seder meal

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Thursday, 29 March 2018 : Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Thursday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Exodus 12 : 1-8, 11-14

YHVH spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt and said, “This month is to be the beginning of all months, the first month of your year. Speak to the community of Israel and say to them : On the tenth day of this month let each family take a lamb, a lamb for each house. If the family is too small for a lamb, they must join with a neighbour, the nearest to the house, according to the number of persons, and to what each one can eat.”

“You will select a perfect lamb without blemish, a male born during the present year, taken from the sheep or goats. Then you will keep it until the fourteenth day of the month. On that evening all the people will slaughter their lambs and take some of the blood to put on the doorposts and on top of the doorframes of the houses where you eat. That night you will eat the flesh roasted at the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.”

“And this is how you will eat : with a belt round your waist, sandals on your feet and a staff in your hand. You shall eat hastily for it is a Passover in honour of YHVH. On that night I shall go through Egypt and strike every firstborn in Egypt, men and animals; and I will even bring judgment on all of the gods of Egypt, I, YHVH! The blood on your houses will be the sign that you are there. I will see the blood and pass over you; and you will escape the mortal plague when I strike Egypt.”

“This is a day you are to remember and celebrate in honour of YHVH. It is to be kept as a festival day for all generations forever.”

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Tuesday, 15 April 2014 : Tuesday of Holy Week (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 13 : 21-33, 36-38

After saying this, Jesus was distressed in Spirit, and said plainly, “Truly, one of you will betray Me.”

The disciples then looked at one another, wondering whom He meant. One of the disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining near Jesus; so Simon Peter signalled him to ask Jesus whom He meant.

And the disciple, who was reclining near Jesus, asked Him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “I shall dip a piece of bread in the dish, and he to whom I give it, is the one.”

So Jesus dipped the bread and gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And as Judas took the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus then said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.”

None of the others, reclining at the table, understood why Jesus said this to Judas. As Judas had the common purse, they may have thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or “Give something to the poor.” Judas left as soon as he had eaten the bread. It was night.

When Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. God will glorify Him, and He will glorify Him very soon.”

“My children, I am with you for only a little while; you will look for Me, but as I already told the Jews, so now I tell you : where I am going you cannot come.”

Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but afterwards you will.” Peter said, “Lord, why I cannot follow You now? I am ready to give my life for You.”

“To give your life for Me?” Jesus asked Peter. “Truly I tell you, the cock will not crow, before you have denied Me three times.”

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Friday, 19 July 2013 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the story of salvation, the liberation of the people of Israel from their slavery in Egypt. They had been brought with great power from the yoke of the Pharaohs into the new journey towards their Promised Land. In his stubborn mind and hardened hearts, the Pharaoh refused to let the people of Israel go repeatedly, valuing them greatly as assets for his great Empire, as the builders of his cities and the labour force for many of his projects. In his ambition, pride, and arrogance, he thought that he could do away with the anger of God, but as history told us, he could not.

God smote Egypt hard with plagues of fire, ice, locusts, darkness, and many others, but their lack of repentance made God to deal with them firmly in a last punishment. A punishment originally crafted by the Pharaoh to be aimed to the Israelites, was overturned by the Lord to be aimed at the people of Egypt instead, and not even Pharaoh was spared. That punishment was the death sentence for all the firstborn sons, first intended for the Israelites, but then changed by the Lord to be the firstborn sons of their Egyptian slave masters.

Those who obeyed His will gave a sacrifice of the blood of the lamb, an unblemished lamb, as a sign of their salvation, and God passed over the houses of the faithful, marked by the blood of the lamb, that none of their firstborn sons were killed by the angel of death passing through the land of Egypt at that night of the first Passover. He showed His mercy and love to the people of Israel and gave them His care.

That covenant God had with His people was renewed, in a new salvation, a new liberation. Just as once the Lord had brought His hand to save His people from slavery in Egypt, and freed them from the yoke of the Pharaohs, He made His move once again, to save mankind, and liberate all of them, without exception, from the yoke of Satan, from the slavery of evil and sin.

For that purpose, He sent none other than Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, to be our Saviour. He sent His own Son, to be born of the Virgin Mary, to be a humble man, one of us, to suffer with us, to be with us, and most importantly, to give Himself up for us, as the Lamb of God. Just as the lamb was sacrificed and its blood became the symbol of salvation for the people of Israel, so had the Lamb of God gave His Blood, the Most Precious Blood, freely for our own salvation. His Blood pouring down from the cross cleanses all of us and made us whole once again.

To those who believe and accepts His Blood, the same happened as what had happened at that First Passover. Those who receive the Most Precious gifts of the Lord, that is His own Body and His own Blood, just as the lamb sacrificed at the First Passover had given its body and blood for the people of Israel, will be saved, because, when we receive the Lord in the Eucharist, we take in the Lord Himself through His Body and Blood in the bread and wine transformed, into ourselves, and in us, the Lord will be able to see an unmistakeable mark, mark that we all belong to Him.

The Lord who sees that we belong to the Lord will then ‘pass over’ us, and we are free, free from death and the fate that awaited us, just as the people of Israel had been passed over by the Lord and His angels of death, because we have received the Lord and accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour. We who put our faith and complete trust in the Lord will not taste death but will be given eternal life. But to those who rejected Him and His free offering of Himself, He will show His wrath and anger, and they will face damnation in hell, and because they rejected Him, they too, will then be rejected.

He is the Lord of the Sabbath and the Lord of all laws, and He had rebuked the Pharisees, who had been trapped in their own petty observances of the law, which included the laws made by men, so that they entirely missed the purpose of the Law that God had given the people of Israel. That Law was meant for the people so that they will love God, and give themselves entirely, with all their hearts, with all their soul, and with all their being, to the Lord, the offering of oneself, which the Lord valued much more than the offering of sacrifices of lambs and goats.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us reaffirm our commitment and dedication to the Lord, pouring out to Him our hearts and our sincere love for Him, that He will also bless us with everlasting grace and blessing. Let us follow Him and obey His will always, through both our complete faith in Him, and also through love that we show to our fellow brothers and sisters in this world, particularly those in the greatest need for our help.

Let us not be complacent, brothers and sisters, but use all the opportunities in our power to bring salvation closer to many of those who have yet to manage to listen to the Word of God. Let us be proactive in carrying out our faith, that it will always remain alive and will not be stagnant. Let us reflect life, hope, and love in all the things we say, in all the things we do, and in all our deeds. May God who has liberated us from sin and evil, bring us ever closer into His embrace. Amen.

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Friday, 19 July 2013 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Exodus 11 : 10 – Exodus 12 : 14

Moses and Aaron had worked all these marvels in the presence of Pharaoh, but YHVH had made Pharaoh obstinate and he would not let the people of Israel leave his country.

YHVH spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt and said, “This month is to be the beginning of all months, the first month of your year. Speak to the community of Israel and say to them : On the tenth day of this month let each family take a lamb, a lamb for each house. If the family is too small for a lamb, they must join with a neighbour, the nearest to the house, according to the number of persons and to what each one can eat.”

“You will select a perfect lamb without blemish, a male born during the present year, taken from the sheep or goats. Then you will keep it until the fourteenth day of the month. On that evening all the people will slaughter their lambs and take some of the blood to put on the doorposts and on top of the doorframes of the houses where you eat.”

“That night you will eat the flesh roasted at the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Do not eat the meat lightly cooked or boiled in water but roasted entirely over the fire – the head, the legs, and the inner parts. Do not leave any of it until the morning. If any is left till morning, burn it in the fire.”

“And this is how you will eat : with a belt round your waist, sandals on your feet and a staff in your hand. You shall eat hastily for it is a passover in honour of YHVH. On that night I shall go through Egypt and strike every firstborn in Egypt, men and animals; and I will even bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt, I, YHVH!”

“The blood on your houses will be the sign that you are there. I will see the blood and pass over you; and you will escape the mortal plague when I strike Egypt. This is a day you are to remember and celebrate in honour of YHVH. It is to be kept as a festival day for all generations forever.”