Gospel Power 2019

GOSPEL POWER 2019 [Scripture quotations are] from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Š 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Copyright Š 2018 by the Daughters of St. Paul Published and distributed by Paulines Publishing House 2650 F. B. Harrison Street 1302 Pasay City, Philippines E-mail: edpph@paulines.ph Website: www.paulines.ph Cover and layout design: Ann Marie Nemenzo, FSP Illustrations: Rexie San Luis All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.

1st Printing 2018 ISSN 2350-7217

at the service of the Gospel and culture

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

January

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tuesday

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1st Reading: Nm 6:22-27

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 23Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the Israelites: You shall say to them, 24The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; 26the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace. 27So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

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Responsorial Psalm: Ps 67 – May God bless us in his mercy.

2nd Reading: Gal 4:4-7

Brothers and sisters: 4When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.

6 And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God.

Gospel: Lk 2:16-21

16 The shepherds went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. 17When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. 19But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 21After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

ith today’s advancement in technology, it is so easy for us to capture images of an event and gather them into digital storage devices. At times, we become more concerned with capturing images rather than being fully present to what is going on. Do we still trust our hearts to conserve our experiences as much as we trust our digital storage devices? Mary, in today’s Gospel, gently reminds us that no digital storage device can substitute for the heart, which has the capacity to discover meaning, interiorize lessons, make decisions and interact with the Holy Spirit, who alone can lead a person into deeper levels of the truth. On this first day of the year 2019, the Gospel invites us to be fully present as our experiences unfold, and to let our hearts discover the wealth that these experiences have to offer.

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ord Jesus, may your mother intercede for us and help us to rediscover the heart as the real and irreplaceable storehouse of our experiences. Amen.

1st Sunday of Lent

MARCH

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sunday

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1st Reading: Dt 26:4-10

When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the LORD your God, 5you shall make this response before the LORD your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. 6When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, 7we cried to the LORD, the God of our ancestors; the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. 8The LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; 9and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O LORD, have given me.” You shall set it down before the LORD your God and bow down before the LORD your God. 4

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 91 – Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

2nd Reading: Rom 10:8-13

But what does [scripture] say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is LORD and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. 11The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.” 12For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same LORD is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. 13For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

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Gospel: Lk 4:1-13

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’” 5Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” 8Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the LORD your God, and serve only him.’” 9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, 10for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ 11and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” 12Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the LORD your God to the test.’” 13When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.

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he Gospel about the temptation of Jesus offers us a way to deal with our temptations and shows us how to act in the face of the tempter’s lures. Jesus does not argue nor reason with the devil. He blocks the devil’s attempts at dialogue by resorting to the Word of God as a weapon to expose the deception in the tempter’s words. Jesus says nothing more than what is written in the Scriptures.

The devil is the “prince of lies” and to enter into dialogue with him will surely lead a person to fall into his trap. This is shown to us in the symbolic story of Genesis 3, where the woman was innocently lured into a friendly conversation with the serpent and ended up disobeying God’s command. Jesus offers us the powerful Word of God as a defense and shield against the tempter’s provocations.

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ord Jesus, lead us to nourish ourselves with the Word of God, and draw from it the strength and light we need in moments of temptation. Amen.

april

21

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sunday

Easter Sunday Our Lord’s Resurrection

Mass of the Day:

1st Reading: Acts 10:34a, 37-43

Then Peter began to speak to them: 37“You know the message that spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

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Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118 – This is the day the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad.

2nd Reading: 1 Cor 5:6b-8 (or Col 3:1-4)

Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough?

Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed.

8 Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

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Gospel: Jn 20:1-9

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the LORD out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3Then

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Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. he account of the first Easter morning presents three characters, but only Simon Peter and Mary Magdalene are named. Interestingly, it is the third and unnamed disciple who is reported as the first believer in the resurrection of Jesus. He is simply referred to as “the other disciple” who accompanies Peter to the tomb. But in other parts of John’s Gospel, his identity is defined by his relationship to Jesus—“the disciple whom Jesus loved.” No wonder he is the first one to believe. Love enables him to perceive what Peter and Mary Magdalene cannot yet grasp from the signs of the empty tomb and burial cloths. This disciple’s experience of his Master’s love has made his heart extraordinarily sensitive and able to pierce through the dark circumstances of Jesus’ death. Love enkindles his faith in the resurrection even before reason can grasp what has happened.

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We hail you, Lord Jesus, victor over death! Alleluia! Amen.

Solemnity of Our Lord’s Birth Mass during the Day

DECEMBER

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wednesday

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1st Reading: Is 52:7-10

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” 8Listen!

Your sentinels lift up their voices, together they sing for joy; for in plain sight they see the return of the LORD to Zion. 9Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 7

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 98 – All the ends of the earth have seen

the saving power of God.

2nd Reading: Heb 1:1-6

1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds.

3 He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. 5For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”? 6And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.”

Gospel: Jn 1:1-18

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being.

What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of

all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. 6There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. 11He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. 12But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. 15(John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’”) 16From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. n the beginning of time, God uttered his eternal Word and caused everything to exist. In the fullness of time, the same eternal Word entered the finite world of creatures to re-create it from within. He became a human being to become the principle of human renewal, so that human beings may become what the Creator originally envisioned them to be—responsible stewards of everything that exists, children of God whom creation awaits with eager longing as it groans in labor pains (Rom 8:19, 22). The Word became flesh and dwelt among us! God has joined himself to us so that, together, we can make everything new.

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ord Jesus, as we celebrate your birthday today, may we also celebrate the renewal of the Creator’s trust in humanity. Amen.