Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Ps 17: 5, 7

The waves of death rose about me; the pains of the netherworld surrounded me. In my anguish I called to the Lord, and from his holy temple he heard my voice.

Collect

May the working of your mercy, O Lord, we pray, direct our hearts aright, for without your grace we cannot find favour in your sight. 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: Jeremiah 11:18-20

The Lord revealed it to me; I was warned. O Lord, that was when you opened my eyes to their scheming. I for my part was like a trustful lamb being led to the slaughter-house, not knowing the schemes they were plotting against me, ‘Let us destroy the tree in its strength, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten!’ But you, the Lord of Hosts, who pronounce a just sentence, who probe the loins and heart, let me see the vengeance you will take on them, for I have committed my cause to you.

Psalm 7:2-3, 9-12

R/ Lord God, I take refuge in you.

1.      Lord God, I take refuge in you. From my pursuer save me and rescue me, lest he tear me to pieces like a lion and drag me off with no one to rescue me.

2. Give judgement for me, Lord; I am just and innocent of heart. Put an end to the evil of the wicked! Make the just stand firm, you who test mind and heart, O just God!

3. God is the shield that protects me, who saves the upright of heart. God is a just judge slow to anger; but he threatens the wicked every day.

Gospel Acclamation: Ezk 33:11

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus! I take pleasure, not in the death of a wicked man – it is the Lord who speaks – but in the turning back of a wicked man who changes his ways to win life. Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Gospel: John 7:40-52

Several people who had been listening to Jesus said, ‘Surely he must be the prophet’, and some said, ‘He is the Christ’, but others said, ‘Would the Christ be from Galilee? Does not scripture say that the Christ must be descended from David and come from the town of Bethlehem?’ So the people could not agree about him. Some would have liked to arrest him, but no one actually laid hands on him. The police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, ‘Why haven’t you brought him?’ The police replied, ‘There has never been anybody who has spoken like him.’ ‘So’ the Pharisees answered ‘you have been led astray as well? Have any of the authorities believed in him? Any of the Pharisees? This rabble knows nothing about the Law – they are damned.’ One of them, Nicodemus – the same man who had come to Jesus earlier – said to them, ‘But surely the Law does not allow us to pass judgement on a man without giving him a hearing and discovering what he is about?’ To this they answered, ‘Are you a Galilean too? Go into the matter, and see for yourself: prophets do not come out of Galilee.’

Prayer over the Offerings

Be pleased, O Lord, we pray, with these oblations you receive from our hands, and, even when our wills are defiant, constrain them mercifully to turn to you. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Cf. 1Pt 1: 18-19

By the precious Blood of Christ, the Blood of a spotless and unblemished Lamb, we have been redeemed.

Prayer after Communion

May your holy gifts purify us, O Lord, we pray, and by their working render us fully pleasing to you. Through Christ our Lord.

Prayer over the People

Look upon your people, O Lord, and, as they draw near to the coming festivities, bestow upon them abundance of heavenly grace, that, helped by the consolations of this world, they may be impelled more readily towards higher goods that cannot be seen. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Meditation

From Jesus’ responses, the crowd was really confused on whether to arrest him or not, since quite many had come to believe in him. Christians must also be a sign of contradiction to the ways of the world. Today things are going the wrong way but we can correct them by contradicting them and doing the right thing. There are instances of same-sex marriages in many parts of the world, hate speech which has destroyed so many, abuse of minors, robbery, murder, legalisation of suicide and euthanasia, If Christians do not contradict these ills, who will?

Entrance Antiphon: Cf. Lk 12: 42

Behold, a faithful and prudent steward, whom the Lord set over his household.

Collect

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that by Saint Joseph’s intercession your Church may constantly watch over the unfolding of the mysteries of human salvation, whose beginnings you entrusted to his faithful care. 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: 2 Samuel 7:4-5,12-14,16

The word of the Lord came to Nathan: ‘Go and tell my servant David, “Thus the Lord speaks: “When your days are ended and you are laid to rest with your ancestors, I will preserve the offspring of your body after you and make his sovereignty secure. (It is he who shall build a house for my name, and I will make his royal throne secure for ever.) I will be a father to him and he a son to me; if he does evil, I will punish him with the rod such as men use, with strokes such as mankind gives. Yet I will not withdraw my favour from him, as I withdrew it from your predecessor. Your House and your sovereignty will always stand secure before me and your throne be established for ever.”’

Psalm 88:2-5,27,29

R/     His dynasty shall last for ever.

1.      I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord; through all ages my mouth will proclaim your truth. Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for ever, that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.

2.      I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: I will establish your dynasty for ever and set up  your throne through all ages.

3.      ‘He will say to me: “You are my father, my God, the rock who saves me.” I will keep my love for him always; with him my covenant shall last.’

Second reading: Romans 4:13,16-18,22

The promise of inheriting the world was not made to Abraham and his descendants on account of any law but on account of the righteousness which consists in faith. That is why what fulfils the promise depends on faith, so that it may be a free gift and be available to all of Abraham’s descendants, not only those who belong to the Law but also those who belong to the faith of Abraham who is the father of all of us. As Scripture says: I have made you the ancestor of many nations – Abraham is our father in the eyes of God, in whom he put his faith, and who brings the dead to life and calls into being what does not exist. Though it seemed Abraham’s hope could not be fulfilled, he hoped and he believed, and through doing so he did become the father of many nations exactly as he had been promised: Your descendants will be as many as the stars. This is the faith that was ‘considered as justifying him.’

Gospel Acclamation:Ps83:5

Glory and praise to you, O Christ. They are happy who dwell in your house, O Lord, for ever singing your praise. Glory and praise to you, O Christ.

Gospel: Matthew 1:16,18-21,24

Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary; of her was born Jesus who is called Christ. This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child  through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph; being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.’ When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do.

Prayer over the Offerings

We pray, O Lord, that, just as Saint Joseph served with loving care your Only Begotten Son, born of the Virgin Mary, so we may be worthy to minister with a pure heart at your altar. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Mt 25: 21

Well done, good and faithful servant. Come, share your master’s joy.

Prayer after Communion

Defend with unfailing protection, O Lord, we pray, the family you have nourished with food from this altar, as they rejoice at the Solemnity of Saint Joseph, and graciously keep safe your gifts among them. Through Christ our Lord.

Prayer over the People

Look upon your servants, O Lord, and in your goodness protect with heavenly assistance those who trust in your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.

Meditation

St. Joseph is a respectable man of honour who looked for the good of the one he found with child (Mary). Joseph basically did two important things: to view his life according to God’s plan and to see good in situations around him. According to St. Bernardino of Siena if “all the Church is indebted to the Virgin Mary, as we received Christ through her, after her, Saint Joseph should certainly be he who most deserves our gratitude and reverence”. Just like him, let us keep focusing on God and keep looking for the good of those with whom we live.

Entrance Antiphon:  Cf. Ps 104: 3-4

Let the hearts that seek the Lord rejoice; turn to the Lord and his strength; constantly seek his face.

Collect

We invoke your mercy in humble prayer, O Lord, that you may cause us, your servants, corrected by penance and schooled by good works, to persevere sincerely in your commands and come safely to the paschal festivities. 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: Exodus 32:7-14

The Lord spoke to Moses, ‘Go down now, because your people whom you brought out of Egypt have apostatised. They have been quick to leave the way I marked out for them; they have made themselves a calf of molten metal and have worshipped it and offered it sacrifice. “Here is your God, Israel,” they have cried, “who brought you up from the land of Egypt!”’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘I can see how headstrong these people are! Leave me, now, my wrath shall blaze out against them and devour them; of you, however, I will make a great nation.’ But Moses pleaded with the Lord his God. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘why should your wrath blaze out against this people of yours whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with arm outstretched and mighty hand? Why let the Egyptians say, “Ah, it was in treachery that he brought them out, to do them to death in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth”? Leave your burning wrath; relent and do not bring this disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, your servants to whom by your own self you swore and made this promise: I will make your offspring as many as the stars of heaven, and all this land which I promised I will give to your descendants, and it shall be their heritage for ever.’ So the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

Psalm 105 (106):19-23

R/     O Lord, remember me out of the love you have for your people.

1.      They fashioned a calf at Horeb and worshipped an image of metal, exchanging the God who was their glory for the image of a bull that eats grass.

2. They forgot the God who was their saviour, who had done such great things in Egypt, such portents in the land of Ham, such marvels at the Red Sea.

3. For this he said he would destroy them, but Moses, the man he had chosen, stood in the breach before him, to turn back his anger from destruction.

Gospel Acclamation: cf. Jn 6:63, 68

Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God! Your words are spirit, Lord, and they are life; you have the message of eternal life. Glory to you, O Christ, you are the Word of God!

Gospel: John 5:31-47

Jesus said to the Jews: ‘Were I to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid; but there is another witness who can speak on my behalf, and I know that his testimony is valid. You sent messengers to John, and he gave his testimony to the truth: not that I depend on human testimony; no, it is for your salvation that I speak of this. John was a lamp alight and shining and for a time you were content to enjoy the light that he gave. But my testimony is greater than John’s: the works my Father has given me to carry out, these same works of mine testify that the Father has sent me. Besides, the Father who sent me bears witness to me himself. You have never heard his voice, you have never seen his shape, and his word finds no home in you because you do not believe in the one he has sent. You study the scriptures, believing that in them you have eternal life; now these same scriptures testify to me, and yet you refuse to come to me for life! As for human approval, this means nothing to me. Besides, I know you too well: you have no love of God in you. I have come in the name of my Father and you refuse to accept me; if someone else comes in his own name you will accept him. How can you believe, since you look to one another for approval and are not concerned with the approval that comes from the one God? Do not imagine that I am going to accuse you before the Father: you place your hopes on Moses, and Moses will be your accuser. If you really believed him you would believe me too, since it was I that he was writing about; but if you refuse to believe what he wrote, how can you believe what I say?’

Prayer over the Offerings

Grant, we pray, almighty God, that what we offer in sacrifice may cleanse us in our frailty from every evil and always grant us your protection. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon: Jer 31: 33

I will place my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people, says the Lord.

Prayer after Communion

May this Sacrament we have received purify us, we pray, O Lord, and grant your servants freedom from all blame, that those bound by a guilty conscience may glory in the fullness of heavenly remedy. Through Christ our Lord.

Prayer over the People

O God, protector of all who hope in you, bless your people, keep them safe, defend them, prepare them, that, free from sin and safe from the enemy, they may persevere always in your love. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Meditation

The Israelites went out of the way God marked out for them by worshipping  an idol made of gold. Idols only bring disorder in our lives. The idols which we have made for ourselves will only offer us emptiness and pain at the end. Some of these modern idols include money, cars, wealth, passions, and other such things we love so much but which take our attention off the God-given guidelines for our salvation. God has mapped out the path we must follow and we must do only that which He has commanded us to.

Entrance Antiphon : Ps 68: 14

I pray to you, O Lord, for a time of your favour. In your great mercy, answer me, O God, with your salvation that never fails.

Collect

O God, who reward the merits of the just and offer pardon to sinners who do penance, have mercy, we pray, on those who call upon you, that the admission of our guilt may serve to obtain your pardon for our sins. 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 49:8-15

Thus says the Lord: At the favourable time I will answer you, on the day of salvation I will help you. (I have formed you and have appointed you as covenant of the people.) I will restore the land and assign you the estates that lie waste. I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out’, to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’ On every roadway they will graze, and each bare height shall be their pasture. They will never hunger or thirst, scorching wind and sun shall never plague them; for he who pities them will lead them and guide them to springs of water. I will make a highway of all the mountains, and the high roads shall be banked up. Some are on their way from afar, others from the north and the west, others from the land of Sinim. Shout for joy, you heavens; exult, you earth! You mountains, break into happy cries! For the Lord consoles his people and takes pity on those who are afflicted. For Zion was saying, ‘The Lord has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ Does a woman forget her baby at the breast, or fail to cherish the son of her womb? Yet even if these forget, I will never forget you.

Psalm 144 (145):8-9, 13b-14, 17-18

R/     The Lord is kind and full of compassion.

1.      The Lord is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in love. How good is the Lord to all, compassionate to all his creatures.

2.      The Lord is faithful in all his words and loving in all his deeds. The Lord supports all who fall and raises all who are bowed down.

3.      The Lord is just in all his ways and loving in all his deeds. He is close to all who call him, who call on him from their hearts.

Gospel Acclamation: Jn 3:16

Glory and praise to you, O Christ! God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son: everyone who believes in him has eternal life. Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

Gospel: John 5:17-30

Jesus said to the Jews, ‘My Father goes on working, and so do I.’ But that only made them even more intent on killing him, because, not content with breaking the sabbath, he spoke of God as his own Father, and so made himself God’s equal. To this accusation Jesus replied: ‘I tell you most solemnly, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees the Father doing: and whatever the Father does the Son does too. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does himself, and he will show him even greater things than these, works that will astonish you. Thus, as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to anyone he chooses; for the Father judges no one; he has entrusted all judgement to the Son, so that all may honour the Son as they honour the Father. Whoever refuses honour to the Son refuses honour to the Father who sent him. I tell you most solemnly, whoever listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being brought to judgement he has passed from death to life. I tell you most solemnly, the hour will come – in fact it is here already – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who hear it will live. For the Father, who is the source of life, has made the Son the source of life; and, because he is the Son of Man, has appointed him supreme judge. Do not be surprised at this, for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves at the sound of his voice: those who did good will rise again to life; and those who did evil, to condemnation. I can do nothing by myself; I can only judge as I am told to judge, and my judging is just, because my aim is to do not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.’

Prayer over the Offerings

May the power of this sacrifice, O Lord, we pray, mercifully wipe away what is old in us, and increase in us grace of salvation and newness of life. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon:  Jn 3: 17

God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him.

Prayer after Communion

May your heavenly gifts, O Lord, we pray, which you bestow as a heavenly remedy on your people, not bring judgement to those who receive them. Through Christ our Lord.

Prayer over the People

May your servants be shielded, O Lord, by the protection of your loving-kindness, that, doing what is good in this world, they may reach you, their highest good. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Meditation

When Jesus says; ‘Whoever listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life,’ he assures us of a life without end with him. This is a boost for us to keep on working for our salvation. We are encouraged to take on the Word of God, read it, meditate on it and let it direct us towards Jesus. By simply reading the Word, we are not guaranteed salvation but if we put it into practice, the it becomes our source for attaining salvation and we will gain the eternal life we aspire.

Entrance Antiphon : Cf. Is 55: 1

All who are thirsty, come to the waters, says the Lord. Though you have no money, come and drink with joy.

Collect

May the venerable exercises of holy devotion shape the hearts of your faithful, O Lord, to welcome worthily the Paschal Mystery and proclaim the praises of your salvation. 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 : Ezekiel 47:1-9,12

The angel brought me to the entrance of the Temple, where a stream came out from under the Temple threshold and flowed eastwards, since the Temple faced east. The water flowed from under the right side of the Temple, south of the altar. He took me out by the north gate and led me right round outside as far as the outer east gate where the water flowed out on the right-hand side. The man went to the east holding his measuring line and measured off a thousand cubits; he then made me wade across the stream; the water reached my ankles. He measured off another thousand and made me wade across the stream again; the water reached my knees. He measured off another thousand and made me wade across again; the water reached my waist. He measured off another thousand; it was now a river which I could not cross; the stream had swollen and was now deep water, a river impossible to cross. He then said, ‘Do you see, son of man?’ He took me further, then brought me back to the bank of the river. When I got back, there were many trees on each bank of the river. He said, ‘This water flows east down to the Arabah and to the sea; and flowing into the sea it makes its waters wholesome. Wherever the river flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for wherever the water goes it brings health, and life teems wherever the river flows. Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.’

Psalm 45 (46):2-3, 5-6, 8-9

R/     The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.

1.      God is for us a refuge and strength, a helper close at hand, in time of distress, so we shall not fear though the earth should rock, though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea.

2.      The waters of a river give joy to God’s city, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within, it cannot be shaken; God will help it at the dawning of the day.

3.      The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Come, consider the works of the Lord, the redoubtable deeds he has done on the earth.

Gospel Acclamation: Ps 50:12, 14

Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus! A pure heart create for me, O God, and give me again the joy of your help. Praise and honour to you, Lord Jesus!

Gospel : John 5:1-3, 5-16

There was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now at the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem there is a building, called Bethzatha in Hebrew, consisting of five porticos; and under these were crowds of sick people – blind, lame, paralysed – waiting for the water to move. One man there had an illness which had lasted thirty-eight years, and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in this condition for a long time, he said, ‘Do you want to be well again?’ ‘Sir,’ replied the sick man ‘I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; and while I am still on the way, someone else gets there before me.’ Jesus said, ‘Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk.’ The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and walked away. Now that day happened to be the sabbath, so the Jews said to the man who had been cured, ‘It is the sabbath; you are not allowed to carry your sleeping-mat.’ He replied, ‘But the man who cured me told me, “Pick up your mat and walk.”’ They asked, ‘Who is the man who said to you, “Pick up your mat and walk”?’ The man had no idea who it was, since Jesus had disappeared into the crowd that filled the place. After a while Jesus met him in the Temple and said, ‘Now you are well again, be sure not to sin any more, or something worse may happen to you.’ The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. It was because he did things like this on the sabbath that the Jews began to persecute Jesus.

Prayer over the Offerings

We offer to you, O Lord, these gifts which you yourself have bestowed; may they attest to your care as Creator for this our mortal life, and effect in us the healing that brings us immortality. Through Christ our Lord.

Communion Antiphon : Cf. Ps 22: 1-2

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose, near restful waters he leads me.

Prayer after Communion

Purify our minds, O Lord, we pray, and renew them with this heavenly Sacrament, that we may find help for our bodies now and likewise in times to come. Through Christ our Lord.

Prayer over the People

Grant, O merciful God, that your people may remain always devoted to you and may constantly receive from your kindness whatever is for their good. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Meditation

At every point in time, Jesus is healing someone. This time, it is the turn of the man at the pool of Bethsaida. The waters there could symbolise the waters of baptism, which washes and heals us of our sins and cures our sick souls. Let us allow Jesus to help us out as we draw closer to him to heal both our bodily infirmities and to cleanse our souls through baptism. We need him especially this Lent to plunge us into the waters of prayer, confession and our spiritual lives.