Holy Day of Obligation

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Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Octave Day of Christmas and World Day of Prayer for Peace (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 16-21

At that time, after the angels appeared to the shepherds, 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.

On the eighth day the circumcision of the Baby had to be performed; He was named Jesus, the Name the angel had given Him before He was conceived.

Homily and Reflection :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/31/thursday-1-january-2015-solemnity-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-mother-of-god-octave-day-of-christmas-and-world-day-of-prayer-for-peace-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Octave Day of Christmas and World Day of Prayer for Peace (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Galatians 4 : 4-7

But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, He came born of woman and subject to the Law, in order to redeem the subjects of the Law, that we might receive adoption as children of God. And because you are children, God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of His Son which cries out : Abba! that is, Father!

You yourself are no longer a slave but a son or daughter, and yours is the inheritance by God’s grace.

Homily and Reflection :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/31/thursday-1-january-2015-solemnity-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-mother-of-god-octave-day-of-christmas-and-world-day-of-prayer-for-peace-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Octave Day of Christmas and World Day of Prayer for Peace (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 66 : 2-3, 5, 6 and 8

May God be gracious and bless us; may He let His face shine upon us, that Your way be known on earth and Your salvation among the nations.

May the countries be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with justice and guide the nations of the world.

May the peoples praise You, o God, may all the peoples praise You! May God bless us and be revered, to the very ends of the earth.

Homily and Reflection :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/31/thursday-1-january-2015-solemnity-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-mother-of-god-octave-day-of-christmas-and-world-day-of-prayer-for-peace-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Octave Day of Christmas and World Day of Prayer for Peace (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Numbers 6 : 22-27

Then YHVH spoke to Moses saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons and say to them : This is how you shall bless the people of Israel; you shall say : May YHVH bless you and keep you! May YHVH let His face shine on you, and be gracious to you! May YHVH look kindly on you, and give you His peace!”

“In that way shall they put My Name on the people of Israel and I will bless them.”

Homily and Reflection :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/31/thursday-1-january-2015-solemnity-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-mother-of-god-octave-day-of-christmas-and-world-day-of-prayer-for-peace-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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(Usus Antiquior) Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, Octave Day of Christmas (Double II Classis) – Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : White

Offertory

Psalm 88 : 12, 15

Tui sunt caeli et Tua est terra : orbem terrarum et plenitudinem ejus Tu fundasti : justitia et judicium praeparatio sedis Tuae.

English translation

Yours are the heavens and Yours is the earth, the world and the fullness thereof You have found. Justice and judgment are the preparation of Your throne.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Muneribus nostris, quaesumus, Domine, precibusque susceptis : et caelestibus nos munda mysteriis, et clementer exaudi. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus. Per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Accept our offerings and prayers, we beseech You, o Lord. Cleanse us by Your heavenly mysteries and graciously hear us. 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 the Nativity

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere : Domine, Sancte Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus : Quia per incarnati Verbi mysterium nova mentis nostrae oculis lux Tuae claritatis infulsit : ut, dum visibiliter Deum cognoscimus, per hunc in invisibilium amorem rapiamur. Et ideo cum Angelis et Archangelis, cum Thronis et Dominationibus cumque omni militia caelestis exercitus hymnum gloriae Tuae canimus, sine fine dicentes :

English translation

It is truly meet and just, right and available to salvation, that we should always and in all places give thanks to You, o Holy Lord, Father Almighty, eternal God, because by the mystery of the Word made flesh, from Your brightness a new Light had risen to shine on the eyes of our souls, in order that, God becoming visible to us, we may be borne upward to the love of things invisible. And therefore with the Angels and Archangels, with the Dominions and Powers, with all the hosts of the heavenly army, we sing of Your glory without end saying :

Communion

Psalm 97 : 3

Viderunt omnes fines terrae salutare Dei nostri

English translation

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

Post-Communion Prayer

Haec nos communio, Domine, purget a crimine : et, intercedente Beata Virgine Dei Genetrice Maria, caelestis remedii faciat esse consortes. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

English translation

May this communion, o Lord, cleanse us from sin and, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, make us partakers of the heavenly remedy. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, Octave Day of Christmas (Double II Classis) – Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : White

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Luke 2 : 21

In illo tempore : Postquam consummati sunt dies octo, ut circumcideretur Puer : vocatum est Nomen Ejus Jesus, quod vocatum est ab Angelo, priusquam in utero conciperetur.

English translation

At that time, after eight days were accomplished that the Child should be circumcised, His Name was called Jesus, which was called by the angel, before He was conceived in the womb.

Homily and Reflection :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/31/thursday-1-january-2015-solemnity-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-mother-of-god-octave-day-of-christmas-and-world-day-of-prayer-for-peace-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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(Usus Antiquior) Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, Octave Day of Christmas (Double II Classis) – Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Gradual and Alleluia

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 97 : 3, 2 and Hebrews 1 : 1-2

Viderunt omnes fines terrae salutare Dei nostri : jubilate Deo, omnis terra.

Response : Notum fecit Dominus salutare suum : ante conspectum gentium revelavit justitiam suam.

Alleluja, Alleluja.

Response : Multifarie olim Deus loquens patribus in Prophetis, novissime diebus istis locutus est nobis in Filio. Alleluja.

English translation

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Sing joyfully to God all the earth.

Response : The Lord had made known His salvation. He had revealed His justice in the sight of the Gentiles.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Response : God, who diversely spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, last of all in these days had been spoken to us by His Son. Alleluia.

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(Usus Antiquior) Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, Octave Day of Christmas (Double II Classis) – Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : White

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

Titus 2 : 11-15

Carissime : Apparuit gratia Dei Salvatoris nostri omnibus hominibus, erudiens nos, ut, abnegantes impietatem et saecularia desideria, sobrie et juste et pie vivamus in hoc saeculo, exspectantes beatam spem et adventum gloriae magni Dei et Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi : qui dedit semetipsum pro nobis : ut nos redimeret ab omni iniquitate, et mundaret sibi populum acceptabilem, sectatorem honorum operum. Haec loquere et exhortare : in Christo Jesu, Domino nostro.

English translation

Dearly beloved, the grace of God our Saviour had appeared to all men, instructing us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly and justly, and godly in this world, looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to Himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good works. These things speak, and exhort: In Christ Jesus our Lord.

Homily and Reflection :
https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/31/thursday-1-january-2015-solemnity-of-the-blessed-virgin-mary-mother-of-god-octave-day-of-christmas-and-world-day-of-prayer-for-peace-homily-and-scripture-reflections/

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(Usus Antiquior) Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, Octave Day of Christmas (Double II Classis) – Thursday, 1 January 2015 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : White

Introit

Isaiah 9 : 6 and Psalm 97 : 1

Puer natus est nobis, et filius datus est nobis : cujus imperium super humerum ejus : et vocabitur Nomen Ejus magni consilii Angelus.

Cantate Domino canticum novum : quia mirabilia fecit.

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

English translation

A Child is born to us and a Son is given to us, whose government is upon His shoulder, and His Name shall be called the Angel of Great Counsel.

Sing all of you to the Lord a new canticle, because He had done wonderful things.

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, qui salutis aeternae, Beatae Mariae virginitate fecunda, humano generi praemia praestitisti : tribue, quaesumus; ut ipsam pro nobis intercedere sentiamus, per quam meruimus auctorem vitae suscipere, 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 by the fruitful virginity of Blessed Mary, has bestowed upon mankind the rewards of eternal salvation, grant, we beseech You, that we may evermore experience the intercession in our behalf of her through whom we have been found worthy to receive the Author of life, 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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Sunday, 28 December 2014 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are celebrating the great feast of the Holy Family of Jesus our Lord, and His mother Mary and His foster-father Joseph. On this day, in the midst of this joyful season of Christmas when we celebrate the Birth of Jesus into this world, we reflect on the family which Jesus had, the perfect and model family which all of the faithful should emulate.

The Holy Family is a family not built on glamour or the wealth of this world, but on love and rich with the graces of God. It is not just because Jesus Christ our Lord is one of the Family, but because of the active participation of all members of the family, namely Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Jesus was an obedient Son, who listened to His mother even though at times He told her of things which she was not aware of, due to His unique nature of both being God and Man. The perfect example of this would be the wedding at Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle of turning water into wine, listening to His mother’s pleas on behalf of the bride and bridegroom in trouble.

Mary, then, was a loving and caring mother, who was genuinely concerned for her family and first of all, for her Son, Jesus. Mary devoted her entire life caring for Jesus as He grew up from a Baby into His adulthood, ready for the mission for which He entered this life. She followed her through His mission in life and even unto His suffering and death on the cross. She stood by faithfully on the foot of the cross, just as He suffered and died for us, for our sake and to atone for our sins.

Meanwhile, St. Joseph was not related by blood to Jesus at all, but he was related to Jesus through his legal marriage to Mary. As such he became the foster-father of our Lord and Saviour. At first he had his sceptic moment when he found that Mary was pregnant without him even married to him yet. He thought that she was unfaithful to him, but Joseph was a righteous man and a responsible person. For Mary’s own good he wanted to divorce her quietly so that she would not suffer the repercussion.

Joseph was therefore a good father figure to Jesus, and the one likely who taught Him various things in life, educating Him on skills and even perhaps on carpentry. Jesus was likely also a carpenter as His foster-father was. He was an upright man who took his duties and responsibilities seriously. He protected his family well, and he brought them to Egypt to live in exile while those who sought the death of Jesus his foster-Son was around.

All of the members of the Holy Family therefore are good examples for us all. They showed us how we should behave as a family. A family is not built on just mere coincidences, arrangements, or infatuations. A family is built on firm foundation of love, the love that is the same as the love which God had for us. Yes, love that does not perish with goods and love that does not demand a return.

We have to realise today in our world that many of our families are losing their integrity and harmony, because we are losing genuine love in the family. More and more people today are only concerned about themselves and not about others. When members of a family start to put each of them and their own interests above that of the others, then things will certainly not look good for the prospect of that family.

In addition, if we note the readings today talking about Abraham and his wife, Sarah, who had been rewarded by God after many years of fruitless marriage without any children, with the promised child Isaac, who would be the father of many, earning Abraham what God had promised him, that his descendants would number as many as the stars.

Abraham was rewarded because of his faith, as was with Sarah. Sarah did have her skepticism as well, when she heard of the news that she would be pregnant in her old age and give birth to a child, and she even laughed at that. But, eventually, she trusted in God as her husband had, and for this faith they had shown, they bring themselves and make themselves to be a good, harmonious, successful and holy family.

This is another thing often lacking from our lives as a family. We rarely spend time together and each person are busy with their own business and things, so that we end up growing more and more distant with every passing moment. It is no wonder that fights and disharmony arose out of this situation. Remember that there is a saying, ‘A family that prays together, stays together’?

It was not written in the Bible or the Gospels that the Holy Family did this, but it is most likely beyond any doubt, from what we know of the characters in the Holy Family, that Jesus, Mary His mother and His foster-father Joseph often and regularly prayed together to God, at their meals, at the time when they were working, and at many other times.

If we, as a family, pray constantly to God, I am certain that we will grow closer to the Lord, and if we learn to love and be faithful as the Holy Family had been faithful, in how Jesus, Mary and Joseph played their respective roles in God’s plan for our salvation, I am certain, that we will have genuine love, faith and harmony growing in our families.

There will surely be plenty of challenges and difficulties along the way, but if we persevere, we are certain to be able to pull through together and emerge out as families even stronger than ever before. Let us all model our families on the Holy Family, learning to love one another, putting aside our differences and letting go of our ego and pride, that often cause division and destruction to our families.

Families are the basic units of the faithful in the Church, and it is through the family that we can inculcate faith in the future generations. It has been proven that a family that prays together, keeps up hope for one another at times of distress and stay faithful to the Lord will emerge in the end, as truly faithful and devoted children of God. It is often those without good and proper family background that lose out their faith, and as a result are denied forever the hope of salvation in God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be like the Holy Family in our families, staying filled with love and grace, with faith and genuine devotion to the Lord, that at the end of days, all of us will together embrace the Lord our loving Father and be saved together as one family, and as one people. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/26/sunday-28-december-2014-feast-of-the-holy-family-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph-and-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-martyrs-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/26/sunday-28-december-2014-feast-of-the-holy-family-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph-and-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-martyrs-psalm/

 

Second Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/26/sunday-28-december-2014-feast-of-the-holy-family-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph-and-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-martyrs-second-reading/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/12/26/sunday-28-december-2014-feast-of-the-holy-family-of-jesus-mary-and-joseph-and-feast-of-the-holy-innocents-martyrs-gospel-reading/