by Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang | Jan 10, 2019 | Evangelium
St. William of Bourges
He was Archbishop of Bourges from 1200 until 1209. He was given to a life of exercises of piety and to the acquisition of knowledge. Saint William was canonized on May 17, 1218.
White
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/ O 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: cf.1 Tim3:16
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
Leprosy was considered to be a sign of God’s punishment. A person infected by this disease was cut off from God’s people and had to stay away from other people (Lev 13: 45 – 46). Leprosy is thus a symbol of sin in our lives. Sin separates us from God and destroys our relationship with those around us. Jesus has the power to heal us of the leprosy of sin. He has come to give us God’s forgiveness and restore our union with him and with our brothers and sisters. St. John in the first reading, gives us three ways in which we receive the divine mercy which Jesus brings: through the water of baptism, which washes our sins away; through the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice, which we receive in the Eucharist; and through the Spirit of God, who makes us a new creation and whom we receive in confirmation. Let us rediscover the saving power of Jesus in the sacraments.
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang | Jan 9, 2019 | Evangelium
St. Theodosius the Cenobiarch (c. 423–529)
He was a monk and abbot who was a founder and organizer of the cenobitic way of monastic life.
White
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.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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
The words of Isaiah aptly describe the mission of Jesus. Jesus has come to inaugurate a new age, in which men will benefit from the fullness of God’s mercy. He has come to liberate men from the chains of sin and death. He has come to open the eyes of men, so that they may see God in their brothers and sisters and love him in them. In short, he has come to let men know that God loves them and to invite them to love him in return. You are part of this mission. Jesus wants you to know that God loves you and has freed you from the power of sin, and in return, you should love your brothers and sisters. Remember: whatever you do to the least of your brothers, you do it to him (Mt. 25: 31).
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang | Jan 9, 2019 | Evangelium
FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, Psalter I
St Scholastica (480 – 547)
Green/White
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 6:1-2, 3-8
In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord of Hosts seated on a high throne; his train filled the sanctuary; above him stood seraphs, each one with six wings. And they cried out to one another in this way, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. His glory fills the whole earth.’ The foundations of the threshold shook with the voice of the one who cried out, and the Temple was filled with smoke. I said: ‘What a wretched state I am in! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have looked at the King, the Lord of Hosts.’ Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding in his hand a live coal which he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. With this he touched my mouth and said: ‘See now, this has touched your lips, your sin is taken away, your iniquity is purged.’ Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: ‘Whom shall I send? Who will be our messenger?’ I answered, ‘Here I am, send me.’
Psalm 137(138):1-5,7-8
- R) Before the angels I will bless you, O Lord.
1)I thank you, Lord, with all my heart: you have heard the words of my mouth. In the presence of the angels I will bless you. I will adore before your holy temple.
2) I thank you for your faithfulness and love, which excel all we ever knew of you. On the day I called, you answered; you increased the strength of my soul.
3) All earth’s kings shall thank you when they hear the words of your mouth. They shall sing of the Lord’s ways: ‘How great is the glory of the Lord!’
4) You stretch out your hand and save me, your hand will do all things for me. Your love, O Lord, is eternal, discard not the work of your hands.
Second reading: 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
Brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, the gospel that you received and in which you are firmly established; because the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything. Well then, in the first place, I taught you what I had been taught myself, namely that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the scriptures; that he was buried; and that he was raised to life on the third day, in accordance with the scriptures; that he appeared first to Cephas and secondly to the Twelve. Next he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died; then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles; and last of all he appeared to me too; it was as though I was born when no one expected it. I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve the name apostle; but by God’s grace that is what I am, and the grace that he gave me has not been fruitless. On the contrary, I, or rather the grace of God that is with me, have worked harder than any of the others; but what matters is that I preach what they preach, and this is what you all believed.
Gospel Acclamation: Jn 15:15
Alleluia, alleluia! I call you friends, says the Lord, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. Alleluia!
Gospel: Luke 5:1-11
Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point. When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.
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
The weight of sin. Sin puts the weight of guilt on us. In our three readings today, we see people who were held back by the weight of sin temporarily. The prophet Isaiah received a vision of God in heaven but instead of being overjoyed as we would expect at having seen God in heaven, he was filled with fear because he was in sin. Saint Paul remembers all the trouble he caused the Church in the past: “I am the least of the apostles; in fact, since I persecuted the Church of God, I hardly deserve the name apostle.” When Peter saw the catch of fish, what came to his mind was his sinfulness: “Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.” Clearly Isaiah, Paul and Peter were held back by the drag and weight of sin before they were forgiven. We also cannot really be happy if we are in sin. But once we turn from sin and receive forgiveness, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we become new people. Isaiah, Paul and Peter acknowledged their sin, and the first step in overcoming any problem is admitting that the problem exists. Of course, God is always ready to cleanse us and forgive all our sins when we admit them.
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang | Jan 9, 2019 | Agenda Biblique
Saint Guillaume de Bourges
Guillaume de Corbeil mena une vie monastique mouvementée par les différents changements de communautés et d’ordre. De chanoine de Soissons jusqu’à Abbé cistercien à Fontaine-Jean, en passant par l’abbaye de Grandmont, il est désigné comme archevêque de Bourges (1199-1209). Il combat à la demande du pape Innocent III les hérétiques, en particulier les cathares.
Blanc
Antienne d’ouverture
Au commencement et avant le temps le Verbe était Dieu : c’est lui qui a voulu naître dans le temps des hommes et devenir le Sauveur du monde.
Prière d’ouverture
Seigneur, avec ton Fils bien-aimé, l’aurore de ton jour éternel s’est levée sur toutes les nations : accepte à ton peuple de reconnaître la gloire de son Rédempteur et de parvenir à la lumière qui ne s’éteint pas. Par Jésus Christ.
Première lecture: 1 Jean 4, 19 – 5, 4
Bien-aimés, nous aimons parce que Dieu lui-même nous a aimés le premier. Si quelqu’un dit : « J’aime Dieu», alors qu’il a de la haine contre son frère, c’est un menteur. En effet, celui qui n’aime pas son frère, qu’il voit, est incapable d’aimer Dieu, qu’il ne voit pas. Et voici le commandement que nous tenons de lui : celui qui aime Dieu, qu’il aime aussi son frère. Celui qui croit que Jésus est le Christ, celui-là est né de Dieu ; celui qui aime le Père qui a engendré aime aussi le Fils qui est né de lui. Voici comment nous reconnaissons que nous aimons les enfants de Dieu : lorsque nous aimons Dieu et que nous accomplissons ses commandements. Car tel est l’amour de Dieu : garder ses commandements; et ses commandements ne sont pas un fardeau, puisque tout être qui est né de Dieu est vainqueur du monde. Or la victoire remportée sur le monde, c’est notre foi.
Psaume : 71 (72), 1-2, 14.15bc, 17
R/ Tous les rois se prosterneront devant lui, tous les pays le serviront. (71, 11)
1. Dieu, donne au roi tes pouvoirs, à ce fils de roi ta justice. Qu’il gouverne ton peuple avec justice, qu’il fasse droit aux malheureux !
2. Il les rachète à l’oppression, à la violence ; leur sang est d’un grand prix à ses yeux. On priera sans relâche pour lui ; tous les jours, on le bénira.
3. Que son nom dure toujours ; sous le soleil, que subsiste son nom ! En lui, que soient bénies toutes les familles de la terre ; que tous les pays le disent bienheureux !
Acclamation
Alléluia, Alléluia.Le Seigneur m’a envoyé porter la Bonne Nouvelle aux pauvres, annoncer aux captifs leur libération. Alléluia. (Lc 4, 17)
Évangile : Luc 4, 14-22a
En ce temps-là, lorsque Jésus, dans la puissance de l’Esprit, revint en Galilée, sa renommée se répandit dans toute la région. Il enseignait dans les synagogues, et tout le monde faisait son éloge. Il vint à Nazareth, où il avait été élevé. Selon son habitude, il entra dans la synagogue le jour du sabbat, et il se leva pour faire la lecture. On lui remit le livre du prophète Isaïe. Il ouvrit le livre et trouva le passage où il est écrit : L’Esprit du Seigneur est sur moi parce que le Seigneur m’a consacré par l’onction. Il m’a envoyé porter la Bonne Nouvelle aux pauvres, annoncer aux captifs leur libération, et aux aveugles qu’ils retrouveront la vue, remettre en liberté les opprimés, annoncer une année favorable accordée par le Seigneur. Jésus referma le livre, le rendit au servant et s’assit. Tous, dans la synagogue, avaient les yeux fixés sur lui. Alors il se mit à leur dire : « Aujourd’hui s’accomplit ce passage de l’Écriture que vous venez d’entendre. » Tous lui rendaient témoignage et s’étonnaient des paroles de grâce qui sortaient de sa bouche.
Prière sur les offrandes
Accepte, Seigneur notre Dieu, ce que nous présentons pour cette Eucharistie où s’accomplit un admirable échange: en offrant ce que tu nous as donné, puissions-nous te recevoir toi-même. Par Jésus.
Antienne de communion
Dieu a tant aimé le monde qu’il a donné le Fils unique : ainsi, celui qui croit en lui ne périra pas, mais il obtiendra la vie éternelle.
Prière après la communion
Dieu tout-puissant, nous t’en prions : fais que la communion à tes mystères sacrés soutienne constamment notre vie. Par Jésus.
MÉDITATION
Vainqueur du tentateur au désert et rempli de la puissance de l’Esprit Saint, Jésus se rend dans la synagogue de Nazareth pour y prêcher. Cette prédication par laquelle Jésus inaugure son ministère lui donne de s’identifier à la parole du prophète Isaïe qu’il proclame. Il se présente comme accomplissement de la Parole de Dieu. Jésus est effectivement exégète du Père, Verbe de Dieu fait chair (Jn 1, 14). Jésus, Parole de Dieu, continue de dérouler le livre et nous parle quotidiennement. Cette Parole trouve son accomplissement dans l’aujourd’hui de nos vies. Il s’agit pour chacun de vivre dans le présent l’action divine, qui ne cesse de se manifester aux yeux de ceux y croient et de pénétrer dans leurs cœurs.
by Jude Thaddeus Langeh Basebang | Jan 8, 2019 | 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 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.
White
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.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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
For the Jews, the sea represented the world of evil and malefic forces. The struggle of the disciples against the wind and waves of Lake Galilee points to our own struggle against the adversities, difficulties and temptations of life. Life for a Christian is often like rowing against the wind. We suffer persecution because of our convictions, we get into conflict with people, we come up against injustice and oppression. In the midst of these storms, Jesus comes to us and tells us, “Courage! It is I! Do not be afraid”. If we let him into our lives, if we trust in him, he will calm the storms. He will give us the strength to move forward and overcome all our difficulties. If we acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God and we live in union with him, loving God and loving our neighbour, he will give us peace and calm in the storms and gales of our earthly life.
