Skip to main content
"Remember, I am with you always to the end of the age" (Mt 28:20)
1. MAKE THE SIGN OF THE CROSS THEN SAY"May the Word of the Lord be on my mind, on my lips, and in my heart."

2. COMPOSITION OF PLACE—

"VISIO DIVINA" OR SEEING WITH HEART'S EYES (Optional)

Use this image of Joseph The Carpenter with child Jesus by Georges de La Tour. The experience of beholding a La Tour is like looking at the sunset; your eyes are glued to the dimming sun. Sit down and quietly gaze and marvel at this masterpiece by someone who went through a similar crisis. Ten years after painting this in 1652, Georges and his family perished in an epidemic in LunĂ©ville France. GUIDED MEDITATION—1—Does it mirror or evoke any feeling of the darkness surrounding you these days? Focus on your breathing and feel your own heart beat; listen.—2—Move your attention towards the candle light. Feel in your eyes the warmth. Look at those dirty fingernails. Ask to be cleansed.—3—Notice too the straight flame unperturbed by Joseph's breath. Imagine the heart of God beating and aflame with divine love for you.—4—Join in! The light source leads the way as you enter the scene. The light is veiled and unveiled. Move close to where the light is unveiled in Jesus' glowing face. Likewise, notice that you are moving away from the cast shadows. Look at that face aglow with a child's smile. Thank him briefly.—5—Now, tell Jesus quietly your heart's desires. Imagine his gaze shifting on you. Jesus says "BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD" (Ps 46:10). Use this image as a screen saver.

Readings at Mass - 19 Jun 2022

Here is your Readings at Mass page for 19 Jun 2022: Corpus Christi.

If you want to stop these emails coming, simply reply to this one. More details at the bottom of this message.

Sunday 19 June 2022

Corpus Christi - Solemnity 

Liturgical Colour: White.

Readings at Mass


First reading
Genesis 14:18-20

Melchizedek brought bread and wine

Melchizedek king of Salem brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High. He pronounced this blessing:
‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, creator of heaven and earth,
and blessed be God Most High for handing over your enemies to you.’
And Abram gave him a tithe of everything.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 109(110):1-4
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
The Lord’s revelation to my Master:
  ‘Sit on my right:
  your foes I will put beneath your feet.’
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
The Lord will wield from Zion
  your sceptre of power:
  rule in the midst of all your foes.
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
A prince from the day of your birth
  on the holy mountains;
  from the womb before the dawn I begot you.
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.
The Lord has sworn an oath he will not change.
  ‘You are a priest for ever,
  a priest like Melchizedek of old.’
You are a priest for ever, a priest like Melchizedek of old.

Second reading
1 Corinthians 11:23-26

Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord

This is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this as a memorial of me.’ In the same way he took the cup after supper, and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Whenever you drink it, do this as a memorial of me.’ Until the Lord comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming his death.
Sequence

Lauda, Sion

The Sequence may be said or sung in full, or using the shorter form indicated by the asterisked verses.
Sing forth, O Zion, sweetly sing
The praises of thy Shepherd-King,
  In hymns and canticles divine;
Dare all thou canst, thou hast no song
Worthy his praises to prolong,
  So far surpassing powers like thine.
Today no theme of common praise
Forms the sweet burden of thy lays –
  The living, life-dispensing food –
That food which at the sacred board
Unto the brethren twelve our Lord
  His parting legacy bestowed.
Then be the anthem clear and strong,
Thy fullest note, thy sweetest song,
  The very music of the breast:
For now shines forth the day sublime
That brings remembrance of the time
  When Jesus first his table blessed.
Within our new King’s banquet-hall
They meet to keep the festival
  That closed the ancient paschal rite:
The old is by the new replaced;
The substance hath the shadow chased;
  And rising day dispels the night.
Christ willed what he himself had done
Should be renewed while time should run,
  In memory of his parting hour:
Thus, tutored in his school divine,
We consecrate the bread and wine;
  And lo – a Host of saving power.
This faith to Christian men is given –
Bread is made flesh by words from heaven:
  Into his blood the wine is turned:
What though it baffles nature’s powers
Of sense and sight? This faith of ours
  Proves more than nature e’er discerned.
Concealed beneath the two-fold sign,
Meet symbols of the gifts divine,
  There lie the mysteries adored:
The living body is our food;
Our drink the ever-precious blood;
  In each, one undivided Lord.
Not he that eateth it divides
The sacred food, which whole abides
  Unbroken still, nor knows decay;
Be one, or be a thousand fed,
They eat alike that living bread
  Which, still received, ne’er wastes away.
The good, the guilty share therein,
With sure increase of grace or sin,
  The ghostly life, or ghostly death:
Death to the guilty; to the good
Immortal life. See how one food
  Man’s joy or woe accomplisheth.
We break the Sacrament, but bold
And firm thy faith shall keep its hold,
Deem not the whole doth more enfold
  Than in the fractured part resides
Deem not that Christ doth broken lie,
’Tis but the sign that meets the eye,
The hidden deep reality
  In all its fullness still abides.
– – – – – –
*Behold the bread of angels, sent
For pilgrims in their banishment,
The bread for God’s true children meant,
  That may not unto dogs be given:
Oft in the olden types foreshowed;
In Isaac on the altar bowed,
And in the ancient paschal food,
  And in the manna sent from heaven.
*Come then, good shepherd, bread divine,
Still show to us thy mercy sign;
Oh, feed us still, still keep us thine;
So may we see thy glories shine
  In fields of immortality;
*O thou, the wisest, mightiest, best,
Our present food, our future rest,
Come, make us each thy chosen guest,
Co-heirs of thine, and comrades blest
  With saints whose dwelling is with thee.
Amen. Alleluia.

Gospel AcclamationJn6:51
Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven,
says the Lord.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.
Alleluia!

GospelLuke 9:11-17

The feeding of the five thousand

Jesus made the crowds welcome and talked to them about the kingdom of God; and he cured those who were in need of healing.
  It was late afternoon when the Twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the people away, and they can go to the villages and farms round about to find lodging and food; for we are in a lonely place here.’ He replied, ‘Give them something to eat yourselves.’ But they said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go ourselves and buy food for all these people.’ For there were about five thousand men. But he said to his disciples, ‘Get them to sit down in parties of about fifty.’ They did so and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven, and said the blessing over them; then he broke them and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps remaining were collected they filled twelve baskets.
Copyright © 1996-2022 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Creed in Slow Motion

32. His kingdom will not have an end
His kingdom will have no end.

“The Creed in Slow Motion”, by Martin Kochanski (the creator of Universalis) comes out in a week’s time.

Read more about the book.

Listen (1 minute).

Calendar used: Philippines

You are getting these emails because you asked for them on the Universalis web site. To stop receiving them, simply reply to this email. It doesn't matter what you say, because the automatic system will ignore the contents. The fact that you have replied will halt all future emails immediately.
3. 'TODAY, IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS'—EVER IN SCRIPTURE, IT IS THE HEART THAT PRAYS. In today's featured Gospel reading, what word or phrase from God speaks to me?—PONDER—LISTEN—THANK—SURRENDER. I contemplate God's word and then end with the OUR FATHER...

Nota bene: Featured at 12:00 AM Philippine Time (PHT) +0800 UTC are the readings for the day.
4. "FATHER, WE THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING TO US TODAY THROUGH YOUR HOLY WORD."
“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).

†FINAL BLESSING

"MAY ALMIGHTY GOD BLESS US, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN." The sign of the cross strengthens us in temptations and difficulties (CCC 2157). Wherever you are be mindful of your interior silence. "If we do not understand silence, we do not understand God."

Optional/Alternative Prayer Exercise

THE EXAMEN PRAYER at the Center for Ignatian Spirituality Philippines [www.cisphil.org]

Lectio Divina: The three concentric circles of Divine Reading

I. The first outermost circle–the mind–which is the first place or vessel of the Word. It is said that "Empty vessels make the most sound" so feed your mind with the words of Scripture and let it reverberate–never straining to "study or solve." But, first, it might be good to empty your mind of other concerns. When ready, slowly read and pause to "listen" to the echoes by remembering a word or a phrase from what you read. Be reverent towards the Word of God that is expressed in human words and fashioned in the light of the same Spirit through whom it was written (cf. DV 12).

II. It is not just the mind that is fed by the Word of God. Move to the second inner circle–the mouth, the "door" to our enteric nervous system which is commonly called gut. When we were still in the womb of our mothers both our gut and our brain originated from the same clump of tissue called the neural crest. One section turned into the brain between our ears and another section turned into the "second brain" or one's gut where one half of all our nerve cells are located. One can "think" through the gut. Our capacity for feeling and expressing emotions depend primarily on it and, only secondarily, the brain. There is a Native American proverb which says, “Listen or your tongue will make you deaf.” Like the mind, the mouth needs quieting down too. They are like Siamese twins; when one is sick, the other may also be sick. The reason you do not hear others' feelings or even your own emotions is because your busy tongue has made you deaf.

III. Only after we have quieted down our two brains that we can move into the third innermost circle–the heart. The opening words of the Rule of St Benedict says, “Listen with the ear of the heart.” What does it mean to listen with the ear of the heart? Once, I got a feedback from one of my silent retreatants who thanked me for listening not only to words but to movements of the heart. It dawned on me that it does make a big difference to listen in this way. As always in the Scripture, it is the heart that prays. Deep in the heart, prayer happens. So allow the "ears of your heart"–to do their work. It is a difficult and challenging journey though to listen with the heart if it is not emptied, e.g., of one's own assumptions, prejudices and past hurts. However, this is the most privileged place to receive the Word of Scripture. This innermost place of prayer is what the desert fathers and mothers call “purity of heart” where we come face to face with God. "Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O LORD, You know it all" (Ps 139:4). Although God knows already what you might have there in your heart, talk to Him and listen reverently to His words of consolation.