Pope St. John XXIII

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(Usus Antiquior) Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 15 March 2015 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Offertory

Psalm 134 : 3, 6

Laudate Dominum, quia benignus est : psallite Nomini Ejus, quoniam suavis est : omnia, quaecumque voluit, fecit in caelo et in terra.


English translation

Praise the Lord, all of you, for He is good. Sing all of you to His Name, for He is sweet. Whatsoever He is pleased with, He had done in heaven and in earth.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Sacrificiis praesentibus, Domine, quaesumus, intende placatus : ut et devotioni nostrae proficiant et saluti. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.


English translation

We beseech You, o Lord, look favourably upon the sacrifices here before You, that they may profit us both for devotion and for salvation. 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 Lent

Vere dignum et justum est, aequum et salutare, nos tibi semper et ubique gratias agere : Domine, Sancte Pater omnipotens, aeterne Deus : Qui corporali jejunio vitia comprimis, mentem elevas, virtutem largiris et praemia : per Christum, Dominum nostrum. Per quem majestatem Tuam laudant Angeli, adorant Dominationes, tremunt Potestates. Caeli caelorumque Virtutes ac beata Seraphim socia exsultatione concelebrant. Cum quibus et nostras voces ut admitti jubeas, deprecamur, supplici confessione dicentes :


English translation

It is truly meet and just, right and profitable, for us, at all times, and in all places, to give thanks to You, o Lord, the Holy One, the Father Almighty, the Everlasting God, who on those who chastise their bodies by fasting had bestowed the restraining of evil passions, uplifting of heart, and the enjoying of virtue with its reward. Through Christ our Lord. Through whom the angels praise, the Dominations adore, the Powers trembling with awe, worship Your majesty. Which the heavens and the forces of heaven, together with the blessed Seraphim, joyfully do magnify. And thus You do command that it may be permitted to our lowliness to join with them in confessing You and unceasingly to repeat :


Communion

Psalm 121 : 3-4

Jerusalem, quae aedificatur ut civitas, cujus participatio ejus in idipsum : illuc enim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini, ad confitendum Nomini Tuo, Domine.


English translation

Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together, for there will the tribes go up to, the tribes of the Lord, to praise Your Name, o Lord.


Post-Communion Prayer

Da nobis, quaesumus, misericors Deus : ut sancta Tua, quibus incessanter explemur, sinceris tractemus obsequiis, et fideli semper mente sumamus. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.


English translation

Grant us, we beseech You, o merciful God, that we may treat with unfeigned veneration and ever receive with heartfelt faith Your holy rites which we constantly celebrate. 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.

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(Usus Antiquior) Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 15 March 2015 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Joannem – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. John

John 6 : 1-15

In illo tempore : Abiit Jesus trans mare Galilaeae, quod est Tiberiadis : et sequebatur eum multitudo magna, quia videbant signa, quae faciebat super his, qui infirmabantur. Subiit ergo in montem Jesus : et ibi sedebat cum discipulis suis.

Erat autem proximum Pascha, dies festus Judaeorum. Cum sublevasset ergo oculos Jesus et vidisset, quia multitudo maxima venit ad eum, dixit ad Philippum : Unde ememus panes, ut manducent hi? Hoc autem dicebat tentans eum : ipse enim sciebat, quid esset facturus.

Respondit ei Philippus : Ducentorum denariorum panes non sufficiunt eis, ut unusquisque modicum quid accipiat. Dicit ei unus ex discipulis ejus, Andreas, frater Simonis Petri : Est puer unus hic, qui habet quinque panes hordeaceos et duos pisces : sed haec quid sunt inter tantos?

Dixit ergo Jesus : Facite homines discumbere. Erat autem faenum multum in loco. Discubuerunt ergo viri, numero quasi quinque milia. Accepit ergo Jesus panes, et cum gratias egisset, distribuit discumbentibus : similiter et ex piscibus, quantum volebant.

Ut autem impleti sunt, dixit discipulis suis : Colligite quae superaverunt fragmenta, ne pereant. Collegerunt ergo, et impleverunt duodecim cophinos fragmentorum ex quinque panibus hordeaceis, quae superfuerunt his, qui manducaverant. Illi ergo homines cum vidissent, quod Jesus fecerat signum, dicebant : Quia hic est vere Propheta, qui venturus est in mundum.

Jesus ergo cum cognovisset, quia venturi essent, ut raperent eum et facerent eum regem, fugit iterum in montem ipse solus.


English translation

At that time, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is that of Tiberias, and a great multitude followed Him, because they saw the miracles which He did on those who were diseased. Jesus therefore went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

Now the Pascha, the festival day of the Jews was near at hand. When Jesus therefore had lifted up His eyes, and seen that a very great multitude came to Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread that all these may eat?” And this He had said to try him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

Philip answered, “Two hundred denarius worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that everyone may take a little of them.” One of His disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter said to Him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fishes, but what are these among so many?”

Then Jesus said, “Make the men sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. The men therefore sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed to them who were put to sit down. In like manner, He also distributed the fishes, as much as they would eat.

And when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, lest that they are lost.” Therefore, they gathered up the leftovers and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above to those who had eaten. Now those men, when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Therefore Jesus, when He knew that they would come to take Him by force and make Him king, fled again into the mountain by Himself alone.

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(Usus Antiquior) Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 15 March 2015 : Gradual and Tract

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Gradual

Psalm 121 : 1, 7

Laetatus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi : in domum Domini ibimus.

Response : Fiat pax in virtute Tua : et abundantia in turribus Tuis.


English translation

I rejoiced at the things that were said to me : “We shall go into the house of the Lord.”

Response : Let peace be in Your strength, and abundance in Your towers.


Tract

Psalm 124 : 1-2

Qui confidunt in Domino, sicut mons Sion : non commovebitur in aeternum, qui habitat in Jerusalem.

Response : Montes in circuitu ejus et Dominus in circuitu populi sui, ex hoc nunc et usque in saeculum.


English translation

Those who trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion. He shall not be moved forever, those who dwells in Jerusalem.

Response : Mountains are round about it, so that the Lord is also round about His people, from henceforth, now and forever.

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(Usus Antiquior) Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 15 March 2015 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : Violet

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

Galatians 4 : 22-31

Fratres : Scriptum est : Quoniam Abraham duos filios habuit : unum de ancilla, et unum de libera. Sed qui de ancilla, secundum carnem natus est: qui autem de libera, per repromissionem : quae sunt per allegoriam dicta.

Haec enim sunt duo testamenta. Unum quidem in monte Sina, in servitutem generans : quae est Agar : Sina enim mons est in Arabia, qui conjunctus est ei, quae nunc est Jerusalem, et servit cum filiis suis. Illa autem, quae sursum est Jerusalem, libera est, quae est mater nostra.

Scriptum est enim : Laetare, sterilis, quae non paris : erumpe, et clama, quae non parturis : quia multi filii desertae, magis quam ejus, quae habet virum. Nos autem, fratres, secundum Isaac promissionis filii sumus. Sed quomodo tunc is, qui secundum carnem natus fuerat, persequebatur eum, qui secundum spiritum : ita et nunc.

Sed quid dicit Scriptura? Ejice ancillam et filium ejus : non enim heres erit filius ancillae cum filio liberae. Itaque, fratres, non sumus ancillae filii, sed liberae : qua libertate Christus non liberavit.


English translation

Brethren, it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman, and another by a free woman. But he who was born of the slave woman was born according to the flesh, and he who was born of the free woman was born by promise. These things are said by an allegory.

For these are the two testaments, the one from Mount Sinai, engendering unto bondage, who is Hagar, for Sinai is a mountain in Arabia, which had affinity to that of Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, which is our mother.

For it is written, “Rejoice, you who were barren who could not bear child, break forth and cry, you who do not travail, for many are the children of the desolate, more than that of she who has a husband.” Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then he who was born according to the flesh persecuted he who was after the spirit, so it is also now.

But what does the Scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not be the heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not the children of the slave woman, but of the free. By the freedom with which Christ had made us free.

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(Usus Antiquior) Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (I Classis) – Sunday, 15 March 2015 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Introit

Isaiah 66 : 10, 11 and Psalm 121 : 1

Laetare, Jerusalem : et conventum facite, omnes qui diligitis eam : gaudete cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis : ut exsultetis, et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae.

Laetatus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi : in domum Domini ibimus.

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


English translation

Rejoice, o Jerusalem, and come together all you who love her, rejoice with joy, you who have been in sorrow, that you may exult and be filled from the breasts of your consolation.

I rejoiced at the things that were said to me, “We shall go into the house of the Lord.”

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

Concede, quaesumus, omnipotens Deus : ut, qui ex merito nostrae actionis affligimur, Tuae gratiae consolatione respiremus. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.


English translation

Grant, we beseech You, o Almighty God, that we, who justly suffer for our deeds, may be relieved by the consolation of Your grace. 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.

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Saturday, 14 March 2015 : 3rd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard of the attitude of the Pharisee versus the tax collector in their respective prayers and interactions with God. The Pharisee was very proud of all his achievements and piety, and he looked down on the supposedly very sinful tax collector, who on the other hand, so humbled himself before God that he did not even dare to look up to Him.

At that time, being a tax collector is considered to be a great sin and a great dishonour and stain on the person’s character, much as the prostitutes and lepers were also reviled. They were seen as traitors to their fellow countrymen and considered as servants and slaves of the Roman overlords, which at that time ruled Judea where the descendants of Israel lived.

On the other hand, being a Pharisee endowed the person with great prestige and honour, and they were greatly respected if not feared by the society, for they wielded influential positions of power both in state and in terms of the religious leadership at the time. They were the ones who strictly observed the commandments and the entirety of the religious laws crafted since the days of Moses.

They were supposed to be the guardians and the shepherds of the people of God in order to lead them to the right paths. But they themselves did not act righteously before the Lord and committed all forms of wickedness and vices, and thus were not good examples for the faithful people of God. They misled the people to also disobey God’s will and they thought they were righteous while they were actually not.

They missed the point of God’s repeated efforts to call them and turn them back to the path of righteousness. They were unable to comprehend that what God wanted from them was not external obedience and show of faith, but instead true devotion and love which comes from the heart. That was what the tax collector had shown but not the Pharisee. The tax collector truly loved the Lord and because of that he was ashamed of the sins which he had committed, while the Pharisee loved and cared only about himself.

At the end of the day, the one who will be judged good and righteous will be the tax collector who was humble for his sinfulness. He recognised his faults and sins, and he repented from all of them, committing himself to change his ways and do good from then on. Meanwhile, the Pharisee continued in his own ways, and he in his pride certainly would not come to realise the extent of his own sins. He was blinded to his own sin by his pride and arrogance.

He will be cast down in his pride and brought down low. Pride is often the undoing of many of us, as pride and arrogance prevent us from recognising our faults. In the end, we enter a state of denial, where we refuse to recognise that we have sinned. And when we do so, we are often desensitised from our sins, and end up committing even more sin. We no longer feel the shame and guilt from sin.

This season of Lent, we are all called to conversion and change. We should all change our ways so that while once we were sinners and adulterers, we can change all into worthy children and followers of our Lord, justified and blessed with much grace. Shall we all take heed of this and be changed, in all of our actions and deeds? It is an opportunity which had been given to us, and we should not waste it.

May Almighty God therefore give us a heart filled with humility and love for Him, and also for us to be able to love our fellow men. May He guide us on our path and help us to reach our destination, that is His everlasting glory and happiness in Him. Be like the tax collector who humbled himself and was forgiven so that our sins removed from us, we may truly shine as the children of the Light and be glorified. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 14 March 2015 : 3rd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 18 : 9-14

At that time, Jesus told another parable to some people, fully convinced of their own righteousness, who looked down on others : “Two men went up to the Temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector.”

“The Pharisee stood by himself, and said, ‘I thank You, God, that I am not like other people, grasping, crooked, adulterous, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and give the tenth of all my income to the Temple.'”

“In the meantime, the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.'”

“I tell you, when this man went back to his house, he had been reconciled with God, but not the other. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised up.”

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Saturday, 14 March 2015 : 3rd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 18-19, 20-21

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

You take no pleasure in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, You would not delight in it. O God, my sacrifice is a broken spirit; a contrite heart You will not despise.

Shower Zion with Your favour : rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then You will delight in fitting sacrifices, in burnt offerings and bulls offered on Your altar.

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Saturday, 14 March 2015 : 3rd Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Hosea 5 : 15 – Hosea 6 : 6

YHVH said, “Then I will go away and return to My place until they admit their guilt and come back to Me, for in their anguish they will earnestly seek Me.”

Come, let us return to YHVH. He who shattered us to pieces, will heal us as well; He has struck us down, but He will bind up our wounds. Two days later He will bring us back to life; on the third day, He will raise us up, and we shall live in His presence.

Let us strive to know YHVH. His coming is as certain as the dawn; His judgment will burst forth like the light; He will come to us as showers come, like spring rain that waters the earth.

YHVH said, “O Ephraim, what shall I do with you? O Judah, how shall I deal with you? This love of yours is like morning mist, like morning dew that quickly disappears. This is why I smote you through the prophets, and have slain you by the words of My mouth. For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice; it is knowledge of God, not burnt offerings.”

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Friday, 13 March 2015 : 3rd Week of Lent, 2nd Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis, Vicar of Christ and Supreme Pontiff (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the Law of God, and what the Law is according to the explanations of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Law and Commandments of God may seem to be complex and numerous, the chief of which are the Ten Commandments, but these ten can indeed be summarised as what Jesus had said, that they are about love. The love which we mankind ought to first show and devote to our Lord and God, and finally the same love which we ought to show to our brethren, our fellow men.

God does not want it to be difficult for us, and He does not need us to offer Him many things, sacrifices and oblations and many other things, for if all these are given to Him and yet the most important of all is forgotten, then it is truly meaningless. What He really wants from us is our love and dedication, that is our undivided attention and dedication, that we are truly devoted and faithful to Him, without being half-corrupted and taken in by the world’s pleasures and temptations.

The words of Jesus make even more sense if we look at them in the context of what had happened up to the time of Jesus itself. The people of God had not been faithful to the commandments repeatedly and frequently since the institution of the Law. They have erred in their way of life and they also refused to listen to the reminders which God had sent to them through the prophets.

And in time, not only that they committed all the sins and wickedness before God and men, but they even also subverted and changed the understanding of the Law, to suit their own purposes and selfishness. And these were the hypocrites, who claimed that they served God and their fellow people, but in reality, they served only themselves and their ego.

The Law became a means to subdue and suppress the people, and it became for many the source of difficulty and hardships, not because that is what the Lord wanted, but rather because the wicked had misused that Law for their own gain, namely to advance their own position and prestige in the society and to marginalise all of those whom they did not approve.

They thought of God as a distant and wrathful God, whom they thought that He could be appeased by sacrifices and external applications of the Law, and they thought that He would not look at what they had committed in their lives. But they understood wrongly, for God saw what they had done, in misleading the people of God into sin, and in their own ignorance and obstinate heart against the true meaning of the Law, which is love.

That was why, God finally revealed the fullness of His truth and love through Jesus, who came to fulfill the Law and the words of the prophets to the fullest and most perfect completion in Him. He came to show and embody the entirety of the Law to its fullest. He is perfectly and completely faithful to His Father in heaven, obeying the will of God the Father to the fullest and to the smallest details.

And even when in His humanity He was tempted to abandon the mission which He was sent for, He continued on, suffered and died for us, and through His obedience He obtained for us the grace of God’s forgiveness and eternal life. He obeyed His parents, and loved especially His mother Mary, who had given birth to Him and listened to her words. He cared for all of us, and He often showed compassion, mercy and pity to His beloved people, caring for them, healing them and feeding them until satisfied.

This is the kind of love which God wants to show us and teach us. He wants us to replicate the same love which Christ had shown us, the love of God, which should also become our love too. If we truly obey the commandments of God, we will not walk the same path as the hypocrites, who did not understand God’s intention and His love and who were too busy with their own ego and desires.

Let us make this Lent meaningful, brothers and sisters, that we all should practice our faith, all that we believe in, by loving one another with all of our strength, letting go of all the pride, the ego, the desire and greed and many other things that have prevented us from showing love, either to God or to our fellow men. May we grow ever more in love, and may we be able to show that love ever more genuinely and care for one another, giving the best from us to our God, that is our complete love and dedication. God bless us all. Amen.