Temple of Jerusalem

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Thursday, 31 March 2016 : First Week of Easter, Thursday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 3 : 11-26

While the healed beggar clung to Peter and John, all the people, struck with astonishment, came running to them in Solomon’s Porch, as it was called. When Peter saw the people, he said to them, “Fellow Israelites, why are you amazed at this? Why do you stare at us as if it was by some power or holiness of our own that we made this man walk?”

“The God of Abraham, of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified His servant Jesus Whom you handed over to death and denied before Pilate, when even Pilate had decided to release Him. You rejected the Holy and Just One, and you insisted that a murderer be released to you. You killed the Master of life, but God raised Him from the dead and we are witnesses to this.”

“It is His Name, and faith in His Name, that has healed this man whom you see and recognise. The faith that comes through Jesus has given him wholeness in the presence of all of you. Yet I know that you acted out of ignorance, as did your leaders. God has fulfilled in this way what He had foretold through all the prophets, that His Messiah would suffer.”

“Repent, then, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out and the time of refreshment may come by the mercy of God, when He sends the Messiah appointed for you, Jesus. For He must remain in heaven until the time of the universal restoration which God spoke of long ago through His holy prophets.”

“Moses foretold this when he said : The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people; you shall listen to Him in all that He says to you. Whoever does not listen to that Prophet is to be cut off from among his people.”

“In fact, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel onward, have announced the events of these days. You are the children of the prophets and heirs of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors when He said to Abraham : All the families of the earth will be blessed through your descendant. It is to you first that God sends His servant; He raised Him to life to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

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Wednesday, 30 March 2016 : First Week of Easter, Wednesday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 3 : 1-10

Once when Peter and John were going up to the Temple at three in the afternoon, the hour for prayer, a man crippled from birth was being carried in. Every day they would bring him and put him at the Temple gate called “Beautiful”; there he begged from those who entered the Temple.

When he saw Peter and John on their way into the Temple, he asked for alms. Then Peter with John at his side looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.” So he looked at them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have I give you : In the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, walk!”

Then he took the beggar by his right hand and helped him up. At once his feet and ankles became firm, and jumping up he stood on his feet and began to walk. And he went with them into the Temple walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God; they recognised him as the one who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were all astonished and amazed at what had happened to him.

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Tuesday, 9 February 2016 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Kings 8 : 22-23, 27-30

Then Solomon stood before the altar of YHVH in the presence of all the assembly of Israel. He raised his hands towards heaven and said, “O YHVH, God of Israel, there is no god like You either in heaven or on earth! You keep Your covenant and show loving kindness to Your servants who walk before You wholeheartedly.”

“But will God really live among people on earth? If neither heavens nor the highest heavens can contain You, how much less can this House which I have built! Yet, listen to the prayer and supplication of Your servant, o YHVH my God; hearken to the cries and pleas which Your servant directs to You this day.”

“Watch over this House of which You have said, ‘My Name shall rest there.’ Hear the prayer of Your servant in this place. Listen to the supplication of Your servant and Your people Israel when they pray in this direction; listen from Your dwelling place in heaven and, on listening, forgive.”

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Monday, 8 February 2016 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jerome Emiliani, and St. Josephine Bakhita, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

1 Kings 8 : 1-7, 9-13

Then Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, as well as the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of YHVH from the city of David, which is Zion.

All the Israelites assembled near king Solomon in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests carried the Ark of YHVH and brought it up together with the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the Tent.

After the priests and Levites had brought them up, king Solomon with the entire congregation of Israel that had assembled before him and were with him before the Ark, sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could neither be counted nor numbered.

Then the priests laid the Ark of the Covenant of YHVH in its place in the inner sanctuary of the House – the Most Holy Place – underneath the wings of the Cherubim. The Cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the Ark, providing a covering above the Ark and its poles.

There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, where YHVH made a Covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, such a cloud filled YHVH’s House that the priests could not continue to minister. Indeed, the glory of YHVH filled His House.

Then Solomon said, “YHVH has said that He would dwell in thick darkness. So the House I have built You will be Your House, a place for You to dwell in forever.”

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Tuesday, 2 February 2016 : Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, World Day for Consecrated Life and Closing of the Year of Consecrated Life (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we celebrate together a great feast in the memory and in honour of our Lord Jesus and His presentation at the Temple of God in Jerusalem, on the eighth day after His birth just as the Law of God had prescribed it, a compulsory matter for all the firstborn sons of Israel, just as Jesus is the Firstborn Son of Mary.

He was presented at the Temple, as a sign to all the peoples, revealed to the nation of Israel and to all others, that the Messiah of the Lord had come into the world. The servant of God, Simeon and the prophetess Anna also ensured that His coming into this world was known, and that His future good works would be known and expected by the people of God.

The expression and actions of the servant of God, Simeon showed us the kind of anxiety, the expectation and the hope that mankind had placed in the awaiting process for the coming of the Messiah. The people of God had expected the coming of God’s Messiah for a long time, and they have long awaited for His coming into the world in order to rescue them from their fated destruction.

And today’s celebration is so significant because of that fact, as the Lord today in truth, He was not just presented and consecrated to God on that day as all the firstborn of Israel were consecrated to God, but in that same way, God also presented His own Son to us, to be our Deliverer and Saviour from all of our troubles, from our fate of encountering and facing destruction in hell.

Do we remember the passage from the Holy Scriptures regarding Abraham and his son, Isaac? The promised son whom God had promised Abraham? That through that son, he would have his descendants to rule over the nations and to have them as many as the stars in the sky and as many as the grains of sand on the seashore? Then, we have to remember about the time when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his own beloved son to Him as a sacrificial offering.

Anyone would have refused to do so, and they would have doubted and complained against God and His seemingly wicked request to sacrifice one’s own son, all the more that, that very son was the one whom God Himself had promised to be the son awaited for a long time by the childless Abraham and Sarah, and through whom God had promised that many nations would be his children.

But Abraham remained faithful and true to the Lord, and despite how sad that must have been for him, he went on and brought his son, Isaac to the mountain of Moria where he would sacrifice him to the Lord as He had wished for. But God was only testing Abraham for his faith, whether he would remain in faith and keep strong in his faith despite that kind of horrendous request, or whether he would sway and leave the Lord behind.

For his faith, God rewarded Abraham greatly, and He fulfilled all the promises which He had made to him, and then, interestingly, it was in the same way as Abraham had acted, that God Himself through His action made all of His promises to all mankind fulfilled in all of its perfection. It was through Jesus His Son, that God made everything whole once again.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as Abraham did not hold back his own son from God, neither did God hold back His own Son, His own Precious Word, from us, as He gave Jesus, to be our Deliverer, our Saviour and our Hope, through none else but another sacrifice, the ultimate sacrifice of God Who loves all of His people, His beloved children, that He willingly offered Himself as the perfect and loving sacrifice on the altar of the cross.

This is the joy of the nations that the prophet and servant of God Simeon had foretold as how it would happen to the people of Israel and for the rest of the world. It was through the hard work and the toils and labours of our Lord Himself, that through His hard effort, that we all mankind, who have been scattered in the darkness by our sins, would be gathered together again and receive God’s blessings and grace.

Thus, today, as we commemorate this great feast of the Presentation of our Lord, just as we receive God’s rich and wonderful offering of His own Son, to be our Lord, Saviour, Redeemer and Hope, then let us all dedicate ourselves to Him all the more, commit ourselves to Him in love and in all of our actions and deeds, so that in everything that we do and say, we may always bring glory to Him, and help to gather more of our scattered brethren unto Him.

Let us also pray for all of those who have dedicated their whole lives to God, our religious brothers and sisters, and even more those who have committed themselves to the sacred priesthood and the episcopate, dedicating and committing their whole lives to serve the people of God. Let us pray that God will keep them faithful and dedicated in their service. And may God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Tuesday, 2 February 2016 : Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, World Day for Consecrated Life and Closing of the Year of Consecrated Life (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 22-40

At that time, when the day came for the purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought the Baby up to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of the Lord : Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to God. And they offered a sacrifice, as ordered in the Law of the Lord : a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

There lived in Jerusalem at this time a very upright and devout man named Simeon; the Holy Spirit was in him. He looked forward to the time when the Lord would comfort Israel, and he had been assured, by the Holy Spirit, that he would not die before seeing the Messiah of the Lord.

So he was led into the Temple by the Holy Spirit at the time the parents brought the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the Law. Simeon took the Child in his arms, and blessed God, saying, “Now, o Lord, You can dismiss Your servant in peace, for You have fulfilled Your word and my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You display for all the people to see. Here is the light You will reveal to the nations, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

His father and mother wondered at what was said about the Child. Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, His mother, “Know this : your Son is a sign, a sign established for the falling and rising of many in Israel, a sign of contradiction; and a sword will pierce your own soul, so that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”

There was also a prophetess named Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. After leaving her father’s home, she had been seven years with her husband, and since then she had been continually about the Temple, serving God as a widow night and day in fasting and prayer. She was now eighty-four.

Coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, and spoke of the Child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem. When the parents had fulfilled all that was required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to their town, Nazareth in Galilee. There the Child grew in stature and strength, and was filled with wisdom : the grace of God was upon Him.

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Luke 2 : 22-32

At that time, when the day came for the purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought the Baby up to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of the Lord : Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to God. And they offered a sacrifice, as ordered in the Law of the Lord : a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

There lived in Jerusalem at this time a very upright and devout man named Simeon; the Holy Spirit was in him. He looked forward to the time when the Lord would comfort Israel, and he had been assured, by the Holy Spirit, that he would not die before seeing the Messiah of the Lord.

So he was led into the Temple by the Holy Spirit at the time the parents brought the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the Law. Simeon took the Child in his arms, and blessed God, saying, “Now, o Lord, You can dismiss Your servant in peace, for You have fulfilled Your word and my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You display for all the people to see. Here is the light You will reveal to the nations, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

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Tuesday, 2 February 2016 : Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, World Day for Consecrated Life and Closing of the Year of Consecrated Life (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 23 : 7, 8, 9, 10

Lift up, o gateways, your lintels, open up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may enter!

Who is the King of glory? The Lord, the Strong, the Mighty, the Lord, valiant in battle.

Lift up your lintels, o gateways, open up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may enter!

Who is the King of glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of glory!

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Tuesday, 2 February 2016 : Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, World Day for Consecrated Life and Closing of the Year of Consecrated Life (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Malachi 3 : 1-4

Now I am sending My messenger ahead of Me to clear the way; then suddenly the Lord for Whom you long will enter the sanctuary. The envoy of the covenant which you so greatly desire already comes, says YHVH of hosts. Who can bear the day of His coming and remain standing when He appears? For He will be like fire in the foundry and like the lye used for bleaching.

He will be as a refiner of a fuller, He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. So YHVH will have priests who will present the offering as it should be. Then YHVH will accept with pleasure the offering of Judah and Jerusalem, as in former days.

Alternative reading

Hebrews 2 : 14-18

And because all those children share one same nature of flesh and blood, Jesus likewise had to share this nature. This is why His death destroyed the one holding the power of death, that is the devil, and freed those who remained in bondage all their lifetime because of the fear of death.

Jesus came to take by the hand not the angels but the human race. So He had to be like His brothers and sisters in every respect, in order to be the High Priest faithful to God and merciful to them, a Priest able to ask pardon and atone for their sins. Having been tested through suffering, He is able to help those who are tested.

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Wednesday, 27 January 2016 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

2 Samuel 7 : 4-17

But that very night, YHVH’s word came to Nathan, “Go and tell My servant David, this is what YHVH says : ‘Are you able to build a house for Me to live in? I have not dwelt in a house since I brought the Israelites up from Egypt to the present day, but I went about with a tent for a shelter.'”

“‘As long as I walked with the Israelites, did I say anything to the chiefs of Israel whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel? Did I say : Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” Now you will tell My servant David, this is what YHVH of hosts says : ‘I took you from the pasture, from tending the sheep, to make you commander of My people Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, cutting down all your enemies before you.'”

“‘Now I will make your name great as the name of the great ones on earth. I will provide a place for My people Israel and plant them that they may live there in peace. They shall no longer be harassed, nor shall wicked men oppressed them as before. From the time when I appointed judges over My people Israel if is only to you that I have given rest from all your enemies. YHVH also tells you that He will build you a house.'”

“‘When the time comes for you to rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your son after you, the one born of you and I will make his reign secure. He shall build a house for My Name and I will firmly establish his kingship forever. I will be a Father to him and he shall be My son.'”

“‘If he does wrong, I will punish him with the rod, as men do. But I will not withdraw My kindness from him as I did with Saul when I removed him out of your way. Your house and your reign shall last forever before Me, and your throne shall be forever firm.'”

Nathan repeated these words and related this vision to David.

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Sunday, 27 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 41-52

Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, as was customary. And when Jesus was twelve years old, He went up with them, according to the custom of this feast. After the festival was over, they returned, but the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents did not know it.

They thought He was in the company, and after walking the whole day they looked for Him among their relatives and friends. As they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem searching for Him, and on third day they found Him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. And all the people were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

His parents were very surprised when they saw Him, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Your father and I were very worried while searching for You.” Then He said to them, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s House?” But they did not understand this answer.

Jesus went down with them, returning to Nazareth, and He continued to be subject to them. As for His mother, she kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and age, and in divine and human favour.