Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3bc-4
Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.
The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.
The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.
Liturgical Colour : White
Genesis 3 : 9-15, 20
YHVH God called the man saying to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard Your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”
God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree I ordered you not to eat?” The man answered, “The woman You put with me gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.” God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”
YHVH God said to the serpent, “Since you have done that, be cursed among all the cattle and wild beasts! You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”
The man called his wife by the name of Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate the feast of the dedication and presentation of the Blessed Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary. On this day, we remember the time, just as His Son Jesus was presented before God at His Temple, she was also presented in the same manner, just as the Law of God revealed through Moses had prescribed.
In the Scripture reading of today that we have heard, we witnessed how mankind fell into sin through the instigation of the devil who persuaded them to sin by disobedience against the Lord, tempting them with false promises of power and greatness that would be ours if we would just eat of the forbidden fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, without knowing the consequences of such disobedience would bring us.
But God Who punished them for their sins and disobedience did not entirely gave them up to destruction and condemnation. Instead, He gave them a new opportunity, the chance for them to change their ways, turn around from their sinfulness and rebellion, and therefore regained the favour of God and from their position of shame and from the punishments they endured, they would emerge triumphant of having resisted the temptation of Satan unto the end.
And God promised to mankind that deliverance and hope would come, and even though Satan would have the first bite at us, inflicting upon us, generations upon generations of mankind, the bitterness of the sufferings of the world because of our sins, just as the Lord had said that there would be bitter feud between the sons of men and the forces of the evil one, therefore, the salvation would come through the Woman whom God had promised to be the one through whom the Saviour would come forth into the world.
And this Woman is Mary, the special one among mankind whom God had prepared since the beginning to be the one through whom the salvation of the world would come, that is in Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, born from her through the power of the Holy Spirit and by the Will of God the Father. But it was not because of Mary’s own might and power that she had done all these, but rather through her humility and obedience to the will of God.
Yes, Mary is the new Eve just as Christ is the new Adam according to St. Paul. While the old Eve, the first woman sinned and disobeyed the Lord because she was unable to hold her desires, the new Eve, that is Mary was obedient to God in all things, and she accepted fully the role she was to play in the salvation of all mankind.
Both Eve were born without sin, for Eve was created by God from the flesh and bones of men without the taints of sin, for creation was pure and without sin in the beginning. Meanwhile, Mary was specially prepared by the Lord to be immaculate, free from the taints of sin in any form from the very moment of her conception. This is because she was to be the mother of the Lord God of all creations, and the Lord most holy, Who certainly would not deserve a vessel tainted by sin.
Yet, if we notice, it was the choice that the new Eve took that differentiated her from the very first Eve, who chose the other option. The first Eve chose the world and all of its glories, the temptation of knowledge and power that tempted her and turn her away from the way of the Lord. But Mary, the new Eve did not choose that path. Instead, she chose obedience and complete submission to God.
Therefore, as we celebrate today’s feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when Mary the mother of our Lord, the new Eve was presented pure and blameless before the Lord on His Temple, let us all also commit ourselves to the Lord, renewing our faith and our dedication to the Lord our God. We all also need to model ourselves after our role model in faith, Mary, whose faith in the Lord was truly remarkable.
It is not impossible for us to walk in her ways, as we lead our lives on in the path of God. What we need is conviction and genuine desire for us to lead a life that is in accordance to God’s will, and be thoroughly and completely devoted in our ways, so that in all the things we say and do, we always do them or say them in the Name of the Lord and for the greater glory of God.
May Almighty God be with us all, forgive us all our sins, and may He guide us on the path to His everlasting happiness and glory. May God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Matthew 12 : 46-50
At that time, while Jesus was still talking to the people, His mother and His brothers wanted to speak to Him, and they waited outside. So someone said to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside; they want to speak with You.”
Jesus answered, “Who is My mother? Who are My brothers?” Then He pointed to His disciples and said, “Look! Here are My mother and My brothers. Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is for Me brother, sister or mother.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 1 : 46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my Saviour.
He has looked upon His servant in her lowliness, and people forever will call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is His Name!
From age to age His mercy extends to those who live in His presence. He has acted with power and done wonders, and scattered the proud with their plans.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up those who are downtrodden. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.
He held out His hand to Israel, His servant, for He remembered His mercy, even as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.
Liturgical Colour : White
Zechariah 2 : 14-17
“Sing and rejoice, o daughter of Zion, for I am about to come, I shall dwell among you,” says YHVH.
“On that day, many nations will join YHVH and be My people, but My dwelling is among you.” The people of Judah will be for YHVH as His portion in His holy land. He will choose Jerusalem again.
Keep still in YHVH’s presence, for He comes, having risen from His holy dwelling.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a great feast of the Church, in the memory of the Blessed Mother of our Lord, Mary, one of whose title is the Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, or also known as our Lady of Victory, the beginning of this feast celebrated on every seventh day of the month of October, as the commemoration of the great triumph and victory of the forces of the faithful at the Battle of Lepanto against the infidel Ottoman Turks.
The feast of our Lady of Victory, which would later become the feast of our Lady of the Rosary, was instituted by Pope St. Pius V, who led the forces of Christendom and all the faithful in the great struggle against the heathen and pagan forces of the Ottoman Empire, which at the time was a huge menace to all the faithful, being at its peak, and marching deep into the Christian heartlands.
At the time, the forces of the faithful desperately needed some hope and victory amidst constant retreat and defeats against the mighty forces of the enemy, and at that time, the forces of the infidels were threatening to overrun the entire lands of the faithful, and the threat of persecution and destruction was very real, and many of the faithful feared for their lives.
Led by Pope St. Pius V, and several other prominent civil and military leaders of Christendom, the Church gathered together a force readying itself to defend the faithful ones of God, and they met the forces of the infidels at Lepanto, on the seventh day of October of the year 1571, about four and a half centuries ago. The leaders of Christendom asked for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary before the battle.
And during the great battle, the forces of the enemy were frightened and scared by what they described as a great vision in the clouds of innumerable saints and angels, led by the Blessed Virgin Mary at the side of Christ who is leading His forces against the forces of those who refused to believe in the One, True God. And the enemy forces were scattered, and their ships were sunk, ending the battle in a great and mighty victory for Christendom.
Thus, in thanksgiving, Pope St. Pius V devoted and dedicated the day of the battle as an annual feast in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the patron of the great triumph against the forces of evil. It was the intercession of Mary that has allowed the Lord to be moved to defend His faithful ones, as the prayers of the faithful were gathered by Mary, who brought them to the presence of her Son in heaven, being the closest to the Throne of God.
And today has then been associated with our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, because of the significance of the rosary in the battle that is raging in us, around us and at all times for the sake of our souls. The rosary is a great spiritual weapon that is a great tool for us, our sword and shield against the forces of Satan, all the evil and wickedness arrayed against us.
Why is this so? This is because the rosary itself originated with the vision of our Blessed Mother to St. Dominic de Guzman, many centuries ago, who appeared to him and asked him to spread and propagate the devotion of the rosary, as a means for the faithful to strengthen their spiritual life and defend themselves against the assaults of the devil.
And it was the same Pope St. Pius V who established with formality the devotion of the rosary, and approved it as a method of spiritual prayer to ask for the intercession of the Blessed Mother Mary, ever Virgin, to strengthen our defence against the assaults of the evil one. The rosary is named after the rosarium, a crown of roses, apparently what the Blessed Virgin Mary showed to St. Dominic de Guzman who first promoted the use of the rosary.
In each of the flowers or the beads of the rosary, each of these consist of a prayer that is a great weapon against the devil, namely the Ave Maria, or the Hail Mary, signifying the woman and the glory and the honour God gave her, because of the role she played in the salvation of all mankind, and how Satan had been defeated in totality through what she had done, in accepting the role she was to play in our salvation, by bearing the Saviour of the world in herself.
And every time we pray the rosary, Satan and his fellow fallen angels will be reminded of the failure that they had encountered, in failing to corrupt this holy woman whose immaculate conception and freedom from sin, as well as her immaculate and impeccable actions, completely and totally devoted to the Lord her God, is a blinding light that burns the devils and tears them apart.
If we pray the rosary, let us all pray not for the sake of praying or saying the prayers, as praying the rosary in just saying the words, is meaningless and without benefits for us or our salvation. Instead, when we pray the rosary, all of us ought to open ourselves and look deep inside our hearts, and bare everything open to the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking her to help us by interceding for us poor sinners, who need help in order to resist the temptations and assaults by the evil one.
Let us pray the rosary with full devotion and intention of heart, that just as the faithful at the Battle of Lepanto cried out to the Lord through His blessed Mother, we too cry out with one voice, asking for help and deliverance from the forces of evil and darkness that engulfed us and oppressed us. God will surely hear us if we ask Him with the help of Mary, His mother. After all, if we remember the wedding at Cana, where Jesus performed His very first miracle, He did listen to Mary even though He said that His time was not up yet.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore dutifully devote ourselves in the rosary, to solidify our prayer and spiritual life, and then enhance it with loving actions and deeds, helping others who are in need around us, so that our hearts, minds, bodies and soul may all be attuned strongly to the Lord, and we may be defended against the assaults of Satan and his allies. May God bless us all always, and may His blessed Mother, our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, our Lady of Victory always intercede and pray for us sinners. Amen.
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.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 1 : 46-47, 48-49, 50-51, 52-53, 54-55
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my Saviour!
He has looked upon His servant in her lowliness, and people forever will call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is His Name!
From age to age His mercy extends to those who live in His presence. He has acted with power and done wonders, and scattered the proud with their plans.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up those who are downtrodden. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.
He held out His hand to Israel, His servant, for He remembered His mercy, even as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 1 : 12-14
Then the disciples of Jesus returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olives, which is a fifteen minute walk away. On entering the city they went to the room upstairs where they were staying.
Present there were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alpheus; Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James. All of these together gave themselves to constant prayer. With them were some women and also Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.
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