Second
Sunday of Lent
March 16, 2025
Cycle C
Purple priestly vestments symbolize penance and preparation.
Liturgical
Year Cycle C
This is the Mass Introduction
The Entrance Prayers:
On Sunday, usually a hymn praising
God is sung in place
of reciting a Psalm from the Bible which invites us to enter
more deeply into
the mystery of God's love for us. The recited weekday
Psalm expresses a
youthful heart and spirit, delighted that we may come before
the living God.
Entrance Song /
Entrance Psalm
(Antiphon)
Entrance
Song
Psalm 27:8-9
Of you my heart has spoken: Seek his face. It
is your face,
O Lord, that I seek; hide not your face from me.
The Priest Approaches and
Kisses the
Altar:
The
altar is a symbol of Christ. In it are cut five
crosses to recall the
five wounds of Christ. The altar also represents the
Church and has
embedded in it the relics of her saints. The priest
comes to the altar to
celebrate the Sacrifice in the Church's name. Because
of the glory
surrounding the altar upon which the divine Sacrifice will
be made, the kiss of
the priest unites the Church to Christ, its Redeemer.
Priest:
In the
name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
All:
Amen.
The Greeting:
We
are welcomed in God's name. Our response unites us to
our neighbor, to
the priest and to God. (The priest may select from
several forms of
greeting).
Priest:
The
Lord
be with you.
All: And with your spirit.
Priest:
Brothers
and sisters,
let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to
celebrate the sacred
mysteries.
Priest: You were sent to heal the contrite of
heart:
All: Lord, have mercy.
Priest: You came to call sinners: Christ,
have mercy.
All: Christ, have mercy.
Priest: You are seated at the right hand of
the Father to
intercede for us: Lord, have mercy.
All: Lord, have mercy
The Absolution:
Priest:
May
almighty
God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to
everlasting
life.
All:
Amen.
The Collect:
The
priest lifts
the united prayers and petitions of the congregation to God
the Father through
the merits of Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit.
Priest:
Let
us
pray.
Priest: 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.
Liturgy of the Word
Christ
is made
known to us through the Old Testament which prepares us to
recognize Him.
In those days, God inspired men who spoke His message.
Now, the New
Testament Gospel reading announces His presence to us
directly through His
Son. Both readings bring God's message to us.
Our responsibility is
to respond.
The First Reading: From the Old Testament.
Genesis
15:5-12,
17-18
The
Lord God took Abram
outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars, if
you can.
Just so,” he added, “shall your descendants be.” Abram put
his faith in
the Lord, who credited it to him as an act of
righteousness. He then said
to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans
to give you
this land as a possession.” “O Lord God,” he asked, “how
am I to know
that I shall possess it?” He answered him, “Bring me a
three-year-old
heifer, a three-year-old she goat, a three-year-old ram, a
turtle dove and a
young pigeon.” Abram brought him all these, spit them in
two, and placed
each half opposite the other; but the birds he did not cut
up. Birds of
prey swooped down on the carcasses, but Abram stayed with
them. As the
sun was about to set, a trance fell upon Abram, and a deep,
terrifying darkness
enveloped him.
When
the sun had set and
it was dark, there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming
torch, which
passed between those pieces. It was on that occasion that
the Lord made a
covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I give this
land, from the
Wadi of Egypt to the Great River, the Euphrates.”
Priest/Reader:
The
Word of the Lord.
All:
Thanks
be to God.
The Responsorial
Psalm: This
Psalm praising God, is a prayer to God, or recommends the
practice of
virtue. It is sung as an interlude between the
scriptural readings.
It provides yet another instructional setting and invites
the assembly to
imitate the cantor who sings a repeated response to the
verses of an ancient
Psalm many of which are attributed to King David. The
verses are sung
first by a cantor (song leader) accompanied by instruments,
the refrain is sung
by the people.
Responsorial
Psalm
27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
Cantor:
The
Lord
is my light and my salvation; the Lord is my light and my
salvation.
All: R/. The Lord is my light and
my salvation;
the Lord is my light and my salvation.
Cantor: The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom should I
fear? The Lord is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be
afraid?
All: R/. The Lord is my light and
my salvation;
the Lord is my light and my salvation.
Cantor: Hear, O Lord, the sound of my call;
have pity on me,
and answer me. Of you my heart speaks; you my glance
seeks.
All: R/. The Lord is my light and
my salvation;
the Lord is my light and my salvation.
Cantor: Your presence, O Lord, I
seek. Hide not
your face from me; do not in anger repel your servant. You
are my helper:
cast me not off.
All: R/. The Lord is my light and
my salvation;
the Lord is my light and my salvation.
Cantor: I believe that I shall see the
bounty of the Lord
in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord with courage;
be
stouthearted, and wait for the Lord.
All: R/. The Lord is my light and
my salvation;
the Lord is my light and my salvation.
Second Reading Philippians 3:17- 4:1
Brothers
and sisters:
Join
with others in
being imitators of me, brothers and sisters, and observe those
who thus conduct
themselves according to the model you have in us. For many, as I have
often told you and now
tell you even in tears, conduct themselves as enemies of the
cross of
Christ. Their end is destruction. The God is their
stomach; their
glory is in their “shame.” Their minds are occupied with
earthly
things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we
await a savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He will change our lowly body to
conform with his
glorified body by the power that enables him also to bring all
things into
subjection to himself.
Therefore,
my brothers
and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown. In this
way stand firm
in the Lord.
Gospel
Acclamation: Matthew 17:5
Cantor:
Praise
to
you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory!
All: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of
endless glory!
Cantor: From the shining cloud the Father's voice is
heard:
This is my beloved Son, hear him.
All: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ, King of
endless glory!
The Gospel:
The Liturgy of the Word is completed
by the reading of
the Gospel. Before its reading, the members of the
assembly trace the
sign of the cross upon the forehead to indicate their mental
acceptance of the
Truth, on the lips to indicate their readiness to announce
it, and over the
heart to indicate their sincere desire to accept it into
their lives. The
"Good News" of the Gospel proclaims that God's kingdom has
come for
all to hear, accept, and announce to the world for its
salvation. It is
God who is speaking to us. Christ comes to teach us by
the example of His
life and by His own words.
Priest: Cleanse
my heart and my
lips, almighty God, that I may worthily proclaim your holy
Gospel. Through
the words of the Gospel may our sins be wiped away.
Priest: The Lord be with you.
All: And with our spirit.
Priest/Deacon: A reading
from
the holy Gospel according to Luke 9:28b-36
All: Glory
to you, Lord.
Luke
wrote to
explain that
Christ came to save everyone.
Jesus took Peter, John,
and James and went up
the mountain to pray. While he was praying his face
changed in appearance
and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two
men were
conversing with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and
spoke of his
exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem. Peter and his
companions had been overcome
by sleep, but becoming fully awake, they saw his glory and the
two men standing
with him. As they were about to part from him, Peter said
to Jesus, “Master,
it is good that we are here; let us make three tents, one for
you, one for
Moses, and one for Elijah.” But he did not know what he
was saying.
While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over
them, and they
became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from
the cloud came a
voice that said, “This is my chosen son; listen to him.”
After the voice
had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They fell silent and
did not at that
time tell anyone what they had seen.
Priest: The
Gospel of the Lord.
All: Praise
to you, Lord
Jesus Christ.
The Priest's Sermon:
The
priest develops, explains, and comments upon the Master's
words, so our minds
may be enlightened, and our hearts enriched.
(A
priestly reflection upon
this Gospel)
Profession of Faith:
We
state in the Nicene Creed the principles of our faith in
precise and definite
terms.
All: We
believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that
is seen and
unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son
of God,
eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from
Light, true God from
true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the
Father. Through him
all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he
came down from
heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the
Virgin Mary, and
became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius
Pilate; he
suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day he rose
again in
fulfillment of 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. We believe
in the Holy
Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the
Father and the
son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and
glorified. He
has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy
catholic and
apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the
forgiveness of
sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the
life of the world
to come. Amen.
General Intercessions:
We pray for the needs of the pope,
civic leaders, our
own needs, those of others, the sick, the dying, those who
have died, the
church, and the world. The response of all to each
intercession:
Lord, hear our prayer.
All: Lord,
hear our prayer.
The Liturgy of the
Eucharist
Gifts
of bread and
wine symbolizing ourselves are presented to the priest who
will offer them to
God the Father. Through the Holy Spirit, they will
become the Body and
Blood of Jesus Christ whom we receive in Holy
Communion. Jesus unites
Himself with us for our spiritual nourishment and
strength. Today, when
individuals do not present their own personal offerings of
bread and wine, the
monetary contribution symbolizes the material of their
united sacrifice.
The priest makes and offering of the bread and wine to God.
Preparation of the Bread and
Wine:
Priest: Blessed
are you, Lord
God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received
the bread we
offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will
become for us
the bread of life.
All: Blessed
be God for ever.
Priest: By the
mystery of this
water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ,
who humbled
himself to share in our humanity.
Priest:
Blessed
are
you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have
received
the wine we offer you; fruit of the vine and work of human hands
it will become
our spiritual drink.
All: Blessed
be God for ever.
Priest: With
humble spirit and
contrite heart may we be accepted by you, O Lord, and may our
sacrifice in your
sight this day be pleasing to you, Lord God.
The Priest's Hands are
Washed: This
act was traditionally necessary because the priest
handled the various gifts presented by the people.
Now, the cleansing act
using water reminds the priest and ourselves of the need to
cleanse not only
the hands but the soul. Soon, the priest's hands will
hold the actual
body of Christ, and we will become His dwelling place.
Priest: Wash me
O Lord, from my
iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be
acceptable to God,
the almighty Father.
All: May the
Lord accept the
sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name,
for our good and
the good of all his holy Church.
Prayer over the Gifts:
Speaking
in our name, the priest asks the Father to accept the gifts
we offer through
him.
Priest:
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.
Eucharistic Prayer:
(Number One: The priest may
select from
several forms).
Priest: The
Lord be with you.
All: And
with your
spirit.
Priest: Lift up your hearts.
All: We lift
them up to the
Lord.
Priest: Let us
give thanks to
the Lord, our God.
All: It is
right and
just.
Preface Prayer:
Priest:
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:
Acclamation:
Priest
and
All:
Holy,
Holy, Holy Lord,
God of power and might, Heaven and earth are full of your
glory. Hosanna
in the highest. Blessed is he who 
comes in the name of
the Lord. Hosanna in
the highest.
Priest:
To
you, therefore, most merciful Father, we make humble prayer and
petition
through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord: that you accept and
bless these
gifts, these offerings, these holy and unblemished sacrifices,
which we offer
you firstly for your holy catholic church. Be pleased to
grant her peace,
to guard, unite and govern her throughout the whole world,
together with your
servant, our Pope and, our Bishop, and all those who, holding to
the truth,
hand on the catholic and apostolic faith.
Remember,
Lord, your
servants and all gathered here, whose faith and devotion are
known to
you. For them, we offer you this sacrifice of praise or
they offer it for
themselves and all who are dear to them: for the redemption of
their souls, in
hope of health and well-being, and paying their homage to you,
the eternal God,
living and true.
In
communion with those
whose memory we venerate, especially the glorious ever-Virgin
Mary, Mother of
our God and Lord, Jesus Christ, and blessed Joseph, her Spouse,
your blessed
Apostles and Martyrs, Peter and Paul, Andrew, James, John,
Thomas, James, Philip,
Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Jude; Linus, Cletus, Clement,
Sixtus,
Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas
and Damian and
all your Saints; we ask that through their merits and prayers,
in all things we
may be defended by your protecting help. Through Christ
our Lord.
Amen.
The priest repeats the words which
Christ used at his
Last Supper when He changed the bread into His Body and the
wine into His
Blood. His Body and Blood are truly present but under
the appearance of
bread and wine. The death of Christ is prolonged in
each of those who
receive Him worthily. We apply His death to ourselves
so that we may
share His glory. This moment is the most solemn on
earth because it is
Divine act which enables us to apply to ourselves the Cross
which Christ willingly
took upon Himself.
We are called to die to sin and lift
our very selves to
God so that we become changed; to do as God would have us
do, to become what
God would have us become. Our own little cross can
lift us into union
with Christ's Cross so we may earn the joys of everlasting
happiness with God
the Father.
Priest: You
are indeed
Holy, O Lord, the fount of all holiness.
Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending
down your spirit
upon them like the dewfall, so that they may become for us the
Body and Blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ. At
the time he
was betrayed and entered willingly into his Passion, he took
bread and giving
thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:
Take
this,
all of you and eat of it: for this is my Body which will be
given up for
you.
In a
similar way, when
supper was ended, he took this precious chalice in his holy and
venerable
hands, and once more giving you thanks, he said the 
blessing and gave the
chalice to his disciples,
saying:
Take
this,
all of you, and drink from it; for this is the chalice of my
Blood, the
Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured
out for you and for
many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of
me.
Memorial Acclamation: (The
priest may select from several forms).
Priest: The
mystery of faith.
Priest
/ All:
Save
us, Savior of the
world for by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free.
Memorial Prayer: (The
priest may select from several forms).
Priest:
Recalls
Christ's
Passion, Resurrection, Ascension, the Church, the dead, and
ourselves.
Therefore,
O
Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the blessed Passion, the
Resurrection
from the dead, and the glorious Ascension into heaven of Christ,
your Son, our
Lord, we, your servants and your holy people, offer to your
glorious majesty
from the gifts that you have given us, this pure victim, this
holy victim, this
spotless victim, the holy Bread of eternal life and the Chalice
of everlasting
salvation.
Be
pleased to look upon
these offerings with a serene and kindly countenance, and to
accept them, as
once you were pleased to accept the gifts of your servant Able
the just, the
sacrifice of Abraham, our father in faith, and the offering of
your high priest
Melchizedek, a holy sacrifice, a spotless victim.
In
humble prayer we ask
you, almighty God: command these these gifts be borne by the
hands of your holy
Angel to your altar on high in the sight of your divine majesty,
so that all of
us, who through this participation at the altar receive the most
holy Body and
Blood of your Son, may be filled with every grace and heavenly
blessing.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Remember
also, Lord,
your servants _____ and _____, who have gone before us with the
sign of faith
and rest in the sleep of peace. Grant them, O Lord, we
pray, and all who
sleep in Christ, a place of refreshment, light and peace.
Through Christ
our Lord. Amen.
To us,
also, your
servants, who though sinners, hope in your abundant mercies,
graciously grant
some share and fellowship with your holy Apostles and Martyrs:
with John the
Baptist, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander,
Marcellinus, Peter,
Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia and
all your
Saints; admit us, we beseech you, into their company, not
weighing our merits,
but granting us your pardon, through Christ our Lord.
Through whom you
continue to make all these good things, O Lord; you sanctify
them, fill them
with life, bless them, and bestow them upon us.
Doxology:
Prayer of Praise:
Through
him, with him,
and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of
the Holy
Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever.
All:
Amen.
Communion
Rite
In the Liturgy of the Eucharist, we
symbolically offer
ourselves to the Lord through the gifts of bread and
wine. At the
Consecration, we offer our very lives to be united the God
the Father through
the Cross of Christ. In Communion, we find that we
have not died at all,
but have come to life. We have surrendered ourselves
to God through His
Divine Son, Jesus Christ. In return, we become
ennobled and
enriched. We give up time and we get eternity, we give
up our sin and we
receive grace, we surrender our self-will and receive the
strength of the
Divine Will, we give up ourselves and we receive
everything. For the Son
of God says to us that unless we receive Him, we shall not
have Divine life in
us. But it is not really we who receive Christ, as it
is Christ who
receives us, bringing us into Himself.
God makes His Cross the very means
of our salvation and
our life. While we have crucified Him, His eternal
love cannot be
extinguished. Christ willed to give us the very life
we crucified in our
Redemption, the Consecration of Holy Thursday into
Communion, His death into
our everlasting life.
The Lord's Prayer:
Priest:
At
the
Savior's command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:
Priest
and
All: Our
Father,
who art in heaven, hallowed be they name; Thy kingdom come; Thy
will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our
daily bread, and
forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass
against us; and
lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Priest:
Deliver
us,
Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our
days, that,
by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and
safe from all
distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our
Savior, Jesus
Christ.
All: For the kingdom, the
power and the glory are yours
now and forever.
Prayer for Peace:
Priest:
Lord
Jesus
Christ, who said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I
give
you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and
graciously
grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will.
Who live and
reign for ever and ever.
All: Amen.
Priest:
The
peace
of the Lord be with you always.
All: And with your spirit.
Priest: Let us offer each other the sign of
peace.
Breaking of the Bread:
Priest:
May
this
mingling of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ bring
eternal life
to us who receive it.
Priest
and
All: Lamb
of
God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have
mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take
away the sins of the
world, grant us peace.
Priestly
Preparation: May the receiving of
your Body and Blood, Lord
Jesus Christ, not bring me to judgment and condemnation, but
through your
loving mercy be for me protection in mind and body and a healing
remedy.
Priest: Behold
the Lamb of God,
behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed
are those called
to the supper of the Lamb.
Priest
and
All: Lord, I
am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and
my soul shall
be healed.
Priest: May the
Body of Christ
keep me safe for eternal life.
May
the
Blood of Christ keep me safe for eternal life.
Communion Antiphon: Matthew
17:5
This
is
my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.
Communion of the
Faithful:
Priest: The
Body of Christ.
The
Faithful: Amen.
Priest/Deacon/Extraordinary
Eucharistic
Minister: The Blood of Christ.
The
Faithful: Amen.
Cleansing of the Vessels:
Priest:
What
has
passed our lips as food, O Lord, may we possess in purity of
heart, that
what has been given to us in time may be our healing for
eternity.
Prayer after Communion:
Priest: 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.
Concluding Rite
Priest: The
Lord be with you.
All: And with your
spirit.
Priest: Bow
down for the
blessing.
Dismissal Prayer: (The
priest may select from several forms)
Priest:
May
bountiful
blessings, O Lord, we pray, come down upon your people, that
hope may grow in
tribulation, virtue be strengthened in temptation, and eternal
redemption be
assured. Through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
