SUNday 05 febRuary
5th Sunday in Ordinary Time,
Psalter week I
Entrance Antiphon: Ps 94: 6-7
O come, let us worship God and bow low before the God who made us, for he is the Lord our God.
Collect
Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading: Isaiah 58: 7-10
Thus says the Lord: Share your bread with the hungry, and shelter the homeless poor, clothe the man you see to be naked and do not turn from your own kin. Then will your light shine like the dawn and your wound be quickly healed over. Your integrity will go before you and the glory of the Lord behind you. Cry, and the Lord will answer; call, and he will say, ‘I am here.’ If you do away with the yoke, the clenched fist, the wicked word, if you give your bread to the hungry, and relief to the oppressed, your light will rise in the darkness, and your shadows become like noon.
Psalm 111(112): 4-9
R/ The good man is a light in the darkness for the upright.
He is a light in the darkness for the upright: he is generous, merciful and just. The good man takes pity and lends, he conducts his affairs with honour.
The just man will never waver: he will be remembered for ever. He has no fear of evil news; with a firm heart he trusts in the Lord.
With a steadfast heart he will not fear; open-handed, he gives to the poor; his justice
Second reading: 1 Corinthians 2: 1-5
When I came to you, brothers, it was not with any show of oratory or philosophy, but simply to tell you what God had guaranteed. During my stay with you, the only knowledge I claimed to have was about Jesus, and only about him as the crucified Christ. Far from relying on any power of my own, I came among you in great ‘fear and trembling’ and in my speeches and the sermons that I gave, there were none of the arguments that belong to philosophy; only a demonstration of the power of the Spirit. And I did this so that your faith should not depend on human philosophy but on the power of God.
Gospel Acclamation: Jn 8: 12
Alleluia, alleluia! I am the light of the world, says the Lord; anyone who follows me will have the light of life. Alleluia!
Gospel: Matthew 5: 13-16
Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again? It is good for nothing, and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill-top cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.”
Prayer over the Offerings
O Lord, our God, who once established these created things to sustain us in our frailty,
grant, we pray, that they may become for us now the Sacrament of eternal life. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon: Cf. Ps 106: 8-9
Let them thank the Lord for his mercy, his wonders for the children of men, for he satisfies the thirsty soul, and the hungry he fills with good things.
Prayer after Communion
O God, who have willed that we be partakers in the one Bread and the one Chalice, grant us, we pray, so to live that, made one in Christ, we may joyfully bear fruit for the salvation of the world. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Jesus brought his disciples up to a high mountain; he was like Moses appearing again to the people. In his teachings, Jesus does not tell us what we could become but who we are. Take note, Jesus did not say, “you are like the salt of the earth.” No, he said, “you are the salt of the earth.” He is giving a big compliment to his listeners and disciples. It is an appropriate one, too, for fishers who salted fish. “You are the light of the world.” In the time of Christ, oil lamps were the electricity of their day. They need oil. No oil, no light. Jesus tells his listeners that the lamp of God’s love burns in this world only with the oil of our good lives. Light is a bi-product of good deeds.