Monday 26 November 2012
Readings at Mass
First reading
Apocalypse 14:1-5
In my vision I,
John, saw Mount Zion, and standing on it a Lamb who had with him a hundred and
forty-four thousand people, all with his name and his Father’s name written on
their foreheads. I heard a sound coming out of the sky like the sound of the
ocean or the roar of thunder; it seemed to be the sound of harpists playing
their harps. There in front of the throne they were singing a new hymn in the
presence of the four animals and the elders, a hymn that could only be learnt
by the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the world;
they follow the Lamb wherever he goes; they have been redeemed from amongst men
to be the first-fruits for God and for the Lamb. They never allowed a lie to
pass their lips and no fault can be found in them.
The author
wrote the Book of the Apocalypse for the people of his day. He did not write
for future generations, as some think he did. It is pointless to try and
imagine that he wrote for people of hundreds and thousands of years later. In
this passage he is encouraging the Christians of his day that despite
persecution and death, Christ is the victor and he will save them.
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Psalm
Psalm 23:1-6
Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
The Lord’s is
the earth and its fullness,
the world and
all its peoples.
It is he who set
it on the seas;
on the waters he
made it firm.
Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
Who shall climb
the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand
in his holy place?
The man with
clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not
worthless things.
Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
He shall receive
blessings from the Lord
and reward from
the God who saves him.
Such are the men
who seek him,
seek the face of
the God of Jacob.
Such are the men
who seek your face, O Lord.
____________________
Gospel Acclamation
Rv2:10
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Even if you have
to die, says the Lord,
keep faithful,
and I will give you
the crown of
life.
Alleluia!
Or
Mt24:42,44
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Stay awake and
stand ready,
because you do
not know the hour
when the Son of
Man is coming.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
Luke 21:1-4
As Jesus looked
up, he saw rich people putting their offerings into the treasury; then he
happened to notice a poverty-stricken widow putting in two small coins, and he
said, ‘I tell you truly, this poor widow has put in more than any of them; for
these have all contributed money they had over, but she from the little she had
has put in all she had to live on.’
Since everything we see and
everything we have is God’s gift to us out of love, we should live not for ourselves
but for him. As the widow gave her all to God, so should we live only to please
him. Whatever we do, say or think, should be only for him. Jesus himself shows
us the example. He lived in the midst of the world and faced situations similar
to our own. Yet he followed his Father’s will throughout, even at the cost of
losing his earthly life on the Cross. God vindicated him, as he will all those
who live for him. Where do your priorities lie? God reveals his will to us
through the duties and responsibilities of our state of life. Do you fulfil
yours wholeheartedly for his sake?
Tuesday 27 November 2012
Readings at Mass
First reading
Apocalypse 14:14-19
In my vision I,
John, saw a white cloud and, sitting on it, one like a son of man with a gold
crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came out
of the sanctuary, and shouted aloud to the one sitting on the cloud, ‘Put your
sickle in and reap: harvest time has come and the harvest of the earth is ripe.’
Then the one sitting on the cloud set his sickle to work on the earth, and the
earth’s harvest was reaped.
Another angel, who also carried a sharp sickle, came
out of the temple in heaven, and the angel in charge of the fire left the altar
and shouted aloud to the one with the sharp sickle, ‘Put your sickle in and cut
all the bunches off the vine of the earth; all its grapes are ripe.’ So the
angel set his sickle to work on the earth and harvested the whole vintage of
the earth and put it into a huge winepress, the winepress of God’s anger.
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Psalm
Psalm 95:10-13
The Lord comes to
rule the earth.
Proclaim to the
nations: ‘God is king.’
The world he
made firm in its place;
he will judge
the peoples in fairness.
The Lord comes
to rule the earth.
Let the heavens
rejoice and earth be glad,
let the sea and
all within it thunder praise,
let the land and
all it bears rejoice,
all the trees of
the wood shout for joy
at the presence
of the Lord for he comes,
he comes to rule
the earth.
The Lord comes
to rule the earth.
With justice he
will rule the world,
he will judge
the peoples with his truth.
The Lord comes
to rule the earth.
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Gospel Acclamation
Lk21:28
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Stand erect,
hold your heads high,
because your
liberation is near at hand.
Alleluia!
Or
Rv2:10
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Even if you have
to die, says the Lord,
keep faithful,
and I will give you
the crown of
life.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Luke 21:5-11
When some were
talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and
votive offerings, Jesus said, ‘All these things you are staring at now –
the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another: everything
will be destroyed.’ And they put to him this question: ‘Master,’ they said ‘when
will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that this is about to take
place?’
‘Take care not to be deceived,’ he said ‘because many
will come using my name and saying, “I am he” and, “The time is near at hand.”
Refuse to join them. And when you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened,
for this is something that must happen but the end is not so soon.’ Then he
said to them, ‘Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
There will be great earthquakes and plagues and famines here and there; there
will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.’
Beware
that You are not Led Astray
The Temple
in Jerusalem Temple
by the Romans as the result of Israel Temple
Wednesday 28 November 2012
Readings at Mass
First reading
Apocalypse 15:1-4
What I, John,
saw in heaven was a great and wonderful sign: seven angels were bringing the
seven plagues that are the last of all, because they exhaust the anger of God.
I seemed to see a glass lake suffused with fire, and standing by the lake of
glass, those who had fought against the beast and won, and against his statue
and the number which is his name. They all had harps from God, and they were
singing the hymn of Moses, the servant of God, and of the Lamb:
‘How great and
wonderful are all your works,
Lord God
Almighty;
just and true
are all your ways,
King of nations.
Who would not
revere and praise your name, O Lord?
You alone are
holy,
and all the
pagans will come and adore you
for the many
acts of justice you have shown.’
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Psalm
Psalm 97:1-3,7-9
How great and
wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
Sing a new song
to the Lord
for he has
worked wonders.
His right hand
and his holy arm
have brought salvation.
How great and
wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
The Lord has
made known his salvation;
has shown his
justice to the nations.
He has
remembered his truth and love
for the house of
Israel.
How great and
wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
Let the sea and
all within it, thunder;
the world, and
all its peoples.
Let the rivers
clap their hands
and the hills
ring out their joy
at the presence
of the Lord.
How great and
wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
For the Lord
comes,
he comes to rule
the earth.
He will rule the
world with justice
and the peoples
with fairness.
How great and
wonderful are all your works, Lord God almighty.
____________________
Gospel Acclamation
Lk21:36
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Stay awake,
praying at all times
for the strength
to stand with confidence
before the Son
of Man.
Alleluia!
Or
Rv2:10
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Even if you have
to die, says the Lord,
keep faithful,
and I will give you
the crown of life.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Luke 21:12-19
Jesus said: Men
will seize you and persecute you; they will hand you over to the synagogues and
to imprisonment, and bring you before kings and governors because of my
name – and that will be your opportunity to bear witness. Keep this
carefully in mind: you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall
give you an eloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to
resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers,
relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. You will be hated
by all men on account of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost.
Your endurance will win you your lives.’
Stay
close to Christ and no Hair of your Head will Perish
Jesus came to his own, but his own did not
receive him. Simeon had said that he would be a sign of contradiction. His own
town people rejected him. On his way to Jerusalem Jerusalem
Thursday 29 November 2012
Readings at Massf
First reading
Apocalypse 18:1-2,21-23,19:1-3,9
I, John, saw an
angel come down from heaven, with great authority given to him; the earth was
lit up with his glory. At the top of his voice he shouted, ‘Babylon has fallen,
Babylon the Great has fallen, and has become the haunt of devils and a lodging
for every foul spirit and dirty, loathsome bird. Then a powerful angel picked
up a boulder like a great millstone, and as he hurled it into the sea, he said,
‘That is how the great city of Babylon is going to be hurled down, never to be
seen again.
Never again in
you, Babylon,
will be heard
the song of harpists and minstrels,
the music of
flute and trumpet;
never again will
craftsmen of every skill be found
or the sound of
the mill be heard;
never again will
shine the light of the lamp,
never again will
be heard
the voices of bridegroom
and bride.
Your traders
were the princes of the earth,
all the nations
were under your spell.
After this I
seemed to hear the great sound of a huge crowd in heaven, singing, ‘Alleluia!
Victory and glory and power to our God! He judges fairly, he punishes justly,
and he has condemned the famous prostitute who corrupted the earth with her
fornication; he has avenged his servants that she killed.’ They sang again, ‘Alleluia!
The smoke of her will go up for ever and ever.’ The angel said, ‘Write this: Happy
are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb’, and he added, ‘All
the things you have written are true messages from God.’
For the readers of Apocalypse Babylon is without doubt Rome, which so bitterly persecuted the followers of Christ, the Lamb. However it is doomed. This prophecy applies to all governments that set themselves up in opposition to Christ. They too are doomed. Christ alone has all authority in heaven and earth. Those who truly follow him will share in his eternal victory. No kingdom or empire lasts. Only faith in Jesus brings us true and eternal happiness. All mankind receives an invitation to the marriage of the Lamb. Faith is our acceptance.
For the readers of Apocalypse Babylon is without doubt Rome, which so bitterly persecuted the followers of Christ, the Lamb. However it is doomed. This prophecy applies to all governments that set themselves up in opposition to Christ. They too are doomed. Christ alone has all authority in heaven and earth. Those who truly follow him will share in his eternal victory. No kingdom or empire lasts. Only faith in Jesus brings us true and eternal happiness. All mankind receives an invitation to the marriage of the Lamb. Faith is our acceptance.
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Psalm
Psalm 99:2-5
Happy are those
who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.
Serve the Lord
with gladness.
Come before him,
singing for joy.
Happy are those
who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.
Know that he,
the Lord, is God.
He made us, we
belong to him,
we are his
people, the sheep of his flock.
Happy are those
who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.
Go within his
gates, giving thanks.
Enter his courts
with songs of praise.
Give thanks to
him and bless his name.
Happy are those
who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.
Indeed, how good
is the Lord,
eternal his
merciful love.
He is faithful
from age to age.
Happy are those
who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb.
____________________
Gospel Acclamation
Mt24:42,44
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Stay awake and
stand ready,
because you do
not know the hour
when the Son of
Man is coming.
Alleluia!
Or
Lk21:28
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Stand erect,
hold your heads high,
because your
liberation is near at hand.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Luke 21:20-28
Jesus said to
his disciples, ‘When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, you must realize that she will soon be laid desolate. Then those in Judaea must escape to the
mountains, those inside the city must leave it, and those in country districts
must not take refuge in it. For this is the time of vengeance when all that
scripture says must be fulfilled. Alas for those with child, or with babies at
the breast, when those days come!
They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led
captive to every pagan country; and Jerusalem will be trampled down by the
pagans until the age of the pagans is completely over.
‘There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; on
earth nations in agony, bewildered by the clamour of the ocean and its waves;
men dying of fear as they await what menaces the world, for the powers of
heaven will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud
with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand erect,
hold your heads high, because your liberation is near at hand.’
Jerusalem
Jesus is the Lord of History
Luke here describes the suffering experienced
when the Romans will blockade and destroy
Friday 30 November 2012
Readings at Mass
First reading
Romans 10:9-18
If your lips
confess that Jesus is Lord and if you believe in your heart that God raised him
from the dead, then you will be saved. By believing from the heart you are made
righteous; by confessing with your lips you are saved. When scripture says: those
who believe in him will have no cause for shame, it makes no distinction
between Jew and Greek: all belong to the same Lord who is rich enough, however
many ask his help, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved.
But they will not ask his help unless they believe in
him, and they will not believe in him unless they have heard of him, and they
will not hear of him unless they get a preacher, and they will never have a
preacher unless one is sent, but as scripture says: The footsteps of those
who bring good news are a welcome sound. Not everyone, of course, listens
to the Good News. As Isaiah says: Lord, how many believed what we proclaimed?
So faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word
of Christ. Let me put the question: is it possible that they did not hear?
Indeed they did; in the words of the psalm, their voice has gone out through
all the earth, and their message to the ends of the world.
Salvation is from all kinds of evil - physical, moral and spiritual. Jesus alone will liberate us. He came into this world for this purpose only. "I have come to search for and save the lost" (Luke 19:10). if we turn to him in our hearts, then we are able to proclaim him with our lips. To call on his name is to worship him in spirit and in truth. Ours is not a religion of the Book, however sacred. It is a religion of the preached Word by those who believe in Jesus in their hearts. We preach a Person whom we know through a personal relationship with him. We preach him because we have experienced the salvation that he alone can bring. The life of a saint is the perfect form of preaching. A saint is one who in loving his God, loves all his children too (1 John 4:21)
Salvation is from all kinds of evil - physical, moral and spiritual. Jesus alone will liberate us. He came into this world for this purpose only. "I have come to search for and save the lost" (Luke 19:10). if we turn to him in our hearts, then we are able to proclaim him with our lips. To call on his name is to worship him in spirit and in truth. Ours is not a religion of the Book, however sacred. It is a religion of the preached Word by those who believe in Jesus in their hearts. We preach a Person whom we know through a personal relationship with him. We preach him because we have experienced the salvation that he alone can bring. The life of a saint is the perfect form of preaching. A saint is one who in loving his God, loves all his children too (1 John 4:21)
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Psalm
Psalm 18:8-11
The decrees of
the Lord are truth and all of them just.
or
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The law of the
Lord is perfect,
it revives the
soul.
The rule of the
Lord is to be trusted,
it gives wisdom
to the simple.
The decrees of
the Lord are truth and all of them just.
or
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The precepts of
the Lord are right,
they gladden the
heart.
The command of
the Lord is clear,
it gives light
to the eyes.
The decrees of
the Lord are truth and all of them just.
or
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
The fear of the
Lord is holy,
abiding for
ever.
The decrees of
the Lord are truth
and all of them
just.
The decrees of
the Lord are truth and all of them just.
or
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
They are more to
be desired than gold,
than the purest
of gold
and sweeter are
they than honey,
than honey from
the comb.
The decrees of
the Lord are truth and all of them just.
or
Your words are
spirit, Lord, and they are life.
____________________
Gospel Acclamation
Mt4:19
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Follow me, says
the Lord,
and I will make
you into fishers of men.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Matthew 4:18-22
As Jesus was
walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers, Simon, who was called
Peter, and his brother Andrew; they were making a cast in the lake with their
net, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make
you fishers of men.’ And they left their nets at once and followed him. Going
on from there he saw another pair of brothers, James son of Zebedee and his
brother John; they were in their boat with their father Zebedee, mending their
nets, and he called them. At once, leaving the boat and their father, they
followed him.
Building the Kingdom day by day
Jesus walks not
only by the Sea of Galilee he walks
everywhere. He calls not only Simon and Andrew but you and me too. He did not
stop them being fishermen. He changed the nature of their fishing. He calls
each of us to join him in his mission of making this world the Kingdom of God
Saturday 1 December 2012
Readings at Mass
___
First reading
Apocalypse 22:1-7
The angel showed
me, John, the river of life, rising from the throne of God and of the Lamb and
flowing crystal-clear down the middle of the city street. On either side of the
river were the trees of life, which bear twelve crops of fruit in a year, one in
each month, and the leaves of which are the cure for the pagans.
The ban will be lifted. The throne of God and of the
Lamb will be in its place in the city; his servants will worship him, they will
see him face to face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. It will
never be night again and they will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the
Lord God will be shining on them. They will reign for ever and ever.
The angel said to me, ‘All that you have written is
sure and will come true: the Lord God who gives the spirit to the prophets has
sent his angel to reveal to his servants what is soon to take place. Very soon
now, I shall be with you again.’ Happy are those who treasure the prophetic
message of this book.
These words were meant as encouragement to persevere to Christians suffering grave persecution. they are also and encouragement for us too. Christ Jesus has overcome the world and we will share in his victory if we persevere to the end of our lives. Jesus comes to each of us at the time we die. if Jesus is the centre of our lives now, it will not be a fearful time. On the contrary it will be happy reunion with the Lord who is already here.
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Psalm
Psalm 94:1-7
Marana tha!
Come, Lord Jesus!
Come, ring out
our joy to the Lord;
hail the rock
who saves us.
Let us come
before him, giving thanks,
with songs let
us hail the Lord.
Marana tha!
Come, Lord Jesus!
A mighty God is
the Lord,
a great king
above all gods.
In his hand are
the depths of the earth;
the heights of
the mountains are his.
To him belongs
the sea, for he made it
and the dry land
shaped by his hands.
Marana tha!
Come, Lord Jesus!
Come in; let us
bow and bend low;
let us kneel
before the God who made us:
for he is our
God and we
the people who
belong to his pasture,
the flock that
is led by his hand.
Marana tha!
Come, Lord Jesus!
____________________
Gospel Acclamation
Mt24:42,44
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Stay awake and
stand ready,
because you do
not know the hour
when the Son of
Man is coming.
Alleluia!
Or
Lk21:36
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Stay awake,
praying at all times
for the strength
to stand with confidence
before the Son
of Man.
Alleluia!
____________________
Gospel
Luke 21:34-36
Jesus said to
his disciples: ‘Watch yourselves, or your hearts will be coarsened with
debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will be sprung
on you suddenly, like a trap. For it will come down on every living man on the
face of the earth. Stay awake, praying at all times for the strength to survive
all that is going to happen, and to stand with confidence before the Son of
Man.’
Faith we may have, but all the same we have to be on our guard against the allurements of this world. It is so easy to give in to indulgence and it soon becomes a habit which may destroy us. Faith demands discipline. We need to periodically review our lives and daily we need have structures in our lives so that we keep ourselves on the correct path of the Gospel. Each day we need to have time for prayer and spiritual reading. In this way we will daily renew our friendship with Jesus in our life of faith. Advent which we begin tomorrow is a time to look at our life and review it in the light of the Gospel.
