Gospel Power 2021 by Paulines Publishing House

GOSPEL POWER 2021 [Scripture quotations are] from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ÂŠ 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Copyright ÂŠ 2020 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 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines Logo used with permission from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines 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 2020 ISSN 2350-7217

at the service of the Gospel and culture

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

january

white

friday

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. 27 So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them. 22

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. 6And 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 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. 16

ary’s initial “yes” to God’s proposal has set in motion events of cosmic proportions — too great for a simple village girl to take in all at once. But Luke portrays Mary as profoundly anchored. She knows she is not expected to figure out what is going on, but simply to remain radically open to God’s guidance of the course of events toward the fulfillment of the divine purposes. Life is a mystery that does not ask to be solved, for it reveals itself as we go through it day by day, moment by moment. In order not to miss this precious revelation amidst the many distractions that vie for our attention, we need the disposition which Mary teaches us on this very first day of the year. Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Reflective silence is the disposition of one who is ready for the revelation.

Lord Jesus, help us to begin this new year by learning from your mother how to be open to the workings of Divine Providence in our life. Amen.

Passion of Our Lord (Palm Sunday)

march

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sunday

Procession of Palms: Mk 11:1-10 Mass: 1st Reading: Is 50:4-7

4 The Lord God has given me the tongue of a teacher, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning he wakens — wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. 5The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I did not turn backward. 6I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. 7The Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 22 – My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? 2nd Reading: Phil 2:6-11

Though Jesus was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. 9Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 6

The Passion of Jesus: Mk 14:1–15:47 (or Mk 15:22-39)

The soldiers brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull). 23And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it. 24And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. 22

25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” 27And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left. [28] 29Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30save yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also taunted him. 33 When it was noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34At three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 35When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah.” 36And someone ran, filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” 37Then Jesus gave a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 Now when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” 26

he crucified Jesus portrayed by Mark is the representative-human being who touches the rock bottom of abandonment and gives voice to the most intense sense of aloneness in suffering. But the voice is not of desperation, but of prayer (Ps 22:1) poured forth from a heart that continues to trust and hang on to the relationship with God, who is perceived as silent and far off but not really absent. In this anguished cry, each one of us today can find the expression of our deepest longing to stay connected with God in all the dark and painful circumstances of our life. And because Jesus is the representative-human being, his unshakeable trust in the Father will keep us firmly anchored in the one and only secure relationship in this constantly changing and passing world.

ord Jesus, though they dared you to prove your divinity by stepping down from the cross, you remained in order to assure us that we would never be abandoned in our sufferings. Amen.

april

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sunday

Easter Sunday of the Lord’s Resurrection

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

34 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. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 118 – This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad. nd 2 Reading: Col 3:1-4 (or 1 Cor 5:6b-8)

Brothers and sisters: 1So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Gospel: Jn 20:1-9

1 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 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 Paschal events heighten the contrast between the ways of the world and the ways of God. The worldly powers that conspired to put Jesus to death ensured that this event would be a superfluous display of violence, as if to declare loudly that they were in control. In contrast, the resurrection of Jesus is marked by such simplicity that can either be dismissed as insignificant or otherwise misinterpreted. An empty tomb and burial cloths — Mary Magdalene readily concludes that enemies have stolen Jesus’ body. But one disciple, the one identified as the beloved of Jesus, looks through the eyes of his heart, understands the telltale signs, and believes. For the death of Jesus is a self-offering in love. Love has its own logic, its own way of making itself known. Love is God’s way. Although the signs are simple, the beloved disciple knows in his heart that his Master is alive anew.

ail to you, Lord Jesus Christ! Easter heralds the triumph of your love. Alleluia! Amen.

may

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sunday

Solemnity of Our Lord’s Ascension 55th World Communications Day

1st Reading: Acts 1:1-11 1 In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2 until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 47 – God mounts his throne to shouts of joy; a blare of trumpets for the Lord.

2nd Reading: Eph 1:17-23 Brothers and sisters: 17I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Gospel: Mk 16:15-20 Jesus said to his disciples, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. 16The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.â&#x20AC;? 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it. 15

t is as a human being — the first pattern of the new humanity — that Jesus reenters the sphere of God, which is what heaven is. Jesus’ entire human life, his loving decisions and choices pointed to us the presence of that sphere. And his death and resurrection opened up for us the way to it. The heavenly Kingdom is now definitively established on earth as a reality whose splendor is not yet fully unveiled. Jesus’ ascension into heaven is his enthronement as heir of this Kingdom. Though his mission as a human being has been fulfilled, Jesus continues to be the Lord who empowers the proclamation that the Kingdom of heaven — God’s sphere — is now present on earth as a reality that awaits its full manifestation. We, too, become co-heirs of this Kingdom as we follow the pattern of Jesus’ faithful human life.

ord Jesus, mold our lives according to the pattern of your faithful life so that we may join you in the sphere of God where you have preceded us. Amen.

may

red

Solemnity of Pentecost

sunday 1st Reading: Acts 2:1-11

1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. 5 Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. 7Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? 9Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11Cretans and Arabs — in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.”

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 104 – Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth. 2nd Reading: 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13

Brothers and sisters: 3No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit. 4Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. 7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

. . . 12For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body — Jews or Greeks, slaves or free — and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

Gospel: Jn 20:19-23

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” 19

ersecuted, wounded by scandals, maligned and marginalized in many places, the Church — born at Pentecost — does not cease to be the Body of Christ, whose soul and animating principle is the Holy Spirit. Made up of sinners who are saints-in-the-making, the Church continues to be a holy presence in the world, witnessing to the transforming power of God, to the ongoing divine project of renewing the face of the earth. Today’s liturgical readings give us glimpses of the multi-faceted work of the Holy Spirit. The first reading highlights the Spirit’s work of creating unity out of diversity, allowing a message spoken in different tongues to be understood by all hearers. The second reading focuses on the Spirit’s work of empowering us, believers, to live out our new identity as God’s children. And the Gospel speaks of the Spirit as our internal teacher and the activator of the memory of Jesus.

ord Jesus, thank you for keeping your promise to send us the Advocate as our dependable companion in our journey back to the Father. Amen.

december

violet

2nd Sunday of Advent

sunday 1st Reading: Bar 5:1-9

1 Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem, and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God. 2Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God; put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting; 3for God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven. 4For God will give you evermore the name, “Righteous Peace, Godly Glory.” 5 Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height; look toward the east, and see your children gathered from west and east at the word of the Holy One, rejoicing that God has remembered them. 6For they went out from you on foot, led away by their enemies; but God will bring them back to you, carried in glory, as on a royal throne. 7For God has ordered that every high mountain and the everlasting hills be made low and the valleys filled up, to make level ground, so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God. 8The woods and every fragrant tree have shaded Israel at God’s command. 9For God will lead Israel with joy, in the light of his glory, with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 126 – The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy. 2nd Reading: Phil 1:4-6, 8-11 Brothers and sisters: 4I constantly pray with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, 5because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. 6I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. ...8For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. 9And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full

insight 10to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, 11having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Gospel: Lk 3:1-6

1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

oday’s Gospel opens with the evangelist Luke naming the holders of power and influence in the political and religious spheres of first-century Israel. But he says nothing more about them, because they are not his interest. For him, they are only time-markers, forming a background to the narration of the unfolding of God’s plan in a specified time in world history. Ironically divine action begins not in the center of power but in the remoteness of the Judean desert, among the insignificant ones of society. A lone voice of an austere prophet takes up the proclamation of the most important message in human history. While the powerful personages enumerated at the beginning of this Gospel are preoccupied with their own agenda of greatness, God works his own strategy of littleness and insignificance to bring to fulfillment his grand design for the world.

ord Jesus, help us to enter into the divine logic of reversal and discover the marvel of God’s ways, which are not the ways of the world. Amen.

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