Lent

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(Usus Antiquior) Third Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 23 March 2025 : Gradual and Tract

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Gradual

Psalm 9 : 20, 4

Exsurge, Domine, non praevaleat homo : judicentur gentes in conspectu Tuo.

Response : In convertendo inimicum meum retrorsum, infirmabuntur, et peribunt a facie Tua.

English translation

Arise, o Lord, let not man be strengthened, let the Gentiles be judged in Your sight.

Response : When my enemy shall be turned back, they shall be weakened and perish before Your face.

Tract

Psalm 122 : 1-3

Ad Te levavi oculos meos, qui habitas in caelis.

Response : Ecce, sicut oculi servorum in manibus dominorum suorum.

Response : Et sicut oculi ancillae in manibus dominae suae ita oculi nostri ad Dominum, Deum nostrum, donec misereatur nostri.

Response : Miserere nobis, Domine, miserere nobis.

English translation

To You have I lifted up my eyes, You Who dwells in heaven.

Response : Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters.

Response : And as the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He has mercy on us.

Response : Have mercy on us, o Lord, have mercy on us.

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(Usus Antiquior) Third Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 23 March 2025 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : Violet

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

Ephesians 5 : 1-9

Fratres : Estote imitatores Dei, sicut filii carissimi : et ambulate in dilectione, sicut et Christus dilexit nos, et tradidit semetipsum pro nobis oblationem, et hostiam Deo in odorem suavitatis. Fornicatio autem et omnis immunditia aut avaritia nec nominetur in vobis, sicut decet sanctos : aut turpitudo aut stultiloquium aut scurrilitas, quae ad rem non pertinet : sed magis gratiarum actio.

Hoc enim scitote intelligentes, quod omnis fornicator aut immundus aut avarus, quod est idolorum servitus, non habet hereditatem in regno Christi et Dei. Nemo vos seducat inanibus verbis : propter haec enim venit ira Dei in filios diffidentiae. Nolite ergo effici participes eorum.

Eratis enim aliquando tenebrae : nunc autem lux in Domino. Ut filii lucis ambulate : fructus enim lucis est in omni bonitate et justitia et veritate.

English translation

Brethren, may all of you become followers of God, as most dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also had loved us, and had delivered Himself for us, and oblation and a sacrifice to God, for an odour of sweetness. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not so much as be named among you, as became the saints, nor obscenity, nor foolish talking, nor scurrility, which is to no purpose, but rather giving of thanks.

For all of you should know this, and understand, that no fornicator, nor unclean, nor covetous person, which is a serving of idols, had any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things came the anger of God upon the children of unbelievers. Be you not partakers with them.

For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord. Walk all of you as children of the light, for the fruit of the light is in all goodness, and justice and truth.

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(Usus Antiquior) Third Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 23 March 2025 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Introit

Psalm 24 : 15-16 and 1-2

Oculi mei semper ad Dominum, quia ipse evellet de laqueo pedes meos : respice in me, et miserere mei, quoniam unicus et pauper sum ego.

Ad Te, Domine, levavi animam meam : Deus meus, in Te confido, non erubescam.

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

English translation

My eyes are ever towards the Lord, for He shall pluck my feet out of the snare. May You look upon me, and have mercy on me, for I am alone and poor.

To You, o Lord, have I lifted up my soul. In You, o my God, I put my trust, let me not be ashamed.

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

Quaesumus, omnipotens Deus, vota humilium respice : atque, ad defensionem nostram, dexteram Tuae majestatis extende. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Have regard to the desires of the lowly, o Almighty God, we beseech You, and stretch forth the right hand of Your majesty in our defence. 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, 22 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures, of the great love and mercy of God which He has willingly shown to us, through His compassion and the desire which He has for us, in leading us all into the path towards our reconciliation with Him. All of us as Christians are reminded that God, our ever loving Father and Creator has always been full of mercy towards us, full of compassion and love, ever kind and ever committed to the Covenant which He has made with us all, His beloved children and people, who have often erred against Him, disobeying His Law and commandments, refusing to walk in the path that He has shown us. And yet, God is still willing to embrace us all with the love of a loving Father, while chastising us for our sins, with the ultimate aim and goal to be reconciled with us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Micah in which the prophet Micah spoke to God on behalf of the people of Israel, the people of God, asking and beseeching God to shepherd and guide them all as He has always done in the days and years past, reminding the people at the same time of the great love and mercy that God has shown to His people throughout history, as He cared for them when they were in trouble, protecting them all from their enemies and guiding them through the right path, showing them all His power and glory, fulfilling all those things that He has promised them, and making the path before them smooth. God has done all these to His people out of His great love and compassion towards them, wanting them to live worthily in His path, so that they might be reunited with Him and be found worthy of Him.

At that time, during the time of the ministry of the prophet Micah which happened during the later parts of the history of the kingdom of Judah, many among the people of God in Judah had not obeyed the Law and commandments of God, preferring to follow their own paths and preferences in life. As such, God has warned them all that should they continue in their rebellious attitude, then in the end, they will be judged by their wicked and dishonourable actions that had kept them all away from the path of righteousness. And yet, at the same time, God also reassured His people that He truly loved all of them, and should they seek Him for His mercy and forgiveness, repenting their wicked and wayward paths, then He would willingly welcome them all back to His holy and loving Presence. It all ultimately depended on what the people would choose to do with their lives.

Essentially, we are all reminded that we have the freedom to choose our path in life, whether we want to continue to live our lives in disobedience of God and His ways, or whether we want to return to Him, asking and begging for Him to forgive us all our trespasses, mistakes and faults. And this is what we are being reminded again through our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist. In that Gospel passage, we heard the famous parable of the prodigal son, detailing to us the story of the younger of two sons of a rich man who sought his part of the inheritance early on, and when he was given the inheritance, he went away on a journey to distant lands where he spent all of his inheritance, money and possessions on wayward living and hedonistic lifestyle with his friends and others around him.

In this very well-known parable, we heard of how the prodigal younger son eventually realised his mistake and foolishness when he had run out of his money, wealth and inheritance, and all of his so-called friends and all those who were around him disappeared and left him when he had nothing else left on him. He tried to survive for a while in a very despondent state, working in a pig farm, and as we heard, no one would give him even the pig food to eat. That was when the prodigal younger son realised and decided to return back to his father, to beg him to make him one of his servants instead, as he could choose to remain there in the distant lands and die of hunger, or to swallow his pride and seek the father’s mercy and forgiveness instead, and remain alive, as those servants of his father were all living in plenty and happiness.

Through this parable, the Lord wanted to show us all the love that He has for each and every one of us, the constant and persistent love and compassionate care which He has given generously to us, with the father in the story representing the Lord Himself, the elder son being those who have followed the commandments of the Lord and His Law, and was also in a way a representation of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law at that time, while the prodigal younger son represents those sinners who have decided to come back to the Lord, seeking the mercy of their Heavenly Father just like the prodigal son seeking the reconciliation with his father after having committed such a grievous mistake and error of living in debauchery and squandering his inheritance.

We heard of how the father in the parable was so joyful upon hearing that his younger son has finally returned to him, that he had returned despite probably being thought of having been lost or dead. And thus, the father threw a great feast and celebration to welcome his return, only for the elder brother to be angered by such a reception. And we heard the Lord Himself explaining how what happened to the prodigal son is something that we ourselves ought to be experiencing in our own lives. This is because each and every one of us are also sinners who are seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy. And through the figure of the elder brother, the Lord was also criticising the actions of those Pharisees and teachers of the Law who often prided themselves for their righteousness and being biased, judgmental and prejudiced against their own fellow brothers and sisters.

This means that those people behaved just like the elder brother who thought that he was more worthy of the father’s love just because he seemed to be the more righteous one and the one who had been by the side of the father all the while. But the father’s love is given to both of his sons equally, and both of them were equally precious to him, just as the Lord loves each and every one of us equally, all His beloved children, though sinners. Even the greatest sinners, should they be willing to embrace God’s mercy and forgiveness, will be given the fullness of His grace and kindness. And this is why we should never lose hope in the mercy, compassion and kindness of God. If we allow ourselves to be misguided in thinking that we are unworthy of God’s love, or if we are too proud to admit that we are sinners in need of healing, then we will never receive the forgiveness of God.

That prodigal, younger son could have perished in the distant lands, all alone and in poverty if he did not swallow his pride and chose to be humble, begging and seeking his father’s forgiveness and mercy. It was his conscious choice to return to his father with a regretful and contrite heart that the prodigal son has been forgiven and received once again the fullness of the father’s generous love. Therefore, in the same manner, all of us, who are sinners, will receive the fullness of the Lord, our Heavenly Father’s most generous love and kindness, mercy and compassion if we choose to obey Him and come back to Him with sorrowful and repentant hearts. Are we then willing to make the commitment to this path, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we willing to acknowledge our sinfulness and our imperfections, flaws and mistakes that had kept us away from God?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to journey through this blessed time and opportunity this Lenten season, let us all realise how fortunate we are to have been given such a wonderful opportunity for reconciliation with our loving God and Father, and make good use of the great opportunity given to us to seek His love and mercy once again. Let us all not harden our hearts and close our minds anymore to Him, but do our best instead to glorify Him by our lives, by our humble obedience and desire to be forgiven and to be fully loved again by God, our loving Father, Who loves each and every one of us equally without exception. And as those who have received this faith and blessing from God, we, as the elder children, should also be welcoming to our fellow brethren, especially all those who have not known God and His mercy, reaching out to them and sharing God’s love with them instead of judging them and being prejudiced against them, or being jealous of God’s love and mercy which have been shown to them too.

May the Lord, our heavenly and most loving and compassionate Father continue to bless each and every one of us, and bless our Lenten journey and observance, our practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving among others. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 22 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 15 : 1-3, 11-32

At that time, tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, ‘This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So Jesus told them this parable : “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them. Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off for a distant land, where he squandered his wealth in loose living.”

“Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land. So he hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place, and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he, that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.”

“Finally coming to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against God, and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired servants.’ With that thought in mind, he set off for his father’s house.”

“He was still a long way off, when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.'”

“But the father turned to his servants : ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Bring out the finest robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Take the fattened calf and kill it! We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found!’ And the celebration began.”

“Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the fields. As he returned and approached the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant answered, ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy about it that he has ordered this celebration, and killed the fattened calf.'”

“The elder son became angry, and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The son, very indignant, said, ‘Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns, after squandering your property with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.'”

“The father said, ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.'”

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Saturday, 22 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 9-10, 11-12

Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

He will not always scold nor will He be angry forever. He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve.

As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins.

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Saturday, 22 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Micah 7 : 14-15, 18-20

Shepherd Your people with Your staff, shepherd the flock of Your inheritance that dwells alone in the scrub, in the midst of a fertile land. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old, in the days when You went out of Egypt. Show us Your wonders.

Who is a God like You, Who takes away guilt and pardons crime for the remnant of His inheritance? Who is like You Whose anger does not last? For You delight in merciful forgiveness. Once again You will show us Your loving kindness and trample on our wrongs, casting all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as You have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.

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Friday, 21 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that desire, jealousy and ambition, among other things can really be very dangerous and harmful for us as they can easily mislead us all into the path towards our downfall and destruction. We must always remind ourselves that worldly desires, attachments and ambitions of all sorts would only lead to division and from there on to suffering, and ultimately into sin and therefore destruction. The examples highlighted in our Scripture passages today served to remind us about these facts so that we will not go further in our erroneous ways and repent from all of our sins, returning back to the Lord with contrite hearts, seeking His forgiveness and mercy.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Genesis, we heard of the story of the time when the sons of Jacob or also known as Israel, struggled among themselves because of the favour which Jacob gave to one of his sons, Joseph, one of his youngest sons, born of his beloved wife, Rachel. For the context of this event, we must first understand the dynamics of Jacob’s life and family relationships, which began when he went into self-exile away from his homeland in Canaan after he had taken away the blessings meant for his elder brother Esau. He went to the land of his relative Laban in Mesopotamia, and while labouring for him, gained two of Laban’s daughters as wife, the elder daughter Leah and the younger one, Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel and only wanted to marry her, but had to take Leah as wife as well.

As a result, when they and their servants bore children to Jacob, eventually it was inevitable that Jacob treasured the sons born to him by Rachel more than the other sons. In addition, if we read on more in the Scriptures, Rachel died while giving birth to Joseph’s younger brother Benjamin, which is yet another reason why Jacob treated Joseph with such favour as described in our first reading today. However, just as we have also heard there, this naturally brought about resentment from the other sons of Jacob, who saw their brother’s special treatment with jealousy and even disgust. This was exacerbated by the dreams which Joseph had received, which he shared with his brothers, which were actually premonitions of what would happen in the future, foreseeing the moment when everyone including his parents, would bow before Joseph, in his later role as the Regent of Egypt.

This eventually led to them plotting their own brother’s demise, even thinking of killing him. Fortunately, Reuben, the eldest son of Jacob managed to dissuade them from such an act, and instead, they sold Joseph off to Midianite slavers who eventually brought Joseph to Egypt, while they lied to their father saying that Joseph had been killed by wild animals. Joseph had to struggle in his early years in Egypt, enduring slavery and then prison, before rising up to the position of the Regent of Egypt by God’s guidance and grace. And as mentioned, he would eventually be reunited with his brothers and family after many years, and they forgave one another their mistakes and faults. This is truly a reminder for all of us as Christians not to do the same injustice and mistreatment to our fellow brothers and sisters ourselves.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the parable told by the Lord Jesus to His disciples from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist regarding the evil tenants in a land that refused to pay and obey their dues, the fees that they were supposed to give to the landowner as part of their rent and obligations. This led to the master or landowner to send his servants to collect the rents from those tenants and to remind them to fulfil their obligations, only for those evil and wicked tenants to mistreat the servants sent by the landowner, persecuting and even killing them. And we heard how last of all, the landowner or master sent his own son to the field, thinking that those tenants would at least respect his son, which ended up with the evil tenants plotting and causing the death of the landowner’s son, with the wicked intention of desiring the ownership of the lands that they had been renting.

This parable was in fact a representation of the people of God of the time of the Lord Jesus and previously, such as during the time of the prophet Jeremiah mentioned earlier on. Those evil and wicked tenants refer to the people of God themselves, with the lands they had rented on being a representation of this world that we are all living in. Meanwhile, the master or the landowner is a representation of the Lord Himself, the Lord of the world and all Creation, and those servants that were sent to the tenants to remind them represent the prophets and the messengers that God had sent to His people. And of course the son of the master represents the Son of God Himself, the Lord and Saviour of all, Whom had been sent into this world, and then later on was rejected and condemned to death by those who refused to believe in Him, much as how those wicked tenants treated the master’s son.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is how our desires for worldly things, riches, possessions and other sorts of ambitions can lead us into the slippery slope of sin and disobedience against God, corrupting us and turning us away from God’s grace and love into the path towards our downfall. We must not allow ourselves to be easily taken in by our ambitions and desires such as what the sons of Jacob had exhibited, and which the evil and wicked tenants in the parable of the Lord had shown us. As Christians all of us should resist the temptations of worldly glory and desires, all the obstacles keeping us away from the Lord and His righteous path. We should resist all the false pleasures offered and provided by the evil ones seeking our downfall and destruction, and strive to be good role models in our own lives, in how we live up to our faith each day, putting God at the centre of our lives and existence, and not our own pride, ego and desires for glory and worldly pleasures.

May all of us continue to draw ever closer to God and to His most generous mercy as we continue to progress through this time and season of Lent, so that by our commitment to live our daily lives in the manner that is acceptable to God, obeying His Law and commandments, all of these would be helpful in leading us closer to the Lord’s salvation, allowing us to throw away the yoke of sin and evil, and with contrite and sorrowful hearts, fully realising the depth and gravity of our sins, we may enter into God’s rich embrace of mercy and love, and be healed from all of our predicaments and corruptions of sin. May God be with us always, and may He empower each one of us with His love and grace, that we may give Him our very best and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 21 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 21 : 33-43, 45-46

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Listen to another example : There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the winepress, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then went to a distant country.”

“When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another and stoned a third. Again the owner sent more servants, but they were treated in the same way.”

“Finally, he sent his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they thought, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”

“Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?” They said to him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due time.” And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it.”

“Therefore I say to you : the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you, and given to a people who will yield a harvest.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these parables, they realised that Jesus was referring to them. They would have arrested Him, but they were afraid of the crowd, who regarded Him as a Prophet.

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Friday, 21 March 2025 : 2nd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 104 : 16-17, 18-19, 20-21

Then the Lord sent a famine and ruined the crop that sustained the land; He sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

His feet in shackles, his neck in irons till what he foretold came to pass, and the Lord’s word proved him true.

The king sent for him, set him free, the ruler of the peoples released him. He put him in charge of his household and made him ruler of all his possessions.