Sunday Mass
FIRST READING: Prophet Ezekiel 47:1-2. 8-9. 12
I saw a stream of water coming from the Temple, bringing life to all wherever it flowed.
The Angel brought me back to the entrance of the Temple, where a stream came out from under the Temple threshold and flowed eastwards, since the Temple faced east. The water flowed from under the right side of the Temple, south of the altar. He took me out by the north gate and led me right round outside as far as the outer east gate where the water flowed out on the right-hand side.
He said, ‘This water flows east down to the Arabah and to the sea; and flowing into the sea it makes its waters wholesome. Wherever the river flows, all living creatures teeming in it will live. Fish will be very plentiful, for wherever the water goes it brings health, and life teems wherever the river flows. Along the river, on either bank, will grow every kind of fruit tree with leaves that never wither and fruit that never fails; they will bear new fruit every month, because this water comes from the sanctuary. And their fruit will be good to eat and the leaves medicinal.’
The Word of the Lord.
Psalm 45:2-3,5-6,8-9 R.v.5
Response: - The waters of a river give joy to God’s city,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
or - Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
1. God is for us a refuge and strength, a helper close at hand, in time of distress:
so we shall not fear though the earth should rock, though the mountains fall into the depths of the sea. - Response
2. The waters of a river give joy to God’s city, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within, it cannot be shaken; God will help it at the dawning of the day. - Response
3 The Lord of hosts is with us: the God of Jacob is our stronghold.
Come, consider the works of the Lord, the redoubtable deeds he has done on the earth. - Response
SECOND READING: St Paul to the Corinthians 3:9-11. 16-17
You are the temple of God.
You are God’s building.
By the grace God gave me, I succeeded as an architect and laid the foundations, on which someone else is doing the building. Everyone doing the building must work carefully. For the foundation, nobody can lay any other than the one which has already been laid, that is Jesus Christ.
Didn’t you realise that you were God’s temple and that the Spirit of God was living among you? If anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy him, because the temple of God is sacred;
and you are that temple.
The Word of the Lord.
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION : 2 Chron 7:16
Alleluia, alleluia!
I have chosen and consecrated this house, says the Lord,
for my name to be there for ever.
Alleluia!
GOSPEL : John 2:13-22
He was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body.
Just before the Jewish Passover Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and in the Temple he found people selling cattle and sheep and pigeons, and the money changers sitting at their counters there. Making a whip out of some cord, he drove them all out of the Temple, cattle and sheep as well, scattered the money changers’ coins, knocked their tables over and said to the pigeon-sellers,
‘Take all this out of here and stop turning my Father’s house into a market.’
Then his disciples remembered the words of scripture: ‘Zeal for your house will devour me.’
The Jews intervened and said, ‘What sign can you show us to justify what you have done?‘
risen Jesus Jesus answered, ‘Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up’.
The Jews replied, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this sanctuary:
are you going to raise it up in three days?’
But he was speaking of the sanctuary that was his body, and when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the words he had said.
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
Readings from The Jerusalem Bible © 1966 by Darton Longman & Todd Ltd and Doubleday and Company Ltd.
Psalm © The Grail (England) published by HarperCollins.
Understanding the Liturgical Cycle
The Lectionary is arranged into two cycles, one for Sundays and one for weekdays. The Sunday cycle is divided into three years, labeled A, B, and C. 2005 was Year A, 2006 was Year B, 2007 was Year C, and so on. The Liturgical Year begins on the 1st Sunday of Advent (usually late November) and ends with the Feast of Christ the King.
In Year A, we read mostly from the gospel of Matthew. In Year B, we read the gospel of Mark and chapter 6 of the gospel of John. In Year C, we read the gospel of Luke. The gospel of John is read during the Easter season in all three years.
The first reading, usually from the Old Testament, reflects important themes from the gospel reading. The second reading is usually from one of the epistles, a letter written to an early church community. These letters are read semi-continuously. Each Sunday, we pick up close to where we left off the Sunday before, though some passages are never read.
The weekday cycle is divided into two years, Year I and Year II. Year I is read in odd-numbered years (2003, 2005, etc.) and Year II is used in even-numbered years (2002, 2004, etc.) The gospels for both years are the same. During the year, the gospels are read semi-continuously, beginning with Mark, then moving on to Matthew and Luke. The gospel of John is read during the Easter season. For Advent , Christmas, and Lent , readings are chosen that are appropriate to the season. The first reading on weekdays may be taken from the Old or the New Testament. Typically, a single book is read semi-continuously (i.e. some passages are not read) until it is finished and then a new book is started.
Year (2024) is Year B Sundays / Year II Weekdays
Year (2025) is Year C Sundays / Year I Weekdays
