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Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Sixth Sunday of Easter (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Peter 3 : 15-18

But bless the Lord Christ in your hearts. Always have an answer ready when you are called upon to account for your hope, but give it simply and with respect. Keep your conscience clear so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your upright, Christian living. Better to suffer for doing good, if it is God’s will, than for doing wrong.

Remember how Christ died, once and for all, for our sins. He, the Just One, died for the unjust in order to lead us to God. In the Body He was put to death, in the Spirit He was raised to life.

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Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Sixth Sunday of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 65 : 1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a, 16 and 20

Shout with joy to God, all you on earth; sing to the glory to His Name; proclaim His glorious praise. Say to God, “How great are Your deeds!”

All the earth bows down to You, making music in praise of You, singing in honour of Your Name. Come and see God’s wonders, His deeds awesome for humans.

He has turned the sea into dry land, and the river was crossed on foot. Let us, therefore, rejoice in Him. He rules by His might forever.

All you who fear God, come and listen; let me tell you what He has done. May God be blessed! He has not rejected my prayer; nor withheld His love from me.

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Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Sixth Sunday of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 8 : 5-8, 14-17

Philip went down to a town of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him and saw the miraculous signs that he did. For in cases of possession, the unclean spirits came out shrieking loudly. Many people who were paralysed or crippled were healed. So there was a great joy in that town.

Now, when the Apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. They went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for He had not as yet come down upon any of them since they had only been baptised in the Name of the Lord Jesus. So Peter and John laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

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(Usus Antiquior) Fifth Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : White
Offertory

Psalm 65 : 8-9, 26


Benedicite, gentes, Dominum, Deum nostrum, et obaudite vocem laudis ejus : qui posuit animam meam ad vitam, et non dedit commoveri pedes meos : benedictus Dominus, qui non amovit deprecationem meam et misericordiam suam a me, Alleluja.

 

English translation


O bless the Lord our God, you Gentiles, and make the voice of His praise to be heard, who had set my soul to live, and had not suffered my feet to be moved. Blessed be the Lord, who had not turned away my prayer, and His mercy from me, Alleluia.

 

Secret Prayer of the Priest


Suscipe, Domine, fidelium preces cum oblationibus hostiarum : ut, per haec piae devotionis officia, ad caelestem gloriam transeamus. 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, o Lord, the prayers of the faithful, with offerings of sacrifices, that through these offices of pious devotion we may pass to heavenly glory. 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 95 : 2


Cantate Domino, Alleluja : Cantate Domino et benedicite Nomen Ejus : bene nuntiate de die in diem salutare Ejus, Alleluja, Alleluja.

 

English translation


Sing all of you to the Lord, Alleluia. Sing all of you to the Lord, and bless His Name. Show forth His salvation from day to day, Alleluia, Alleluia.

 

Post-Communion Prayer


Tribue nobis, Domine, caelestis mensae virtute satiatis : et desiderare, quae recta sunt, et desiderata percipere. 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, o Lord, unto us, who have been regaled with the virtue of the heavenly table, both to desire what is right and to obtain what we desire. 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) Fifth Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Holy Gospel

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


John 16 : 23-30


In illo tempore : Dixit Jesus discipulis suis : Amen, amen, dico vobis : si quid petieritis Patrem in Nomine Meo, dabit vobis. Usque modo non petistis quidquam in Nomine Meo : Petite, et accipietis, ut gaudium vestrum sit plenum.

Haec in proverbiis locutus sum vobis. Venit hora, cum jam non in proverbiis loquar vobis, sed palam de Patre annuntiabo vobis. In illo die in Nomine Meo petetis : et non dico vobis, quia ego rogabo Patrem de vobis : ipse enim Pater amat vos, quia vos me amastis, et credidistis quia ego a Deo exivi.

Exivi a Patre et veni in mundum : iterum relinquo mundum et vado ad Patrem. Dicunt ei discipuli ejus : Ecce, nunc palam loqueris et proverbium nullum dicis. Nunc scimus, quia scis omnia et non opus est tibi, ut quis te interroget : in hoc credimus, quia a Deo existi.

 

English translation


At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Amen, amen, I say to you, if you ask the Father anything in My Name, He will give it to you. Hitherto you have not asked anything in My Name, ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

“These things I have spoken to you in proverbs, the hour comes when I will no longer speak to you in proverbs, but will show you plainly of the Father. In that day, you shall ask in My Name; and I do not say that I will ask the Father for you, for the Father Himself loved you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God.”

“I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world, and again I leave the world, and go to the Father.” His disciples said to Him, “Behold, now You speak plainly, and does not speak in proverbs. Now we know that You know all things, and You do not need that any man should ask You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Fifth Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Alleluia

Liturgical Colour : White
Tradition of the Faith and John 16 : 28


Alleluja, Alleluja.

Response : Surrexit Christus, et illuxit nobis, quos redemit sanguine suo.

Alleluja.

Response : Exivi a Patre, et veni in mundum : iterum relinquo mundum, et vado ad Patrem. Alleluja.

 

English translation


Alleluia, Alleluia.

Response : Christ is risen, and had shone His light upon us whom He had redeemed with His blood.

Alleluia.

Response : I went out from the Father and came into the world; again, I leave the world and go to the Father. Alleluia.

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(Usus Antiquior) Fifth Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : White
Lectio Epistolae Beati Jacobi Apostoli – Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed James the Apostle


James 1 : 22-27


Carissimi : Estote factores verbi, et non auditores tantum : fallentes vosmetipsos. Quia si quis auditor est verbi et non factor : hic comparabitur viro consideranti vultum nativitatis suae in speculo : consideravit enim se et abiit, et statim oblitus est, qualis fuerit.

Qui autem perspexerit in legem perfectam libertatis et permanserit in ea, non auditor obliviosus factus, sed factor operis : hic beatus in facto suo erit. Si quis autem putat se religiosum esse, non refrenans linguam suam, sed seducens cor suum, hujus vana est religio.

Religio munda et immaculata apud Deum et Patrem haec est : Visitare pupillos et viduas in tribulatione eorum, et immaculatum se custodire ab hoc saeculo.

 

English translation


Dearly beloved, all of you must do the word, and not as hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if a man be a hearer of the word, and does not do it, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass. For he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was.

But he who had looked into the perfect law of liberty and had continued therein, and not becoming a forgetful hearer, but does the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man’s religion is vain.

Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father is this : to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation, and to keep one’s self unspotted from this world.

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(Usus Antiquior) Fifth Sunday after Easter (II Classis) – Sunday, 17 May 2020 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : White
Introit

Isaiah 48 : 20 and Psalm 65 : 1-2


Vocem jucunditatis annuntiate, et audiatur, Alleluja : annuntiate usque ad extremum terrae : liberavit Dominus populum suum, Alleluja, Alleluja.

Jubilate Deo, omnis terra, psalmum dicite Nomini Ejus : date gloriam laudi ejus.

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

 

English translation


Declare the voice of joy, and let it be heard, Alleluia : declare it even unto the ends of the earth; the Lord had delivered His people, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Shout with a joy to God all the earth : sing all of you a psalm to His Name, give glory to His praise.

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, a quo bona cuncta procedunt, largire supplicibus Tuis : ut cogitemus, Te inspirante, quae recta sunt; et, Te gubernante, eadam faciamus. 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, from whom all good things come, generously grant to us who beseech You that we may, by Your inspiration, think those things which are right and, that we perform them under Your guidance. 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, 16 May 2020 : 5th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the message of the Sacred Scriptures speaking to us about the reality of our faith, that while we may encounter many good things and good opportunities in our faith journey, but there will also be challenges, trials and difficulties that we will have to endure throughout our journey of life, because of the opposition and incompatibility with the ways of the world.

In this matter, what the Lord meant was not that we purposely should seek trouble with the world and be confrontational. Rather, it is a reminder for us all not to be swayed by the comforts and pleasures of the world, that the world and its ways are not fully compatible with the ways of the Lord, and if we decide to follow the Lord and respond to His call, we may encounter persecution, oppression, or at least obstacles and challenges in our way.

And the Lord said that this is to happen because the world itself has rejected Him, and refused to listen to Him and His truth. The world here refers to the world of sin, the world under the dominion and control of the evil one, Satan and all of his allies and forces, the demons and all those seeking our destruction. That is why, ‘the world’ will probably try to persuade us and even coerce us to turn away from God’s path and embrace the path of sin and darkness.

This is because the devil and his allies know that the moment we slip away from their hold, they will lose us forever, and they do not want that to happen. Their fates had already been sealed, defeated by God and condemned to suffer forever for their rebellion, but they want to drag us all down together with them into hellfire. They will also try whatever means available to them to pressure us into conforming, to turn away from God and to fall into sin.

But we must not fear them, brothers and sisters in Christ, for the Lord is always by our side, guiding our path and providing us with whatever we needed, and He is always ever faithful to the Covenant that He has established with each and every one of us. We have heard of the works of the Apostles, particularly that of St. Paul and his companions throughout this season of Easter from the Acts of the Apostles, and we heard how the Apostles and all the servants of God encountered plenty of difficulties during their journeys and missions.

Yet God was always with them and guiding them through the missions which He has called them to. He walked with them and gave them wisdom and guidance through the Holy Spirit, encouraging and strengthening them along the way. We heard how the Apostles and followers of the Lord, the early Christian communities encouraged each other and prayed for one another. The Spirit of God guided them and showed them all what to do and where to go.

Therefore, today all of us are reminded of the faith that we must have in God even in our most difficult and darkest moments. There will be plenty of challenges we have to face as we carry on living our lives and especially so as Christians. But we must not lose hope or despair because we must remember that the Lord is truly with us, providing for us and protecting us, guiding us to walk faithfully in His path. We have to keep our faith in Him strong, and share this faith and hope with our fellow brothers and sisters.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in these past days, weeks and even months, our societies and communities have been heavily battered and affected by the terrible effects of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as its various complications and impacts on the global, national and regional economies, on our various livelihoods and aspects of life. I am sure we are aware how many people are losing their hope and even sanity in the midst of these difficult troubles and times, but this is exactly where we can be those beacons of hope for everyone.

Let us all remind one another of the hope that we have to have in God, by showing our genuine faith to God, in our every words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions with each other. Let us all commit ourselves more and more to the Lord, so that everyone who witness us, hear us and interact with us may come to know of God’s providence and love by our every deeds, by our every efforts to bring hope and encourage our fellow brethren in need. May God bless us all and may He strengthen us in our faith, and help us to commit ourselves to His cause and do His will at all times.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He strengthen each and every one of us in our resolve to follow Him and to dedicate ourselves to Him. May the Lord give us the strength and the courage to remain faithful despite the difficulties and challenges we have to face in each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 16 May 2020 : 5th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 18-21

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If the world hates you, remember that the world hated Me before you. This would not be so if you belonged to the world, because the world loves its own. But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you from the world; because of this the world hates you.”

“Remember what I told you : the servant is not greater than his master; if they persecuted Me, they will persecute you, too. If they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. All this they will do to you for the sake of My Name, because they do not know the One Who sent Me.”