Holy God

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(Usus Antiquior) Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (I Classis) – Friday, 15 August 2014 : Holy Gospel

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

Luke 1 : 41-50

In illo tempore : Repleta est Spiritu Sancto Elisabeth et exclamavit voce magna, et dixit : Benedicta tu inter mulieres, et benedictus Fructus ventris tui. Et unde hoc mihi ut veniat mater Domini mei ad me? Ecce enim ut facta est vox salutationis tuae in auribus meis, exsultavit in gaudio infans in utero meo.

Et beata, quae credidisti, quoniam perficientur ea, quae dicta sunt tibi a Domino.

Et ait Maria : Magnificat anima mea Dominum; et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo; quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae, ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes.

Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est, et sanctum Nomen Ejus, et misericordiae Ejus a progenie in progenies timentibus Eum.

English translation

At that time, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb. And how is it that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, as soon as the voice of your salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leapt for joy.”

“And blessed are you who had believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to you by the Lord.”

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoiced in God my Saviour. Because He had regarded the humility of His handmaid, for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”

“Because He who is mighty had done great things unto me, and Holy is His Name, and His mercy is from generation unto generations, to those who fear Him.”

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Friday, 15 August 2014 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 44 : 10bc, 11, 12ab, 16

At Your right hand, in the gold of Ophir, stands the queen.

Listen, o daughter, pay attention; forget your father’s house and your nation.

And your beauty will charm the King, for He is your Lord.

Amid cheers and general rejoicing, they enter the palace of the King.

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Thursday, 14 August 2014 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 11 : 27-28

As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, “Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!”

Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”

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Wednesday, 13 August 2014 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Ezekiel 9 : 1-7 and Ezekiel 10 : 18-22

Then the Son of Man shouted loudly in my ears saying, “The punishment of the city is near; see each one of these has in his hand his instrument of destruction.” And six men came from the direction of the upper gate which faces north, each one with his instrument of destruction. With them was a man clothed in linen with writing material at his side. They came and stopped near the altar of bronze.

Then the Glory of the God of Israel rose from the cherubim where It rested and went to the threshold of the house. YHVH called to the man clothed in linen who had the material for writing at his side, and He said to him, “Pass through the centre of the city, through Jerusalem, and trace a cross on the forehead of the men who sigh and groan because of all the abominations committed in it.”

I heard Him say to the others, “Now you may pass through the city after him and strike. Your eyes shall not look with pity; show no mercy! Do away with them all – old men, young men, virgins, children and women – but do not touch anyone marked with a cross.”

And as they were told to begin with the sanctuary, they struck the elders who were in front of the Temple. YHVH said to them, “Let the courts be filled with the slain and the Temple be defiled with their blood; go out!” They went and slew the people in the city.

The Glory of YHVH went from above the threshold of the house and went to rest on the cherubim. Then the cherubim left, opening their wings and rising above the earth in my sight, and the wheels went with them. They halted at the east gate of the house of YHVH and the Glory of the God of Israel was over them.

These were the living creatures I had seen under the God of Israel on the banks of the river Chebar. I recognised them as cherubim. Each had four faces, each had four wings and they had what seemed like human hands under their wings. As for the appearance of their faces, they were the faces I had seen by the river Chebar, the same likeness. Each one went straight ahead.

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(Usus Antiquior) Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Lawrence, Martyr (Double II Classis) – Sunday, 10 August 2014 : Introit and Collect

Introit

Psalm 53 : 6-7, 3

Ecce, Deus adjuvat me, et Dominus susceptor est animae meae : averte mala inimicis meis, et in veritate Tua disperde illos, protector meus, Domine.

Deus, in Nomine Tuo salvum me fac : et in virtute Tua libera me.

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

English translation

Behold, God is my Helper, and the Lord is the protector of my soul. Turn back the evils upon my enemies, and cut them off in Your truth, o Lord, my Protector.

Save me, o God, by Your Name, and deliver me in Your strength.

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

Pateant aures misericordiae Tuae, Domine, precibus supplicantium : et, ut petentibus desiderata concedas; fac eos quae tibi sunt placita, postulare. Per Dominum…

English translation

Let the ears of Your mercy, o Lord, be open to the prayers of Your suppliants, and that You may grant their desires to them that seek, make them to ask only for those things that please You. Through our Lord…

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Sunday, 10 August 2014 : 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, is our faith in God truly genuine and strong? And is our faith in the Lord solid and growing? Or is it that we doubt God and His love just because in our lives He may seem to not be around whenever we say that we need Him? Do we doubt God because we are not able to feel His presence around us when we are in dire trouble?

These questions are meant for us to ask ourselves and for us to do a self-introspection, on our faith, and what our faith truly meant for us. The story of Jesus walking on the water in the midst of a heavy storm that threatened to sink the ship where the disciples were on is a classic story of how mankind are often faced with persecution and difficulties in life, and yet God will definitely not abandon us. He has given us none other than Jesus to rescue us and to strengthen our faith.

Indeed, in the first reading today we also heard how God appeared to Elijah the prophet, when he was fleeing from the persecution of the king of Israel, Ahab in the middle of the desert. He found God, or YHVH, not in the midst of great and mighty phenomena of earthquakes, fires or windstorm, but in the gentleness and sweetness of a breeze of gentle wind.

God did not abandon mankind when we are in great troubles or difficulties, and instead, He showed His loving and caring persona, as He had shown to Elijah. As much as He is mighty and great, He is also thoroughly concerned with us, as what He had shown to Elijah and in that, showed the love He had for mankind who still lived in the darkness. That is the message that God wanted to make clear with the people, that He cared for them.

And in the Gospel, we heard how the ship where the disciples were in was rocked by heavy winds and strong winds, to the point that it almost sank and be destroyed. This is in fact a perfect representation of our own lives that are filled with challenges and difficulties from all corners and sources. Life is never easy, and especially if we choose to walk the path of the Lord, things will be stormy and difficult for us.

That is why, first we must have a strong anchor of faith, and this anchor must be established on none other than the strong foundation of faith we have in our Lord and God. Otherwise, we and our lives, which are represented by the ship, will be blown here and there, and torn asunder by the waves, showing how our lives will be ruined and our purpose in life corrupted by the lack of a strong and living faith.

In all this, God is around, and He is there for us. But often that we do not believe that He is there for us. That is perfectly represented as well, when Jesus appeared on the waters and the disciples were gripped with fear, thinking that He was a ghost, utterly filled with disbelief and doubt that Jesus could be there, and right there for them and to help them.

It is much too often that we are filled to the brim with despair, fear and concerns for ourselves, that first we failed to notice the love that God has for us, thinking that we had been abandoned, and we also often fail to notice the difficulties and challenges that our brothers and sisters around us are facing, for we are too preoccupied with our own selves. Then that is also why we often cry out to God why our lives are unfair, while we actually failed to realise the truth.

We need to be able to discern and learn to get rid of the distractions and lies that prevented us from seeing the Lord at work in our lives, and that was what was shown in the first reading today. Elijah was able to see that God is not in things in mighty and great beyond our reach, just as He was not in the windstorm, fire or earthquakes, but instead in the gentle breeze showing His care and love for us.

If we are able to pierce through the layers of bias, prejudice, fear, desire, and other things that prevented us from truly understanding God’s love, we will then be able to feel the real and holy Presence of our Lord with us. We will then realise that our Lord and God is there for us, and He is always with us especially when we are in difficulties and challenging times. He never left our side. It is we who had voluntarily left Him behind for other things, and for Satan.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to admit that our faith is often weak and shaky, and the foundation of our faith is not strong, and when challenges and difficulties come our way, we often act like Peter, who doubted the Lord and His providence and ended up sinking when he walked on the water. Our faith can often be challenged and be negatively affected by the fears and concerns that we have in our hearts.

That is why we have to learn to trust in our Lord, and know that He is there for us when we need Him. He gives us many chances and opportunities, as well as help along the way in various means. What is important that, if we are in trouble, He is there for us, giving us help, and often we do not realise this fact. When Peter wavered in his faith and was sinking, what did Jesus do? Precisely, He stretched out His hands immediately to help Peter out and pull him out to safety.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us use the opportunities given to us in order to reflect and come to a greater realisation that we have been blessed with a loving and caring God who is utterly concerned about our fate and about every single thing that we do in this life of ours. Let us all be no longer ignorant of God’s love, and instead let us make the conscious effort to strengthen our faith.

This boat that is our life will always be rocked by strong waves and winds, that represent the temptations of sin and evil, and all the forces that the devil has assembled in order to bring us and drag us into hell and suffering with him. Shall we follow him into destruction? No, we should not. We should not let this good-for-nothing fallen angel and wrecker of lives and souls from messing with our destiny. We have to reject him, rebuke him and cast him out of our lives in perfect totality.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be courageous in our lives that our faith may be ever more solid and strong, and be able to resist the temptations of the evil one at any turns in our lives. May Almighty God continue to love us, bless us, and grant us with His grace and abundant blessings. Amen.

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Saturday, 9 August 2014 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Matthew 17 : 14-20

When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus, knelt before Him and said, “Sir, have pity on my son, who is an epileptic and suffers terribly. He has often fallen into the fire, and at other times into the water. I brought him to Your disciples but they could not heal him.”

Jesus replied, “You faithless and disoriented people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus commanded the evil spirit to leave the boy, and the boy was immediately healed.

The disciples then gathered around Jesus and asked Him privately, “Why could we not drive out the spirit?” Jesus said to them, “Because you have little faith. I say to you : if only you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move from here to there, and the mountain would obey. Nothing would be impossible to you.”

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Saturday, 9 August 2014 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Psalm 9 : 8-9, 10-11, 12-13

But the Lord reigns forever, having set up His throne for judgement. He will judge the nations with justice and govern the peoples in righteousness.

The Lord is a rampart for the oppressed, a refuge in times of distress. Those who cherish Your Name, o Lord, can rely on You, for You have never forsaken those who look to You.

Sing praises to the Lord enthroned in Zion, proclaim His deeds among the nations. For He who avenges blood remembers, He does not ignore the cry of the lowly.

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Friday, 8 August 2014 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Deuteronomy 32 : 35cd-36ab, 39abcd, 41

Their day of calamity is at hand, and swiftly their doom will come. The Lord will give justice to His people and have mercy on His servants.

Learn this now – that I alone am He; there is no god besides Me. It is I who give both death and life; It is I who wound and heal as well and out of My hand no one can deliver.

When I sharpen My glittering sword and My hand takes hold of judgment, I will deal out vengeance upon My foes and retribution upon those who hate Me.

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Wednesday, 6 August 2014 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

2 Peter 1 : 16-19

Indeed, what we taught you about the power and the return of Christ Jesus our Lord was not drawn from myths or formulated theories. We ourselves were eyewitnesses of His majesty, when He received glory and honour from God the Father, when from the magnificent Glory this most extraordinary word came upon Him : “This is My beloved Son, this is My Chosen One.”

We ourselves heard this voice from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. Therefore, we believe most firmly in the message of the prophets which you should consider rightly as a lamp shining in a dark place, until the break of day, when the Morning Star shines in your hearts.