Presider: Fr. Justin Lopina
Parish: Sacred Heart and Saint Matthew
Choir: Heart of the Nation
Text from the Gospel & Homily ~ February, 18, 2024
The lord be with you. And with your spirit.
A reading from the holy gospel according to Mark. Glory to you, o lord.
The spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him. After John had been arrested, Jesus came to galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
The gospel of the Lord. Praise to you lord Jesus Christ.
I’ve got some practical advice for you today. As we begin the season we’re supposed to give something up for lent. And the stereotypical Lenten sacrifice is “no chocolate during Lent. Now, for us priests, the vast majority of priests, we consider that to be the bare line minimum of what you can do before holy week. But, at the same time, bizarrely, that is a harder sacrifice than it has any reason being. Because I’ll admit this is more of a psychological message than a spiritual one, our brains do not handle negative desires very well. And by negative desires I mean, if someone comes up to you and says don’t think about your ex, well that’s all you’re going to think about all day. Just because they said that. And the same tendency can damage our Lenten efforts. I will not eat chocolate for Lent. I am not going to eat chocolate for Lent. Good heavens do I love chocolate. I’m not sure I’m going to make it 40 days without chocolate. I will literally die if I don’t get chocolate right now. And if you’ve ever been in that position for Lents of the past you know that you end up eating about as much chocolate as any other time of the year. You know it’s frustrating of course. It’s when you focus or fixate on something you want but can’t have and that proves to be unhelpful. I feel like parents learn this very early on because when you tell your kid, don’t you color on the walls all you’ve really ended up doing is getting in their heads that coloring on the walls must be pretty awesome. Even though a lot of us here today all those watching at home many of us haven’t been a kid for quite some time. But that tendency is still rattling around in your head somewhere. To focus on what you want but can’t have is to automatically invite temptation. An obviously there are times in life where we must do exactly that. Say no to something that is harmful or bad in life. That is discipline that is fortitude. Those are wonderful, wonderful qualities to have in life and work on but today if you have ever struggled with your Lenten sacrifice in years past, I’m inviting you this year to focus on something positive rather than negative. Instead of saying to yourself no chocolate for Lent, instead say 2 salads a week from now until Easter. Instead of saying, “I won’t look on my phone as much” commit yourself to say a rosary or a chaplet every day between now and holy Thursday. And hopefully that little psychological edge is enough to give you a little more success as we journey through lent, as we mortify our flesh, and attempt to honor Christ in the desert for these 40 days.
Entrance: Christ Before Us
Text: 87 87 D; © 1990, Janèt Sullivan Whitaker. Published by OCP. All rights reserved. Music: Welsh Melody
Psalm 25: Your Ways O Lord Are Love and Truth
Response text © 1969, 1981, 1997, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission. Verses text © 1970, 1997, 1998, CCD. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Music © 2022, Santiago Fernández. Published by OCP. All rights reserved.
Preparation: Instrumental
Communion: Hosea
Text: Hosea 6:1, 3:3, 2:16, 21; Joel 2:12; Weston Priory, Gregory Norbet, OSB, b.1940 Tune: Gregory Norbet, OSB, b.1940; arr. by Mary David Callahan, OSB, b.1923 © 1972, 1980, The Benedictine Foundation of the State of Vermont, Inc.
Sending Forth: Beyond the Days
© 1997, Ricky Manalo, CSP. Published by OCP. All rights reserved.
Mass Setting: Mass of Renewal
Text © 2010, ICEL. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
Music: Mass of Renewal; Curtis Stephan, b. 1973; choral arr. by Curtis Stephan and Rick Modlin, b. 1966, © 2009, Curtis Stephan.
Published by OCP. All rights reserved.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this liturgy obtained from ONE LICENSE, License No. A-718591.
www.HeartoftheNation.org
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Thank you, Father Justin beautiful Mass and Homily. The Choir did and amazing job.
Wonderful homily father Lopina. God Bless 🙏🏻
Hartofthenation virtual Mass English USA 🇺🇲🇺🇲 catholic Mass February 18 2024 1st Sunday of lent happy Easter Jesus Christ alleluia amen 🕊️🕊️🕊️ Tagalog Mr bro Cris kuya molina i am a special child God bless you mama mary loves you happy good morning Sunday 🌞🌞🌞 happy Valentine's day 💕💕💕 God bless you mr bro Cris Claudio Gomez molina bicol Naga city Philippines filipino 🇵🇭🇵🇭 nice to meet you my friend i love you God is good Ave Maria hartofthenation virtual Mass English USA 🇺🇲🇺🇲 heart love ❤️❤️❤️ prayer intention PM am mass family cousin 🙏🙏🙏 mr bro Cris kuya cousin Jolo Enzo enchai Justin lovcnz c Gomez Jolo cousin pharmacy's Christina ney Lorenzo c Gomez Enzo cousin accountancy Angelica c Gomez enchai cousin nursing
Missed seeing fr.Lopina he has great way of explaining
Thank you Father Justin. You are so cool.
thank you : Fr. Justin Lopina celebrating this Holy Mass with jumb and joyful smile and preaching the sermon so meaningfully simple and positve focus and scientifically significant values
Thank you Father for the beautiful Mass and singing greetings from Kenya 🇰🇪
Lord, I am grateful for the wisdom and guidance of your Holy Spirit, leading me on the path of righteousness. Your provision of discernment and understanding helps me make wise choices and live according to your will.
So wonderful to see you Father Justin! Beautiful Mass and I loved the choir and the cantor, as well as the lector. Your homily was right on. Love the suggestion that rather than giving up something, we do something new for the love of Jesus.
Thank You, cheers from Italy. Beautiful robe as always.
It was wonderful to see you again Father Justin. It was you who kept me watching & participating in the Sunday Masses when I discovered Heart of the Nation. Since it has been some months since I last saw you, today was very special. Thank you Heart of the Nation for bringing the weekly Mass into our homes.
Thank you for this mass.
This was a beautiful Mass and may everyone enjoy good health and happiness this coming week.
That was a beautiful and compelling Mass ❤
Amen 🙏 ❤
Excellent readings gospel homily reflections and cantor, music. Thank you HeartoftheNation. God bless us all.
amen
Peace be with you all
Thanks be to God.
Thank you Father Justin and Heart of the Nation for bringing Mass and God's Blessings into the homes of the handicapped.
Thank U to all at Heart of the Nation for having a way for all who are unable to go out to mass every week to experience what we miss. God bless all. 🕊💜✝️🛐💒♾️
Good morning everyone!
Excellent Mass as always, Fr. Justin. Thank you.
Good morning amen 🙏 and amen thank you Father Justin for your beautiful mass
So good to see Father Lopina again! God bless everyone and have a great week!
Thank you. I love watching your videos every week because I can’t go to church myself. 😢 God bless anyone who is reading this. Amen.
Thank you for such beautiful mass! God bless Heart of the nation 🙏✝️🕊
Please God bless Little Floyd and Monsee as they approach on the birth of a new baby May every Saint and all the angels watch over them continuesly.
❤Thank you
Excellent homily!
Father Justin was homily engaging, and well-delivered, connect with the congregation and offer meaningful insights into the Scriptures relevant teachings. Thank you Father!
Thank you Father Lopina – for a beautiful Mass and Homily…Peace and GOD Bless you All…
Again, very nice, we at home thank you.
A great way for lent! Thank you….Amen
God Bless everyone and everything
Thank you Father Lopina, tjm
Wonderful sermon! Thank you Father! Praise God! Have a blessed Sunday everyone!
Dear Father : I tanks for the mass , and advise for length , I can be more happy for , thanks
Uplifting. Encouraging. Beautiful. Thank you
Thank you, Father Justin, for the beautiful mass and encouraging words of doing something positive during lent. This is both positive and a sacrifice for me, so I will eat one piece of chocolate a week! 😇
Have a great Sunday everyone!
Thank you Fr Justin
Amen