ENTRANCE ANTIPHON

Blessed be God the Father and his only begotten Son and the Holy Spirit: for he has shown that he loves us.

PENITENTIAL RITE

As we come together to worship and adore God our Father, Jesus our Saviour and the Holy Spirit our Counsellor, let us ask ourselves as to how have we witnessed to the fatherhood of God, the salvation brought by Jesus and the charisms entrusted to us by the Holy Spirit. Have I been the child of God, the part of the Body of Christ and Temple of the Holy Spirit in my thoughts, words and dealings?

I confess...

Glory to God in the highest,/ and peace to his people on earth./ Lord God, heavenly King,/ almighty God and Father,/ we worship you,/ we give you thanks,/ we praise you for your glory./ Lord Jesus Christ,/ only Son of the Father,/ Lord God, Lamb of God,/ you take away the sin of the world:/ have mercy on us;/ you are seated at the right hand of the Father,/ receive our prayer./ For you alone are the Holy One,/ you alone are the Lord,/ you alone are the Most High,/ Jesus Christ,/ with the Holy Spirit,/ in the glory of God the Father./ Amen.

OPENING PRAYER

Let us pray. Father, you sent your Word to bring us truth and your Spirit to make us holy. Through them we come to know the mystery of your life. Help us to worship you, one God in three Persons, by proclaiming and living our faith in you. Grant this…

FIRST READING

(In this reading Moses is reminding the Israelites of the magnanimous nature of God and exhorts them to follow his commandments in order to enjoy the fullness of life that God wants to give them.)

A reading from the Book of Deuteronomy (4:32-34, 39-40)

Moses said to the people, “Ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Know therefore this day, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments which I command you this day, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God gives you for ever.”

                                                                                    This is the Word of the Lord

PSALM (32)

Response: Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own.

The word of the Lord is faithful and all his works to be trusted. The Lord loves justice and right and fills the earth with his love. R./

By his word the heavens were made, by the breath of his mouth all the stars. He spoke; and it came to be. He commanded; it sprang into being. R./

The Lord looks on those who revere him, on those who hope in his love, to rescue their souls from death, to keep them alive in famine. R./

Our soul is waiting for the Lord. The Lord is our help and our shield. May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you. R./

SECOND READING

(St Paul reminds the Romans of the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to call God “Abba, Father” and thus testifies to the fact that we are children of God.)

A reading from the Letter of St Paul to the Romans (8:14-17)

All who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, “Abba ! Father!” it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

This is the Word of the Lord

ACCLAMATION (Apoc 1:8)

Alleluia, alleluia! Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, the God who is, and who was, and who is to come. Alleluia!

GOSPEL

(Jesus sends his disciples on a universal mission with the command to teach people and to baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.)

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Matthew (28:16-20)

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshipped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

                                                                                  This is the Gospel of the Lord

I believe in God,/the Father Almighty,/ Creator of heaven and earth./ I believe in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./ He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit/ and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he rose again./He ascended into heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the Holy Spirit,/the holy catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./ Amen.

PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL

Cel: Dear friends in Christ, through our baptism we have become the children of God, the members of the body of Christ and the temples of the Holy Spirit. Let us ask our heavenly Father to unite us with the Holy Trinity, saying:

Response: Lord, unite us in your love.

1. That our Holy Father, our Cardinals, Bishops, Priests and Religious may enjoy the fruits of unity in the Church on the Universal as well as Local levels, we pray to the Lord. R./

2. That the faithful may receive a special grace from the Triune God to build their conscience and be guided by a mature conscience to build their communities into the Body of Christ, we pray to the Lord. R./

3. That the many denominations in Christianity be united under the banner of love into one flock of Jesus the Good Shepherd, we pray to the Lord. R./

4. That the society which is divided in the name of caste, colour, language, culture and religion be united in God the Father witnessing to his paternal love, we pray to the Lord. R./

                       (pray for local and personal needs)

Cel: Heavenly Father, send your Spirit upon us so that we may be able to call you “Abba, Father” and confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord”. We ask this...

PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS

Lord our God, make these gifts holy, and through them make us a perfect offering to you. We ask this…

PREFACE (P 43)

Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We joyfully proclaim our faith in the mystery of the Godhead. You have revealed your glory as the glory also of your Son and of the Holy Spirit: three Persons equal in majesty, undivided in splendour, yet one Lord, one God, ever to be adored in your everlasting glory.

And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your glory and join in their unending hymn of praise:

All: Holy, holy, holy...

COMMUNION ANTIPHON

You are the sons of God, so God has given you the Spirit of his Son to form your hearts and make you cry out: Abba, Father.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Lord God, we worship you, a Trinity of Persons, one eternal God. May our faith and the sacrament we receive bring us health of mind and body. We ask this…

            Liturgy & Life

God the Father formed the world. Through his/her sinfulness human being has deformed it. God the Son Jesus came to reform the world and God the Holy Spirit comes to transform the whole Universe. Form, deform, reform and transform – Four words, but these four words summarize the entire salvation history.

At the beginning of every Holy Eucharist the Main Celebrant (priest) greets the congregation in the words of St Paul: “The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.” The spontaneous response of the congregation is: “and also with you.” The feast of the Holy Trinity invites us to reflect on these words today.

St Gregory the Great says, “The Old Testament was basically the time of God the Father, the New Testament was the time of God the Son but today is the time of the Holy Spirit.”

In the Old Testament there are two ways of understanding the covenants God made with humankind: unilateral and bilateral. The unilateral understanding suggests that God loves humankind unconditionally. “Though a mother forgets her own child, God will not forget his people.” His faithfulness to the covenant does not depend on the response of the other party. For “he is the Lord, God of mercy, slow to anger and abounding in love”. But the bilateral understanding of the covenant portrays the image of God as the one who expects a loving response from his people. Sentences like, “If you obey my commandments I will bless you, but if you do not walk in my ways you will be destroyed” abound in the Old Testament. Today we are called to reflect on our understanding of God and his covenant with us.

The God of the New Testament is the God of unconditional love. He so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Jesus came to offer the saving grace to human race. Humankind incurs God’s wrath or His judgment upon itself by making a choice against God.

Today’s reading from St Paul’s Letter to the Romans, reflects an early Christian recognition that the one God has three persons. Paul’s concern in Chapter 8 is the tremendous result of the Christian’s relationship to the Triune God. We who are baptized, by reason of the presence of the grace of the Spirit within, enjoy a new relationship to the Father—that of adopted children and heirs through Christ.

The essence of our religion, therefore, is a relationship—the relationship of human beings with God. We should continually deepen our relationship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

May we always experience the saving grace of Jesus, the unconditional, abounding love of the Father and the constant communion with the Holy Spirit so that the forming, reforming and transforming work of the Holy Trinity be seen in our lives.

                                                                                              – Fr Robert D’Souza

June 2009

READINGS OF THE WEEK

Psalter Week 2

08 Mon (G) 2 Cor 1:1-7/ Ps 33:2-3,4-5,6-7,8-9/ Mt 5:1-12
09 Tue (G) 2 Cor 1:18-22/ Ps 118:129-130,131-132,133&135/ Mt 5:13-16
10 Wed (G) 2 Cor 3:4-11/ Ps 98:5,6,7,8,9/ Mt 5:17-19
11 Thu (R) St Barnabas, Ap. (mem) Acts 11:21b-26;13:1-3/
Ps 97:1,2-3ab,3cd-4,5-6/ Mt 10:7-13
12 Fri (G) 2 Cor 4:7-15/ Ps 115:10-11,15-16,17-18/ Mt 5:27-32
13 Sat (W) St Anthony of Padua (mem) 2 Cor 5:14-21/
Ps 102:1-2,3-4,8-9,11-12/ Mt 5:33-37