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Monday, 27 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 29 : 2 and 4, 5-6, 11-12a and 13b

I extol You, o Lord, for You have rescued me; my enemies will not gloat over me. O Lord, You have brought me up from the grave, You gave me life when I was going to the pit.

Sing to the Lord, o you His saints, give thanks and praise to His holy Name. For His anger lasts but a little while, and His kindness all through life. Weeping may tarry for the night, but rejoicing comes with the dawn.

Hear, o Lord, and have mercy on me; o Lord, be my Protector. But now, You have turned my mourning into rejoicing; O Lord, my God, forever will I give You thanks.

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Monday, 27 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Isaiah 65 : 17-21

I now create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind again. Be glad forever and rejoice in what I create; for I create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in My people.

The sound of distress and the voice of weeping will not be heard in it any more. You will no longer know of dead children or of adults who do not live out a lifetime. One who reaches a hundred years will have died a mere youth, but the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.

They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant crops and eat their fruit.

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Sunday, 26 March 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Rose (Laetare Sunday)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is the celebration of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, or also known as Laetare Sunday, coming from the word “Laetare” in the beginning of today’s Introit, “Laetare Jerusalem” or “Rejoice, o Jerusalem”. As we celebrate the joyous aspect of Lent, as we await the true joy of Christ coming unto us, that is why the vestments and the liturgical colour used today is rose instead of the usual violet, representing the reality that while Lent is a season of penance, but it is also a season for expecting the coming of the joy of Christ.

Why do we celebrate this joyous occasion, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because at the same time that we remember the upcoming struggles, sufferings and pains that our Lord had to endure during His Passion on the Cross, and throughout the way of suffering, we also remember that all of those had to happen so that we may receive true joy, that is the joy of our salvation and redemption from our sins.

Christ is our true Joy, for He came into this world bearing us hope, the true hope that He alone could bring, and not the false joys present in this world. And we rejoice in Him, because through Him, we have been able to see the light of God shining upon our path, guiding and leading us on our way, that we may be able to find our way and at the same time, freeing ourselves from the attachment and the association we have thus far with the darkness of this world.

Through His light, all of us who believe in Him have been purified from the darkness within us, and in our baptism, we received the lighted candle, which flame came from the Paschal candle, a representation of the light of the Lord’s Resurrection, as the light that overcame the darkness of the world, as on Easter Sunday, the world which once had not known hope, then finally is able to hope again upon the Lord and His light.

In today’s Gospel, we heard how Jesus healed the man who was born blind on the sabbath. He made him able to see once again, and the man was truly filled with joy. He was not able to see, and he could not see the light as most of us could. We always know this world as it is because we are able to see the light around us coming into our eyes. But imagine what would it be like, had we been born blind as the man whom Jesus had healed.

Imagine living in a world where we could not see at all, where no light can be seen, because our eyes were not able to see it. Imagine what kind of joy we would have if our eyes were opened and light entered into our eyes for the very first time. Only then that we can appreciate how joyful it is for the blind man to be able to see again. And he therefore believed in Christ and all that He had done for him.

Let us contrast this with the actions of the Pharisees and the actions of the teachers of the Law who were also there, and who have not just witnessed that miracle, but many other miracles that Jesus had performed among the people, also in their presence. Yet they have refused to believe in the Lord Jesus, out of all others who have believed in Him. They have seen and yet they rejected the Lord and His good works.

They had not believed because in their pride and arrogance, they have hardened their hearts against God. They were jealous against the Lord Whom they thought to be a rival to their power and influence. As a result, they were blinded by all these prejudices, by all the negativities and all the wickedness they had in their hearts, so that even though they could see with the eyes of their body, the eyes of their hearts were in reality, blind.

They could see light through the eyes of their body, the ones on their head, but they could not see the true Light of the world, which Jesus had brought into this world, Himself. They allowed darkness to enter their hearts and blind them, and thus, they did all the things in opposition to the Lord and His works because of that. As a result, they were not to be the recipients of God’s grace, love and forgiveness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what we need to reflect on as we continue to progress through the season of Lent. Have we been open to receive God’s forgiveness in this season and time of mercy? This Lenten season is a time for mercy, and we are always urged to receive God’s mercy, which He gives to all without hesitation and with much love, and we are also urged to forgive one another, yet many of us often forget that while God wants to forgive us and love us once again, but it is we ourselves who are often the greatest obstacles to our forgiveness and therefore, our salvation.

Why is this so? We just have to look at the examples of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. These were the elites in the society back then at the time of Jesus and His earthly ministry two millennia ago. They were those who were considered as the nobilities and leaders of their time, and they were physically fit if not very healthy compared to the others in the society, well to do in their lives and were able to provide with themselves without any difficulties.

They looked down on others because they considered themselves superior to them, by their upbringing and by what they saw that they were the guardians of the law of God, the laws of Moses, wearing their long robes and chanting their prayers daily in the marketplaces and in the open areas. They thought that they alone had the grasp over God and His truth, and that was why they oppressed the poor, the sinners like the prostitutes and the tax collectors, thinking that these were people unworthy of God, but they were wrong.

They allowed their pride and arrogance to get in their way, and they closed their hearts when the Lord came to speak the truth to them. They forgot that they too, were sinners and were in need of God and His forgiveness as well. Instead, they committed even more sins, by closing the doors of God’s mercy on those who need them the most. They condemned others as sinners and rebels, while it was their attitude who showed the most rebellious attitudes of all.

They judged others by their appearances, and they also judged themselves by their appearances. But if they can just remember the Book of the prophet Samuel, when God chose His chosen king, David, from among the sons of Jesse, our first reading passage today, they would realise that God sees not by appearances, but He looks deep inside each and every one of our hearts. He knows us all completely inside and outside, and nothing can be hidden from Him.

It is not by our appearances that God had chosen those whom He wishes to call, and we do not choose ourselves to be those whom God will choose. Rather, God chooses whoever He wants to be chosen, and He calls those whom He deems to be worthy to be called. He called David not because he is the strongest or the best among his brothers, in whatever categories that the world commonly attribute to those who are usually chosen, but because God saw in David’s heart, mind and soul, a true and genuine love for Him.

That man who was born blind, might not be able to see the light through the eyes of his body, but the eyes of his heart was truly open and were capable of seeing the light of Christ, which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had failed to do. Now let us ask ourselves, have we been like David or the man born blind in our attitudes in this life we have? Or have we been more like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law instead?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this time of Lent, we are all called to the Lord’s mercy, healing and forgiveness. But we need to overcome all the things that have become obstacles on our way to achieve God’s mercy and grace. We have to overcome our human pride, our fear and our stubbornness, and open the path for God to enter into our hearts and transform us completely.

Let Him enter into ourselves, and let Him heal us just as He had healed the man who was born blind, so that while once we saw everything through the veils of darkness and sin that had engulfed us, now we may be able to pierce through those veils that blinded us, and thus capable of seeing the true light coming from the Lord our God, and now therefore we are able to find our way to the salvation in God. Let us all have that great joy in us, finally being able to see the hope of salvation through Christ.

Let us also help one another, especially those who are still lost on their way to the Lord. Let us all devote our time and effort to draw ever closer to God, and to find the way to the Lord and to be more like Him in all of our words, deeds and actions. Let this be our Lenten commitment and work, and from now on let us all be ever more devoted servants and people of God, Who has loved us all so much, and wants us all to also love Him in the same manner. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 26 March 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Rose (Laetare Sunday)
John 9 : 1-41

At that time, as Jesus walked along, He saw a man who had been blind from birth. His disciples asked Him, “Master, was he born blind because of a sin of his, or of his parents?”

Jesus answered, “Neither was it for his own sin nor for his parents’ sin. He was born blind so that God’s power might be shown in him. While it is day we must do the work of the One Who sent Me; for the night will come when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

As Jesus said this, He made paste with spittle and clay, and rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man. Then He said, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (This word means sent.) So the blind man went and washed and came back able to see. His neighbours, and all the people who used to see him begging, wondered. They said, “Is this not the beggar who used to sit here?” Some said, “He is the one.” Others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am he.”

Then they asked him, “How is it that your eyes were opened?” And he answered, “The Man called Jesus made a mud paste, put it on my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went, and washed, and I could see.” They asked, “Where is He?” And the man answered, “I do not know.”

The people brought the man who had been born blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made mud paste and opened his eyes. The Pharisees asked him again, “How did you recover your sight?” And he said, “He put paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.”

Some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, for He works on the Sabbath”; but others wondered, “How can a sinner perform such miraculous signs?” They were divided, and they questioned the blind man again, “What do you think of this Man who opened your eyes?” And he answered, “He is a Prophet!”

After all this, the Jews refused to believe that the man had been blind and had recovered his sight; so they called his parents and asked them, “Is this your son? You say that he was born blind, but how is it that he now sees?” The parents answered, “He really is our son and he was born blind; but how it is that he now sees, we do not know, neither do we know Who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is old enough. Let him speak for himself.”

The parents said this because they feared the Jews, who had already agreed that whoever confessed Jesus to be the Christ was to be expelled from the synagogue. Because of that his parents said, “He is old enough, ask him.” So a second time the Pharisees called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Tell us the truth; we know that this Man is a sinner.”

He replied, “I do not know whether He is a sinner or not; I only know that I was blind and now I see.” They said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” He replied, “I have told you already and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?”

Then they started to insult him. “Become His disciple yourself! We are disciples of Moses. We know that God spoke to Moses; but as for this Man, we do not know where He comes from.” The man replied, “It is amazing that you do not know where the Man comes from, and yet He opened my eyes! We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone honours God and does His will, Hod listens to him. Never, since the world began, has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person who was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

They answered him, “You were born a sinner and now you teach us!” And they expelled him. Jesus heard that they had expelled him. He found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is He, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said, “You have seen Him and He is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”; and worshipped Him.

Jesus said, “I came into this world to carry out a judgment : Those who do not see shall see, and those who see shall become blind.” Some Pharisees stood by and asked Him, “So we are blind?” And Jesus answered, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty. But you say, ‘We see’; this is the proof of your sin.”

Alternative reading (shorter version)
John 9 : 1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

At that time, as Jesus walked along, He saw a man who had been blind from birth.

As Jesus said this, He made paste with spittle and clay, and rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man. Then He said, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (This word means sent.) So the blind man went and washed and came back able to see. His neighbours, and all the people who used to see him begging, wondered. They said, “Is this not the beggar who used to sit here?” Some said, “He is the one.” Others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am he.”

The people brought the man who had been born blind to the Pharisees. Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made mud paste and opened his eyes. The Pharisees asked him again, “How did you recover your sight?” And he said, “He put paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see.”

Some of the Pharisees said, “This Man is not from God, for He works on the Sabbath”; but others wondered, “How can a sinner perform such miraculous signs?” They were divided, and they questioned the blind man again, “What do you think of this Man who opened your eyes?” And he answered, “He is a Prophet!”

They answered him, “You were born a sinner and now you teach us!” And they expelled him. Jesus heard that they had expelled him. He found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “Who is He, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said, “You have seen Him and He is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”; and worshipped Him.

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Sunday, 26 March 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Rose (Laetare Sunday)
Ephesians 5 : 8-14

You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Behave as children of light; the fruits of light are kindness, justice and truth in every form. You yourselves search out what pleases the Lord, and take no part in works of darkness that are of no benefit; expose them instead.

Indeed it is a shame even to speak of what those people do in secret, but as soon as it is exposed to the light, everything becomes clear; and what is unmasked, becomes clear through light.

Therefore it is said, “Awake, you who sleep; arise from the dead that the light of Christ may shine on you.”

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Sunday, 26 March 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Rose (Laetare Sunday)
Psalm 22 : 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.

He guides me through the right paths for His Name’s sake. Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are beside me : Your rod and Your staff comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

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Sunday, 26 March 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Rose (Laetare Sunday)
1 Samuel 16 : 1b, 6-7, 10-13a

YHVH asked Samuel, “Fill your horn with oil and be on your way to Jesse the Bethlehemite for I have chosen My king from among his sons.”

As Jesse and his sons came, Samuel looked at Eliab the older and thought, “This must be YHVH’s anointed.” But YHVH told Samuel, “Do not judge by his looks or his stature for I have rejected him. YHVH does not judge as man judges; humans see with the eyes; YHVH sees the heart.”

Jesse presented seven of his sons to Samuel who said, “YHVH has chosen none of them. But are all your sons here?” Jesse replied, “There is still the youngest, tending the flock just now.” Samuel said to him, “Send for him and bring him to me; we shall not sit down to eat until he arrives.”

So Jesse sent for his youngest son and brought him to Samuel. He was a handsome lad with ruddy complexion and beautiful eyes. And YHVH spoke, “Go, anoint him for he is the one.” Samuel then took the horn of oil and anointed him in his brothers’ presence.

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(Usus Antiquior) Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 26 March 2017 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Preface, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : Violet or Rose (Laetare Sunday)
Offertory
Psalm 134 : 3, 6

Laudate Dominum, quia benignus est : psallite Nomini Ejus, quoniam suavis est : omnia, quaecumque voluit, fecit in caelo et in terra.
English translation
Praise all of you the Lord, for He is good. Sing all of you to His Name, for He is sweet. Whatsoever He pleased, He had done in heaven and in earth.
Secret Prayer of the Priest
Sacrificiis praesentibus, Domine, quaesumus, intende placatus : ut et devotioni nostrae proficiant et saluti. 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, look favourably upon the sacrifices here before You, that they may profit us both for devotion and for salvation. 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 Lent
Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos Tibi semper et ubique gratias agere : Domine, Sancte Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus : Qui corporali jejunio vitia comprimis, mentem elevas, virtutem largiris et praemia : per Christum, Dominum nostrum.

Per quem majestatem Tuam laudant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates. Caeli caelorumque Virtutes ac beata Seraphim socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces ut admitti jubeas, deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes :
English translation
It is truly meet and just, right and profitable, for us, at all times, and in all places, to give thanks to You, o Lord, the Holy One, the Father Almighty, the Everlasting God, Who on those who chastise their bodies by fasting had bestowed the restraining of evil passions, uplifting of heart, and the enjoying of virtue with its reward. Through Christ our Lord.

Through Whom the Angels praise, the Dominations adore, the Powers, trembling with awe, worship Your majesty, which the heavens, and the forces of heaven, together with the blessed Seraphim, joyfully magnify. And may You command that it be permitted to our lowliness to join with them in confessing You and unceasingly to repeat :
Communion
Psalm 121 : 3-4
Jerusalem, quae aedificatur ut civitas, cujus participatio ejus in idipsum : illuc enim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini, ad confitendum Nomini Tuo, Domine.
English translation
Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together, for thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, to praise Your Name, o Lord.
Post-Communion Prayer
Da nobis, quaesumus, misericors Deus : ut sancta Tua, quibus incessanter explemur, sinceris tractemus obsequiis, et fideli semper mente sumamus. 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 us, we beseech You, o merciful God, that we may treat with unfeigned veneration and ever receive with heartfelt faith Your holy rites which we constantly celebrate. 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) Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 26 March 2017 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : Violet or Rose (Laetare Sunday)
Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem – Continuation from the Holy Gospel according to St. John
John 6 : 1-15

In illo tempore : Abiit Jesus trans mare Galilaeae, quod est Tiberiadis : et sequebatur eum multitudo magna, quia videbant signa, quae faciebat super his, qui infirmabantur. Subiit ergo in montem Jesus : et ibi sedebat cum discipulis Suis.

Erat autem proximum Pascha, dies festus Judaeorum. Cum sublevasset ergo oculos Jesus et vidisset, quia multitudo maxima venit ad eum, dixit ad Philippum : Unde ememus panes, et manducat hi? Hoc autem dicebat tentans eum : ipse enim sciebat, quid esset facturus.

Respondit ei Philippus : Ducentorum denariorum panes non sufficiunt eis, et unusquisque modicum quid accipiat. Dicit ei unus ex discipulis Ejus, Andreas, frater Simonis Petri : Est puer unus hic, qui habet quinque panes hordeaceos et duos pisces : sed haec quid sunt inter tantos?

Dixit ergo Jesus : Facite homines discumbere. Erat autem foenum multum in loco. Discubuerunt ergo viri, numero quasi quinque milia. Accepit ergo Jesus panes, et cum gratias egisset distribuit discumbentibus : similiter et ex piscibus, quantum volebant.

Ut autem impleti sunt, dixit discipulis Suis : Colligite quae superaverunt fragmenta, ne pereant. Collegerunt ergo, et impleverunt duodecim cophinos fragmentorum ex quinque panibus hordeaceis, quae superfuerunt his, qui manducaverant.

Illi ergo homines cum vidissent, quod Jesus fecerat signum, dicebant : Quia hic est vere Propheta, qui venturus est in mundum. Jesus ergo cum cognovisset, quia venturi essent, ut raperent eum et facerent eum regem, fugit iterum in montem ipse solus.
English translation
At that time, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is that of Tiberias, and a great multitude followed Him, because they saw the miracles which He did on those who were diseased. Jesus therefore went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

Now the Pasch, the festival day of the Jews, was near at hand. When Jesus therefore had lifted up His eyes, and saw that a very great multitude came to Him, He said to Philip, “Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?” And this He said to try him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

Philip answered, “Two hundred denarius worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to Him, “There is a boy here who had five barley loaves and two fishes, but what are these among so many?”

Then Jesus said, “Make the men sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. The men therefore sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed to those who sat down. In the same manner also of the fishes, as much as they would.

And when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, lest they be lost.” They gathered up therefore, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the twelve barley loaves, which remained over and above to those who had eaten.

Now those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, said, “This is of a truth the Prophet Who is to come into the world.” Jesus therefore, when He knew that they would come to take Him by force and make Him King, fled again into the mountain by Himself alone.

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(Usus Antiquior) Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 26 March 2017 : Gradual and Tract

Liturgical Colour : Violet or Rose (Laetare Sunday)
Gradual
Psalm 121 : 1, 7
Laetatus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi : in domum Domini ibimus.

Response : Fiat pax in virtute Tua : et abundantia in turribus Tuis.
English translation
I rejoiced at the things that were said to me, we shall go into the house of the Lord.

Response : Let peace be in your strength, and abundance in your towers.
Tract
Psalm 124 : 1-2
Qui confidunt in Domino, sicut mons Sion : non commovebitur in aeternum, qui habitat in Jerusalem.

Response : Montes in circuitu ejus : et Dominus in circuitu populi Sui, ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum.
English translation
They who trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, he shall not be moved forever, those who dwell in Jerusalem.

Response : Mountains are round about it, so the Lord is round about His people, from henceforth now and forever.