ENTRANCE RITE

Entrance Antiphon (Introit)

Of you my heart has spoken: Seek his face.
It is your face, O Lord, that I seek
hide not your face from me. (Psalm 27:8-9)

— or —

Remember your compassion, O Lord
and your merciful love, for they are from of old.
Let not our enemies exult over us,
Redeem us, O God of Israel, from all our distress. (Psalm 25:6, 2, 22)

Entrance Song

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

My brother and sisters, to prepare ourselves to celebrate the mysterier, let us call to mind our sins.

I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen.

Lord, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy,
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy,

OPENING PRAYER

O God, who have commanded us
to listen to your beloved Son,
be pleased, we pray,
to nourish us inwardly by your word,
that, with spiritual sight made pure
we may rejoice to behold your glory.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. 
Amen.

LITURGY OF THE WORD

FIRST READING

A reading from the book of Genesis

I will greatly bless you, because you have obeyed My voice. (22:1-2,9a,10-13,15-18 9)

God put Abraham to the test.
He called to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am!” he replied.
Then God said:
“Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, 
and go to the land of Moriah.
There you shall offer him up as a holocaust 
on a height that I will point out to you.”
When they came to the place of which God had told him, 
Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it.
Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son.
But the LORD’s messenger called to him from heaven, 
“Abraham, Abraham!”
“Here I am!” he answered.
“Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the messenger.
“Do not do the least thing to him.
I know now how devoted you are to God, 
since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.”
As Abraham looked about, 
he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket.
So he went and took the ram 
and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son.
Again the LORD’s messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said: 
“I swear by myself, declares the LORD, 
that because you acted as you did 
in not withholding from me your beloved son, 
I will bless you abundantly 
and make your descendants as countless 
as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; 
your descendants shall take possession 
of the gates of their enemies, 
and in your descendants all the nations of the earth
shall find blessing—
all this because you obeyed my command.”

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM

(Ps 115)

Response: I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

I believed, even when I said,
    “I am greatly afflicted.”
Precious in the eyes of the LORD
    is the death of his faithful ones.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

O LORD, I am your servant;
    I am your servant, the son of your handmaid;
    you have loosed my bonds.
To you will I offer sacrifice of thanksgiving,
    and I will call upon the name of the LORD.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

My vows to the LORD I will pay
    in the presence of all his people,
In the courts of the house of the LORD,
    in your midst, O Jerusalem.
R. I will walk before the Lord, in the land of the living.

SECOND READING

A reading from the Letter of  Paul to the Romans

God did not spare His own Son. (8:31b-34)

Brothers and sisters:
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son 
but handed him over for us all, 
how will he not also give us everything else along with him?
Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones?
It is God who acquits us, who will condemn?
Christ Jesus it is who died—or, rather, was raised— 
who also is at the right hand of God, 
who indeed intercedes for us.

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL

From the shining cloud the Father’s voice is heard:
This is my beloved Son, listen to him. (Mt 17:5)

GOSPEL

This is My beloved Son. (9:2-10)

The Lord be with you.
And also with you.

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark.

Glory to you, Lord.

Jesus took Peter, James, and John 
and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves.
And he was transfigured before them, 
and his clothes became dazzling white, 
such as no fuller on earth could bleach them.
Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, 
and they were conversing with Jesus.
Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, 
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!
Let us make three tents: 
one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified.
Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; 
from the cloud came a voice, 
“This is my beloved Son.  Listen to him.”
Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone
but Jesus alone with them.
As they were coming down from the mountain,
he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone,
except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
So they kept the matter to themselves, 
questioning what rising from the dead meant.

The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

PROFESSION OF FAITH

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
(at the words that follow up to and including and became man, all bow)
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism
for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come.
Amen.

Instead of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, especially during Lent and Easter Time, the baptismal Symbol of the Roman Church, known as the Apostles’ Creed, may be used.

I believe in God,
the Father almighty,
Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
(At the words that follow, up to and including the Virgin Mary, all bow.)
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried;
he descended into hell;
on the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE FAITHFUL

Our response is: Hear us now we pray.

For the Church – that in the Sunday assembly and in our daily lives, we listen deeply to God’s ‘Son, the beloved,’ and that our lives will be transformed by this encounter. In your mercy Lord. Hear us now we pray.

For world leaders – that they will conscientiously strive to build bridges of peace within and between nations and that they will unite in a just distribution of Covid vaccine which meets the needs of all, including the poorest people and nations. In your mercy Lord. Hear us now we pray.

For a sustainable ecology – that among people there will be deeper respect for the unity and dignity of all people, stronger protection of cultural heritage, greater care of Earth’s complex systems of life and more willingness to discover and apply what it means to live sustainably. In your mercy Lord. Hear us now we pray.

For the sick and all facing terminal illness – that through the patient and loving support of friends, family and professional carers, they will be touched by and come to know the ever-present and ever- loving, Beloved Son. In your mercy Lord. Hear us now we pray.

For all gathered here – that in our Lenten journey the light of God’s grace, will lead us to the wilderness to pray, turn our eyes towards those in need, and remind us through fasting, that our deepest hungers are met by God. In your mercy Lord. Hear us now we pray.

THE LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

Offertory Song

PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS

May this sacrifice, O Lord, we pray,
cleanse us of our faults,
and sanctify your faithful in body and mind
for the celebration of the paschal festivities.
Through Christ our Lord. 
Amen.

PREFACE and EUCHARISTIC PRAYER

Preface for the Second Sunday of Lent: 

[The Transfiguration of the Lord]

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation,
always and everywhere to give you thanks,
Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God,
through Christ our Lord.
For after he had told the disciples of his coming Death,
on the holy mountain he manifested to them his glory,
to show, even by the testimony of the law and the prophets,
that the Passion leads to the glory of the Resurrection.
And so, with the Powers of heaven,
we worship you constantly on earth,
and before your majesty
without end we acclaim:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts…

COMMUNION RITE

Communion Antiphon

This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him. (Matthew 17:5)

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

As we receive these glorious mysteries,
we make thanksgiving to you, O Lord,
for allowing us while still on earth
to be partakers even now of the things of heaven.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

PRAYER OVER THE PEOPLE

Bless your faithful, we pray, O Lord,
with a blessing that endures for ever,
and keep them faithful
to the Gospel of your Only Begotten Son,
so that they may always desire and at last attain
that glory whose beauty he showed in his own Body,
to the amazement of his Apostles.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Final Song