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Friday, 5 June 2026 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s Scripture readings which we have heard. We are reminded that the Scriptures are the representation of the Word of God, and while not directly written by God Himself, they were written by the ones whom God had inspired through His Wisdom and the Holy Spirit in order to reveal the truth to the world, the truth which He has wanted to present to all of His beloved people. And through the Scriptures, we are led and guided through the right path and journey so that despite all the distractions, temptations and all the things that have threatened to keep us away from the Lord, we may still end up enduring and persevering through the difficult journey of faith and life with God as our strong anchor.

In our first reading today, we are reminded from the continuation of the Epistle that St. Paul the Apostle wrote to his protege, St. Timothy, one of the earliest leaders and bishops of the Church, where he reminded the latter of the great power of the Scriptures, the Word of God and what the Word of God can do in guiding and helping the faithful people of God to steer their path well in life, to help them to remain steady amidst all the darkness of this world, and so that they will be able to help others to remain faithful and steady in their own journey, by having the Word of God, as it is revealed through the Scriptures to guide them and keep them focused on the path of truth and righteousness of God. That is why it is important for us to have regular access and contact with the Scriptures, and keeping them around in our daily lives.

However, we also should take note that it is easy for us to be distracted and even misunderstand the true meaning of the Scriptures especially if we only try to understand them superficially and literally. There are so many people who have misinterpreted the Scriptures and even misused them for their own selfish gains and benefits, because they chose to follow those words without properly understanding and appreciating the context, the nuances and the historical background of every single moments those Scriptural accounts were written. This is why we are reminded that in order to fully understand and use the Scriptures, we have to first understand of why and how it was written, the context, the intended audience and all the nuances behind every Scripture passages, or else, it may easily lead us to misinterpret and misquote the Scriptures.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist where the Lord Jesus spoke to the teachers of the Law who questioned Him and wondered at His teachings and identity, of how His coming into this world as the promised Saviour or Messiah had been foretold by the prophets and especially so as highlighted in today’s passage, by the much respected King David of Israel, the wonderful and faithful King of Israel, whose faith in God was truly exemplary and whose reign ushered a golden age for Israel and the people of God at that time. The Lord Jesus spoke of how David had received some foresight and knowledge from the Lord of the coming salvation and fulfilment of God’s promise.

And He also pointed out the peculiarity of what David himself had spoken, in saying that the One Who was to come into this world, the prophesied Son of David, to be born into his own family and lineage, was one and the same as the Lord his God, the One Whom He glorified and worshipped, and he called this Saviour, his own descendant, ‘Lord’. This revelation showed that Jesus, as the One Whom God had promised to send into our midst as the Saviour of all, born into the House of David and fulfilment of all the prophecies of the prophets, was not merely just a Man or a mere Prophet, but is also none other than God Himself incarnate in the flesh, the Son and Word of God Incarnate, taking up our human existence and nature to make God’s Love tangible and approachable to us, so that through Him, all may be saved.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Boniface, a great bishop and martyr who had dedicated his life and all of his works for the greater glory of God. He was an English Benedictine monk who was especially remembered for his efforts in evangelising amongst the Germanic people in the northern parts of what is Germany today, proclaiming the Good News and salvation of God to many of the people there who still believed in pagan and false gods and beliefs. He was born in England to a rather prominent family and then against the wishes of his father, learnt theology and eventually became a monk and priest. St. Boniface was then appointed as a missionary to the region in northern part of Germany and what is today Netherlands known as Frisia. In his mission to Frisia, the Pope appointed him as a missionary bishop to establish the Church in that region and to convert the people there to the true faith.

In a story still well-remembered to this day, St. Boniface once persuaded many among the pagans as he chopped a great oak tree held sacred by the German pagans, who revered the tree and the spirits. Miraculously a great wind blew upon the oak tree and the whole tree fell down to the ground. Having witnessed the miracle and the fact how St. Boniface was not struck down by their gods and deities for such a supposedly sacrilegious act, many among the pagans believed in God and gave themselves to be baptised by St. Boniface and other missionaries. He went on to establish many churches and institutions in his mission areas, and continued to labour for the good of the Lord and His Church until eventually he was martyred when he and his entourage was beset by a group of Frisian bandits during his last missionary trip to the region.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore remember what we have just discussed and pondered about earlier on. Let us remember to put ourselves firmly in the path of the Lord by keeping ourselves immersed in the Scriptures by our regular appreciation and use of its words, but at the same time also understanding its context, meaning and purpose so that we may truly understand God’s will and intentions for each and every one of us instead of having blind obedience and shallow faith. We are reminded that through the Scriptures and the Wisdom that God has given us all through His Church and the Holy Spirit, we will be strengthened and encouraged, just as He had once inspired St. Boniface in all of the efforts that he had shown in devoting his life to the conversion of souls and the salvation of many.

We are reminded that although persecutions, hardships and challenges may be part of our journey and lives as Christians, but we are never alone in these struggles and trials, because God Himself is always by our side, providing for us and strengthening us all throughout our journey. We must never forget that He is always with us and that we are never alone, no matter what. We should indeed thank Him and appreciate everything that the Lord Himself had done for our sake, as He has always supported us through whatever challenges that we may face, so that even if we have to endure difficulties and hardships for a while, but in the end, we know and we can be sure that we will ultimately be triumphant with God in the end.

May the Lord continue to provide for us and strengthen us all in our resolve to live our lives ever more faithfully in His Presence. May He continue to bless our every efforts and good works, so that we may continue to proclaim His truth and Good News, as well as manifesting His love through each and every one of our own actions and efforts in this world. May He help us to understand fully and correctly His intentions for us through careful and guided understanding of the Scriptures, the Word of God manifested in this world. May God be with us always, His Church and His beloved ones, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 5 June 2026 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 12 : 35-37

At that time, as Jesus was teaching in the Temple, He said, “The teachers of the Law say that the Messiah is the Son of David. How can that be? For David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declared : The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies under Your feet!'”

“If David himself calls Him Lord, in what way can He be his Son?” Many people came to Jesus, and listened to Him gladly.

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Friday, 5 June 2026 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 118 : 157, 160, 161, 165, 166, 168

Many foes persecute me, but I have not turned away from Your Law.

The essence of Your word is truth, everlasting are Your just ordinances.

Rulers persecute me for no cause; yet, my heart stands in awe of Your words.

Lovers of Your Law have found great peace; nothing can make them stumble, not even distress.

O YHVH, I wait for Your salvation, and I keep Your commands in faith.

I obey Your precepts and Your decrees; my ways are always before You.

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Friday, 5 June 2026 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Timothy 3 : 10-17

You, instead, have closely followed my teaching, my way of life, my projects, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions and sufferings. You know what happened to me at Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. How many trials I had to bear! Yet, the Lord rescued me from them all. All who want to serve God, in Christ Jesus, will be persecuted; while evil persons and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

As for you, continue with what you have learnt, and what has been entrusted to you, knowing from whom you received it. Besides, you have known the Scriptures from childhood; they will give you the wisdom that leads to salvation, through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God, and is useful for teaching, refuting error, for correcting and training in Christian life. Through Scripture, the man of God is made expert and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

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Thursday, 4 June 2026 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the Church celebrates the great Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, celebrating the great and Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Who has given His Body and Blood for us to partake, in Holy Communion of the Church, the Sacrament of the Most Holy Eucharist. On this day, celebrating this great and most important aspect of our faith, in the celebration of what is popularly known as Corpus Christi, all of us are brought together and reminded of this great real and spiritual union all of us have as the parts and members of the same Church of God, the Body of Christ, that is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. On this day, all of us are called to remember our belief in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, as we all believe that the bread and wine offered by the priests at the Holy Mass is truly turned into the real and true essence, material and substance of the Lord Himself in the Flesh and Blood.

All of us believe that the bread and wine while they may seem to appear still like bread and wine, but we believe that they have been completely turn in reality, essence and all things to the very essence of the Body and Blood of the Lord Himself, and this is what we all know as the Real Presence in the Eucharist. We believe wholeheartedly that when we receive the Eucharist in Holy Communion, all of us are not just merely remembering the event of His giving us His Body and Blood, and we are also not just commemorating the event of the Last Supper and the Lord’s sacrifice on His Cross. Instead, all of us truly believe that the Holy Mass itself is the same Sacrifice that the Lord had made on His Cross, through time immemorial and beyond the boundaries of time and space, uniting all Christians, all sharing in the Most Precious Body and Blood of the Lord that has been given to us, for us to eat, drink and share amongst us all as the tangible sign of unity in us all as Christians, members of the same Body of Christ, the Church.

That is why today, as we listened to the readings taken from the Sacred Scriptures and ponder upon the mystery and the important tenet of this Real Presence in the Eucharist, of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord that we have partaken, all of us are called to be faithful bearers of this truth, and to proclaim the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, as our faith has required of us. If we ourselves have not truly believed in the Lord’s Real Presence, His Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood truly present in the Eucharist that we receive, then how can we convince others around us, all those whom we encounter in life, that the Real Presence is the truth? Unfortunately, too many Christians out there have not had a good and proper understanding of what the Real Presence in the Eucharist is all about, and how significant it is that we have received and partaken of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord unto ourselves.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Deuteronomy in which we heard of the exhortation which Moses, the leader of the people of God, the Israelites, gave to the people not long before they end their long journey and sojourn in the desert after their Exodus from Egypt. Back then, the people of Israel had lived through a long forty years of journey through the desert that lies between the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan, the ancestral lands promised to the Israelites. What should have been a rather short and quick journey from their land of slavery to a land of overflowing abundance, of milk and honey, of great blessings of God, became a great detour and long wait because of the stubbornness and rebelliousness of the Israelites who have frequently tried to walk in their own path and having constantly been refusing to follow the Lord and His commands.

Yet, the Lord still patiently cared for His people, while chastising those who have rebelled and sinned against Him. He truly loved them all much like a father cares for his children. And like a father who truly cares for the well-being of his children, the Lord shows His love and cares for us all while chastising and disciplining us with firm hand whenever it is necessary. That is true love and care, brothers and sisters in Christ, as if God only shows us what is good and enjoyable only, and not showing us proper discipline, we will end up being spoilt and then think that we can do everything as we like it, and not living our lives in the manner that we should have, as the children and people of God. Like those people of Israel, whom God had called and chosen from among the nations to be the first people that He called as His own beloved ones, God made a Covenant with them and expected them to live worthily according to His Law and commandments.

Despite having to put up with all of their rebelliousness and stubborn attitude, the Lord still gave His people providence, sustenance, food and drink throughout their sojourn in the desert. He sent them the heavenly bread, the manna, every morning without fail, and also flocks of birds every evening to keep the people well sustained and provisioned, and also crystal-clear water from the rocks itself, in the middle of the empty, lifeless and burning desert. Many among the people of Israel were indeed ungrateful and wicked, in their desires and their wants, in all the things which they demanded from the Lord. Although they had been fed and been well-taken care of, they still wanted all the things and supposed luxuries that they once had when they were still in Egypt, although they were then living there as slaves under the dominion of the Egyptians and their Pharaoh.

In our second reading today, we then heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians of the account of what happened at the Last Supper that the Lord had with His disciples. At that occasion, the Lord Jesus blessed and broke the bread, and gave the bread to His disciples while saying to them that, it is His Body which He was giving to them, and when He afterwards blessed and passed the chalice filled with wine to the disciples, He said to them that it was His Blood that He was sharing and outpouring upon them, for them to partake and drink, so that through His Body and Blood, all of them may truly be united as One Body of Christ, the Church. It was there and then that the Lord began His Passion journey, as He began His sacrificial offering of His own Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood as the most worthy and perfect offering on behalf of us all, for the atonement of all of our sins.

As the Gospel reading today mentioned to us, on the discourse of the Lord to the disciples and many of the people who followed Him, of Himself being the Bread of Life, He did not mince His words in both cases, when He was telling the people about Himself as the Bread of Life and the Living Bread Who has come down from Heaven, and at the Last Supper to His disciples. He did not say that He was giving them a symbol of His Body or a symbol of His Blood. And even when His own disciples complained that the Lord was making things difficult for them by saying such things that were considered unbelievable and outrageous at best, and which was hard to be accepted by many among the people. Yet, the Lord doubled down and emphasised on what He had just told them, telling them that He is truly the Bread of Life, the Living Bread Who has come down upon us, so that He may feed us all His Body and His Blood, and all of us who share in His Body and Blood will not perish but live forever.

At that time, many of the Lord’s disciples abandoned Him and left Him, because they felt uncomfortable of what He had spoken, in saying that He was giving them His own Flesh as food for them and His own Blood as drink for them to share and partake. Is that not the exact same response from all those in the past and present who refused to believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist? Is that not the same attitude shown by those who lack belief and faith in not believing that the bread and wine we partake in the Eucharist are no longer bread and wine, but are the very essence and reality of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord Himself? This is why today, as we listened to these words from the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are being constantly reminded of this very central and crucial tenet of our Christian faith. We must first treat the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord in the Eucharist, His Real Presence with utmost respect and worship, adoration and honour, as we should for our Almighty God and Master.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, if we look at the state of how many Christians treat the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, and how many actually believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, we will be really alarmed. That is because less and less people, and alarmingly low percentage of believers in the Church still believed in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. Some did not understand what the Eucharist is about, the significance of the Lord being truly present within the Eucharist in His Most Precious and Holy Body and Blood. Many of our fellow Christians, and perhaps even we ourselves may have treated the Lord with disrespect, even within the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. How many of us truly and actually spend our whole time meaningfully and well, in dedicating ourselves to the Lord whenever we attend and participate in the Holy Mass? How many of us cannot wait for the Holy Mass to end and then continue with our daily business and actions?

If we cannot even show our faith and belief in the Lord’s Real Presence, how can we expect others to believe in the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord being truly present in the Eucharist as well? If we ourselves have not treated the Holy Eucharist with the utmost respect as the Lord truly deserves it, then how can others around us believe that th Holy Eucharist, the bread and wine that by the power of God through the Holy Spirit, and by the hands of the priests whom He had appointed, to be His representatives, in this world, in persona Christi, transformed, in reality and fullness of essence, the Lord Himself present in the flesh? That is why we have to start with ourselves, by believing more sincerely and more devotedly to the Real Presence of our Lord and Saviour in the Most Holy Eucharist. We have to respect, honour and adore the Lord being truly present in our midst more, and begin doing that by living our lives in a more worthy, Christ-like manner.

May the Lord, truly present in the Eucharist, continue to help and guide us, strengthen us all in our journey throughout life. May He continue to guide and empower His Church, all of us who are faithful in this world and beyond, so that each and every one of us will continue to proclaim His truth and Good News, and may all of us continue to grow ever closer to God and His love, and may He be glorified by our actions and works, in each and every moments. Let us all show that we truly believe in God, Whose Real Presence had been made evident to us by His own Flesh and Blood, which bread and wine had been transformed into, so that we may truly partake in Him and share in His Body and Blood, and become one Body in Christ our Lord, one Church of God. Amen.

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Thursday, 4 June 2026 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 51-58

Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “I am the Living Bread from heaven; whoever eats of this Bread will live forever. The Bread I shall give is My Flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.”

The Jews were arguing among themselves, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the Flesh of the Son of Man and drink His Blood, you have no life in you. The one who eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood lives eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

“My Flesh is really food, and My Blood is truly drink. Those who eat My Flesh and drink My Blood, live in Me, and I in them. Just as the Father, Who is Life, sent Me, and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats Me will have life from Me. This is the Bread from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this Bread will live forever.”

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Thursday, 4 June 2026 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 10 : 16-17

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a communion with the Blood of Christ? And the bread that we break, is it not a communion with the Body of Christ?

The bread is one, and so we, though many, form one body, sharing the one bread.

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Thursday, 4 June 2026 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 147 : 12-13, 14-15, 19-20

Exalt YHVH, o Jerusalem; praise your God, o Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your children within you.

He grants peace on your borders and feeds you with the finest grain. He sends His command to the earth and swiftly runs His word.

It is He, Who tells Jacob His words; His laws and decrees, to Israel. This, He has not done for other nations, so His laws remain unknown to them. Alleluia!

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Thursday, 4 June 2026 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Deuteronomy 8 : 2-3, 14b-16a

Remember how YHVH, your God, brought you through the desert for forty years. He humbled you, to test you and know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He made you experience want, He made you experience hunger, but He gave you manna to eat which neither you nor your fathers had known, to show you that one does not live on bread alone, but also by everything that comes from the mouth of God.

Do not forget YHVH, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of slavery. It is He Who has led you across this great and terrible desert, full of fiery serpents and scorpions, an arid land where there is no water. But for you He made water gush forth from the hardest rock. And He fed you in the desert with manna which your fathers did not know.

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Thursday, 4 June 2026 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures we are being reminded of the most fundamental truth of our Christian faith and that is the fact that we are all truly and most dearly beloved people of God, whom He had shown His perfect love in the person of the Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Love of God made flesh, by which we all have seen the assurance of God’s salvation and the fulfilment of our Hope in Him. We are reminded that God is always with us, by our side, journeying with us and supporting us all even throughout the most difficult moments of our lives and journey. We must never lose hope and we should always trust in the Lord, knowing that He will guide us through even the most difficult and challenging obstacles.

In our first reading today, we heard from the second Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to St. Timothy, his protege and one of the first bishops of the Church in which the Apostle continued to encourage St. Timothy and all the other missionaries of the Good News of God to go forth and follow in his footsteps in glorifying God by their actions and works among the people. He reminded them that all the sufferings that he had to endure, he gladly did them for the sake of the glory of God. In addition, he was glad that he did all of those works and endure all those sufferings for the sake of the people to whom that he had been sent to minister, for the sake of their salvation and liberation from the tyranny of sin and evil.

And St. Paul also reminded St. Timothy and the others that the Lord is always ever faithful and loving towards us, regardless of how we have treated Him, and how we might have neglected Him and our obligations towards Him. The Covenant which He had made with each and every one of us endures, and through His offering of His perfect Love to us through His Son, Whom He had sent into this world, Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour as mentioned earlier, we have partaken our share in His suffering, death and Resurrection, and just as we do not suffer alone, but suffering together with Christ, we too share in His death to our past sinful and wicked way of life and existence, and delivered into the renewed existence and life, full of God’s grace, in sharing eventually His glorious Resurrection.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the interactions between the Lord Jesus and one of the teachers of the Law who came up to Him to ask Him about which Law among all the Law and commandments of God is the most important of all of them. The teacher of the Law might have wanted to test the Lord and see His responses, as many among the teachers of the Law thought that He was teaching and propagating the idea that the Law is to be superseded and overwritten, and hence were quite strong in their opposition and disapproval against Him. Alternatively this teacher of the Law might have also been just genuinely curious to know which among the Law was indeed the most important commandment of all.

For the context, we must understand that the Law of God as it was revealed through Moses during the time after the Exodus from Egypt and the journey of the Israelites in the desert consisted of many laws, commandments, rules and ordinances, all of which were extensive and detailed, and over time, they were expanded by the many rituals and practices that the Israelites, the people of God and their descendants continued to apply in their interpretations and applications of those laws and commandments. According to the Jewish tradition, there are a total of six hundred and thirteen laws all in all, if not even more. And that was why, it may seem to be very difficult and burdensome for the people of God to practice and fuflil all of them.

But the Lord made it very clear that the purpose of the Law was in fact not to burden the people, but to lead them all towards God. The Law was meant to show the people of God on how they ought to live their lives in the manner that is good, worthy and just so that they may truly be able to follow the Lord our God faithfully and worthily at all times. Hence, the Lord Jesus summarised the Law into two main components, under which all the laws, rules, commandments and all the precepts of the Law ultimately came under, that as He mentioned, that we all ought to first of all, love the Lord our God, Who has loved us all unconditionally first, with all of our hearts, might and strength, and then secondly to love the people around us in the same way as well, and this is especially even more so for those whom we love and whom God has entrusted to us to love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore ponder these words of the Scriptures that we have received today so that by appreciating better the love of God and His intentions for us, all the guidance and help that He has provided and shown to us, all of us may grow in faith and become ever stronger in our devotion towards the Lord, and in living our lives worthily in the manner that He Himself has shown and taught us all. Each and every one of us should do our best to emulate Christ’s own examples in loving and obeying His heavenly Father, and in His most generous, patient and merciful love towards each and every one of us. Through this love that we have actively practiced in each and every moments of our lives, may we draw ever closer to the Lord.

May the Lord our most loving and compassionate God continue to guide us all in our respective journeys in life, helping us all to remain firm in our commitment and endeavour to practice and show the love of God manifested in each and every one of our own actions, words and deeds, in everything we do at every moments in our lives. This is so that we may truly love God in the manner of how He has loved us first, embracing His love for us fully and doing our best to show that same love at all times. May all of us be blessed in our every loving actions, words and deeds, in our loving interactions to all those around us, to bring all people and all things ever closer to God. Amen.