Liturgical Colour : Green
Sirach 3 : 19-21, 30-31
The greater you are, the more you should humble yourself and thus you will find favour with God. For great is the power of the Lord and it is the humble who give Him glory. Do not seek what is beyond your powers nor search into what is beyond your ability.
As water extinguishes the burning flames, almsgiving obtains pardon for sins. The man who responds by doing good prepares for the future, at the moment of his downfall he will find support.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Offertory
Exodus 32 : 11, 13, 14
Precatus est Moyses in conspectu Domini, Dei sui, et dixit : Quare, Domine, irasceris in populo Tuo? Parce irae animae Tuae : memento Abraham, Isaac et Jacob, quibus jurasti dare terram fluentem lac et mel. Et placatus factus est Dominus de malignitate, quam dixit facere populo suo.
English translation
Moses prayed in the sight of the Lord his God, and said, “Why, o Lord, is Your indignation enkindled against Your people? Let the anger of Your mind cease, remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to whom You had sworn to give a land flowing with milk and honey.” And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil, which He had spoken of doing against the people.
Secret Prayer of the Priest
Hostias, quaesumus, Domine, propitius intende, quas sacris altaribus exhibemus : ut, nobis indulgentiam largiendo, Tuo Nomini dent honorem. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
English translation
Graciously behold, we pray to You, o Lord, the sacrifices which we lay upon Your sacred altars, that, in bringing us plentiful forgiveness, they may give honour to Your Name. 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 103 : 13, 14-15
De fructu operum Tuorum, Domine, satiabitur terra : ut educas panem de terra, et vinum laetificet cor hominis : ut exhilaret faciem in oleo, et panis cor hominis confirmet.
English translation
The earth shall be filled with the fruit of Your works, o Lord, that You may bring bread out of the earth, and that wine may cheer the heart of man, that he may make the face cheerful with oil, and that bread may strengthen man’s heart.
Post-Communion Prayer
Vivificet nos, quaesumus, Domine, hujus participatio sancta mysterii : et pariter nobis expiationem tribuat et munimen. 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 the holy partaking of this mystery, we pray to You, o Lord, vivify us, bringing us at once forgiveness and strengthening. 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 10 : 23-37
In illo tempore : Dixit Jesus discipulis Suis : Beati oculi, qui vident quae vos videtis. Dico enim vobis, quod multi prophetae et reges voluerunt videre quae vos videtis, et non viderunt : et audire quae auditis, et non audierunt. Et ecce, quidam legisperitus surrexit, tentans illum, et dicens : Magister, quid faciendo vitam aeternam possidebo?
At ille dixit ad eum : In lege quid scriptum est? Quomodo legis? Ille respondens, dixit : Diliges Dominum, Deum tuum, ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex omnibus viribus tuis; et ex omni mente tua : et proximum tuum sicut teipsum.
Dixitque illi : Recte respondisti : hoc fac, et vives. Ille autem volens justificare seipsum, dixit ad Jesum : Et quis est meus proximus? Suscipiens autem Jesus, dixit : Homo quidam descendebat ab Jerusalem in Jericho, et incidit in latrones, qui etiam despoliaverunt eum : et plagis impositis abierunt, semivivo relicto.
Accidit autem, ut sacerdos quidam descenderet eadam via : et viso illo praeterivut. Similiter et levita, cum esset secus locum et videret eum, pertransiit. Samaritanus autem quidam iter faciens, venit secus eum : et videns eum, misericordia motus est. Et appropians, alligavit vulnera ejus, infundens oleum et vinum : et imponens illum in jumentum suum, duxit in stabulum, et curam ejus egit.
Et altera die protulit duos denarios et dedit stabulario, et ait : Curam illius habe : et quodcumque supererogaveris, ego cum rediero, reddam tibi. Quis horum trium videtur tibi proximus fuisse illi, qui incidit in latrones? At ille dixit : Qui fecit misericordiam in illum. Et ait illi Jesus : Vade, et tu fac similiter.
English translation
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. For I say to you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear, and have not heard them.” And behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting Him, and saying, “Master, what must I do to possess eternal life?”
But He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” He answering, said, “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.”
And He said to him, “You have answered rightly, do this and you shall live.” But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” And Jesus answering, said, “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him, went away, leaving him half dead.”
“And it happened that a certain priest went down the same way, and seeing him, passed him by. In similar manner also a Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, he passed him by. But a certain Samaritan being on his journey, came near him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion, and going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.”
“And the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatsoever you shall spend over and above, I, at my return, shall repay you. Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbour to him who fell among robbers?” But he said, “He who showed mercy to him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go, and do it in similar manner.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 33 : 2-3 and Psalm 87 : 2
Benedicam Dominum in omni tempore : semper laus ejus in ore meo.
Response : In Domino laudabitur anima mea : audiant mansueti, et laetentur.
Alleluja, Alleluja.
Response : Domine, Deus salutis meae, in die clamavi et nocte coram Te. Alleluja.
English translation
I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall be ever in my mouth.
Response : In the Lord shall my soul be praised. Let the meek hear and rejoice.
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Response : O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried in the day, and in the night, before You, Alleluia.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios – Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians
2 Corinthians 3 : 4-9
Fratres : Fiduciam talem habemus per Christum ad Deum : non quod sufficientes simus cogitare aliquod a nobis, quasi ex nobis : sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est : qui et idoneos nos fecit ministros novi testamenti : non littera, sed spiritu : littera enim occidit, spiritus autem vivificat.
Quod si ministratio mortis, litteris deformata in lapidibus, fuit in gloria; ita ut non possent intendere filii Israel in faciem Moysi, propter gloriam vultus ejus, quae evacuatur : quomodo non magis ministratio Spiritus erit in gloria? Nam si ministratio damnationis gloria est, multo magis abundat ministerium justitiae in gloria.
English translation
Brethren, such confidence we have through Christ towards God. Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God. He Who also had made us fit ministers of the New Testament, not in the letter, but in the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit quickens.
Now if the ministration of death, engraven with letters upon stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of His countenance; which is made void. How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather in glory? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more ministration of justice abounds in glory.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Introit
Psalm 69 : 2-3, 4
Deus, in adjutorium meum intende : Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina : confundantur et revereantur inimici mei, qui quaerunt animam meam.
Avertantur retrorsum et erubescant : qui cogitant mihi mala.
Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
English translation
Incline unto my aid, o God. O Lord, make haste to help me. Let my enemies be confounded and ashamed, who seek my soul.
Let them be turned backward and blush for shame, who desire evils to 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
Omnipotens et misericors Deus, de cujus munere venit, ut Tibi a fidelibus Tuis digne et laudabiliter serviatur : tribue, quaesumus, nobis; ut ad promissiones Tuas sine offensione curramus. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.
English translation
Almighty and eternal God, Whose gift is that Your faithful serve You worthily and rightly, grant us, we beseech You, that we may without offense hasten on to the fulfilment of Your promises. 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, on this Sunday all of us are reminded through the passages of the Sacred Scriptures of the great and constant love of God which He has always given to us without cease. God has always shown us consistent and patient love that endures even though we have often disobeyed and turned away from Him. God has been patient in reaching out to all of us with His most generous and compassionate kindness without exception, giving us all His attention and reaching out to us, showing us His mercy and forgiveness, that while He chastises us for our sins, all these are part of His efforts to help us to be truly reconciled with Him, to be reunited wholly with our loving God and Father.
In our first reading this Sunday from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the words of the Lord reassuring His people through the prophecies, reminding them all that God would gather all of His beloved people from all the nations, and everyone shall one day come to worship and glorify Him, and not merely just the exclusive right for the Israelites as many among the people of God thought otherwise during the time of the Lord’s ministry. God truly revealed in a rather discreet way through these prophecies that what He wanted is indeed to be reconciled and reunited with each and every one of us, all of us mankind, all the people of all the nations, with the Israelites being the first one whom He had called and chosen.
And this prophecy of Isaiah would indeed come true and to fulfilment in what the Lord had done afterwards, in sending His Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in order to make manifest and tangible for us this great love. Through Christ, God has established His Church in this world, which He proclaimed and then made tangible, according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, being born on Good Friday at the moment of the Crucifixion, when the Lord laid there on His Cross, suffering and dying for the sake of all of us mankind. He did not die just for the Israelites and their descendants, but for everyone, for all those who did not belong to the traditional definition of God’s people. And this is because He has made His Church to gather everyone from all races and all the nations, and His salvation made available to all.
Then, from our second reading this Sunday, taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews, we heard of the author of this Epistle highlighted God’s actions and works to us and in His interactions with us, which is indeed likened to that of a loving Father. Indeed, God is our loving Father as our Creator, as the One Who has loved us all from the moment He created us, all of which He did out of most wonderful love. That is why He has always spent a lot of effort in reaching out to us, and always being concerned about all of us. He led us all through His patient and constant guidance, reaching out lovingly while at the same time also guiding us with discipline, chastising us gently for our misbehaviours and misdeeds. Yet, ultimately, He still loves us and His chastisement are meant for our own good.
That was how He constantly sent to us all His help, His servants and messengers, and after sending us all His Son, He sent to us all the Holy Spirit, through Whom He has shown Wisdom and guidance to all of us, the parts and members of His living Church, the members of His Body, of which Christ Himself is the Head. All of us shared in this relationship with God our Father through Christ, because He has shared in our humanity by being incarnate and born into this world, and just as He is the Son of God, therefore, by bringing all of us together as parts and members of His Church, Christ has made all of us to be God’s own adopted sons and daughters. And this fact is something that is truly amazing to behold, as imagine that, having God as our own Father! How much greater can things be than that?
Finally, from our Gospel passage from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord to the people that He has been visiting in the villages, responding to their questions about who could be saved and receive eternal life. The Lord told all of them that it is not easy as what some might have thought. The Lord said that there were many who claimed to have known the Lord but would be rejected and cast aside, because in their hearts and minds, God was not truly there. This was in fact a hidden and veiled reference to the attitudes and the actions of many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who indeed claimed to be pious and faithful to the Lord, and yet, they loved themselves and their desires more than they loved God.
And reiterating what the Lord Himself had spoken through the prophet Isaiah as mentioned in our first reading today, Jesus mentioned that nations and people will come from all directions, from all the ends of the earth to come and worship the Lord, believing in Him and becoming part of the Lord’s flock. Salvation is no longer restricted just to the Israelites and Abraham indeed will become the father of many nations, and truly the father of all the nations in faith. And that is why all of us should really appreciate the love which God has so generously given to us in calling on us to come to Him and to follow Him into the path towards eternal life and true happiness with Him. He does not discriminate or be biased with us on our status, background, race or any other worldly parameters we often categorise and bias ourselves with, but loving us all equally.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, having reflected upon the words of the Sacred Scriptures and seeing the great and ever patient love that God has given to all of us, whom He has called out of the darkness and into the light, and by all the kindness that He has always lavished upon us, let us all continue to draw ever closer to Him, to our loving Father and strive ever more to do our best in loving Him and being dedicated to Him in everything that we say and do. We should always be grateful that He has called us all to follow Him and how He has provided for us all His promises and reassurances. Let us therefore be exemplary in our faith and actions so that we may be the worthy bearers of God’s light and truth, His Good News and love to all those whom we encounter in our lives.
May God continue to bless us all, and be with us all the members of His holy Church, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church which we are parts and members of. May God continue to strengthen each and every one of us with the resolve to follow Him wholeheartedly and faithfully in all circumstances and at all times. May God bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours for His greater glory. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 13 : 22-30
At that time, Jesus went through towns and villages teaching, and making His way to Jerusalem. Someone asked Him, “Lord, is it true that few people will be saved?”
And Jesus answered, “Do your best to enter by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has gone inside and locked the door, you will stand outside. Then you will knock at the door, calling, ‘Lord, open to us!’ But He will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.'”
“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets!’ But He will reply, ‘I do not know where you come from. Away from Me, all you workers of evil.’ You will weep and grind your teeth, when you see Abraham and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves left outside.”
“Others will sit at table in the kingdom of God, people coming from east and west, from north and south. Some who are among the last, will be first; and some who are among the first, will be last!”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Hebrews 12 : 5-7, 11-13
Do not forget the comforting words that Wisdom addresses to you as children : My son, pay attention when the Lord corrects you and do not be discouraged when He punishes you. For the Lord corrects those He loves and chastises everyone He accepts as a son.
What you endure, is in order to correct you. God treats you like sons, and what son is not corrected by his father? All correction is painful at the moment, rather than pleasant; later, it brings the fruit of peace, that is, holiness, to those who have been trained by it.
Lift up, then, your drooping hands, and strengthen your trembling knees; make level the ways for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but healed.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 116 : 1, 2
Alleluia! Praise YHVH, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him.
How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 