Liturgical Leaflet for an Active Participation in the Celebration of the Eucharist

25 August 2024 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B

THE CHOICE THAT MATTERS

T
here comes a time in our life when we have to make important
choices – choices that may have repercussions on our state of
life, our profession or work at hand, our plans and goals. But
there are choices and there are choices . . . choices that lead to well-
being and choices that lead to grief. The most fundamental choice con-
cerns our relationship with Jesus Christ. We are constantly challenged
to choose between faithfulness to his teachings and the allurements
of the rationalistic, hedonistic and materialistic world in which we are
immersed. This is a choice that demands both wisdom and generosity.
Wisdom leads us to stand by Jesus. Generosity enables us to pay the
price for choosing to follow Jesus.
May today’s liturgical readings and the Eucharist which we celebrate and receive lead us to make
our own Peter’s humble life-enabling choice: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eter-
nal life.”
to mind our sins, and ask the glorify you, we give you thanks
Lord for pardon and strength. for your great glory, Lord God,
(Pause) heavenly King, O God, almighty
P –Lord Jesus, you challenge Father.
Entrance Antiphon us to believe in your word Lord Jesus Christ, Only Be-
(To be recited only when no even when we do not un- gotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of
Entrance Hymn is sung.) derstand it fully. Lord, have God, Son of the Father, you take
Turn your ear, O Lord, and mercy! away the sins of the world, have
All –Lord, have mercy! mercy on us; you take away the
answer me; save the servant sins of the world, receive our
who trusts in you, my God. P –Lord Jesus, you were de- prayer; you are seated at the right
Have mercy on me, O Lord, serted by many of your dis- hand of the Father, have mercy
for I cry to you all the day long. ciples. Christ, have mercy! on us. For you alone are the Holy
All –Christ, have mercy! One, you alone are the Lord, you
Greeting P –Lord Jesus, you alone have alone are the Most High, Jesus
P – In the name of the Father, the words of eternal life. Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the
and of the Son, and of the Holy Lord, have mercy! glory of God the Father. Amen!
Spirit! All – Lord, have mercy!
All –Amen! P –May almighty God have Collect (Opening Prayer)
P –Blessed be Jesus who teach- mercy on us, forgive us our sins, P –O God, who cause the
es us to remain faithful to the and bring us to everlasting life. minds of the faithful to unite in a
truth. May his grace and peace All – Amen! single purpose, grant your people
be with you all! to love what you command and
All – And with your spirit! Gloria to desire what you promise, that,
All – Glory to God in the high- amid the uncertainties of this
Penitential Act est, and on earth peace to people world, our hearts may be fixed
P –As we prepare to celebrate of good will. We praise you, on that place where true gladness
the sacred mysteries, let us call we bless you, we adore you, we is found.
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 Through our Lord Jesus * I will bless the Lord at all cherishes it, even as Christ
Christ, your Son, who lives and times; his praise shall be ever does the Church, because we
reigns with you in the unity of in my mouth. Let my soul glory are members of his body.
the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and in the Lord; the lowly will hear “For this reason a man
ever. me and be glad. R. shall leave his father and his
All – Amen! * The Lord has eyes for the mother and be joined to his
just, and ears for their cry. The wife and the two shall become
Lord confronts the evildoers, one flesh.” This is a great mys-
to destroy remembrance of tery, but I speak in reference to
them from the earth. R. Christ and the Church.
1st Reading Jos 24:1-2. The Word of the Lord!
15-17.18 * When the just cry out, the
Lord hears them, and from all All – Thanks be to God!
Joshua gathers the 12 tribes at
Shechem for the renewal of the their distress he rescues them.
The Lord is close to the bro- Gospel Acclamation
Covenant with the Lord which
was first sealed at Sinai. This is a kenhearted; and those who are All – Alleluia! Alleluia!
unique opportunity, for him and crushed in spirit he saves. R. Your words, Lord, are
all the people, to proclaim their * Many are the troubles of spirit and life. You have
allegiance to the Lord. the just one, but out of them the words of everlasting
all the Lord delivers him. He life.
R –A reading from the Book of Alleluia! Alleluia!
Joshua watches over all his bones; not
one of them shall be broken. R.
Joshua gathered togeth- Gospel Jn 6:60-69
er all the tribes of Israel at 2nd Reading Eph 5:21-32 Jesus has just concluded his dis-
Shechem, summoning their St. Paul presents the relationship course on “the Bread of Life.”
elders, their leaders, their between husband and wife with Faith in him and the reception
judges, and their officers. reference to the self-sacrificing of his Body and Blood remain
When they stood in ranks love of Christ. It is this selfless the indispensable conditions to
before God, Joshua addressed love which transforms the family enjoy eternal life, but many in
all the people: “If it does not his audience are not able to meet
institution into the “Church of
please you to serve the Lord, these demands.
decide today whom you will the home” and every family into
serve: the gods your fathers a “Eucharistic family.” P –The Lord be with you!
served beyond the River or the R –A reading from the Letter of All –And with your spirit!
gods of the Amorites in whose Paul to the Ephesians P – A reading from the holy
country you are now dwelling. Brothers and sisters: Gospel according to John
As for me and my household, Be subordinate to one All – Glory to you, O Lord!
we will serve the Lord.” another out of reverence Many of Jesus’ disciples
But the people answered, for Christ. Wives should be who were listening said, “This
“Far be it from us to forsake subordinate to their husbands saying is hard; who can accept
the Lord for the service of oth- as to the Lord. For the hus- it?”
er gods. For it was the Lord, band is head of his wife just as Since Jesus knew that his
our God, who brought us and Christ is head of the Church, disciples were murmuring
our fathers up out of the land he himself the savior of the about this, he said to them,
of Egypt, out of a state of slav-
body. As the Church is sub- “Does this shock you? What
ery. He performed those great
miracles before our very eyes ordinate to Christ, so wives if you were to see the Son of
and protected us along all our should be subordinate to their Man ascending to where he
entire journey and among the husbands in everything. was before? It is the spirit that
peoples through whom we Husbands, love your gives life, while the flesh is of
passed. Therefore we also will wives, even as Christ loved the no avail. The words I have spo-
serve the Lord, for he is our Church and handed himself ken to you are spirit and life.
God.” over for her to sanctify her, But there are some of you who
cleansing her by the bath of do not believe.” Jesus knew
The Word of the Lord! water with the word, that he from the beginning the ones
All – Thanks be to God! might present to himself the who would not believe and the
Responsorial Psalm Ps 34 Church in splendor, without one who would betray him.
spot or wrinkle or any such And he said, “For this reason
R –Taste and see the goodness thing, that she might be holy I have told you that no one can
of the Lord! R. M. Velez and without blemish. So also come to me unless it is granted
husbands should love their him by my Father.”
 Eb Cm Ab
      
wives as their own bodies. He As a result of this, many of

 who loves his wife loves him- his disciples returned to their
self. For no one hates his own former way of life and no lon-
Taste and see the good-ness flesh but rather nourishes and ger accompanied him.

25 August 2024
 Jesus then said to the plore: through the one sacrifice offered
Twelve, “Do you also want to All –Faithful God, keep us once for all, bestow graciously
leave?” Simon Peter answered faithful to you! on us, we pray, the gifts of unity
him, “Master, to whom shall and peace in your Church.
we go? You have the words of C –That the Church, under the Through Christ our Lord.
eternal life. We have come to leadership of the successor of Pe- All – Amen!
believe and are convinced that ter, may always remain faithful
you are the Holy One of God.” to her Covenant with the Lord, Preface VI
let us pray! R.
The Gospel of the Lord! P –The Lord be with you!
All – Praise to you, Lord Jesus C –That husbands and wives, All –And with your spirit!
Christ! through a life of faithful love P –Lift up your hearts!
and generosity, may witness to All – We lift them up to the Lord!
Homily the love that binds Christ and the P –Let us give thanks to the
Church, let us pray! R. Lord our God!
Profession of Faith
(Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed) C –That those who do not be- All –It is right and just!
lieve in the sacramental presence P –It is truly right and just,
All –I believe in one God, the Fa- of Christ in the Eucharist may our duty and our salvation, al-
ther almighty, maker of heaven put aside their rationalistic views ways and everywhere to give
and earth, of all things visible and accept with humility this you thanks, Lord, holy Father,
and invisible. teaching of Christ, let us pray!R. almighty and eternal God.
I believe in one Lord Jesus For in you we live and move
Christ, the Only Begotten Son C –That all of us may remain
faithful to Jesus, even when and have our being, and while in
of God, born of the Father be- this body we not only experience
fore all ages. God from God, many reject his teaching and
leave the Church, let us pray! R. the daily effects of your care, but
Light from Light, true God from even now possess the pledge of
true God, begotten, not made, C –That the Christians who life eternal.
consubstantial with the Father; are tempted to follow the bad For, having received the
through him all things were example of dishonest people may
made. For us men and for our first fruits of the Spirit, through
honor their baptismal commit- whom you raised up Jesus from
salvation he came down from ments, let us pray! R.
heaven, (bow)* and by the Holy the dead, we hope for an ev-
C –For all political leaders: may erlasting share in the Paschal
Spirit was incarnate of the Vir- they always be at the service of
gin Mary, and became man.* Mystery.
their own people, working for And so, with all the Angels,
For our sake he was crucified
integral human development and we praise you, as in joyful cel-
under Pontius Pilate, he suf-
for the common good, especially ebration, we acclaim:
fered death and was buried, and
rose again on the third day in caring for the poor and those All – Holy, holy, holy Lord, God
accordance with the Scriptures. who have lost their jobs. Let us of hosts. Heaven and earth are
He ascended into heaven and is pray! R. full of your glory. Hosanna in
seated at the right hand of the P –Lord of all truth and all con- the highest!
Father. He will come again in solation, even if everybody else Blessed is he who comes in
glory to judge the living and the should abandon you on account the name of the Lord. Hosanna
dead and his kingdom will have of your demands, grant us the in the highest
no end. grace never to stop adoring, lov-
I believe in the Holy Spirit, ing and serving you, who live Memorial Acclamation
the Lord, the giver of life, who and care for ever and ever.
proceeds from the Father and P –The mystery of faith!
All – Amen!
the Son, who with the Father All –When we eat this Bread
and the Son is adored and glori- and drink this Cup, we pro-
fied, who has spoken through claim your Death, O Lord,
the prophets. until you come again!
I believe in one, holy, cath-
olic and apostolic Church. I Preparation of the Gifts
confess one Baptism for the P –Pray, brethren . . .
forgiveness of sins and I look All – May the Lord accept the
forward to the resurrection of
sacrifice at your hands, for the All – Our Father . . .
the dead and the life of the world
praise and glory of his name, P –Deliver us, Lord . . .
to come. Amen!
for our good and the good of all All –For the kingdom, the
Prayer of the Faithful his holy Church. power, and the glory are
yours, now and for ever!
P –The mystery of the Eucharist Prayer over the Offerings
challenges our inclination to ac- Sign of Peace
cept only what we understand. P –O Lord, who gained for
Aware of our weakness, we im- yourself a people by adoption Breaking of the Bread

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

All – Lamb of God, you take
away the sins of the world: have MAKING LIFE-ENABLING CHOICES
mercy on us. (2x) Kalakbay at Katoto
Lamb of God, you take
away the sins of the world:
grant us peace. A ll three readings today revolve around the basic idea of
choice. In the first reading, we are presented with a dra-
maƟc call made to the tribes of Israel by Joshua, asking them
Communion to decide, that is, to make a choice between two false gods.
P –This is Jesus, our faithful Joshua, the same passage tells us, was clear about his own
Savior, the Lamb of God who choice: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” St.
takes away the sins of the world. Paul, in his leƩer to the Ephesians, illustrates as best he could,
Blessed are those called to his culling from the culture and pracƟce of his Ɵmes, what choosing
Supper. to “live in Christ, as Christ loved us” meant. Choosing to live in
All –Lord, I am not worthy Him entails, in concrete, a life of mutual fidelity to one another,
that you should enter under a life of mutual service. Nowhere is this love of mutuality and
my roof, but only say the word
and my soul shall be healed.
selfless service to each other, coming closest to taking part and
sharing in Christ’s paschal mystery – His death and life – as in
Communion Antiphon the love that ought to reign between husbands and wives. The
(To be recited only when no Gospel, for its part, presents Jesus asking his disciples aŌer a
Communion Hymn is sung.) great many from the erstwhile enthusiasƟc crowd of followers
chose to leave – unable to take the “hard sayings” of the Lord:
Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood has eternal “Do you also want to leave?”
life, says the Lord, and I will
raise him up on the last day. Today’s readings portray monumental and decisive choices
made by several individuals: Joshua, the Israelite tribes, Paul,
Prayer after Communion and Jesus’ disciples. All their choices were clear: “As for me
P –Complete within us, O and my household, we will serve the Lord.” “Far be it from us to
Lord, we pray, the healing work forsake the Lord for the service of other gods.” “Be subordinate
of your mercy and graciously to one another out of reverence for Christ.” “Master, to whom
perfect and sustain us, so that in shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come
all things we may please you. to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
Through Christ our Lord.
All – Amen! All choices were made in the context of a very clear and dis-
nct call from above. “Decide today whom you will serve,”
Joshua said unequivocally to the people. “Live in Christ as
Christ loved us […] This is a great mystery, but I speak in refer-
ence to Christ and the Church.” Nowhere is this disƟnct and
clear call from above more evident than in what the Lord Jesus
P –The Lord be with you. Christ told his temporarily wavering disciples: “The words I have
All – And with your spirit! spoken to you are Spirit and life.” Jesus, indeed, was speaking
P – May the blessing of like he was presenƟng his case before his listeners, pleading
almighty God: the Father, with them to decide and choose – choose to follow Him and
and the Son, and the Holy His words, and live!
Spirit descend upon you
and remain with you for Life-enabling choices! . . . This is the stuff of which these
ever.
All – Amen! decisions and choices are made! These are choices that lead
to life, to grace, to growth, to goodness, to perfecƟon, and –
P –Go in peace to serve the ulƟmately – to God!
Lord in faithfulness and We all know what its exact opposite is – life-disabling or life-
love.
All – Thanks be to God! draining choices. These we do when we mistake the means for
the goal, the tool for the target, the tree for the forest. These

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happen when we, in short-sighted fashion, would make one believe the way he or she
“work for food that perishes;” when we subsƟ- lives. One simply decides to make choices that
tute creature comfort and material goods for are life-draining, rather than life-giving. One
the ulƟmate Good, when lesser good becomes makes a fundamental opƟon, albeit subtly and
the end-all and be-all of our lives. The Bible has unwiƫngly. And such a fundamental choice
a name for this. It is called sin, which, among is not traceable to one single isolated choice
others, means “missing the mark.” It means to in the course of one’s life, but is made up of a
absoluƟze what is basically relaƟve and con- series of single choices all stacked together, as
Ɵngent, to give them a value far beyond and it were.
above what they really all are: material, and
therefore, dispensable reality. The Liturgy of today is a clear and dis nct
call for us to make the choices that ma er.
We live in a world that is awash in choices. Our response aŌer the first reading clinches
An endless array of opƟons capƟvates our it all when we proclaimed: “Taste and see the
eyes each and every single day. A great many goodness of the Lord.” Indeed, amidst the mul-
of those choices, needless to say, really do not Ɵplicity of daily choices that we make, there are
have great impact on our lives, like the daily those that lead us to taste and see God’s good-
choices we make about what to eat for break- ness, and those that leave a biƩer aŌertaste in
fast, and the like. But there are indeed choices the mouth. In and through such choices and
and decisions that have a lot to do with the decisions, we either draw closer to the goal of
overall tenor of our lives. These are some kind our lives, or go farther from it.
of umbrella choices that cover for all the rest
of the liƩle, seemingly insignificant choices we We become what we choose. Today, as in
make every single day. Theologians, for years, every other single day, we would do well to
have been talking about this phenomenon, look at the choices that we make. Are they
calling such a choice “fundamental opƟon.” life-enabling or life-draining choices? The
psalmist gives us an example to follow: “I will
This is the choice that either leads to death bless the Lord at all Ɵmes: his praise shall be
or to life. This is the choice that puts our life ever in my mouth.” The disciples give us more:
either in union or “out of synch” with that of “Your words, Lord, are spirit and life; you have
Christ, and His Spirit who dwells in the Church. the words of everlasƟng life.” It is never too
This is the sort of choice that makes us real late to start making choices that really maƩer!
sharers and partakers of the passion, death and
resurrecƟon of Christ Jesus our Lord.

The fact that certain choices can make or Whether you’re 5 or 105,
break us in the long run is easy enough for you’ve got a prayer companion.
us to understand in our daily lives. No one
decides one day to be fat and overweight. One My Pocket
simply makes a series of seemingly insignifi- Prayer Book / Ang Aking
cant choices every day, choosing to eat in an
unhealthy manner, choosing certain foods that Munting Dasalan
make for empty calories. or choosing to live a
lifestyle devoid of healthy exercise and some
form of what psychologists call “eustress”
or good, necessary form of healthy stress.
Similarly, no one decides to be a bad man in
an instant. One simply chooses to act in a way
that is less than good every single day. One
simply chooses to follow the call of evil, that
may seem, on the short haul, as something too Includes everyday prayers, devotions (Perpetual
insignificant, too trivial, or too flimsy to maƩer Help, Sacred Heart, Way of the Cross), the Holy
Rosary, and a confession guide in one handy,
at all. In the same vein, one does not decide affordable booklet.
one morning not to be a good and pracƟcing
Catholic. One simply decides not to live the This booklet are available in all parish bookstores and
way he or she believes on a daily basis. And
soon enough, not living the way one believes,