged to the House of David as well.

Through Mary and her motherhood, the Lord made manifest His love for each and every one of us mankind in the flesh, as He embraced us all through Jesus Christ His Son, the Divine Word of God Incarnate. Mary has been prepared by God’s will and grace, made Immaculate and conceived without the taint of sin, and throughout her life, she has always been full of grace, free from the taint of sin because she has been full of love for her Son, and for the Lord, obeying Him and following Him in whatever He has told her to do, and she followed her Son throughout His later ministry and even to the foot of His Cross and beyond.

It was through Mary and her full and active participation in the Lord’s work of salvation which allowed us to see the light of God’s hope as revealed to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, born into this world through Mary’s womb. Thus, today as we celebrate the birthday of Mary, the Mother of God, it is also a celebration of the hope of our Light and Salvation in Christ. And today all of us are also reminded that Mary is truly the surest path for us towards God and His salvation, as she is the one closest to her Son, and she is also truly close to us, as she has never forgotten to think about us all daily, all the time.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because the Lord Himself has entrusted Mary, His mother to us, from His Cross just as He has also entrusted us all to her, that we may be her children just as He is her Son, and that she may also be our mother just as she is His Mother. And that is why we celebrate all the more joyfully because we remember our own beloved mother’s birthday today, as we remember the love she has for us, all the intercessions she had made on our behalf, whether we realise it or not. Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, as our mother, Mary has always gazed upon us and wanted us all to be saved through her Son, and she certainly never ceased reaching out to us with love.

She has appeared to many throughout the past centuries, most famously at Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima, and there were many more approved apparitions of Mary throughout history, highlighting just how much beloved we are to her, and how concerned she has been regarding us. Mary our mother often made her appearances especially after a period and time of strife and chaos, during a time of crisis and spiritual troubles in our human history, and she wanted to help us all find our way to return back to her Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. That is why today, just as we commemorate and celebrate her birthday or Nativity, we ought to remind ourselves to follow her examples in faith.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, each one of us should remember to dedicate ourselves to the Lord through following His mother’s examples, her dedication and faith, the great obedience and love she has shown throughout her love for the Lord and His precepts, her humble nature and submission to God’s will and willingness to allow herself be led to the path that God wants her to go through, showed us that Mary is truly a prime role model and example for all of us in how each one of us should live our own lives with faith and dedication, with humility and the desire to serve the Lord and to glorify Him by our every actions, words and deeds throughout our lives.

May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us in our journey, and may He empower each one of us that we may continue to walk ever more faithfully in His path, guided through the patient love of His mother Mary, who is our loving mother too, and may her constant intercession and care for us continue to inspire us to persevere in faith in each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours. Amen.

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Thursday, 8 September 2022 : Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 1 : 1-16, 18-23

This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon.

Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah’s wife. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Then came the kings : Abijah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah.

Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. After the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob.

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus Who is called the Christ – the Messiah. This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us.

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Matthew 1 : 18-23

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us.

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Thursday, 8 September 2022 : Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 12 : 6ab, 6cd

But I put my trust in Your unfailing love, my heart will rejoice on seeing Your salvation.

I will sing to YHVH, for He has been good to me!

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Thursday, 8 September 2022 : Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Micah 5 : 1-4a

But you, Bethlehem Ephrata, so small that you are hardly named among the clans of Judah; from you shall I raise the One Who is to rule over Israel. For He comes forth from of old, from the ancient times.

YHVH, therefore, will abandon Israel until such time as she, who is to give birth, has given birth. Then the rest of His deported brothers will return to the people of Israel. He will stand, and shepherd His flock with the strength of YHVH, in the glorious Name of YHVH, His God.

They will live safely, while He wins renown to the ends of the earth. He shall be peace.

Alternative reading

Romans 8 : 28-30

We know that in everything, God works for the good of those who love Him, whom He has called, according to His plan. Those whom He knew beforehand, He has also predestined, to be like His Son, similar to Him, so, that, He may be the Firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

And so, those whom God predestined, He called, and those whom He called, He makes righteous, and to those whom He makes righteous, He will give His glory.

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Wednesday, 24 August 2022 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, one of the Lord’s Twelve Apostles, and who was also identified as Nathanael, his alternate name as highlighted in our Gospel passage today. St. Bartholomew as known by Nathanael was an intellectual and educated person, who accepted the Lord’s calling and devoted himself henceforth in the service of the Lord. He would go on to proclaim the Lord’s truth and Good News among the people in various distant lands and committed himself to a ministry of service, right up to his martyrdom, which inspired yet many more to follow the Lord.

St. Bartholomew according to Apostolic and Church traditions went on missionary journeys to various regions including but perhaps not limited to Ethiopia, Mesopotamia, Parthia, Lycaonia in Asia Minor, Armenia and even India. He spent many years and a lot of efforts in proclaiming the Gospel of truth among the people there, some of whom received the Lord and the Good News with enthusiasm, while others rejected the Lord and refused to believe in Him, and refusing also to believe in St. Bartholomew and the other missionaries sent to their midst. Through those works, St. Bartholomew sowed the seeds of faith and built the foundation of the Church in many places, but he had to face a lot of hardships too.

St. Bartholomew was credited with an early mission to India and the regions far east from the land of Judea. He visited several regions in ancient India, establishing probably the first Christian communities there together with the other famous Apostle, St. Thomas the Apostle, who established the foundation of the Christian communities in India, that survived until the present day and could trace their faith lineage all the way since the days of the Apostles, both St. Thomas and St. Bartholomew. Then, St. Bartholomew was also involved in an important mission to Armenia where most stories agreed that he faced persecution and martyrdom there.

In Armenia, St. Bartholomew likely proclaimed the Lord together with another Apostle, namely St. Jude Thaddeus, and it was there that the first seeds of the Christian faith was sown. While Armenia would eventually become the first Christian nation in the world about two and a half centuries later after the time of the Apostles, but back then, it was still a land of pagans, although St. Bartholomew managed to convince some of them to listen to the Good News of God, and some were convinced to become Christians. Not only that, but one of the rulers, traditionally according to historical stories, named Polymius was convinced by St. Bartholomew to become a Christian, and that led to a vicious reaction against the Apostles.

Depending on the version of tradition, St. Bartholomew was either crucified upside down in the similar manner as St. Peter the Apostle in Rome, or the more popular and common one being that he was flayed or skinned alive before he was martyred in Armenia. Regardless of the way and the circumstances of his martyrdom, what each one of us can really be sure of is that St. Bartholomew had dedicated his life to the service of God and he had suffered greatly for that, and yet, he embraced his martyrdom happily and with great faith, knowing that he had suffered for the sake of the Lord and His Church, for the salvation of many more souls.

The courage and faith showed by St. Bartholomew and the other Apostles, saints and martyrs still inspire us even right to this day. St. Bartholomew showed us all what it means to be genuine and true Christians, to become true followers and disciples of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Each and every one of us had been called and chosen, to become the Lord’s disciples and followers, and we have been given the mission to go forth and proclaim the same truth and Good News just as St. Bartholomew and the other Apostles had done in the past. As members of God’s same Church, we are all called to be evangelising disciples and missionaries through our lives.

This does not mean that we have to do what St. Bartholomew and the Apostles had done. Each one of us have been given different talents, abilities, gifts and opportunities by the Lord. What the Lord wants us all to do is that, we should make good use of all those in whatever opportunities and goods we have, whatever blessings and talents we have gained, so that we may glorify the Lord and His Name, and proclaim His truth by our worthy lives, our worthy actions, words and deeds. This is what we should be doing, brothers and sisters in Christ, namely to live our lives worthily for the Lord and to do our best to obey His Law, His commandments and His will.

Let us all strive to be missionary and evangelising disciples and followers of the Lord, in everything we say and do, in our every vocations in life, be it as married couples, as family members, youth or elderly, be it as laypeople or members of the presbyterate, or be it as members of religious orders and other institutions. Each and every one of us have our own unique roles to play as part of the Lord’s Church to fulfil what He has called us to do, to obey Him wholeheartedly and to be exemplary and sources of inspiration for one another, for our fellow brothers and sisters at all times. May God be with us always, and bless our every good works and endeavours, and may St. Bartholomew continue to intercede for us sinners. Amen.

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Wednesday, 24 August 2022 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 1 : 45-51

At that time, Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, and the prophets : He is Jesus, Son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, He said of him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him.” Nathanael asked Him, “How do You know me?” And Jesus said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree, and I saw you.”

Nathanael answered, “Master, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said, ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater things than that. Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

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Wednesday, 24 August 2022 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 144 : 10-11, 12-13ab, 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.

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endures from generation to generation.

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.

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Wednesday, 24 August 2022 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Revelations 21 : 9b-14

And one of the seven Angels who were with the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues said to me, “Come, I am going to show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

He took me up, in a spiritual vision, to a very high mountain, and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, from God. It shines with the glory of God, like a precious jewel, with the colour of crystal-clear jasper. Its wall, large and high, has twelve gates; stationed at them are twelve Angels.

Over the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. Three gates face the east; three gates face the north; three gates face the south and three face the west. The city wall stands on twelve foundation stones, on which are written the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.