by Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang | Jan 8, 2021 | Evangelium
St. Adrian of Canterbury (d. 710)
Feeling called to the monastic life, Adrian left his native North Africa and joined the Benedictines in Italy. Renowned for his scholarship and holiness, he was elected abbot of his monastery and later nominated as archbishop of Canterbury. Out of humility he declined the appointment to archbishop, but volunteered to go to England as a missionary. He endured various trials and even imprisonment on his journey to Canterbury, since he was taken for a spy. Once in England, he was appointed abbot of the monastery of Sts Peter and Paul where he lived for 39 years, actively involved in preaching and education. He died in 710.
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Entrance Antiphon : Gal 4: 4-5
God sent his Son, born of a woman, so that we might receive adoption as children.
Collect
Almighty ever-living God, who through your Only Begotten Son have made us a new creation for yourself, grant, we pray, that by your grace we may be found in the likeness of him, in whom our nature is united to you. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading : 1 John 5:14-21
We are quite confident that if we ask the Son of God for anything, and it is in accordance with his will,
he will hear us; and, knowing that whatever we may ask, he hears us, we know that we have already been granted what we asked of him. If anybody sees his brother commit a sin that is not a deadly sin, he has only to pray, and God will give life to the sinner – not those who commit a deadly sin; for there is a sin that is death, and I will not say that you must pray about that. Every kind of wrong-doing is sin, but not all sin is deadly. We know that anyone who has been begotten by God does not sin, because the begotten Son of God protects him, and the Evil One does not touch him. We know that we belong to God, but the whole world lies in the power of the Evil One. We know, too, that the Son of God has come, and has given us the power to know the true God.
We are in the true God, as we are in his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God, this is eternal life. Children, be on your guard against false gods.
Psalm 149:1-6,9
R/ The Lord takes delight in his people.
- Sing a new song to the Lord, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. Let Israel rejoice in its Maker, let Zion’s sons exult in their king.
- Let them praise his name with dancing and make music with timbrel and harp. For the Lord takes delight in his people. He crowns the poor with salvation.
- Let the faithful rejoice in their glory, shout for joy and take their rest. Let the praise of God be on their lips: this honour is for all his faithful.
Gospel Acclamation Lk7:16
Alleluia, alleluia! A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people. Alleluia!
Gospel : John 3:22-30
Jesus went with his disciples into the Judaean countryside and stayed with them there and baptised. At the same time John was baptising at Aenon near Salim, where there was plenty of water, and people were going there to be baptised. This was before John had been put in prison. Now some of John’s disciples had opened a discussion with a Jew about purification, so they went to John and said, ‘Rabbi, the man who was with you on the far side of the Jordan, the man to whom you bore witness, is baptising now; and everyone is going to him.’ John replied: ‘A man can lay claim only to what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can bear me out: I said: I myself am not the Christ; I am the one who has been sent in front of him. The bride is only for the bridegroom; and yet the bridegroom’s friend, who stands there and listens, is glad when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This same joy I feel, and now it is complete. He must grow greater, I must grow smaller.’
Prayer over the Offerings
O God, who give us the gift of true prayer and of peace, graciously grant that, through this offering, we may do fitting homage to your divine majesty and, by partaking of the sacred mystery, we may be faithfully united in mind and heart. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Jn 1: 16
From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
Prayer after Communion
May your people, O Lord, whom you guide and sustain in many ways, experience, both now and in the future, the remedies which you bestow, that, with the needed solace of things that pass away, they may strive with ever deepened trust for things eternal. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
The disciples of John bring a case against Jesus to him. For them, Jesus was becoming a rival, operating just as John did. In his humility, John reminds them of his testimony of the Christ, and tells of how he (John) must grow smaller, while Christ grows bigger. How humble are we when we hand over to others, be it in the public service or in the Church? Do we allow those who have taken over from us a free hand to do their work to the best of their ability? How humble are we when we take over from our predecessors? The humble words of John should be ours, “He must grow greater, I must grow smaller.”
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang | Jan 7, 2021 | Evangelium
St. Peter Thomas (1305-1366)
Peter Thomas was born into a poor peasant family in the southern Périgord region in France. His piety and skill as a teacher attracted the attention of the Carmelite Prior of Bergérac, who invited him to join the Carmelite community there at age twenty-one. He taught in various houses of study until he was sent to a university in Paris for advanced scholarship. While his studies were still in progress, he was elected by the Order as its procurator general to the Papal Court at Avignon in 1345.
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Entrance Antiphon : Ps 111: 4
A light has risen in the darkness for the upright of heart; the Lord is generous, merciful and just.
Collect
Grant, we ask, almighty God, that the Nativity of the Saviour of the world, made known by the guidance of a star, may be revealed ever more fully to our minds. 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 : 1 John 5:5-13
Who can overcome the world? Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God: Jesus Christ who came by water and blood, not with water only, but with water and blood; with the Spirit as another witness – since the Spirit is the truth – so that there are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and all three of them agree. We accept the testimony of human witnesses, but God’s testimony is much greater, and this is God’s testimony, given as evidence for his Son. Everybody who believes in the Son of God has this testimony inside him; and anyone who will not believe God is making God out to be a liar, because he has not trusted the testimony God has given about his Son. This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son; anyone who has the Son has life, anyone who does not have the Son does not have life. I have written all this to you so that you who believe in the name of the Son of God may be sure that you have eternal life.
Psalm 147:12-15,19-20
R/ praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
- O praise the Lord, Jerusalem! Zion, praise your God! He has strengthened the bars of your gates he has blessed the children within you.
- He established peace on your borders, he feeds you with finest wheat. He sends out his word to the earth and swiftly runs his command.
- He makes his word known to Jacob, to Israel his laws and decrees. He has not dealt thus with other nations; he has not taught them his decrees.
Gospel Acclamation : 1Tim3:16
Alleluia, alleluia! Glory to you, O Christ, proclaimed to the pagans; glory to you, O Christ, believed in by the world. Alleluia!
Gospel : Luke 5:12-16
Jesus was in one of the towns when a man appeared, covered with leprosy. Seeing Jesus he fell on his face and implored him. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once. He ordered him to tell no one. ‘But go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your healing as Moses prescribed it, as evidence for them.’
His reputation continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their sickness cured, but he would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray.
Prayer over the Offerings
Receive with favour, O Lord, we pray, the offerings of your people, that what they profess with devotion and faith may be theirs through these heavenly mysteries. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : 1 Jn 4: 9
By this the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his Only Begotten Son into the world, so that we might have life through him.
Prayer after Communion
O God, who touch us through our partaking of your Sacrament, work, we pray, the effects of its power in our hearts, that we may be made fit to receive your gift through this very gift itself. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
The leper in today’s Gospel demonstrates courage and faith. His request must be seen in connection with his gesture of courage and faith. It is on account of his faith that Jesus says, “Of course I want to! Be cured!” Jesus’ words and touch bring healing to the leper. We may not have lepers in our community, but we definitely have people whose status is similar to that of lepers at the time of Jesus. What attitude and approach do we adopt towards such people? Like Jesus, we need to adopt an attitude of compassion and healing.
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang | Jan 6, 2021 | Evangelium
St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest
St. Raymond of Peñafort (c.1175 – 1275) was a Spanish Dominican friar in the 13th-century, who compiled a collection of canon laws that remained a major part of Church law until the 20th century. He is the patron saint of lawyers, especially canon lawyers.
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Entrance Antiphon : Cf. Jn 1: 1
In the beginning and before all ages, the Word was God and he humbled himself to be born the Saviour of the world.
Collect
O God, who through your Son raised up your eternal light for all nations, grant that your people may come to acknowledge the full splendour of their Redeemer, that, bathed ever more in his radiance, they may reach everlasting glory. 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 : 1 John 4:19-5:4
We are to love, because God loved us first. Anyone who says, ‘I love God’, and hates his brother, is a liar, since a man who does not love the brother that he can see cannot love God, whom he has never seen. So this is the commandment that he has given us, that anyone who loves God must also love his brother. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God; and whoever loves the Father that begot him loves the child whom he begets. We can be sure that we love God’s children if we love God himself and do what he has commanded us; this is what loving God is – keeping his commandments; and his commandments are not difficult, because anyone who has been begotten by God has already overcome the world; this is the victory over the world – our faith.
Psalm 71(72):1-2,14-15,17
R/ All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
- O God, give your judgement to the king, to a king’s son your justice, that he may judge your people in justice and your poor in right judgement.
- From oppression he will rescue their lives, to him their blood is dear. (Long may he live, may the gold of Sheba be given him.) They shall pray for him without ceasing and bless him all the day.
- May his name be blessed for ever and endure like the sun. Every tribe shall be blessed in him, all nations bless his name.
Gospel Acclamation : Lk7:16
Alleluia, alleluia! A great prophet has appeared among us; God has visited his people. Alleluia!
Gospel : Luke 4:14-22
Jesus, with the power of the Spirit in him, returned to Galilee; and his reputation spread throughout the countryside. He taught in their synagogues and everyone praised him. He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written: The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour. He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’ And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips.
Prayer over the Offerings
Receive our oblation, O Lord, by which is brought about a glorious exchange, that, by offering what you have given, we may merit to receive your very self. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Jn 3: 16
God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son, so that all who believe in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.
Prayer after Communion
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, by the power of these holy mysteries, our life may be constantly sustained. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
Just as Jesus was anointed Priest, Prophet and King, we too were anointed at the time of our baptism. With this anointing, God also sends us out to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to free the downtrodden, and to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour. Do we recognise this mission that has been entrusted to us by God Himself? How have we been faithful to this mission?
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang | Jan 5, 2021 | Evangelium
St. André Bessette (1845 – 1937)
He was a lay brother of the Congregation of the Holy Cross and a significant figure of the Roman Catholic Church among French-Canadians, credited with thousands of reported miraculous healings.
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Entrance Antiphon : Is 9:1
A people who walked in darkness has seen a great light; for those dwelling in a land of deep gloom, a light has shone.
Collect
O God, who bestow light on all the nations, grant your peoples the gladness of lasting peace and pour into our hearts that brilliant light by which you purified the minds of our fathers in faith. 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 : 1 John 4:11-18
My dear people, since God has loved us so much, we too should love one another. No one has ever seen God; but as long as we love one another God will live in us and his love will be complete in us. We can know that we are living in him and he is living in us because he lets us share his Spirit. We ourselves saw and we testify that the Father sent his Son as saviour of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him, and he in God. We ourselves have known and put our faith in God’s love towards ourselves. God is love and anyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him. Love will come to its perfection in us when we can face the day of Judgement without fear; because even in this world we have become as he is. In love there can be no fear, but fear is driven out by perfect love: because to fear is to expect punishment, and anyone who is afraid is still imperfect in love.
Psalm 71 (72):1-2,10-13
R/ All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
- O God, give your judgement to the king, to a king’s son your justice, that he may judge your people in justice and your poor in right judgement.
- The kings of Tarshish and the sea coasts shall pay him tribute. The kings of Sheba and Seba shall bring him gifts. Before him all kings shall fall prostrate, all nations shall serve him.
- For he shall save the poor when they cry and the needy who are helpless. He will have pity on the weak and save the lives of the poor.
Gospel Acclamation : Lk4:17
Alleluia, Alleluia! The Lord has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives. Alleluia!
Gospel: Mark 6:45-52
After the five thousand had eaten and were filled, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to Bethsaida, while he himself sent the crowd away. After saying goodbye to them he went off into the hills to pray. When evening came, the boat was far out on the lake, and he was alone on the land. He could see they were worn out with rowing, for the wind was against them; and about the fourth watch of the night he came towards them, walking on the lake. He was going to pass them by, but when they saw him walking on the lake they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they had all seen him and were terrified. But he at once spoke to them, and said, ‘Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid.’ Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind dropped. They were utterly and completely dumbfounded, because they had not seen what the miracle of the loaves meant; their minds were closed.
Prayer over the Offerings
O God, who give us the gift of true prayer and of peace, graciously grant that, through this offering, we may do fitting homage to your divine majesty and, by partaking of the sacred mystery, we may be faithfully united in mind and heart. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : 1 Jn 1: 2
That life which was with the Father became visible, and has appeared to us.
Prayer after Communion
May your people, O Lord, whom you guide and sustain in many ways, experience, both now and in the future, the remedies which you bestow, that, with the needed solace of things that pass away, they may strive with ever deepened trust for things eternal. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
The words of Jesus, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid,” remind his disciples of his consoling presence among them. Like the disciples, who were worn out by rowing, sometimes we too get worn out by rowing the boat of our life. This makes us feel like breaking. At this point, Jesus reminds us of his presence in our life and says, “I am here”. Our faith challenges us to remember always that just as at the presence of Jesus in the boat made the wind dropped, so too will the storm in our life drop if we allow Jesus into the boat of our life.
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang | Jan 4, 2021 | Evangelium
St. John Neumann
This American saint was born in Bohemia in 1811. John was appointed bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. Fluent in many languages, he was dedicated to helping the poor and most abandoned. John died on 5th January, 1860 at the age of 48.
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Entrance Antiphon : Ps 117: 26-27
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord: The Lord is God and has given us light.
Collect
O God, whose Only Begotten Son has appeared in our very flesh, grant, we pray, that we may be inwardly transformed through him whom we recognize as outwardly like ourselves. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading : 1 John 4:7-10
My dear people, let us love one another since love comes from God and everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God. Anyone who fails to love can never have known God, because God is love. God’s love for us was revealed when God sent into the world his only Son so that we could have life through him; this is the love I mean: not our love for God, but God’s love for us when he sent his Son to be the sacrifice that takes our sins away.
Psalm 71(72):1-4,7-8
R/ All nations shall fall prostrate before you, O Lord.
- O God, give your judgement to the king, to a king’s son your justice, that he may judge your people in justice and your poor in right judgement.
- May the mountains bring forth peace for the people and the hills, justice. May he defend the poor of the people and save the children of the needy.
- In his days justice shall flourish and peace till the moon fails. He shall rule from sea to sea, from the Great River to earth’s bounds.
Gospel Acclamation : Mt 4:23
Alleluia, alleluia! Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom and cured all kinds of diseases among the people. Alleluia!
Gospel : Mark 6:34-44
As Jesus stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length. By now it was getting very late, and his disciples came up to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place and it is getting very late. So send them away, and they can go to the farms and villages round about, to buy themselves something to eat.’ He replied, ‘Give them something to eat yourselves.’ They answered, ‘Are we to go and spend two hundred denarii on bread for them to eat?’ ‘How many loaves have you?’ he asked. ‘Go and see.’ And when they had found out they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people together in groups on the green grass, and they sat down on the ground in squares of hundreds and fifties. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing; then he broke the loaves and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the people. He also shared out the two fish among them all. They all ate as much as they wanted. They collected twelve basketfuls of scraps of bread and pieces of fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
Prayer over the Offerings
Receive with favour, O Lord, we pray, the offerings of your people, that what they profess with devotion and faith may be theirs through these heavenly mysteries. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Eph 2: 4; Rm 8: 3
Because of that great love of his with which God loved us, he sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.
Prayer after Communion
O God, who touch us through our partaking of your Sacrament, work, we pray, the effects of its power in our hearts, that we may be made fit to receive your gift through this very gift itself. Through Christ our Lord.
Meditation
In the face of a sure lack of food and worry, Jesus gives the disciples a strange response: “Give them something to eat yourselves” (Mark 6:37). In other words, be generous enough to share the little you have with others. The disciples, like any normal person, wondered how a multitude of people could eat five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus blessed the little food and it was more than enough for the multitude and the disciples. This tells us that when we are generous with the little we have God blesses and multiplies it for us.
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang | Jan 3, 2021 | Evangelium
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774 – 1821)
She was born in New York into an Episcopalian family, who ostracised her and left her penniless when she became a Catholic in 1805. Seton was the first native-born American to be canonised by the Catholic Church.
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Entrance Antiphon : Cf. Prv 14:1-2
A holy day has dawned upon us: Come, you nations, and adore the Lord, for a great light has come down upon the earth.
O God, whose eternal Word adorns the face of the heavens yet accepted from the Virgin Mary the frailty of our flesh, grant, we pray,
that he who appeared among us as the splendour of truth may go forth in the fullness of power for the redemption of the world. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
First reading : 1 John 3:22-4:6
Whatever we ask God, we shall receive, because we keep his commandments and live the kind of life that he wants. His commandments are these: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another as he told us to. Whoever keeps his commandments lives in God and God lives in him. We know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us. It is not every spirit, my dear people, that you can trust; test them, to see if they come from God, there are many false prophets, now, in the world. You can tell the spirits that come from God by this: every spirit which acknowledges that Jesus the Christ has come in the flesh is from God; but any spirit which will not say this of Jesus is not from God, but is the spirit of Antichrist, whose coming you were warned about. Well, now he is here, in the world. Children, you have already overcome these false prophets, because you are from God and you have in you one who is greater than anyone in this world; as for them, they are of the world, and so they speak the language of the world and the world listens to them. But we are children of God, and those who know God listen to us; those who are not of God refuse to listen to us. This is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood.
R/ will give you the nations for your heritage.
1. The Lord said to me: ‘You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day. Ask and I shall bequeath you the nations, put the ends of the earth in your possession.’
2. Now, O kings, understand, take warning, rulers of the earth; serve the Lord with awe and trembling, pay him your homage.
Gospel Acclamation : Mt4:16
Alleluia, alleluia! The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light; on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death a light has dawned. Alleluia!
Gospel : Matthew 4:12-17,23-25
Hearing that John had been arrested, Jesus went back to Galilee, and leaving Nazareth he went and settled in Capernaum, a lakeside town on the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali. In this way the prophecy of Isaiah was to be fulfilled: ‘Land of Zebulun! Land of Naphtali! Way of the sea on the far side of Jordan, Galilee of the nations! The people that lived in darkness has seen a great light; on those who dwell in the land and shadow of death a light has dawned. From that moment Jesus began his preaching with the message, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’ He went round the whole of Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness among the people. His fame spread throughout Syria, and those who were suffering from diseases and painful complaints of one kind or another, the possessed, epileptics, the paralysed, were all brought to him, and he cured them. Large crowds followed him, coming from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and Transjordania.
Prayer over the Offerings
Receive our oblation, O Lord, by which is brought about a glorious exchange, that, by offering what you have given, we may merit to receive your very self. Through Christ our Lord.
Communion Antiphon : Jn 1: 14
We have seen his glory, the glory of an only Son coming from the Father, filled with grace and truth.
Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, by the power of these holy mysteries, our life may be constantly sustained. Through Christ our Lord.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is close at hand” (Matthew 4:17). These words constitute Jesus’ core message to the Galileans and is still valid today. Each of us knows the situation in which we live. There are attitudes in our lives that need to be corrected; they concern others and consequently, our relationship with God. Sometimes we give a thought to them. At other times we simply neglect them and life continues as if it does not matter whether we repent or not. Jesus calls you and me by name to repent.
