Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 68 : 33-35, 36-37
Let the lowly witness this, and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts be revived. For YHVH hears the needy; and does not despise those in captivity. Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and whatever moves in them.
For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. His people shall dwell in the land and possess it; the children of His servants shall inherit it, and those who love His Name will dwell in it.
Liturgical Colour : White
Baruch 4 : 5-12, 27-29
Take courage, my people, you who preserve the memory of Israel. You have been sold to the nations but not for your destruction; because you had aroused the anger of God, you were delivered to your enemies. For you displeased your Creator in sacrificing to demons and not to God. You have forgotten the Eternal God, the One Who nourished you.
You have filled Jerusalem with sadness, she who brought you up. For she saw the anger of God fall on you and she said, “Listen, you neighbouring cities of Zion, God has sent me a great sorrow. I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Eternal One brought on them. I had nurtured them in joy; with tears and sadness I saw them leave. Let no one rejoice on seeing me a widow and abandoned by all. Because of the sins of my children I am now alone, because they have turned away from the Law of God.”
Take courage, my children, cry out to God, for He Who sent you into exile will remember you. Thus, as you distanced yourself from God, return to Him and seek Him ten times more earnestly. For He Who caused these evils to fall on you will bring you salvation and eternal joy.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 78 : 1-2, 3-5, 8, 9
O God, the pagans have invaded Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy Temple and reduced Jerusalem to rubble. They have given Your servants’ corpses to the birds, and the flesh of Your saints, to the beasts of the earth.
They have poured out the blood of Your faithful, like water around Jerusalem, and there was no one to bury them. Mocked and reviled by those around us, we are scorned by our neighbours. How long will this last, o YHVH? Will You be angry forever? Will Your wrath always burn to avenge Your rights?
Do not remember against us the sins of our fathers. Let Your compassion hurry to us, for we have been brought very low.
Help us, God, our Saviour, for the glory of Your Name; forgive us, for the sake of Your Name.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Baruch 1 : 15-22
You will say : May everyone recognise the justice of our God but, on this day, shame and confusion befit the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem – our kings and princes, our priests, our prophets, and our fathers, because we have sinned before the Lord.
We have disobeyed Him and have not listened to the voice of the Lord our God, nor have we followed the commandments which the Lord had put before us. From the day that the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt until this day, we have disobeyed the Lord our God and we have rebelled against Him instead of listening to His voice.
Because of this, from the day on which the Lord brought our ancestors out of the land of Egypt, so as to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the evils and the curse which the Lord pronounced by Moses, His servant, have dogged our footsteps right down to the present day.
We did not listen to the voice of the Lord our God speaking through the words of the prophets whom He sent to us, but each one of us followed his perverted heart, serving false gods and doing what displeases the Lord our God.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, remembering all those faithful and committed servants of God, the Guardian Angels whom God had tasked and committed to us, to protect and to guide us all in our respective paths in life. God has always been concerned with us and our well-being and He does not leave us all alone in our struggles and difficulties in life, especially in our daily struggles against sin and against the spiritual warfare ever always raging around us, the forces of Satan, the evil ones arrayed against us. That is why He sent us all those Angels to stand guard by our side, to provide us the spiritual guidance and support during times of difficulties and troubles.
In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Exodus we heard of the Lord Himself speaking to His chosen people, the people of Israel, whom He had led with His mighty hands and power out of the land of Egypt, delivering them from the hands of their enemies and protecting them throughout their way. The Lord reminded His people through Moses, His servant that He would never leave them alone, and His Angels would always stand by them, protecting them in their time of need, against all the forces arrayed against them. Therefore that is also the same assurance which the Lord gave to all of us as well, His beloved people, those whom He had called and chosen from this world to be His own people like those Israelites in the past.
Essentially this reminds us all that we are never alone in the struggle against sin and evil, no matter how mighty are the forces of those arrayed against us. There are indeed many of those who seek our destruction, but none of these can stand and last against those that the Lord had sent to guard us, the Angels of God, the Guardian Angels that He has given to each and every one of us. Yes, brothers and sisters, each one of us have a Guardian Angel standing by our side, guarding us as mentioned against all those forces of evil. Our Guardian Angel is always there when we are facing difficult choices in life, as the one gently nudging us to stay strong in our faith and trust in the Lord despite the many challenges and trials that we may have to face and endure.
Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples, in which He told the disciples clearly about what it truly means to be His disciples and followers. Just as I have mentioned yesterday in a related Gospel passage about the faith and attitudes of little children who came to the Lord, the disciples of the Lord often quarrelled and debated among themselves about who among them was the greatest among them all and who would be worthy of God’s kingdom and glory. However, as they kept on disagreeing and debating among themselves, they missed the point and the truth about what it truly meant for them to follow the Lord.
They ended up focusing on themselves and their desires, their ambitions and wants, all of which would distract them from truly being able to commit themselves to the Lord. They were so engrossed on their desires for greatness and glory that they forgot the true essence and meaning of following the Lord. For the context, so that we understand better the motivation behind those disciples, we must understand that the general perception and expectation that the people had on the coming of the Messiah, the One Whom God would send to His people in order to save and rescue them from destruction, was that this same Messiah would lead them into glorious triumph against their enemies, and would restore the Kingdom of Israel as how it was during the days of King David and King Solomon.
Hence, many of those disciples might have harboured the ambition of being close to the Lord so that they would receive the bounties and the benefits of being trusted associates and collaborators of the Lord, that when He won those glorious victories and triumphs that they expected, they too would share in this glory and fame, and they would have expected worldly comforts, pleasures and glories, but the reality is that this is not what the Lord intended for those who followed Him. The reality was that those who followed Him would suffer the same challenges, persecutions and trials that He Himself would be suffering from. And that was why He reminded all of them that they should be humble and simple like those little children, whose love and devotion to Him were indeed pure and uncorrupted, untainted by worldly desires.
And that is why all of us should always hold firmly to our faith in the Lord and be more like those little children in our faith and belief in God. We should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by various worldly temptations and desired that can lead us further and further away from God and His path. Let us thank the Lord for having been with us throughout all the struggles and challenges that we have to face in our respective parts and areas in life. Let us thank Him for having blessed us in our works and endeavours, and for having given us reassurances, guidance, help and strength, especially by giving us our Guardian Angels to guide and protect us in our path and journey towards Him.
Let us all therefore thank our Guardian Angels at all times, for having been there for us, even in our darkest and most difficult moments. Let us all pray to our Holy Guardian Angels with the popular prayer, ‘Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love entrusts me here, ever this day and night be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.’ Holy Guardian Angels, pray for us always and be with us at all times, in our journey towards God. Amen.
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.
Liturgical Colour : White
Exodus 23 : 20-23
See, I am sending an Angel before you to keep you safe on the way and bring you to the place I have made ready. Be on your guard in his presence and listen to him; do not resist him for he will not pardon your wrongdoing, for My Name is in him.
If you listen to him and do what I say, I will be the enemy to your enemies and the opponent of your opponents. My Angel will go before you and bring you to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; all these I will destroy.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 131 : 1-3
O YHVH, my heart is not proud nor do I have arrogant eyes. I am not engrossed in ambitious matters, nor in things too great for me.
I have quieted and stilled my soul, like a weaned child, on its mother’s lap; like a contented child is my soul.
Hope in YHVH, o Israel, now and 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 : White
Psalm 86 : 1-3, 4-5, 6-7
He Himself has built in in His holy mountain; YHVH prefers the gates of Zion to all of Jacob’s towns. Great things have been foretold of you, o City of God.
Between friends, we speak of Egypt and Babylon; and also Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia : “Here so-and-so was born.” But of Zion, it shall be said, “More and more are being born in her.” For the Most High Himself has founded her.
And YHVH notes in the people’s register : “All these were also born in Zion.” And all will dance and sing joyfully for You.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 