Feast Day: Sunday

Liturgical color: Purple

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Introduction to the Mass

Dear brothers and sisters! Advent is the season of waiting for the Lord to come. The Lord will come, but we are not sure if we will meet Him. Because He comes unexpectedly and very quietly. To meet the Lord, we must be awake. To be awake means not to fall asleep. In life, there are nights that lull us to sleep, preventing us from meeting Him. Immersed in dreams, we will not hear the Lord’s footsteps. To be awake also means to be alert and discerning. The Lord comes very quietly and very gently, simply, meekly, and humbly like a servant. We must be very alert to recognize Him. To be awake also means to be ready, to work tirelessly and to forget ourselves in serving the common good, not to sit and wait without sleeping. So, to enter the new Liturgical Year, let us ask the Lord to forgive all our mistakes and shortcomings and repent together.

Entrance chant

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust; let me not be put to shame. Let not my enemies rejoice over me, for none who hope in you shall be put to shame.

Do not recite the Gloria

Collect

Almighty Father, grant that we may always be determined to do good, so that we may welcome your Son who comes to judge the world. Thus you will place us at your right hand and call us to the joys of heaven. You are God, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

First Reading : Is 63:16b-17; 64:1. 3b-8

“Lord, come down from the heavens.”

From the book of the prophet Isaiah.

O Lord, you are our Father and our Redeemer; your name is from everlasting. Why, O Lord, have you let us stray from your ways and harden our hearts so that we no longer fear you? Look back for the sake of your servants, the tribes that inherit your inheritance.

Come down from the heavens, and let the mountains quake at your presence. You have come down, and the mountains quake at your presence. No ear has heard it, no eye has seen any god besides you. You have kept good things for those who wait for you. You meet those who joyfully do what is right, and who remember you in your ways.

O Lord, be angry with us because we have sinned. How shall we be saved, since we have always been in sin? We are all covered with stains, and our deeds are like filthy rags.

And there is no one who calls on your holy name, no one who is awake to take hold of you. You have hidden yourself from our sight, and you have given us over to the power of sin. Yet, O Lord, you are our Father, we are the clay, you are the potter, we are all the work of your hands.

That is the word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 79:2ac and 3b. 15-16. 18-19

Response: O Lord our God, restore us; show us your face, that we may be saved.

Choir: Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel! Rise up in light, O Lord, enthroned above the Guardian Angels. Awaken your power, and come to save us.

Chant: Turn back, O God of hosts; look down from heaven and visit this vineyard. Protect the vineyard which your right hand has planted, the branches which you have established for yourself.

Chant: Help the one at your right hand, whom you have established. We will never turn away from you again; you give us life, and we will praise your name.

Second Reading: 1 Cor 1, 3-9

“We wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Excerpt from the first letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I always thank God for you because of the grace that was given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you are enriched in every gift of speech and knowledge, just as Christ showed you that you are not lacking in any gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also keep you firm to the end, blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who called you into union with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

That is the word of the Lord.

Alleluia : Ps 84:8

Alleluia, alleluia! – Lord, show us your mercy and grant us your salvation. – Alleluia.

Gospel: Mark 13, 33-37

“Stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house will return.”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark.

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Be on your guard, stay awake and pray, because you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going on a journey, who leaves his house and gives authority to his servants, each to his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Stay awake, therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning; lest he come suddenly and find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Stay awake!”

That is the word of the Lord.

Prayer of the Faithful

Celebrant: Dear brothers and sisters! Staying awake is not easy, it is difficult for us to do it by ourselves, so let us pray fervently for God’s help:

1. “ I always thank God for you because of the grace given you in Christ Jesus .” May the Shepherds be filled with zeal for the mission entrusted to them by God over souls, so that they may wisely guide the flock according to God’s will.

2. “The Lord is the potter, we are all the work of His hands .”- May the believers be aware that the Lord comes unexpectedly and that they are weak, so that they do not forget that the Lord is the salvation of their lives, but serve and love Him with all their heart, so that when the Lord comes, they will be worthy to welcome Him.

3. “Do not worry about satisfying the desires of the flesh .”- May today’s youth, who are being lulled to sleep by worldly passions, blurring their awareness of God, be awakened and ready to await the hour of God’s visit.

4. “Be vigilant and pray .”- May all those in our parish, who are being lured by the schemes of evil spirits and the deceptions of the world, hear God’s call and quickly return to receive salvation.

Celebrant : Lord, we are so weak before temptations. May the Holy Spirit help us to wisely seek eternal happiness, so that your Word may bring us salvation. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Prayer over the offerings

Lord, this is the bread and wine which we have chosen from among the many gifts which you have bestowed upon us. Accept it, we pray, and grant that this Eucharist which we now offer may be for us the pledge of eternal salvation. We pray…

Preface of Advent I

Communion song

God will give every good thing, and our Land will yield its fruit.

Prayer after communion

Lord, by the sacrament of the Eucharist you have taught us, pilgrims on earth, to love and to cling to the lasting realities of heaven. May the sacrament we have just celebrated bring us abundant grace. We pray to you…