Ceremony level: Regular

Liturgical color: Purple

Entrance chant

Lord, you are near, and all your ways are truth. Through your loving guidance I have long understood that you exist forever.

Collect

Lord, show us your power and support us with your divine power, so that, despite the obstacles of our sins, you may still show us your mercy and quickly carry out the work of our salvation. We pray…

First Reading : Is 26, 1-6

“You righteous people who keep the faith, let them enter in.”

From the book of the prophet Isaiah.

In that day this song was sung in the land of Judah: Zion is our stronghold, with walls and moats; open its gates, and enter in, you righteous people who keep your faith. The former iniquities have passed away; the Lord will maintain peace. Peace, for we trust in the Lord.

Hope in the Lord forever, hope in the Lord, who is mighty forever. For he brings down the people on high, he brings low the mighty city; he brings them down to the ground, he tramples them down to the dust. The feet of the poor will walk on them, and the needy will trample them.

That is the word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 117:1 and 8-9. 19-21. 25-27a

Response: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Or read: Alleluia!

Chant: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to take refuge in man; it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to take refuge in kings.

Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter and give thanks to you. This is your gate, through which the righteous enter. I will give thanks to you, because you have heard me and become my savior.

Chant: O Lord, grant us salvation; O Lord, grant us prosperity in life. Blessed is he who comes in your name; we bless you from your house. You are God and you have given us light.

Alleluia: Is 40, 9-10

Alleluia, alleluia! – Say boldly, you who preach good news: Behold, the Lord God comes with power. – Alleluia.

Gospel : Mt 7, 21. 24-27

“Whoever does the will of my Father will enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew.

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell and was a ruin.”

That is the word of the 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 Eucharistic sacrifice which we now offer may be for us the pledge of eternal salvation. We pray…

Preface of Advent I

Communion song

Let us live righteously and godly in this world, while we await the blessed day when the great Lord will appear in glory.

Prayer after communion

Lord, you have used the sacrament of the Eucharist to teach 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…

Reflection

MUST PRACTICE THE WORD OF GOD

(Mt 7,21. 24-27)

1. Jesus gave the principle to measure the perfection of the disciple to be worthy of entering the Kingdom of Heaven, which is ” Doing the will of God “. This shows that Jesus requires living, doing, and implementing in life, not just knowing, understanding, and talking with the mouth: words must go hand in hand with actions.

2. To practice the Word of God, one must first  love  the Word of God , listen, learn and meditate: listen to the Word of God with admiration and simplicity like the simple, honest people who followed the Lord all over Palestine. Study the Word of God like Mary in Bethany, sitting at the feet of the Lord, listening to draw from the source of joy and enlightenment. Meditate on the Word of God like the Virgin Mary who respectfully remembered and pondered it in her heart to know the will of God.

3. Next, we must  understand the Word of God . The more deeply it penetrates the heart, the more it develops and strengthens the soul. Then we must believe in the Word of God, because the Word of God is a treasure of truth, in which there are many mysteries that are above and beyond human reason and understanding. Therefore, we must have faith to accept those mysteries.

4. Finally, we must not only listen, understand, and believe, but also  practice  the Word of God . Because the Word of God, no matter how good and precious it is, is useless if it is not practiced. Jesus showed us this through the image of two house builders whom He called the wise man and the foolish man.

5. In order to express the value of practicing the Word of God to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and to be called perfect, Jesus compared it to building a house. Building a house is a very important task and symbolizes building a life. This was expressed by Saint John : “And the world is passing away, along with its lusts, but he who does the will of God remains forever” (1 John 2:17).

Thus, Jesus meant to tell the audience who had just heard the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount to confirm that the disciple who listens to the Lord’s teachings and puts them into practice is worthy of being a wise person, knowing how to care for a happy life and must consider such people as clever people, knowing how to lay a solid foundation to build a house, even though heavy rain and strong winds cannot destroy that spiritual building, because it is built on the practice of the Lord’s teachings. If one only listens but does not obey, then that person is a fool, like someone who builds a house on sand, when there is heavy rain and strong winds, that is, when facing challenges, their spiritual building collapses (A good news every day).

6. In life, we must make  knowledge and practice  go together as people often say:  knowledge and practice are one . We know that medicine is good for health, but if we do not take it, it is useless. No matter how great a project is, if it is not implemented in reality, it is useless. Always promising that tomorrow I will become a saint, the day after tomorrow I will keep my religion… But never practicing is useless.

7. Today’s Gospel teaches us what it means to have a truly solid existence. If people only talk, only shout, only recite prayers, only shout against injustice, only denounce hypocrisy, then they have built their house on sand. Just talking is not enough to build a solid foundation for life. We must act, we must live out our prayers, we must live justly and practice charity. Only by doing so can we truly build our house on rock.

8.  Story : True Enlightenment.

R. Khrisna, an Indian mystic, told the following story: A king had a habit of listening to a passage from the Bagavad Gita every day. The person in charge of reading this scripture was a virtuous and wise monk. Every time he finished reading a passage, he used his profound knowledge to explain it to the king. And every day he asked the question:

– Does Your Majesty understand what I just explained?

But every time the king just replied:

– You should ask that to yourself first.

One day, while reciting the sutras, he suddenly had an epiphany and realized that everything was an illusion. So the monk decided to give up everything and set out to live the life of a mendicant. Before leaving, he said to the king:

– Your Majesty, finally, I understand… – Giac.

                                                                    Father Giuse Dinh Lap Liem