angels of God

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Friday, 25 March 2022 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 26-38

In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

The Angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the Angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call Him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the kingdom of David, His ancestor; He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and His reign shall have no end.”

Then Mary said to the Angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the Angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Holy Child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”

Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the Angel left her.

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Friday, 18 February 2022 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 8 : 34 – Mark 9 : 1

At that time, Jesus called the people and His disciples, and said, “If you want to follow Me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me. For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for My sake and for the sake of the Gospel, you will save it.”

“What good is it to gain the whole world, while destroying your soul? There is nothing more precious than your soul. I tell you : If anyone is ashamed of Me and of My words among this adulterous and sinful people, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the Glory of His Father with the holy Angels.”

And He went on to say, “Truly I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power.”

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Sunday, 6 February 2022 : Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 6 : 1-2a, 3-8

In the year that king Uzziah died I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; the train of His robe filled the Temple. Above Him were Seraphs, each with six wings.

They were calling to one another : “Holy, Holy, Holy is YHVH Sabaoth. All the earth is filled with His glory!” At the sound of their voices the foundations of the threshold shook and the Temple was filled with smoke. I said, “Poor me! I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips, and yet I have seen the King, YHVH Sabaoth.”

Then one of the Seraphs flew to me; in his hands was a live coal which he had taken with tongs from the Altar. He touched my mouth with it and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us?” I answered, “Here I am. Send me!”

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Saturday, 25 December 2021 : Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Mass at Dawn (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 15-20

When the Angels had left the shepherds and gone back to heaven, they said to one another, “Let us go as far as Bethlehem, and see what the Lord has made known to us.”

So they came hurriedly, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby lying in the manger. On seeing Him, they related what they had been told about the Child, and all were astonished on hearing the shepherds.

As for Mary, she treasured all these words, and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds then returned, giving glory and praise to God for all they had heard and seen, just as the Angels had told them.

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Sunday, 14 November 2021 : Thirty-Third Sunday of Ordinary Time, Fifth World Day of the Poor (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Daniel 12 : 1-3

At that time, Michael will rise, the Great Commander who defends your people. It shall be a time of anguish as never before, since the nations first existed until this very day. Then, all those, whose names are written in the book, will be saved.

Many of those who sleep in the Region of the Dust will awake, some to everlasting life but others to eternal horror and shame. Those who acquired knowledge will shine, like the brilliance of the firmament; those who taught people to be just will shine, like the stars, for all eternity.

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Monday, 1 November 2021 : Solemnity of All Saints (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Revelations 7 : 2-4, 9-14

I saw another Angel, ascending from the sunrise, carrying the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice, to the four Angels empowered to harm the earth and the sea, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.”

Then, I heard the number of those marked with the seal : a hundred and forty-four thousand, from all the tribes of the people of Israel. After this, I saw a great crowd, impossible to count, from every nation, race, people and tongue, standing before the Throne, and the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands, and they cried out with a loud voice, “Who saves, but our God, Who sits on the Throne, and the Lamb?”

All the Angels were around the Throne, the elders and the four living creatures; they, then, bowed before the Throne, with their faces to the ground, to worship God. They said, “Amen, Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honour, power and strength to our God forever and ever. Amen!”

At that moment, one of the elders spoke up, and said to me, “Who are these people clothed in white, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, it is you who know this.” The elder replied, “They, are those who have come out of the great persecution, they have washed, and made their clothes white, in the Blood of the Lamb.”

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Saturday, 16 October 2021 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hedwig, Religious, and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious or Holy Virgins or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Luke 12 : 8-12

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “I tell you, whoever acknowledges Me before people, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the Angels of God. But the one who denies Me before others will be denied before the Angels of God. There will be pardon for the one who criticises the Son of Man, but there will be no pardon for the one who slanders the Holy Spirit.”

“When you are brought before the synagogues, and before governors and rulers, do not worry about how you will defend yourself, or what to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you have to say.”

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Saturday, 2 October 2021 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we all celebrate the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, celebrating those innumerable Angels that God had sent to us to be our protectors and guides, as each and every one of us has a Guardian Angel assigned to us by God to watch over us constantly at all times. Although we cannot see them, our Guardian Angels never ceased to watch over us and to protect us from especially the attacks by the evil one and all of his wicked forces.

Why do we need protection, brothers and sisters? That is because if we have not realised it yet, we are constantly under attack and being targetted by the ones who sought to see our downfall, desiring to drag us together with them into the fires of hell. The devil and his fellow fallen angels have always sought our destruction and they did not want us to be saved. Right from the beginning, as he and his forces had been cast out of Heaven for their rebellion, Satan has targetted us as God’s most beloved creation and sought to undermine God’s plans for us.

That was why he tempted Adam and Eve, and brought them into their downfall through disobedience. By listening to the sweet lies and falsehoods of the devil, they had turned away from God and fell into sin. Yet, God Who dearly loved us desired for us to be reconciled with Him, to turn away from our sins and from our wicked paths, and to stay true to the path that He has shown us and revealed to us. That is why He put the Guardian Angels by our side to protect us and guide us through to the right path.

We have to realise just how fortunate we are for having the Lord and His love, His most generous care and concern for us. That He has provided an Angel to take care of each and every one of us is the proof of just how much He cares for us, and yet we often rejected His love and attention, and many of us have persisted in our erroneous path of sin, in refusing to obey His Law and commandments, and in preferring to listen to the lies and the temptations of the devil and his fellow fallen angels.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we celebrate this Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, let us first of all give thanks to the Lord for having loved us so generously all these while. Let us thank Him for the gift of life and for having been so patient with us despite our constant waywardness and disobedience. And let us then also thank our respective Guardian Angels whom God had placed by our side and who had tirelessly protected us in the constant spiritual warfare and battles raging around us for the fate of our souls.

Then, let us commit ourselves to the Lord, to His path and His truth. Let us all strive to do the will of God and to obey His commandments from now on. Let us resist the temptations of our flesh and all the efforts of Satan and all the wicked ones who sought to turn us against God. Let us be exemplary in our actions through life so that we may be inspiration to one another in how each and every one of us ought to live out our faith. Let us also listen to our Guardian Angels and allow them to guide us to the right path.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on our lives and our path and choices in life. Let us all realise that all of us are called to holiness and to follow the Lord, and everything has been provided and given to us, that we even have guidance from our Guardian Angels all the time. Yet, it is really up to us in the end whether we want to listen to their urgings and reminders, and to heed the Lord’s call or whether we prefer to continue to live in the state of sin. The choice is ours, brothers and sisters in Christ.

May the Lord, our ever loving God and Creator, Who has graciously provided us all with our Guardian Angels, continue to bless us and strengthen us through those same Guardian Angels, that we may persevere in life and remain faithful to Him at all times. O Holy Guardian Angels of God, watch over us and protect us always from the snares of the evil one and his forces, and continue to guide us patiently and help us whenever we falter and fall, that we may continue to struggle and strive to do our best for the Lord. Amen.

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Saturday, 2 October 2021 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 18 : 1-5, 10

At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Then Jesus called a little child, set the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, “I assure you, that, unless you change, and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble, like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child, in My Name, receives Me.”

“See that you do not despise any of these little ones; for I tell you, their Angels in heaven continually see the face of My heavenly Father.”

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Saturday, 2 October 2021 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 90 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 10-11

You, who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who rest in the shadow of the Almighty, say to YHVH, “My Stronghold, my Refuge, my God in Whom I trust!”

He will rescue you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions and give you refuge under His wings.

You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrows that fly by day, nor the pestilence that stalks by night, and the plague that destroys at noonday.

No harm will come upon you; no disaster will draw near your home. For He will command His Angels to guard you in all your ways.