Weekly Bulletin for Sunday, February 14, 2010

The Sunday Next Before Lent

Divine Office

Order of service for Morning and Evening Prayer.

Services and Events

Opening Prayer

Almighty Father,
whose Son was revealed in majesty
before he suffered death upon the cross:
give us grace to perceive his glory,
that we may be strengthened to suffer with him
and be changed into his likeness, from glory to glory;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

First Reading

Exodus 34.29-35
A reading from the book of Exodus.

29 Moses came down from Mount Sinai.
As he came down from the mountain
with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand,
Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone
because he had been talking with God.
30 When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses,
the skin of his face was shining,
and they were afraid to come near him.
31 But Moses called to them;
and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him,
and Moses spoke with them.
32 Afterwards all the Israelites came near,
and he gave them in commandment
all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.
33 When Moses had finished speaking with them,
he put a veil on his face;
34 but whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with him,
he would take the veil off, until he came out;
and when he came out, and told the Israelites what he had been commanded,
35 the Israelites would see the face of Moses,
that the skin of his face was shining;
and Moses would put the veil on his face again,
until he went in to speak with him.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 99
R He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud.

1 The Lord is king; let the people tremble;
he is enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth shake.
2 The Lord is great in Zion;
he is high above all peoples.
3 Let them confess his name, which is great and awesome;
he is the Holy One. R
4 ‘O mighty King, lover of justice,
you have established equity;
you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.’
5 Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God
and fall down before his footstool;
he is the Holy One. R
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests,
and Samuel among those who call upon his name,
they called upon the Lord and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them out of the pillar of cloud;
they kept his testimonies
and the decree that he gave them. R
8 ‘O Lord our God, you answered them indeed;
you were a God who forgave them,
yet punished them for their evil deeds.’
9 Proclaim the greatness of the Lord our God
and worship him upon his holy hill;
for the Lord our God is the Holy One. R

Second Reading

2 Corinthians 3.12-4.2
A reading from the second letter of Paul to the Corinthians.

12 Since we have such a hope,
we act with great boldness,
13 not like Moses, who put a veil over his face
to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory
that was being set aside.
14 But their minds were hardened.
Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant,
that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside.
15 Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read,
a veil lies over their minds;
16 but when one turns to the Lord,
the veil is removed.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 And all of us, with unveiled faces,
seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror,
are being transformed into the same image
from one degree of glory to another;
for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.
1 Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry,
we do not lose heart.
2 We have renounced the shameful things that one hides;
we refuse to practise cunning or to falsify God’s word;
but by the open statement of the truth we commend ourselves
to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.

Acclamation

Alleluia! The glory of the Lord shall be revealed; the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Alleluia!

Gospel

Luke 9.28-36
Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke.

28 Jesus took with him Peter and John and James,
and went up on the mountain to pray.
29 And while he was praying,
the appearance of his face changed,
and his clothes became dazzling white.
30 Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him.
31 They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure,
which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32 Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep;
but since they had stayed awake,
they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him.
33 Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus,
‘Master, it is good for us to be here;
let us make three dwellings,
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’
Peter did not know what he said.
34 While he was saying this,
a cloud came and overshadowed them;
and they were terrified as they entered the cloud.
35 Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
‘This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!’
36 When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone.
And the disciples kept silent
and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

Closing Prayer

Holy God,
we see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ:
may we who are partakers at his table
reflect his life in word and deed,
that all the world may know
his power to change and save.
This we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.