Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 90 : 1-2, 14-15ab, 15c-16
You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, Who rest in the shadow of the Almighty, say to the Lord, “My stronghold, my refuge, my God in Whom I trust!”
“Because they cling to Me, I will rescue them,” says the Lord. “I will protect those who know My Name. When they call to Me, I will answer; in time of trouble I will be with them.”
“I will deliver and honour them. I will satisfy them with long life and show them My salvation.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Abbots)
Daniel 3 : 52a, 53, 54, 55, 56
Blessed are You, Lord, God of our fathers, be praised and exalted forever.
Blessed are You in the Temple of Your sacred glory, Your praises are sung forever.
Blessed are You on the throne of Your kingdom, honoured and glorified forever.
Blessed are You Who fathom the depths, Who are enthroned on the Cherubim, praised and exalted forever.
Blessed are You in the firmament of Heaven, praised and glorified forever.
Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 66 : 10-14
Rejoice for Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her. Be glad with her, rejoice with her, all you who were in grief over her, that you may suck of the milk from her comforting breasts, that you may drink deeply from the abundance of her glory.
For this is what YHVH says : I will send her peace, overflowing like a river; and the nations’ wealth, rushing like a torrent towards her. And you will be nursed and carried in her arms and fondled upon her lap. As a son comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you.
At the sight of this, your heart will rejoice; like grass, your bones will flourish. For it shall be known that YHVH’s hand is with His servant, but His fury is upon His enemy.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Psalm 110 : 7-8, 9, 10
The works of His hands are faithful and just, trustworthy are all His precepts, ordained to last forever, bearers of truth and uprightness.
He has sent His people deliverances and made with them a covenant forever. His Holy Name is to be revered!
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; prudent are those who live by His precepts. To Him belongs everlasting praise.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 30 : 2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 15-16, 20
In You, o Lord, I take refuge, may I never be disgraced; deliver Me in Your justice. Give heed to My plea, and make haste to rescue Me.
Be a rock of refuge for Me, a fortress for My safety. For You are My rock and My stronghold, lead Me for Your Name’s sake.
Free Me from the snare that they have set for Me. Indeed You are my Protector. Into Your hands I commend My Spirit; You have redeemed Me, o Lord, faithful God.
But I put My trust in You, o Lord, I said : “You are My God;” My days are in Your hand. Deliver Me from the hand of My enemies, from those after My skin.
How great is the goodness which You have stored for those who fear You, which You show, for all to see, to those who take refuge in You!
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 105 : 34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43ab and 44
The people of God dared not destroy the pagans, as the Lord commanded; they mingled with these nations and learnt to do as they did.
In serving the idols of the pagans, they were trapped into sacrificing children to demons.
They defiled themselves by what they did, playing the harlot in their worship. The anger of the Lord grew intense and He abhorred His inheritance.
He delivered them many a time, but they went on defying Him and sinking deeper int their sin. But He heard their cry of affliction and looked on them with compassion.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Judges 2 : 11-19
The Israelites treated YHVH badly for they served the Baals instead. They abandoned YHVH, the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of Egypt, and served other gods, the gods of the neighbouring peoples. They bowed before those gods and offended YHVH.
When YHVH saw that they had abandoned Him to serve Baal and Ashtaroth, He became angry with His people and gave them into the hands of plunderers who left them in misery. He Himself sold them to their enemies who completely surrounded the Israelites, so that these Israelites could no longer withstand them.
Whenever they felt strong for an offensive, YHVH would turn against them and send evil upon them, as He had warned them and sworn to do. And this caused much distress and anguish for the Israelites.
YHVH raised up “judges” or liberators who saved the Israelites from their exploiters. But neither did they obey those “judges” for they still prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them. They soon left the way of their fathers who obeyed the commandments of YHVH; they did not follow the way of their fathers.
When YHVH made a judge appear among His people, YHVH was with him and saved them from their enemies. That lasted as long as the judge lived, for YHVH was moved to pity by the lament of His people who were oppressed and persecuted. But when the judge died, they again became worse than their ancestors – worshipping and serving other gods. They would not renounce their pagan practices and stubborn ways.
Liturgical Colour : Violet
Gradual
Psalm 142 : 9, 10 and Psalm 17 : 48-49
Eripe me, Domine, de inimicis meis : doce me facere voluntatem Tuam.
Response : Liberator meus, Domine, de gentibus iracundis : ab insurgentibus in me exaltabis me : a viro iniquo eripies me.
English translation
Deliver me from my enemies, o Lord, teach me to do Your will.
Response : My deliverer, o Lord, from the angry nations. You will lift me up above those who rise up against me, from the unjust man You will deliver me.
Tract
Psalm 128 : 1-4
Saepe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea.
Response : Dicat nunc Israel : saepe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea.
Response : Etenim non potuerunt mihi : supra dorsum meum fabricaverunt peccatores.
Response : Prolongaverunt iniquitates suas : Dominus justus concidit cervices peccatorum.
English translation
Often have they fought against me from my youth.
Response : Let Israel now say, “Often have they fought against me from my youth.”
Response : But they could not prevail over me, the wicked have wrought upon my back.
Response : They have lengthened their iniquities, the Lord who is just will cut the neck of sinners.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about baptism, the baptism which John the Baptist had performed, and the baptism which Jesus and His disciples also performed at the Jordan River. Then in the first reading from the First Letter of St. John spoke about sin, and the responsibility which we have to remind one another, in order to keep each other free from the taints of sin.
Today we prepare for tomorrow’s celebration of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the feast which marks the beginning of the official period of God’s service in the world through Jesus Christ. The ministry of Jesus in the world officially began after He was baptised at the River Jordan by John the Baptist. In the Gospel today, we heard about the beginning of that ministry, which was to bring mankind and the world, great blessings and graces which continue even until today and beyond.
And what is the mission that Christ came into this world with? It is with the singular purpose of bringing God’s love to real and concrete contact with us mankind, through Jesus Christ the Son of God. And the purpose of baptism is to bring mankind closer to God and into direct contact with the salvation in Jesus, by the removal of the barriers which come between us and our loving Lord and God.
And what is this barrier that stand between us and the Lord? It is sin and all of its forms. Sin and wickedness, the corruptions of evil in our hearts, our minds and our bodies are the primary barriers and obstacles that make it difficult for us to approach the Lord. Sin corrupts our heart and turn our attentions away from the Lord, as it distorts our perception of all things around us and closes our eyes, blinding us from the love and mercy of our God.
What our Lord wants is to free us from sin, from the enslavement to sin, and from the punishment that sin brings, that is death. And that is why He brought the gift of baptism to us, the cleansing of our body, mind, heart and soul from the depredation and corruption of sin, and while we were once sinful and filled with wickedness, because of baptism we were made clean, healed from our spiritual affliction of sin, and made holy and pure as the children of God.
For through baptism we are made the children of God, adopted through Christ who had reunited us with God our Father, and we are also made the members of His one and only Church, the communion and unity among all of His faithful ones, the vessel of His salvation in this world. But this does not mean that, because of baptism then we can be complacent or slack in how we live out our lives with faith. Otherwise, the forces of Satan and his allies will corrupt us once again with sin, and darken our path that we may be lost on our way.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called to live out our faith with true and genuine expression of our faith, that we ought to practice what we believe in, and not just merely paying a lip service to it. That is not true faith but a perversion of it. We cannot say that we are faithful to the Lord but our actions show otherwise, as them we will become the mockery of the nations.
We who are in the Church are charged with the responsibility and the mission which Jesus Himself had entrusted to the Apostles. What did He tell us? That we have to go forth to the whole world and to the ends of the earth, proclaiming the Good News of the Lord so that many and more will hear of the salvation that exists only in Christ and therefore they may be saved, through the holy baptism in the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.
Brethren, we must not take baptism lightly, for through it we were sealed and made the possessions of the Lord. It is a holy sacrament, and if we do not live up to our faith after our baptism, then we have to account it to the Lord our God. If we are to spread God’s Good News to the nations, then our faith to Him must be genuine and real for others to believe in us. We must walk the talk, or else no one will believe in us, and they will then be lost, and the responsibility for that loss then will also fall upon us.
Therefore, today, as we prepare for tomorrow’s feast of the Baptism of the Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ, let us all be faithful to God, not just in mere profession of the faith, but also through real action, and then, we must not forget that, we have to follow the example of John the Baptist, who served God faithfully, and yet took no credit for himself. He humbly submitted himself to the will of God and served and worked with great devotion. Let us all follow his examples and become better children of God, and bring all our brethren to the salvation in God, that together we shall be found righteous and just. God be with us all. Amen.
First Reading :
Saturday, 10 January 2015 : Saturday after the Epiphany (First Reading)
Psalm :
Saturday, 10 January 2015 : Saturday after the Epiphany (Psalm)
Gospel Reading :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/09/saturday-10-january-2015-saturday-after-the-epiphany-gospel-reading/
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how all things shall receive the fullness of God’s grace and His wonderful mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God, the Word of God, the Divine incarnate into the flesh of Man. He chose to become one of us so that by His incarnation and by His actions in the world, He might become the source of all hope and inspiration for countless peoples of all races and nations, to be the Liberation of mankind from the chains and tyranny of sin.
Anna the prophetess had waited for a long time for the coming of the Saviour in Jesus, the Holy Child, whom in the Gospel today was presented at the Temple on the eighth day to the Lord as the firstborn Son of His mother Mary. She was fortunate that she was given the grace and opportunity to behold the Saviour in the Flesh, and to see Him with her own eyes. Many in the past ages and the future, including all of us now, have no such opportunity.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have been saved in Jesus Christ, by the shedding and the outpouring of His Blood, and we have been paid for in full by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, who provided the only and the one only sure path through to reach salvation in God. He has brought us all over from our old lives of sin and dependence of things of the flesh, and instead He offered us all a new life founded on His firm foundation.
If we put our trust and faith firmly in Jesus, then I say that, we have overcome the evil one, that is Satan and all of his evil temptations, and we have triumphed, overcoming our slavery and enslavement to sin, which began when men first listened to Satan and to their own desires instead of listening to God. We have been brought out of the slavery of our heart, mind, body and soul, just as the Israelites were brought out of Egypt with the great power of God.
The Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt with His great power, and He destroyed their shackles, as He also destroyed our shackles of sin, but just as the Israelites who complained and refused to listen to God, worshipping pagan gods and idols and preferring to walk their own ways, we also often rebelling against God, walking on our own paths, and listening more to our own desires and wants rather than listening to our Lord.
Therefore, it is necessary for us to persevere in this world filled with numerous temptations and things that distract us from our focus on the Lord. Satan is always actively trying to subvert us and turn us away from salvation in God, and into damnation together with him. He knows what things can best be used to persuade us and entice us to sin, and this is the great danger facing all of us, if we are not aware or able to resist the advances of Satan, we are in danger of losing our way.
Hence, as we continue in our celebration of Christmas, in this holy and blessed season, and as we approach the coming of the new year, let us all keep our focus on Christ, and try our best not to be distracted by the many things in the world. We have to keep Christ at the centre of our celebration of Christmas, and indeed, at the centre of our lives.
May all of us be able to seek our way to the Lord, and keep our gaze firmly focused and locked onto Him, so that amidst the various dangers and temptations that the world presents to us, we may persevere and remain strong in our Faith and will not lose our way, so that at the end of the days, rich rewards of salvation and eternal life will be ours. God bless us all. Amen.
First Reading :
Tuesday, 30 December 2014 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (First Reading)
Psalm :
Tuesday, 30 December 2014 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (Psalm)
Gospel Reading :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/29/tuesday-30-december-2014-sixth-day-within-the-octave-of-christmas-gospel-reading/
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