Ash Wednesday Mass | 2nd March, 2022

[Music] [Applause] [Music] here [Music] must be long have i waited for your coming home [Applause] [Music] in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen the grace and peace of our lord jesus christ the love of god and the communion of the holy spirit be with you all and with your spirit we begin today our lenten season we turn our hearts to god asking him for pardon for the many times that we have failed him let us pray grant o lord that we may begin with holy fasting this campaign of christian service so that as we take our battle with against spiritual evils we may be armed with weapons of self-restraint through our lord jesus christ your son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the holy spirit one god forever and ever amen please be seated a reading from the prophet joel yet even now declares the lord return to me with all your heart with fasting with weeping and that morning and rend your hearts and not your garments return to the lord your god for he is gracious and merciful slow to anger and unbounding and steadfast love and he relents over the disaster who knows whether he will not turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him a green offering and a drink offering for the lord your god blew the trumpet in zion consecrate of us call a solemn assembly gather the people consecrate the congregation assemble the elders gather the air children even nursing infant leave the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber between the vestibule and the altar let the priest the minister of the lord weep and say spare your people o lord and make not your heritage a reproach a byword among the nation why should they say among the people who is their god then the lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people the word of the lord our response to god word is have mercy o lord for we have sinned all together i must see you lord for we have sinned have mercy on me o god according to your merciful love according to your great compassion bloat out my transgressions wash me completely from my inequity and cleanse me from my sin our response have mercy o lord for we my transgressions truly i know them my sin is always before me against you you alone have i sin what is evil in your sight i have done a response have mercy o lord for we have sinned create a pure heart for me o god renew your steadfast spirit within me to not cast me away from your presence take not your holy spirit from me our response have mercy o lord for we have sinned restore me the joy of your salvation sustain in me a willing spirit o lord open my lips and my mouth shall proclaim your praise our response [Music] for we have sinned a reading from the second letter of saint paul to the corinthians brethren we are ambassadors for christ god making his appeal through us we implore you on behalf of christ be reconciled to god for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin so that in him we might become the righteousness of god working together with him then we appeal you not to receive the grace of god and wayne for he says in a favorable time i listened to you and in a day of salvation i have helped you behold now is the favorable time behold now is the day of salvation the word of the lord kindly rise for the gospel glory and praise to you o cry altogether [Music] that today you would listen to his voice harden not your hearts glory and praise christ [Music] the lord be with you a reading from the holy gospel according to matthew glory be to you at that time jesus said to his disciples beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them for then you will have no reward from your father who is in heaven thus when you give to the needy sound no trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may be praised by others truly i say to you they have had their reward but when you give to the needy do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your giving may be in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you and when you pray you must not be like the hypocrites for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and in the street corners that they may be seen by others truly i say to you they have had their reward but when you pray go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you and when you fast do not look gloomy like the hypocrites for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others truly i say to you they have had their reward but when you fast anoint your head and wash your face that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your father who is in secret and your father who sees in secret will reward you the gospel of the lord jesus christ please be seated our gospel text is from matthew chapter 6 verse 1 to 6 and 16 to 18. my dear sisters and brothers when i was a young child i approached the season of lent as if i was supposed to be miserable and i think by catholic tradition many of us approach the season of lent as if we are supposed to be miserable and that's not really what god wants from us the 40 days of lent or more technically the 40 plus the six sundays of lent making a total of 46 days is a time when god invites us to enter into a deeper relationship with him it's as if god was saying to us in these 40 days i want to love you more i want to be with you more will you love me more and will you be with me more you see the second part is a changing variable god's love is always constant but in these days god invites us to as it were heighten our love for him and we are invited to do that by three disciplines that the church gives us through prayer through fasting and through arms giving now for many catholics prayer fasting and arms giving if you use these three words are linked to the season of lent and that is not true prayer fasting and arms giving is mandated for every christian believer the whole year through not just through lent if you listen to the scriptures very carefully jesus did not say if you fast if you pray if you give arms he said when you fast when you pray and when you give arms which is indicative that every christian is called to pray to fast and to give arms all through the year but in these days we draw ourselves closer to god by these disciplines either all three or by one of them so really as i look at the season of lent i look at it with great joy i try to make an effort even on ash wednesday to smile a little more rather than look gloomy and that's exactly what jesus said to us today when you pray when you fast when you give arms do not do it like the hypocrites in short jesus is saying let your heart be reflective of your actions if in my heart there is no love for god then every action that i commit externally is merely a tamasa it must come from my heart when i pray it is my desire to give up all other forms of entertainment so that i may spend more time with god there are many people who will give up their favorite tv serials good but what do you do with that time that time is meant to be devoted to god there are many of us who will fast today and good friday are the two the only two mandated days of the church the rest is optional but many catholics i have seen fast for the entire period of lent very good i want to encourage you but when you fast and if you do not use the money that you have saved from your fasting to help somebody else then you have ended up dieting so don't use the season of lent as a time to slim down some people think oh i lose a couple of pounds in length you may but the point is that the money i have saved i give to somebody else so it's making a sacrifice in order to give in my former parish we would launch on this day what we call the vada power collection it was a small simple parish but i used to invite the operationals there to set aside 10 rupees which is the price of a vada pow and put it in a small box as part of their lenten arms or make some sacrifice and put it in that box we were a small parish of 800 people mostly people who are financially challenged i used to be amazed that at the end of the lenten season we had a lack and a half and very often people would tell me father we walked almost 30 minutes each day from our home to the railway station and then again 30 minutes and we saved our shared auto rickshaw money our little children would come and tell me father whatever money we got we gave it to the church people making tremendous sacrifices in lent so that others may be blessed and i want to invite you my dear brothers and sisters to go back to these beautiful disciplines that the church gives us use the fridays and wednesdays in lent to fast at the minimum if you like to do it every day i want to encourage you make personal sacrifices give up in order that you may devote more time to jesus not just that you are miserable and you will see the blessings of god we have thrown away many of our traditional beliefs during the season of lent i know that i was joking with somebody i said i wish everybody in the parish would also deposit their barkis with the parish priests during the 40 days as a resistance to temptation now here's what i want to say to you many of you will begin very well today you will make certain results and i want to congratulate you but in a week's time that evil one is going to attack you if not tomorrow morning please expect it satan doesn't want us to get close to god please understand this clearly the mission of satan is to destroy us so that we may be taken away from our god he will attack you tomorrow i don't know whether it's been your experience but it's mine whenever i say i'm going to for whatever reason just say no to something in life the next day i get it on a platter in fact on a golden platter he tempts us he pushes it in our face because he wants us to fail so here's what i want to say to you if three days from now you fail in your lenten discipline do not give up don't say to myself three days i could not manage how can god love me god will love you pick yourself up and start again defy the evil one say i am going to yes i committed that sin if you are addicted to pornography and you fall into sin another 10 days from now pick yourself up on the 11th day and say no my god i love you i'm going back don't say to myself i was perfect i should be perfect for the 40 days you may fall in between it's not in the falling that god looks at it's in the picking of oneself up that god looks at so don't give up and don't give in to the evil one i want to invite you in these days to come to daily mass i am truly glad to see our congregations back in church praise god in fact we are in the season of lent order shouted alleluia and i want to say to my congregation those of you who have still not come back come back the worship of god certainly can be done anywhere but it is best done in his church churches were built for a reason come back to daily mass as a personal discipline each day at mars the readings are beautiful each liturgy all through lent every day's liturgy is different tomorrow we will have brother trevor lewis here who will lead us in an adoration and healing service from 7 30 p.m seven o'clock is mars 7 30 p.m come for that every friday in lent at 7 30 p.m we will have the way of the cross come for that next week we will have a lenten mission as you exit the church today you will be given the program make time to come for that at one time our lenten missions used to be jam-packed now we look for people to come this is a time when we give up everything so that we may give in to god's love i welcome you to this beautiful lenten season my dear brothers and sisters and may god bless you may you truly feel embraced by our loving god amen please stand the sign of blessed ashes invites us to respond to the god who calls us to come back to him with all our heart the penance of lent has begun our prayers enrich the charity and faith of that penance our response will be lord your our prayer all together for all the members of the holy church as they repent and do penance in this chosen time let us pray to the lord for the will to discipline ourselves by fasting and self-denial let us pray to the lord for generosity to the poor and the oppressed by practical arms giving let us pray to the lord for a return to the sacrament of absolution and reconciliation let us pray to the lord for the dead who have entered a state of purification and mercy let us pray to the lord god of mercy and compassion look upon the petitions of penitent people as we pray for grace at this time let us not forget the needs of others we ask this through christ our lord the ashes will now be imposed please follow the instructions of the ushers [Music] turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel remember you are dust and to dust you will return repent the kingdom is repent the kingdom is at hand rend your heart not your comments now the acceptable time now the acceptable time [Music] turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel remember you are dust and to dust you will return repent the kingdom is at hand repent the kingdom is [Music] the acceptable time now the acceptable time [Music] turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel remember you are dust and to dust you will return repent the kingdom is our time repent the kingdom is [Music] one another now the acceptable time [Music] now the acceptable time [Music] turn away from sin and be faithful to the gospel remember you are dust and to dust you will return [Music] oh [Music] take my will and freedom take my life in time i offer you myself and all [Music] everything i give to you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] pray my sisters and brothers that this our sacrifice may be acceptable to god the father almighty may the lord accept the sacrifice for the praise and glory of his name for our good and the good of all his holy church as we solemnly offer the annual sacrifice for the beginning of lent we entreat you o lord that through works of penance and charity we may turn away from harmful pleasures and cleanse from our sins may become worthy to celebrate devoutly the passion of your son who lives and reigns forever and ever amen the lord be with you and with your spirit lift up your hearts we lift them up to the lord let us give thanks to the lord our god it is it is truly right and just our duty and our salvation always and everywhere to give you thanks lord holy father almighty and eternal god for through bodily fasting you restrain our faults raise up our minds and bestow both virtue and its rewards through christ our lord through him the angels praise your majesty dominions adore and powers tremble before you heaven and the virtues of heaven and the blessed said of him worship together with exaltation may our voices we pray join with theirs and humble praise as we acclaim oh [Music] full of your glory [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] blessed is [Music] the [Music] you are indeed holy o lord the fount of all holiness make holy therefore these gifts we pray by sending down your spirit upon them like the dewfall so that they may become for us the body and blood of our lord jesus christ at the time he was betrayed and entered willingly into his passion he took bread and giving thanks he broke it and gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you and eat of it for this is my body which will be given up for you in a similar way when supper was ended he took the chalice and once more giving thanks he gave it to his disciples saying take this all of you and drink from it for this is the chalice of my blood the blood of the new and eternal covenant which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins do this in memory of me the mystery of faith [Music] [Music] you have set [Music] therefore as we celebrate the memorial of his death and resurrection we offer you lord the bread of life and the chalice of salvation giving thanks that you have held us worthy to be in your presence and minister to you humbly we pray that partaking of the body and blood of christ we may be gathered into one by the holy spirit remember lord your church spread throughout the world and bring her to the fullness of charity together with francis our pope with oswald our bishop and with all the clergy remember also our brothers and sisters who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and all who have died in your mercy welcome them into the light of your face have mercy on us all we pray that with the blessed virgin mary mother of god with blessed joseph her spouse with the blessed apostles and all the saints who have pleased you throughout the ages we may merit to be coheirs to eternal life and we praise and glorify you through your son jesus christ through him and with him and in him oh god almighty father in the unity of the holy spirit all glory and honor is yours forever and ever at the savior's command and formed by divine teaching we dare to say our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil deliver us lord we pray from every evil graciously grant peace in our days that by the help of your mercy we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our savior jesus christ for the kingdom the power and the glory are yours forever lord jesus christ to set your apostles peace i leave you my peace i give you look not on our sins but on the faith of your church and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will who live and reign forever and ever amen the peace of the lord be with you always and with yours let us offer each other the sign of peace peace be with you lamb of god you take away the sins of the world have mercy on us lamb of god you take away the sin of the world have mercy on us lamb of god take away the sin of the world and grant us peace behold the lamb of god behold him who takes away the sins of the world how blessed are we who are called to the supper of the lamb lord i am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word my soul shall be so [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] remember not my sins just let me hear you say i forgive you i love you you are mine take my hand go in peace sin no more beloved [Music] depended [Music] i forgive you i love you you are mine take my hand go in peace sin no more beloved [Music] my heart to those with me thought only of myself a victim of my grace i forgive you i love you you are mine take my hand go and peace sin no more beloved [Music] i've played so many they've games me so confused [Music] i forgive you i love you you are mine take my hand go in peace sin no more beloved ones [Music] i forgive you i love you you are mine take my hand go in peace [Music] the ushers will now distribute envelopes for the lenten arms the london arms is your contribution during the season of lent and at the end of the season of lent you are requested to drop them back in the boxes marked lenten arms the lenten arms are sent to the archdiocese of bombay which is then used for our diocese in seminary both for the formation of priests as well as for the maintenance of the building please also pick up a copy of the missions the mission program as you exit the church for your information we have now installed a temporary new sound system the speakers that you see in the middle of the aisle are just temporary they will be fitted on the ceiling we are placing it on a temporary basis because we want to check it out and only when we are convinced that this is a solution to the problems that we have been facing will be purchased the sound system so please do give us your feedback do remember that tomorrow we have adoration with brother trevor lewis from 7 30 to 9. on friday saturday on friday we will begin the retreat for our youth 58 youth have registered please keep them in prayer they will be with us on friday saturday and sunday let us pray may the sacrament we have received sustain us oh lord that our lenten fast may be pleasing to you and be for us a healing remedy through christ our lord amen bow your heads pour out a spirit of compunction oh god on those who bow before your majesty and by your mercy may they merit the rewards you promise to those who do penance through christ our lord amen the lord be with you and with your spirit and may almighty god bless you the father and the son and the holy spirit amen this mass has now ended let us glorify jesus by the lives that we live thanks be to and have a blessed and joyful season of lent everybody [Music] into your mind [Music] [Applause] we [Music] [Music] oh [Applause] gone from my prayers [Music] me [Music] [Music] why [Music]

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Length: 46min 40sec (2800 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 01 2022