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Sunday, 21 February 2016 : Second Sunday of Lent, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 15 : 5-12, 17-18

Then YHVH brought Abram outside and said to him, “Look up at the sky and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that.” Abram believed YHVH Who, because of this, held him to be an upright man. And He said, “I am YHVH Who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.”

Then Abram asked, “My Lord, how am I to know that it shall be mine?” YHVH replied, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, a three year old goat, a three year old ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these animals, cut them in two, and laid each half facing its other half, but he did not cut the birds in half. The birds of prey came down upon them, but Abram drove them away.

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep came over Abram, and a dreadful darkness took hold of him. When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed between the halves of the victims.

On that day YHVH made a covenant with Abram saying, “To your descendants I have given this country from the river of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 21 February 2016 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Preface, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Offertory

Psalm 118 : 47, 48

Meditabor in mandatis Tuis, quae dilexi valde : et levabo manus meas ad mandata Tua, quae dilexi.

English translation

I will meditate on Your commandments, which I have loved exceedingly, and I will lift up my hands to Your commandments, which I have loved.

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

Look graciously we beg, o Lord, upon the sacrifices here before You, that they may profit both our devotion and our 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 5 : 2-4

Intellege clamorem meum : intende voci orationes meae, Rex meus et Deus meus : quoniam ad Te orabo, Domine.

English translation

Understand my cry, hearken to the voice of my prayer, o my King and my God. For to You will I pray, o Lord.

Post-Communion Prayer

Supplices Te rogamus, omnipotens Deus : ut quos Tuis reficis sacramentis, Tibi etiam placitis moribus dignanter deservire concedas. 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, whom You refreshed with Your sacraments, may also serve You worthily with conduct to Your liking. 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) Second Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 21 February 2016 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Matthaeum – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

Matthew 17 : 1-9

In illo tempore : Assumpsit Jesus Petrum, et Jacobum, et Joannem fratrem eius, et duxit illos in montem excelsum seorsum : et transfiguratus est ante eos. Et resplenduit facies Ejus sicut sol : vestimenta autem Ejus facta sunt alba sicut nix.

Et ecce, apparuerunt illis Moyses et Elias cum Eo loquentes. Respondens autem Petrus, dixit ad Jesum : Domine, bonum est nos hic esse : si vis, faciamus hic tria tabernacula, Tibi unum, Moysi unum et Eliae unum.

Adhuc eo loquente, ecce, nubes lucida obumbravit eos. Et ecce vox de nube, dicens : Hic est Filius Meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui : Ipsum audite. Et audientes discipuli, ceciderunt in faciem suam, et timuerunt valde. Et accessit Jesus, et tetigit eos, dixitque eis : Surgite, et nolite timere.

Levantes autem oculos suos, neminem viderunt nisi solum Jesum. Et descendentibus illis de monte, praecepit eis Jesus, dicens : Nemini dixeritis visionem, donec Filius Hominis a mortuis resurgat.

English translation

At that time, Jesus took Peter and James, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain apart, and He was transfigured before them. And His face shone as the sun, and His garments became white as snow.

And behold there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with Him. And Peter answering, said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If You will, let us make here three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.

And as he was still speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them, and lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him.” And the disciples hearing, fell upon their face and were very much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said to them, “Arise and do not fear.”

And they lifting up their eyes saw no one, but only Jesus. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, “Tell the vision to no man, till the Son of Man has risen from the dead.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 21 February 2016 : Gradual and Tract

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Gradual

Psalm 24 : 17-18

Tribulationes cordis mei dilatatae sunt : de necessitatibus meis eripe me, Domine.

Priest : Vide humilitatem meam et laborem meum : et dimitte omnia peccata mea.

English translation

The troubles of my heart are multiplied; deliver me from my necessities, o Lord.

Priest : See my abjection and my labour, and forgive all my sins.

Tract

Psalm 105 : 1-4

Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus : quoniam in saeculum misericordia Ejus.

Priest : Quis loquetur potentias Domini : auditas faciet omnes laudes Ejus?

Priest : Beati, qui custodiunt judicium et faciunt justitiam in omni tempore.

Priest : Memento nostri, Domine, in beneplacito populi Tui : visita nos in salutari Tuo.

English translation

Give glory to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever.

Priest : Who shall declare the powers of the Lord? Who shall set forth all His praises?

Priest : Blessed are those who keep judgment, and do justice at all times.

Priest : Remember us, o Lord, in the favour of Your people, visit us with Your salvation.

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 21 February 2016 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : Violet

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

1 Thessalonians 4 : 1-7

Fratres : Rogamus vos et obsecramus in Domino Jesu : ut, quemadmodum accepistis a nobis, quomodo oporteat vos ambulare et placere Deo, sic et ambuletis, ut abundetis magis. Scitis enim, quae praecepta dederim vobis per Dominum Jesum.

Haec est enim voluntas Dei, sanctificatio vestra : ut abstineatis vos a fornicatione, ut sciat unusquisque vestrum vas suum possidere in sanctificatione et honore; non in passione desiderii, sicut et gentes, quae ignorant Deum : et ne quis supergrediatur neque circumveniat in negotio fratrem suum : quoniam vindex est Dominus de his omnibus, sicut praediximus vobis et testificati sumus.

Non enim vocavit nos Deus in immunditiam, sed in sanctificationem : in Christo Jesu, Domino nostro.

English translation

Brethren, we pray and beseech you in the Lord Jesus, that as you have received of us, how you ought to walk, and to please God, so also you would walk, that you may abound the more. For you know what precepts I have given to you by the Lord Jesus.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess His vessel in sanctification and honour, not in the passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God, and that no man overreach, nor deceive his brother in business, because the Lord is the Avenger of all these things, as we have told you before, and have testified.

For God had not called us unto uncleanness, but unto sanctification, in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday of Lent (I Classis) – Sunday, 21 February 2016 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Introit

Psalm 24 : 6, 3, 22 and 1-2

Reminiscere miserationum Tuarum, Domine, et misericordiae Tuae, quae a saeculo sunt : ne umquam dominentur nobis inimici nostri : libera nos, Deus Israel, ex omnibus angustiis nostris.

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

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

English translation

Remember, o Lord, Your bowels of compassion, and Your mercies that are from the beginning of the world, lest at any time our enemies rule over us. Deliver us, o God of Israel, from all our tribulations.

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

Priest : 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, qui conspicis omni nos virtute destitui : interius exteriusque custodi; ut ab omnibus adversitatibus muniamur in corpore, et a pravis cogitationibus mundemur in mente. 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, Who saw how we are destitute of all strength, keep us inwardly and outwardly, that in body we may be defended from all adversities, and in mind cleansed of evil thoughts. 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, 20 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded of the laws and commandments that God had put in place for us, through His servant Moses, through His prophets and messengers, that all of us should obey them and act in the fulfilment of the precepts and the will of the Lord. This means that we should not do things that contradict the Law and the ways of the Lord, and in all things, we should devote ourselves to the righteousness as the Lord had shown us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, but we have to take note that we cannot become like robots in our faith, which means that we must not believe blindly or believing without understanding the true meanings of our faith. If we believe for the sake of believing or if we believe because we were told to do so, and see it as an obligation, then brethren, I fear that we still have a long way to go to become truly the disciples and followers of our Lord worthy of Him.

In the example which our Lord Jesus gave us today, He gave us the example of those who love only their friends and relatives, meaning that they love only those who love them back, as opposed to those who love everyone without discrimination, meaning that they will even love all those who have hated them, disliked them, treated them badly and spoke all kinds of evils and wicked things about them.

What Jesus our Lord mentioned was in fact, the essence of true and pure love. This kind of love is love that does not expect returns or rewards, and neither does it require any prerequisites or conditions. This is unconditional, selfless and perfect love, the same kind of love which our Lord Jesus Himself had shown us as an example to all of us how we should love Him and love one another as well.

For Jesus had given Himself up on the cross, allowing Himself to die for our sake, to suffer for our sake, that even though we were all sinners, wicked and unrepentant, He was willing to die for us, so that through His death and through His perfect love, we may find a way to Him, and by His resurrection, be reunited with Him in love, within the grace and within the loving embrace of God.

And by His many other works and examples, and through His teachings to His Apostles and followers, He had given us the examples of how we should love one another, and how we should interact with others, be it those who love us and care for us, and for those who hated us, who despised us, who cursed us, and who treated us badly. These too we should love and care regardless of what they had done for us.

Therefore, in this season of Lent, all of us have been challenged to love one another, even those who have not loved us back first. Our love must be unconditional and demanding for no reward or returns. We are all called to greater mercy and charity during this period of time, turning our hearts and minds away from selfishness, and growing deeper in our commitment to love God and His people.

Let us all pray together, and work together as one people, belonging to the one and only Church of God, to be filled with love and with the goodness of God, in this season of Lent. Let us all be converted to God, and seek to be reunited with our Lord, and may by our actions, all of us can be made whole and worthy once again. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 20 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 5 : 43-48

At that time, Jesus said to the people and to His disciples, “You have heard that it was said : ‘Love your neighbour and do not do good to your enemy.’ But this I tell you : love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For He makes His sun rise on both the wicked and the good, and He gives rain to both the just and the unjust.”

“If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much? And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much? As for you, be righteous and perfect in the way your heavenly Father is righteous and perfect.”

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Saturday, 20 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 118 : 1-2, 4-5, 7-8

Blessed are they whose ways are upright, who follow the Law of the Lord. Blessed are they who treasure His word and seek Him with all their heart.

You have laid down precepts to be obeyed. O, that my ways were steadfast in observing Your statutes!

I will praise You with an upright spirit when I learn Your just precepts by heart. I mean to observe Your commandments. O, never abandon me.

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Saturday, 20 February 2016 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Deuteronomy 26 : 16-19

On this day, YHVH, your God, commands you to fulfil these norms and these commandments. Obey them now and put them into practice with all your heart and with all your soul.

Today YHVH has declared to you that He will be your God, and so you shall follow His ways, observing His norms, His commandments and His laws, and listening to His voice. Today YHVH has declared that you will be His very own people even as He had promised you, and you must obey all His commandments.

He, for His part, will give you honour, renown and glory, and set you high above all the nations He has made, and you will become a nation consecrated to YHVH, your God, as He has declared.