Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 104 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Sing to Him, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds. Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.
You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 113B : 3-4, 5-6, 7ab-8, 9-10
There in heaven is our God; whatever He wishes, He does. Not so the hand-made idols, crafted in silver and gold.
They have mouths that cannot speak, eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, noses that cannot smell.
They have hands but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk. Their makers will be like them, so will all who trust in them.
O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is your help and your shield! You, family of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is your help and your shield!
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 144 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
I will praise You day after day and exalt Your Name forever. Great is the Lord, most worthy of praise; and His deeds are beyond measure.
Parents commend Your works to their children and tell them Your feats. They proclaim the splendour of Your majesty and recall Your wondrous works.
People will proclaim Your mighty deeds, and I will declare Your greatness. They will celebrate Your abundant kindness, and rejoice in singing of Your justice.
Compassionate and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in love. The Lord is good to everyone; His mercy embraces all His creation.
Psalm 78 : 9, 10 and Psalm 9 : 5, 10
Propitius esto, Domine, peccatis nostris : ne quando dicant gentes : Ubi est Deus eorum?
Response : Adjuva nos, Deus, salutaris noster : et propter honorem Nominis Tui, Domine, libera nos.
Alleluja, Alleluja.
Response : Deus, qui sedes super thronum, et judicas aequitatem : esto refugium pauperum in tribulatione. Alleluja.
English translation
Forgive us our sins, o Lord, lest the gentiles should at any time say, ‘Where is their God?’
Response : Help us, o God our Saviour; and for the honour of Your Name, o Lord, deliver us.
Alleluia, Alleluia.
Response : O God, who sits upon the throne, and judge of justice, may You be the refuge of the poor in tribulation. Alleluia.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Amos 8 : 4-6, 9-12
Hear this, you who trample on the needy to do away with the weak of the land. You who say, “When will the new moon or the sabbath feast be over that we may open the store and sell our grain? Let us lower the measure and raise the price; let us cheat and tamper with the scales, and even sell the refuse with the whole grain. We will buy up the poor for money and the needy for a pair of sandals.”
YHVH says, “On that day I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. I will turn your festivals into mourning and all your singing into wailing. Everyone will mourn, covered with sackcloth and every head will be shaved. I will make them mourn as for an only son and bring their day to a bitter end.”
YHVH says, “Days are coming when I will send famine upon the land, not hunger for bread or thirst for water, but for hearing the word of YHVH. Men will stagger from sea to sea, wander to and fro, from north to east, searching for the word of YHVH, but they will not find it.”
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 116 : 1, 2
Alleluia! Praise the Lord, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him.
How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear how God indeed is the source of all things, and the focal point of all creations. For it is God who should be the font of all knowledge and all things, to be the One whom we anchor ourselves to. The well-known story of the disciples who feared the great storm and then the Lord Jesus who calmed the storm with His authority, tells us clearly that in the Lord there is nothing to be feared, for God has control over everything.
Jesus rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith, chiding them with the words, ‘You of little faith!’ because they did not put their faith in the power of God, but instead in the power of men, which is fallible and weak compared to the power and majesty of the Lord. They feared the storm because they did not completely put their trust in Jesus, whom, if they had trusted Him and known Him completely, they would not have feared.
In the first reading today, taken from the book of the prophet Amos, God once again wants to remind us that He is in control of everything, for He is the Lord of all. Everything and every single phenomenon in creation, He knows all of them. And He would reveal His plans and what He desires from His people through the means of the prophets, and ultimately, through His own Son, Jesus Christ.
Those who listened and understood the words of God revealed through the prophets would know that God takes care of our lives, and therefore, there is no need to worry or fear. All we need is faith, and true faith in God. And through Jesus Christ, God revealed all that He had planned for the world and mankind, in all its completeness and fullness. And therefore those who listened and understood what Christ meant in His words, would have no need for fear, because they have everything they would ever need, in Jesus Christ the Lord.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we ourselves should not see this as a problem that existed only in the past, as in fact, the same problems can be applied to our own selves. We cannot be complacent, as the storms of this life are plentiful, and we can be easily overwhelmed by the torrents, the winds and the waves if we do not have a solid anchor and foundation. What is this foundation? None other than Jesus, our Lord and God.
For Christ is the solid Rock from which the whole creation and the entire community of believers and the faithful in the Church hung upon, as He is the One who became our pivot in the storms of this world, to be a light in the great darkness of this world, and to be the One who joins us back to the Father our Lord who loves us all.
There are many storms in this world, the storm of jealousy and desire, the storm of pride and arrogance, and the storm of money and materialism, which if we are not careful, may engulf us and sink us into the deep, if we do not have a stable and strong anchor in the Lord. Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is easy for us to fall into the deep currents of this world, which threaten to pull us away from the Lord and His salvation, and into damnation, if our faith is weak and stumbling.
What do we need to do then? We have to put our complete faith in the Lord and keep our lives in tune with Him, through prayer and through charity and love. In doing all these, we live our lives in accordance to the will of God, and we are ourselves transformed into loving children of our God. May God be with us, and continue to love and care for us, keeping us strong amidst all the storms of life. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 33 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
I will bless the Lord all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.
Oh, let us magnify the Lord, together let us glorify His Name! I sought the Lord, and He answered me; from all my fears He delivered me.
They who look to Him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame. When the poor cry out, the Lord hears and saves them from distress.
The Lord’s angel encamps and patrols to keep safe those who fear Him. Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!
Liturgical Colour : White
Matthew 11 : 25-30
On that occasion Jesus said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise You, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father, this is what pleased You.”
“Everything has been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”
“Come to Me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart and you will find rest. For My yoke is good, and My burden is light.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8 and 10
Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.
He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.
The Lord restores justice and secures the right of the oppressed. He has made known His ways to Moses and His deeds to the people of Israel.
The Lord is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger. He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve.
