Solemnities

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Sunday, 7 April 2024 : Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 20 : 19-31

At that time, on the evening of the day when Jesus rose from the dead, the first day after the Sabbath, the doors were locked where the disciples were, because of their fear of the Jews. But Jesus came, and stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” Then He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples kept looking at the Lord and were full of joy.

Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.” After saying this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”

Thomas, the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he replied, “Until I have seen in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in His side, I will not believe.”

Eight days later, the disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them. Despite the locked doors Jesus came and stood in the their midst and said, “Peace be with you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; stretch out your hand, and put it into My side. Do not be an unbeliever! Believe!”

Thomas then said, “You are my Lord and my God.” Jesus replied, “You believe because you see Me, do you not? Happy are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

There were many other signs that Jesus gave in the presence of His disciples, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Believe, and you will have life through His Name!

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Sunday, 7 April 2024 : Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 5 : 1-6

All those, who believe that Jesus is the Anointed, are born of God; whoever loves the Father, loves the Son. How may we know, that we love the children of God? If we love God and fulfil His commands, for God’s love requires us to keep His commands. In fact, His commandments are not a burden because all those born of God overcome the world.

And the victory, which overcomes the world, is our faith. Who has overcome the world? The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus Christ was acknowledged through water, but also through blood. Not only water, but water and blood. And the Spirit too, witnesses to Him, for the Spirit is truth.

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Sunday, 7 April 2024 : Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 117 : 2-4, 16ab and 17-18, 22-24

Let Israel say, “His loving kindness endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His loving kindness endures forever.” Let those who fear YHVH say, “His loving kindness endures forever.”

The right hand of the Lord is lifted high, the right hand of the Lord strikes mightily! I shall not die, but live to proclaim what the Lord has done. YHVH has stricken me severely, but He has saved me from death.

The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. This was YHVH’s doing and we marvel at it. This is the day YHVH has made; so let us rejoice and be glad.

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Sunday, 7 April 2024 : Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 4 : 32-35

The whole community of believers was one in heart and mind. No one claimed private ownership of any possessions; but rather, they shared all things in common. With great power, the Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, for all of them were living in an exceptional time of grace.

There was no needy person among them, for those who owned land or houses, sold them and brought the proceeds of the sale. And they laid it at the feet of the Apostles, who distributed it, according to each one’s need.

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(Usus Antiquior) Low Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 7 April 2024 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Preface, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : White

Offertory

Matthew 28 : 2, 5, 6

Angelus Domini descendit de caelo, et dixit mulieribus : Quem quaeritis, surrexit, sicut dixit, Alleluja.

English translation

An angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and said to the women, “He whom you seek is risen as He said.” Alleluia.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Suscipe munera, Domine, quaesumus, exsultantis Ecclesiae : et, cui causam tanti gaudii praestitisti, perpetuae fructum concede laetitiae. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Receive, we pray to You, o Lord, the gifts of Your exultant Church, and as You have afforded her cause for such great joy, grant her the fruit of unending gladness. 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 Easter

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare : Te quidem, Domine, omni tempore, sed in hac potissimum die (in hoc potissimum) gloriosus praedicare, cum Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus. Ipse enim verus est Agnus, qui abstulit peccata mundi. Qui mortem nostram moriendo destruxit et vitam resurgendo reparavit. Et ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Dominationibus cumque omni militiae caelestis exercitus hymnum gloriae Tuae canimus, sine fine dicentes :

English translation

It is truly meet and just, right and profitable, to extol You indeed at all times, o Lord, but chiefly with highest praise to magnify You on this day (in these days) on which for us Christ, our Paschal Lamb, was sacrificed. For He is the true Lamb who had taken away the sins of the world, who by dying Himself had destroyed our death, and by rising again had bestowed a new life on us. And therefore with the Angels and Archangels, with the Thrones and Dominions, and with all the array of the heavenly host we sing a hymn to Your glory and unceasingly repeat.

Communion

John 20 : 27

Mitte manum Tuam, et cognosce loca clavorum, Alleluja : et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis, Alleluja, Alleluja.

English translation

Put in your hand and know the place of the nails, Alleluia. And be not incredulous but believe! Alleluia, Alleluia.

Post-Communion Prayer

Quaesumus, Domine, Deus noster : ut sacrosancta mysteria, quae pro reparationis nostrae munimine contulisti; et praesens nobis remedium esse facias et futurum. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

We beseech You, o Lord, our God, that You make the sacred mysteries which You have given for the bulwark of our redemption, to be unto us a healing both in the present and in the future. 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) Low Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 7 April 2024 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : White

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

John 20 : 19-31

In illo tempore : Cum sero esset die illo, una sabbatorum, et fores essent clausae, ubi erant discipuli congregati propter metum Judaeorum : venit Jesus, et stetit in medio, et dixit eis : Pax vobis. Et cum hoc dixisset, ostendit eis manus et latus. Gavisi sunt ergo discipuli, viso Domino.

Dixit ergo eis iterum : Pax vobis. Sicut misit me Pater, et ego mitto vos. Haec cum dixisset, insufflavit, et dixit eis : Accipite Spiritum Sanctum : quorum remiseritis peccata : remittuntur eis; et quorum retinueritis, retenta sunt.

Thomas autem unus ex duodecim, qui dicitur Didymus, non erat cum eis quando venit Jesus. Dixerunt ergo et alii discipuli : Vidimus Dominum. Ille autem dixit eis : Nisi videro in manibus ejus fixuram clavorum, et mittam digitum meum in locum clavorum, et mittam manum meam in latus ejus, non credam.

Et post dies octo, iterum erant discipuli ejus intus, et Thomas cum eis. Venit Jesus, januis clausis, et stetit in medio, et dixit : Pax vobis. Deinde dicit Thomae : Infer digitum tuum huc et vide manus meas, et affer manum tuam et mitte in latus meum : et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis.

Respondit Thomas et dixit ei : Dominus meus et Deus meus. Dixit ei Jesus : Quia vidisti me, Thoma, credidisti : beati, qui non viderunt, et crediderunt. Multa quidem et alia signa fecit Jesus in conspectu discipulorum suorum, quae non sunt scripta in libro hoc. Haec autem scripta sunt, ut credatis, quia Jesus est Christus, Filius Dei : et ut credentes vitam habeatis in Nomine Ejus.

English translation

At that time, when it was late that same day, the first day of the week, and the doors were shut where the disciples were gathered together, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be to you.” And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord.

He said therefore to them again, “Peace be to you, as the Father had sent Me, I also send you.” When He had said this, He breathed on them and He said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit, those whose sins you shall forgive, they shall be forgiven, and those whose sins you shall retain, their sins shall be retained.”

Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, who is called the Twin or Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Except that I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

And after eight days, again His disciples were within a room, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be to you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger in here, and see My hands, and bring your hands here, and put it into My side, and do not be faithless but believe!”

Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God.” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, Thomas, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believed.” Many other signs Jesus had also done in the sight of His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have life in His Name.

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(Usus Antiquior) Low Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 7 April 2024 : Alleluia

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 28 : 7 and John 20 : 26

Alleluja, Alleluja.

Response : In die resurrectionis meae, dicit Dominus, praecedam vos in Galilaeam.

Alleluja.

Response : Post dies octo, januis clausis, stetit Jesus in medio discipulorum suorum, et dixit : Pax vobis. Alleluja.

English translation

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Response : In the day of My resurrection, I will go before you into Galilee.

Alleluia.

Response : Eight days after, the doors being shut, Jesus stood in the midst of His disciples, and said, “Peace be unto you.” Alleluia.

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(Usus Antiquior) Low Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 7 April 2024 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : White

Lectio Epistolae Beati Joannis Apostoli – Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed John the Apostle

1 John 5 : 4-10

Carissimi : Omne, quod natum est ex Deo, vincit mundum : et haec est victoria, quae vincit mundum, fides nostra. Quis est, qui vincit mundum, nisi qui credit, quoniam Jesus est Filius Dei? Hic est, qui venit per aquam et sanguinem, Jesus Christus : non in aqua solum, sed in aqua et sanguine.

Et Spiritus est, qui testificatur, quoniam Christus est veritas. Quoniam tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in caelo : Pater, Verbum, et Spiritus Sanctus : et hi tres unum sunt. Et tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in terra : Spiritus, et aqua, et sanguis : et hi tres unum sunt.

Si testimonium hominum accipimus, testimonium Dei majus est : quoniam hoc est testimonium Dei, quod majus est : quoniam testificatus est de Filio suo. Qui credit in Filium Dei, habet testimonium Dei in se.

English translation

Dearly beloved, whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world, and that is the victory which overcomes the world, that is our faith. Who is he that overcame the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is He who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not by water only but by water and blood.

And it is the Spirit which testifies that Christ is the truth. And there are three who give testimony in heaven, that is the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are One. And there are three that give testimony on earth, that is the Spirit, the water and the blood, and these three are one.

If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God which is greater, because He had testified of His Son. He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony of God in himself.

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(Usus Antiquior) Low Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 7 April 2024 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : White

Introit

1 Peter 2 : 2 and Psalm 80 : 2

Quasi modo geniti infantes, Alleluja : rationabile, sine dolo lac concupiscite, Alleluja, Alleluja, Alleluja.

Exsultate Deo, adjutori nostro : jubilate Deo Jacob.

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

English translation

As newborn babes, Alleluia, desire the rational milk without guile, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Rejoice to God our Helper, sing aloud to God of Jacob.

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

Praesta, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus : ut, qui Paschalia festa peregimus, haec, Te largiente, moribus et vita teneamus. 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, we beseech You, o Almighty God, that we who have completed the observance of the Paschal festival, may keep it, by Your bounty, in our life and behaviour. 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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Sunday, 31 March 2024 : Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is Risen from the dead, He has risen and conquered sin, destroyed the chains that had held us down all these while, broken free the prisons of the underworld, and led all of those who have faith in Him to Himself. Alleluia! He is Risen! And we all truly rejoice greatly and wonderfully this evening because at this moment we mark the occasion when Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, the Son of God, on the third day of the Triduum of His Passion, His suffering, Crucifixion and death, rose in glory just as He Himself had predicted and told to His disciples, showing them and all of us, that sin and death truly have no power over Him, and that those do not have the final say over all of us.

At this moment of Easter Sunday, after having gone through the entire season and time of Lent from Ash Wednesday, having not sung the great and most joyful Alleluia, now we finally sing out with great joy this hymn of great praise to God, and rightly so because we give Him thanks for everything the He had done for our sake, and we thank Him most graciously for having given us all His Son to save us all, just as we have commemorated everything that happened throughout His Passion or Suffering, when Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, endured the worst punishments, sufferings and trials, all for the sake of our salvation and liberation from evil, sin and death. We rejoice because through His Resurrection afterwards, the Lord Jesus showed us all that not even sin and death can rule over us, and in the end, we can have the sure hope of eternal life with God.

In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard the words of St. Peter the Apostle who exhorted the faithful, the disciples of the Lord, proclaiming all that had happened and taken place at that time and earlier, with the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ, the Son of God Who has brought the revelation of God’s truth and salvation into our midst. He was rejected, oppressed and made to suffer for all of our sins, but one which He has willingly accepted and embraced out of His love for us all. Through His Cross, Christ has brought us the sure hope of eternal life as well as the assurance of redemption because by His Cross, His death and ultimately by His Resurrection from the dead, He has conquered death, and broken forever the hold which sin has over us. His Light has dispelled the darkness present all around us, and showed us all the path towards God.

The Lord had told St. Peter and the other Apostles and disciples, shown Himself to them and proclaimed the truth about His mission, and how He has entrusted this mission to them all, to the Church of God. Each and every one of us as Christians have been called to various different missions, vocations and purpose in life, in each and every areas that are pertinent or unique to us, to the abilities and opportunities which the Lord has given to us and blessed us all with. The Apostles and disciples of the Lord responded faithfully and courageously to their calling, proclaiming the Risen Lord with great courage and dedication, being witnesses of His truth and love, His Good News to all the people of all the nations. Through their exemplary lives and actions, their commitments to God’s Law and commandments, they have indeed become the shining beacons of God’s light and salvation, which is something that we must do as well in our own lives.

In our second reading taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians, and the alternative from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, all of us are reminded by the Apostle of the grace which God has blessed us all generously with, and the path which Our Risen Lord has shown us, in leading us all towards God’s grace and salvation, leaving behind our old and past sinful way of life, our past attachments to worldly pleasures, desires and all the things which have often kept us all away from the fullness of God’s grace and love. We must get rid from ourselves all the ‘yeasts’ of sin, the impurities of our worldly attachments and all those obstacles that often kept us away from truly being able to develop a strong, lasting and wonderful relationship with the Lord. We have to focus our attention on the Risen Lord, and look upon His Light and Hope, so that we may tear ourselves away from the darkness of sin in this world.

Then finally, we are reminded yet again through the Gospel passage in which the account about the Resurrection of the Lord was highlighted to us, how the Lord has truly indeed risen from the dead and did not remain in the dominion and realm of death, for sin and death had no hold over Him, and He Himself has conquered those two, breaking forever the chains binding us to their dominion and power. Through His Resurrection, the Lord showed us all that His Light, His love and the hope in His salvation are far greater than the greatest power and forces that sin, darkness and evil can muster against us, and hence, as Christians, we must not be afraid of following the Lord and entrusting ourselves to Him, in whatever it is that He has called us all to do, to be His disciples and missionaries, His witnesses in our world today.

That is why on this most joyous occasion of Easter, as we finally rejoice in great joy and exultation upon the glorious Resurrection of Our Lord, let us all therefore remember our own moment of baptism, the time when we pass through from the old life and existence of sin into the new life and existence once again filled with God’s grace and love. We must remember our calling, mission and whatever God has entrusted to us all as Christians, in embarking on this journey we have been entrusted with through our baptism. Baptism is merely just the beginning of our journey as Christians, the moment when we enter into this new life, and not the end of the journey. There are bound to be trials, challenges, difficulties and many other obstacles in our path, and if we are not careful, we may easily slip and fall again back into the path of sin. However, if we continue to remain true and faithful to our calling and mission as Christians, then we will surely remain true in our path towards God and His salvation.

Therefore, just as we pray today for our all those who have just joined the Church earlier at Easter Vigil, let us all remind ourselves of our own journey as Christians, renewing the promises we have made at our baptism so that each and every one of us will continue to go forth, ever joyfully proclaiming the Lord and His truth, His love and salvation to all the whole world through our lives, through our every actions, words and deeds. Let us all be truly good and worthy disciples and followers of the Lord, by doing His will and by continuing the great works which He has entrusted to us through His Church. May the Risen Lord be with us all and may He bless our every actions, efforts and endeavours, all for His greater glory, now and always. Alleluia! Amen!