22ND SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B) – 02 SEPTEMBER, 2018

Saturday, 01 September, 2018

22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

5:00 pm  Novena to Our Lady

5:30 pm  Sunset Mass in English

First Reading

DEUTERONOMY 4:1-2, 6-8

1 'And now, Israel, listen to the laws and customs which I am teaching you today, so that, by observing them, you may survive to enter and take possession of the country which Yahweh, God of your ancestors, is giving you.

2 You must add nothing to what I command you, and take nothing from it, but keep the commandments of Yahweh your God just as I lay them down for you.

6 Keep them, put them into practice, and other peoples will admire your wisdom and prudence. Once they know what all these laws are, they will exclaim, "No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation!"

7 And indeed, what great nation has its gods as near as Yahweh our God is to us whenever we call to him?

8 And what great nation has laws and customs as upright as the entirety of this Law which I am laying down for you today?

“The Word of the Lord”

PSALMS 15:2-3, 3-4, 4-5

2 Whoever lives blamelessly, who acts uprightly, who speaks the truth from the heart,

3 who keeps the tongue under control, who does not wrong a comrade, who casts no discredit on a neighbour,

4 who looks with scorn on the vile, but honours those who fear Yahweh, who stands by an oath at any cost,

5 who asks no interest on loans, who takes no bribe to harm the innocent. No one who so acts can ever be shaken.

Second Reading

JAMES 1:17-18, 21-22, 27

17 all that is good, all that is perfect, is given us from above; it comes down from the Father of all light; with him there is no such thing as alteration, no shadow caused by change.

18 By his own choice he gave birth to us by the message of the truth so that we should be a sort of first-fruits of all his creation.

21 so do away with all impurities and remnants of evil. Humbly welcome the Word which has been planted in you and can save your souls.

22 But you must do what the Word tells you and not just listen to it and deceive yourselves.

27 Pure, unspoilt religion, in the eyes of God our Father, is this: coming to the help of orphans and widows in their hardships, and keeping oneself uncontaminated by the world.

“The Word of the Lord”

Gospel Reading

MARK 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

1 The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered round him,

2 and they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them.

3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, keep the tradition of the elders and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow;

4 and on returning from the market place they never eat without first sprinkling themselves. There are also many other observances which have been handed down to them to keep, concerning the washing of cups and pots and bronze dishes.

5 So the Pharisees and scribes asked him, 'Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of the elders but eat their food with unclean hands?'

6 He answered, 'How rightly Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites in the passage of scripture: This people honours me only with lip-service, while their hearts are far from me.

7 Their reverence of me is worthless; the lessons they teach are nothing but human commandments.

8 You put aside the commandment of God to observe human traditions.'

14 He called the people to him again and said, 'Listen to me, all of you, and understand.

15 Nothing that goes into someone from outside can make that person unclean; it is the things that come out of someone that make that person unclean.

21 For it is from within, from the heart, that evil intentions emerge: fornication, theft, murder,

22 adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, pride, folly.

23 All these evil things come from within and make a person unclean.'

“The Gospel of the Lord”

21ST SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B) – 26 AUGUST, 2018

Saturday, 25 August, 2018

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

5:00 pm  Novena to Our Lady

5:30 pm  Sunset Mass in English

First Reading

JOSHUA 24:1-2, 15-17, 18

1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem; he then summoned all the elders of Israel, its leaders, judges and officials, and they presented themselves in God's presence.

2 Joshua then said to all the people: 'Yahweh, the God of Israel, says this, "From time immemorial, your ancestors, Terah, father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the River, and served other gods.

15 But if serving Yahweh seems a bad thing to you, today you must make up your minds whom you do mean to serve, whether the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now living. As regards my family and me, we shall serve Yahweh.'

16 The people replied, 'Far be it from us to desert Yahweh and to serve other gods!

17 Yahweh our God was the one who brought us and our ancestors here from Egypt, from the place of slave-labour, who worked those great wonders before our eyes and who kept us safe all along the way we travelled and among all the peoples through whom we passed.

18 And Yahweh has driven all the nations out for us, including the Amorites who used to live in the country. We too shall serve Yahweh, for he is our God.'

“The Word of the Lord”

PSALMS 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23

2 I will praise Yahweh from my heart; let the humble hear and rejoice.

3 Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh, let us acclaim his name together.

16 But Yahweh's face is set against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

17 They cry in anguish and Yahweh hears, and rescues them from all their troubles.

18 Yahweh is near to the broken-hearted, he helps those whose spirit is crushed.

19 Though hardships without number beset the upright, Yahweh brings rescue from them all.

20 Yahweh takes care of all their bones, not one of them will be broken.

21 But to the wicked evil brings death, those who hate the upright will pay the penalty.

22 Yahweh ransoms the lives of those who serve him, and there will be no penalty for those who take refuge in him.

Second Reading

EPHESIANS 5:21-32

21 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

22 Wives should be subject to their husbands as to the Lord,

23 since, as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife;

24 and as the Church is subject to Christ, so should wives be to their husbands, in everything.

25 Husbands should love their wives, just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her

26 to make her holy by washing her in cleansing water with a form of words,

27 so that when he took the Church to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless.

28 In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies; for a man to love his wife is for him to love himself.

29 A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that is the way Christ treats the Church,

30 because we are parts of his Body.

31 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh.

32 This mystery has great significance, but I am applying it to Christ and the Church.

“The Word of the Lord”

Gospel Reading

JOHN 6:60-69

60 After hearing it, many of his followers said, 'This is intolerable language. How could anyone accept it?'

61 Jesus was aware that his followers were complaining about it and said, 'Does this disturb you?

62 What if you should see the Son of man ascend to where he was before?

63 'It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

64 'But there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the outset who did not believe and who was to betray him.

65 He went on, 'This is why I told you that no one could come to me except by the gift of the Father.'

66 After this, many of his disciples went away and accompanied him no more.

67 Then Jesus said to the Twelve, 'What about you, do you want to go away too?'

68 Simon Peter answered, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life,

69 and we believe; we have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.'

“The Gospel of the Lord”

20TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B) – 19 AUGUST, 2018

Saturday, 18 August, 2018

20th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

5:00 pm  Novena to Our Lady

5:30 pm  Sunset Mass in English

First Reading

REVELATION 11:19; 12:1-6, 10

19 Then the sanctuary of God in heaven opened, and the ark of the covenant could be seen inside it. Then came flashes of lightning, peals of thunder and an earthquake and violent hail.

1 Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman, robed with the sun, standing on the moon, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

2 She was pregnant, and in labour, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth.

3 Then a second sign appeared in the sky: there was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet.

4 Its tail swept a third of the stars from the sky and hurled them to the ground, and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was at the point of giving birth, so that it could eat the child as soon as it was born.

5 The woman was delivered of a boy, the son who was to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre, and the child was taken straight up to God and to his throne,

6 while the woman escaped into the desert, where God had prepared a place for her to be looked after for twelve hundred and sixty days.

10 Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, 'Salvation and power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his Christ, now that the accuser, who accused our brothers day and night before our God, has been brought down.

“The Word of the Lord”

 PSALMS 34:2-3, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15

2 I will praise Yahweh from my heart; let the humble hear and rejoice.

3 Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh, let us acclaim his name together.

10 Young lions may go needy and hungry, but those who seek Yahweh lack nothing good.

11 Come, my children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.

12 Who among you delights in life, longs for time to enjoy prosperity?

13 Guard your tongue from evil, your lips from any breath of deceit.

14 Turn away from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of Yahweh are on the upright, his ear turned to their cry.

Second Reading

EPHESIANS 5:15-20

15 So be very careful about the sort of lives you lead, like intelligent and not like senseless people.

16 Make the best of the present time, for it is a wicked age.

17 This is why you must not be thoughtless but must recognise what is the will of the Lord.

18 Do not get drunk with wine; this is simply dissipation; be filled with the Spirit.

19 Sing psalms and hymns and inspired songs among yourselves, singing and chanting to the Lord in your hearts,

20 always and everywhere giving thanks to God who is our Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

“The Word of the Lord”

Gospel Reading

JOHN 6:51-58

51 I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.'

52 Then the Jews started arguing among themselves, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?'

53 Jesus replied to them: In all truth I tell you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

54 Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day.

55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person.

57 As the living Father sent me and I draw life from the Father, so whoever eats me will also draw life from me.

58 This is the bread which has come down from heaven; it is not like the bread our ancestors ate: they are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.

“The Gospel of the Lord”

19TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B) – 12 AUGUST, 2018

Saturday, 11 August, 2018

19th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

5:00 pm  Novena to Our Lady

5:30 pm  Sunset Mass in English

First Reading

First Kings 19:4-8

4 He himself went on into the desert, a day's journey, and sitting under a furze bush wished he were dead. 'Yahweh,' he said, 'I have had enough. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.'

5 Then he lay down and went to sleep. Then all of a sudden an angel touched him and said, 'Get up and eat.'

6 He looked round, and there at his head was a scone baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

7 But the angel of Yahweh came back a second time and touched him and said, 'Get up and eat, or the journey will be too long for you.'

8 So he got up and ate and drank, and strengthened by that food he walked for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, God's mountain.

“The Word of the Lord”

PSALMS 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

2 I will praise Yahweh from my heart; let the humble hear and rejoice.

3 Proclaim with me the greatness of Yahweh, let us acclaim his name together.

4 I seek Yahweh and he answers me, frees me from all my fears.

5 Fix your gaze on Yahweh and your face will grow bright, you will never hang your head in shame.

6 A pauper calls out and Yahweh hears, saves him from all his troubles.

7 The angel of Yahweh encamps around those who fear him, and rescues them.

8 Taste and see that Yahweh is good. How blessed are those who take refuge in him.

9 Fear Yahweh, you his holy ones; those who fear him lack for nothing.

Second Reading

Ephesians 4:30--5:2

30 do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God who has marked you with his seal, ready for the day when we shall be set free.

31 Any bitterness or bad temper or anger or shouting or abuse must be far removed from you -- as must every kind of malice.

32 Be generous to one another, sympathetic, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ.

1 As God's dear children, then, take him as your pattern,

2 and follow Christ by loving as he loved you, giving himself up for us as an offering and a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God.

“The Word of the Lord”

Gospel Reading

JOHN 6:41-51

41 Meanwhile the Jews were complaining to each other about him, because he had said, 'I am the bread that has come down from heaven.'

42 They were saying, 'Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know. How can he now say, "I have come down from heaven?" '

43 Jesus said in reply to them, 'Stop complaining to each other.

44 'No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise that person up on the last day.

45 It is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God; everyone who has listened to the Father, and learnt from him, comes to me.

46 Not that anybody has seen the Father, except him who has his being from God: he has seen the Father.

47 In all truth I tell you, everyone who believes has eternal life.

48 I am the bread of life.

49 Your fathers ate manna in the desert and they are dead;

50 but this is the bread which comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die.

51 I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.'

“The Gospel of the Lord”

18TH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B) – 05 AUGUST, 2018

Saturday, 04 August, 2018

18th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B

5:00 pm  Novena to Our Lady

5:30 pm  Sunset Mass in English

First Reading

EXODUS 16:2-4, 12-15

2 And the whole community of Israelites began complaining about Moses and Aaron in the desert

3 and said to them, 'Why did we not die at Yahweh's hand in Egypt, where we used to sit round the flesh pots and could eat to our heart's content! As it is, you have led us into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death!'

4 Yahweh then said to Moses, 'Look, I shall rain down bread for you from the heavens. Each day the people must go out and collect their ration for the day; I propose to test them in this way to see whether they will follow my law or not.

12 'I have heard the Israelites' complaints. Speak to them as follows, "At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have bread to your heart's content, and then you will know that I am Yahweh your God." '

13 That evening, quails flew in and covered the camp, and next morning there was a layer of dew all round the camp.

14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the desert was something fine and granular, as fine as hoarfrost on the ground.

15 As soon as the Israelites saw this, they said to one another, 'What is that ?' not knowing what it was. 'That', Moses told them, 'is the food which Yahweh has given you to eat.

“The Word of the Lord”

PSALMS 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54

3 What we have heard and know, what our ancestors have told us

4 we shall not conceal from their descendants, but will tell to a generation still to come: the praises of Yahweh, his power, the wonderful deeds he has done.

23 Even so he gave orders to the skies above, he opened the sluice-gates of heaven;

24 he rained down manna to feed them, he gave them the wheat of heaven;

25 mere mortals ate the bread of the Mighty, he sent them as much food as they could want.

54 He brought them to his holy land, the hill-country won by his right hand;

Second Reading

EPHESIANS 4:17, 20-24

17 So this I say to you and attest to you in the Lord, do not go on living the empty-headed life that the gentiles live.

20 Now that is hardly the way you have learnt Christ,

21 unless you failed to hear him properly when you were taught what the truth is in Jesus.

22 You were to put aside your old self, which belongs to your old way of life and is corrupted by following illusory desires.

23 Your mind was to be renewed in spirit

24 so that you could put on the New Man that has been created on God's principles, in the uprightness and holiness of the truth.

“The Word of the Lord”

Gospel Reading

JOHN 6:24-35

24 When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?'

26 Jesus answered: In all truth I tell you, you are looking for me not because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.

27 Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of man will give you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.

28 Then they said to him, 'What must we do if we are to carry out God's work?'

29 Jesus gave them this answer, 'This is carrying out God's work: you must believe in the one he has sent.'

30 So they said, 'What sign will you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe in you? What work will you do?

31 Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'

32 Jesus answered them: In all truth I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread;

33 for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

34 'Sir,' they said, 'give us that bread always.'

35 Jesus answered them: I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever thirst.

“The Gospel of the Lord”