17TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B) – 29 JULY, 2018

Saturday, 28 July, 2018

17th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

5:00 pm  Novena to Our Lady

5:30 pm  Sunset Mass in English

First Reading

2 KINGS 4:42-44

42 A man came from Baal-Shalishah, bringing the man of God bread from the first-fruits, twenty barley loaves and fresh grain still in the husk. 'Give it to the company to eat,' Elisha said.

43 But his servant replied, 'How can I serve this to a hundred men?' 'Give it to the company to eat,' he insisted, 'for Yahweh says this, "They will eat and have some left over." '

44 He served them; they ate and had some left over, as Yahweh had said.

“The Word of the Lord”

PSALMS 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18

10 All your creatures shall thank you, Yahweh, and your faithful shall bless you.

11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingship and tell of your might,

15 All look to you in hope and you feed them with the food of the season.

16 And, with generous hand, you satisfy the desires of every living creature.

17 Upright in all that he does, Yahweh acts only in faithful love.

18 He is close to all who call upon him, all who call on him from the heart.

Second Reading

EPHESIANS 4:1-6

1 I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you therefore to lead a life worthy of the vocation to which you were called.

2 With all humility and gentleness, and with patience, support each other in love.

3 Take every care to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together.

4 There is one Body, one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by God.

5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

6 and one God and Father of all, over all, through all and within all.

“The Word of the Lord”

Gospel Reading

JOHN 6:1-15

1 After this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee -- or of Tiberias-

2 and a large crowd followed him, impressed by the signs he had done in curing the sick.

3 Jesus climbed the hillside and sat down there with his disciples.

4 The time of the Jewish Passover was near.

5 Looking up, Jesus saw the crowds approaching and said to Philip, 'Where can we buy some bread for these people to eat?'

6 He said this only to put Philip to the test; he himself knew exactly what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered, 'Two hundred denarii would not buy enough to give them a little piece each.'

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said,

9 'Here is a small boy with five barley loaves and two fish; but what is that among so many?'

10 Jesus said to them, 'Make the people sit down.' There was plenty of grass there, and as many as five thousand men sat down.

11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were sitting there; he then did the same with the fish, distributing as much as they wanted.

12 When they had eaten enough he said to the disciples, 'Pick up the pieces left over, so that nothing is wasted.'

13 So they picked them up and filled twelve large baskets with scraps left over from the meal of five barley loaves.

14 Seeing the sign that he had done, the people said, 'This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.'

15 Jesus, as he realised they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, fled back to the hills alone.

“The Gospel of the Lord”

16TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B) – 22 JULY, 2018

Saturday, 21 July, 2018

16th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

5:00 pm  Novena to Our Lady

5:30 pm  Sunset Mass in English

First Reading

JEREMIAH 23:1-16

1 'Disaster for the shepherds who lose and scatter the sheep of my pasture, Yahweh declares.

2 This, therefore, is what Yahweh, God of Israel, says about the shepherds who shepherd my people, "You have scattered my flock, you have driven them away and have not taken care of them. Right, I shall take care of you for your misdeeds, Yahweh declares!

3 But the remnant of my flock I myself shall gather from all the countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; they will be fruitful and increase in numbers.

4 For them I shall raise up shepherds to shepherd them and pasture them. No fear, no terror for them any more; not one shall be lost, Yahweh declares!

5 Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall raise an upright Branch for David; he will reign as king and be wise, doing what is just and upright in the country.

6 In his days Judah will triumph and Israel live in safety. And this is the name he will be called, 'Yahweh-is-our-Saving-Justice.' "

7 'So, look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when people will no longer say, "As Yahweh lives who brought the Israelites out of Egypt,"

8 but, "As Yahweh lives who led back and brought home the offspring of the House of Israel from the land of the north and all the countries to which he had driven them, to live on their own soil." '

9 On the prophets. My heart is broken within me, I tremble in all my bones; I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome with wine, because of Yahweh and his holy words:

10 'For the country is full of adulterers; yes, because of a curse, the country is in mourning and the pasturage in the desert has dried up; they are prompt to do wrong, make no effort to do right.

11 Yes, even prophet and priest are godless, I have detected their wickedness in my own House, Yahweh declares.

12 Because of this, their way will prove treacherous going for them; in the darkness where they are driven, there they will fall. For I shall bring disaster on them, when the year for punishing them comes, Yahweh declares.

13 'In the prophets of Samaria I have seen insanity: they prophesied in the name of Baal and led my people Israel astray.

14 But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: adultery, persistent lying, such abetting of the wicked that no one renounces his wickedness. To me they are all like Sodom and its inhabitants are like Gomorrah.

15 So this is what Yahweh Sabaoth says about the prophets, "Now I shall give them wormwood to eat and make them drink poisoned water, since from the prophets of Jerusalem godlessness has spread throughout the land."

16 'Yahweh Sabaoth says this, "Do not listen to what those prophets prophesy to you; they are deluding you, they retail visions of their own, and not what comes from Yahweh's mouth.

“The Word of the Lord”

PSALMS 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6

1 [Psalm Of David] Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2 In grassy meadows he lets me lie. By tranquil streams he leads me

3 to restore my spirit. He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits his name.

4 Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me.

5 You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup brims over.

6 Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the house of Yahweh for all time to come.

Second Reading

EPHESIANS 2:13-18

13 But now in Christ Jesus, you that used to be so far off have been brought close, by the blood of Christ.

14 For he is the peace between us, and has made the two into one entity and broken down the barrier which used to keep them apart, by destroying in his own person the hostility,

15 that is, the Law of commandments with its decrees. His purpose in this was, by restoring peace, to create a single New Man out of the two of them,

16 and through the cross, to reconcile them both to God in one Body; in his own person he killed the hostility.

17 He came to bring the good news of peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.

18 Through him, then, we both in the one Spirit have free access to the Father.

“The Word of the Lord”

Gospel Reading

MARK 6:30-34

30 The apostles rejoined Jesus and told him all they had done and taught.

31 And he said to them, 'Come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while'; for there were so many coming and going that there was no time for them even to eat.

32 So they went off in the boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves.

33 But people saw them going, and many recognised them; and from every town they all hurried to the place on foot and reached it before them.

34 So as he 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.

“The Gospel of the Lord”

15TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B) – 15 JULY, 2018

Saturday, 14 July, 2018

15th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

5:00 pm  Novena to Our Lady

5:30 pm  Sunset Mass in English

First Reading

AMOS 7:12-15

12 To Amos himself Amaziah said, 'Go away, seer, take yourself off to Judah, earn your living there, and there you can prophesy!

13 But never again will you prophesy at Bethel, for this is a royal sanctuary, a national temple.'

14 'I am not a prophet,' Amos replied to Amaziah, 'nor do I belong to a prophetic brotherhood. I am merely a herdsman and dresser of sycamore-figs.

15 But Yahweh took me as I followed the flock, and Yahweh said to me, "Go and prophesy to my people Israel."

“The Word of the Lord”

PSALMS 85:9-14

9 His saving help is near for those who fear him, his glory will dwell in our land.

10 Faithful Love and Loyalty join together, Saving Justice and Peace embrace.

11 Loyalty will spring up from the earth, and Justice will lean down from heaven.

12 Yahweh will himself give prosperity, and our soil will yield its harvest.

13 Justice will walk before him, treading out a path.

Second Reading

EPHESIANS 1:3-14

3 Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.

4 Thus he chose us in Christ before the world was made to be holy and faultless before him in love,

5 marking us out for himself beforehand, to be adopted sons, through Jesus Christ. Such was his purpose and good pleasure,

6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved,

7 in whom, through his blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins. Such is the richness of the grace

8 which he has showered on us in all wisdom and insight.

9 He has let us know the mystery of his purpose, according to his good pleasure which he determined beforehand in Christ,

10 for him to act upon when the times had run their course: that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head, everything in the heavens and everything on earth.

11 And it is in him that we have received our heritage, marked out beforehand as we were, under the plan of the One who guides all things as he decides by his own will,

12 chosen to be, for the praise of his glory, the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.

13 Now you too, in him, have heard the message of the truth and the gospel of your salvation, and having put your trust in it you have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit of the Promise,

14 who is the pledge of our inheritance, for the freedom of the people whom God has taken for his own, for the praise of his glory.

“The Word of the Lord”

Gospel Reading

MARK 6:7-13

7 Then he summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs, giving them authority over unclean spirits.

8 And he instructed them to take nothing for the journey except a staff -- no bread, no haversack, no coppers for their purses.

9 They were to wear sandals but, he added, 'Don't take a spare tunic.'

10 And he said to them, 'If you enter a house anywhere, stay there until you leave the district.

11 And if any place does not welcome you and people refuse to listen to you, as you walk away shake off the dust under your feet as evidence to them.'

12 So they set off to proclaim repentance;

13 and they cast out many devils, and anointed many sick people with oil and cured them.

“The Gospel of the Lord”

14TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B) – 08 JULY, 2018

Saturday, 07 July, 2018

14th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

5:00 pm  Novena to Our Lady

5:30 pm  Sunset Mass in English

First Reading

EZEKIEL 2:2-5

2 As he said these words the spirit came into me and put me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.

3 He said, 'Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to the rebels who have rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been in revolt against me up to the present day.

4 Because they are stubborn and obstinate children, I am sending you to them, to say, "Lord Yahweh says this."

5 Whether they listen or not, this tribe of rebels will know there is a prophet among them.

“The Word of the Lord”

PSALMS 123:1-2, 2, 3-4

1 [Song of Ascents] I lift up my eyes to you who are enthroned in heaven.

2 Just as the eyes of slaves are on their masters' hand, or the eyes of a slave-girl on the hand of her mistress, so our eyes are on Yahweh our God, for him to take pity on us.

3 Have pity on us, Yahweh, have pity, for we have had our full share of scorn,

4 more than our share of jeers from the complacent. (Scorn is for the proud.)

Second Reading

2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10

7 Wherefore, so that I should not get above myself, I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger from Satan to batter me and prevent me from getting above myself.

8 About this, I have three times pleaded with the Lord that it might leave me;

9 but he has answered me, 'My grace is enough for you: for power is at full stretch in weakness.' It is, then, about my weaknesses that I am happiest of all to boast, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me;

10 and that is why I am glad of weaknesses, insults, constraints, persecutions and distress for Christ's sake. For it is when I am weak that I am strong.

“The Word of the Lord”

Gospel Reading

MARK 6:1-6

1 Leaving that district, he went to his home town, and his disciples accompanied him.

2 With the coming of the Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and most of them were astonished when they heard him. They said, 'Where did the man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been granted him, and these miracles that are worked through him?

3 This is the carpenter, surely, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joset and Jude and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here with us?' And they would not accept him.

4 And Jesus said to them, 'A prophet is despised only in his own country, among his own relations and in his own house';

5 and he could work no miracle there, except that he cured a few sick people by laying his hands on them.

6 He was amazed at their lack of faith. He made a tour round the villages, teaching.

“The Gospel of the Lord”