Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 115 : 12-13, 15-16bc, 17-18
How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the Name of the Lord.
It is painful to the Lord to see the death of His faithful. Truly I am Your servant, Your handmaid’s son. You have freed me from my bonds.
I will offer a thanksgiving sacrifice; I will call on the Name of the Lord. I will carry out my vows to the Lord in the presence of His people.
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 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 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.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this Holy Mass we celebrate the occasion of the Chrism Mass, during which the holy oils used for baptism, confirmation, and the anointing of the sick are blessed. This oil is called chrism, and is the reason why this Mass is called Chrismal Mass.
On this occasion, priests and those who dedicated themselves to God in holy orders renew their vows and devotions to God, and united with the bishop, the shepherd, renew their commitment to the service of God and to the service of His people.
They have been called to be the holy priests of God, the ministers of the Lord Most High as the anointed and ordained ones of God. Through the laying of the hand and the anointing with the holy oils blessed today, the priests share in the same ministry as the priests of Israel of old, and also ultimately in the High Priesthood of Jesus.
Through the ministry of the priests, the ministry of Jesus in this world is continued, just as the Apostles had been charged to carry on the works of Christ and spread the Good News to all the ends of the earth. Hence, the bishops, priests and other servants of the Lord also continue this good work of the Lord.
Much had been entrusted to the servants of the Lord and much had been granted to them. The same that had been given to Christ as the Saviour and Redeemer indeed, as written in the Book of the prophet Isaiah. The authority to forgive sins and to heal the sick and their infirmities, and the authority over spirits has been given to them and they are empowered to be the shepherds of God’s peoples.
But remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we too have been anointed with oil of the chrism on the day of our baptism, and also after we have been confirmed in the faith through the Sacrament of Confirmation. Therefore, we too take part in and share in the same mission that God had appointed His disciples for, to bring renewal and the light of Christ to all mankind.
Brethren, today therefore, as we celebrate the blessing of the chrism, we have to remember that we too have our calling and our mission entrusted by God to us, that is to help guide one another and reach out to those who are lost and away from the salvation in God. This is our mission, which had been given to us since the day of our baptism, when God claimed us as His own.
We do not have to do great things in order to fulfill this mission. What we have to do is simple steps, and things that we can indeed make a difference of, in the life of those around us. Who are these if not for our own families and friends, and all those dear and known to us? Our mission is to bring them to the light of God if they have wandered off into the darkness.
Hence, in order to do that, we have to first be aware of our actions and our deeds, that in whatever we do, we will always do the will of God and remain always in His grace. May the Lord guide us and our acts, that we will be ever faithful and committed to God. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 4 : 16-21
When Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, as He usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed Him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
Jesus then unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written : “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. He has anointed Me to bring Good News to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed and to announce the Lord’s year of mercy.”
Jesus then rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Then He said to them, “Today these prophetic words come true, even as you listen.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Revelations 1 : 5-8
And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has washed away our sins with His own blood, making us a kingdom and priests for God His Father, to Him be the glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
See He comes with the clouds and everyone will see Him, even those who pierced Him; on His account all the nations of the earth will beat His breast. Yes, it will be so.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, He who is, who was and who is to come : the Master of the universe.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 88 : 21-22, 25 and 27
I have found David My servant, and with My holy oil I have anointed him. My hand will be ever with him and My arm will sustain him, no enemy shall outwit him nor the wicked oppress him.
My faithfulness and love will be with him, and by My help he will be strong. He will call on Me, “You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 61 : 1-3a, 6a, 8b-9
The Spirit of the Lord YHVH is upon Me, because YHVH has anointed Me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up broken hearts, to proclaim liberty to the captives, freedom to those languishing in prison; to announce the year of YHVH’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God; to give comfort to all who grieve; to comfort those who mourn in Zion and give them a garland instead of ashes.
But you will be named priests of YHVH, you will be called ministers of our God. YHVH will give them their due reward and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants shall be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a race YHVH has blessed.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Brothers and sisters in Christ, God established His first covenant with our father in faith, that is Abraham. Yes, Abraham is our father in faith, because even though we may not be descended from him by blood, but we are all his descendants by our same faith, that is in the same God, the very God who had made His contact with Abraham and made him the father of many nations because of his faith and devotion.
Abraham, once known as Abram, was not chosen because of his greatness, his wealth or his power. He was not chosen because of his abilities or talents, nor because of the number of his sheep, as shepherds with many sheep were indeed very great in his time. No, Abram was chosen not because of all of these. He was chosen because of one singular but very important reason, that is his faith and his actions that were based strongly on that faith.
Abram was faithful, and he was righteous in all of his actions. He lived closely to God’s will and followed the way of the Lord all of his life. He believed in God and he trusted completely in Him, even to the point of giving up his own long promised son, Isaac, to be sacrificed at Moria, when God supposedly asked him to do so. God tested his faith in that moment, and Abram followed through with complete faith and trust in God.
He obeyed God and he believed. And that was how he became renowned and great among many and among the nations. God made true the covenant that He had established with him, and from him came forth many nations and many peoples, uncounted and numerous indeed like the sands on the seashore as God had promised Abram, who later then known as Abraham, the one whom God was pleased with.
God fulfilled the promise He had made with His people, to Jacob that he would be great and a nation would come forth from him, Israel, the chosen people of God, from whom the descendants came the people discussed in today’s Gospel, and Jesus Christ Himself. God also fulfilled the promise He had established to Israel, that He would bring them to freedom and live in happiness in the Promised Land of milk and honey.
God also fulfilled the promises He had made with David, His faithful servant. He promised that his descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel and rule over God’s people forever. Yet, just as in the case of the covenant God established with Jacob and Abraham, it was God’s people who disobeyed the Lord and broke their part of the covenant, by abandoning God and worshipping pagan idols, and committing practices wicked in the sight of God.
The people of Israel and even the kings, among the descendants of David were disobedient, and as soon as the messengers sent by God to remind them of God’s love and promise were gone, they were quick to return to their old, debauched and wicked lifestyle. That was why God gave them to the hands of their enemies, and they were scattered, not to punish them per se, but rather to remind them yet again that without God, they are nothing.
But brethren, does that mean God also forsook His covenant with Israel? No. In fact God remained faithful to the covenants and promises that He had made. Covenant is the greatest form of promise compared to other forms of promises, and it was we and our ancestors who broke the covenant we have with God. God was always faithful and He never gave up on us, unless we ourselves gave Him up for other idols.
And God showed His commitment and love for us, through the ultimate gift that He gave to us, namely the gift of Jesus, His own Son. Through Jesus, God showed yet again, and in finality, the perfect love He has for all of us, and the total commitment He has to the covenants He had made. He fulfilled the promise He made with Abraham, Jacob and David through Jesus, the son of David who is seated at the throne of God and rules for eternity as the King of all kings.
And through Jesus, God made a new covenant, the last and greatest of them all, with us, renewing the promise He had made with mankind of many generations. And this new covenant is sealed by God with none other than by His own Precious Blood, poured out by the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus, who died for us. He died so that we may live, and such is His love for us, indeed!
Yes, brethren, that is how faithful God is to us, and how loving He is towards us. He had proven again and again His dedication and yet we always spurn His love. The people rejected Him because they preferred the devil and his pleasures rather than the true love offered by the Lord through Jesus.
Shall we then follow their examples? Or shall we remain true to the Lord? Let us no longer be rebellious and ignorant of God’s love, but instead embrace His love to the fullest and prove that we can hold our part of the new covenant He had established. May the Lord see in us the love and hope that is still in us, that He may forgive us our trespasses and bring us once again closer to Him. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
John 8 : 51-59
Truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never experience death.” The Jews replied, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets as well, but You say, ‘Whoever keeps My word will never experience death.’ Who do You claim to be? Do You claim to be greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets also died.”
Then Jesus said, “If I were to praise Myself, it would count for nothing. But He who gives glory to Me is the Father, the very One you claim as your God, although you do not know Him. I know Him, and if I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I know Him and I keep His word.”
“As for Abraham, your ancestor, he looked forward to the day when I would come; and he rejoiced when he saw it.” The Jews then said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old and You have seen Abraham?” And Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
They then picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and left the Temple.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 104 : 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
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.
He remembers His covenant forever, His promise to a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the promise He swore to Isaac.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 