Mass Readings - Sunday, 17th March 2019

MASS READINGS – 17TH MARCH 2019
2ND SUNDAY OF LENT

FIRST READING     Genesis 15:5-12,17-18
God enters into a Covenant with Abraham, the man of faith

Taking Abram outside, the Lord said, ‘Look up to heaven and count the stars if
you can.’ ‘Such will be your descendants,’ he told him. Abram put his faith in
the Lord, who counted this as making him justified.
‘I am the Lord’ he said to him ‘who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldaeans to
make you heir to this land.’ ‘My Lord,’ Abram replied ‘how am I to know that I
shall inherit it?’ He said to him, ‘Get me a three-year-old heifer, a three-yearold
goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon.’ He brought
him all these, cut them in half and put half on one side and half facing it on the
other; but the birds he did not cut in half. Birds of prey came down on the
carcases but Abram drove them off.
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, there appeared a smoking furnace
and a firebrand that went between the halves. That day the Lord made a
Covenant with Abram in these terms:
‘To your descendants I give this land,
from the wadi of Egypt to the Great River.’

The Word of the Lord.



SECOND READING     Philippians 3:17-4:1
Our homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes Christ to transfigure us

My brothers, be united in following my rule of life. Take as your models
everybody who is already doing this and study them as you used to study us. I
have told you often, and I repeat it today with tears, there are many who are
behaving as the enemies of the cross of Christ. They are destined to be lost.
They make foods into their god and they are proudest of something they ought
to think shameful; the things they think important are earthly things. For us, our
homeland is in heaven, and from heaven comes the saviour we are waiting for,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will transfigure these wretched bodies of ours into
copies of his glorious body. He will do that by the same power with which he
can subdue the whole universe.
So then, my brothers and dear friends, do not give way but remain faithful in
the Lord. I miss you very much, dear friends; you are my joy and my crown.

The Word of the Lord.


RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 26(27):1,7-9,13-14

The Lord is my light and my help.

The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink?

The Lord is my light and my help.

O Lord, hear my voice when I call;
have mercy and answer.
Of you my heart has spoken:
‘Seek his face.’

The Lord is my light and my help.

It is your face, O Lord, that I seek;
hide not your face.
Dismiss not your servant in anger;
you have been my help.

The Lord is my light and my help.

I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord!

The Lord is my light and my help.


GOSPEL ACCLAMATION     Mt 17:5

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!

From the bright cloud the Father’s voice was heard:
‘This is my Son, the Beloved. Listen to him.’

Glory and praise to you, O Christ!


GOSPEL         Luke 9:28-36
Jesus is transfigured before them

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James and went up the mountain to
pray. As he prayed, the aspect of his face was changed and his clothing became
brilliant as lightning. Suddenly there were two men there talking to him; they
were Moses and Elijah appearing in glory, and they were speaking of his
passing which he was to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his companions
were heavy with sleep, but they kept awake and saw his glory and the two men
standing with him. As these were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, ‘Master, it is
wonderful for us to be here; so let us make three tents, one for you, one for
Moses and one for Elijah.’ – He did not know what he was saying. As he spoke,
a cloud came and covered them with shadow; and when they went into the
cloud the disciples were afraid. And a voice came from the cloud saying, ‘This
is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.’ And after the voice had spoken,
Jesus was found alone. The disciples kept silence and, at that time, told no one
what they had seen.

The Gospel of the Lord