Day: July 20, 2015

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Thursday, 23 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Matthew 13 : 10-17

At that time, the disciples of Jesus came to Him and said, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but not to these people. For the one who has, will be given more and he will have in abundance. But the one who does not have will be deprived of even what he has.”

“That is why I speak to them in parables, because they look and do not see; they hear, but they do not listen or understand. In the words of the prophet Isaiah are fulfilled : However much you hear, you do not understand; however much you see, you do not perceive.”

“For the heart of this people has grown dull. Their ears hardly hear and their eyes dare not see. If they were to see with their eyes, hear with their ears and understand with their heart, they would turn back, and I would heal them. But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears, because they hear.”

“For I tell you that many prophets and upright people have longed to see the things you see, but they did not see them, and to hear the things you hear, but they did not hear them.”

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Thursday, 23 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Daniel 3 : 52a, 53, 54, 55, 56

Blessed are You, Lord, God of our fathers, be praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the Temple of Your sacred glory, Your praises are sung forever.

Blessed are You on the throne of Your kingdom, honoured and glorified forever.

Blessed are You who fathom the depths, who are enthroned on the cherubim, praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the firmament of heaven, praised and glorified forever.

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Thursday, 23 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Exodus 19 : 1-2, 9-11, 16-20b

Exactly two months after the Israelites had left Egypt, they arrived at the wilderness of Sinai. They arrived there coming from Rephidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai.

YHVH spoke to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud so that the people may hear Me speaking with you and trust you always.” Then Moses related to YHVH what the people had said. Again YHVH spoke to Moses, “Go to the people and have them sanctified today and tomorrow; let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. For on the third day YHVH will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”

On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning and a dense cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was heard. All the people in the camp trembled. Moses then made the people leave the camp to meet God and stand at the foot of the mountain.

Mount Sinai was completely covered in smoke because YHVH had come down in fire, and the smoke rose as from a furnace. The whole mountain shook violently, while the blast of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke and God replied in thunder. When YHVH had come down to the summit of Mount Sinai, God called Moses who went to the summit.

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Wednesday, 22 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Mary Magdalene (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of one of the important figures in the Gospel, that is of St. Mary Magdalene, one of the women who followed Jesus constantly in His journeys and travels, and who was known as a sinner from whom Jesus cast out seven demons or evil spirits, and who thereafter followed Him and was one of the women who waited on Jesus as He hung from the cross.

She was also honoured to be one of the first to witness the Lord after His resurrection from the dead, to see Him in His glorious majesty which is revealed as the truth, that He has conquered death and sin. And this truly has a great significance for us all, just as it had a great significance on St. Mary Magdalene as well. This is how the Gospel today is very significant, as the culmination of our own journey in life.

If we look at the Psalm and the first reading today, all of them spoke about a certain longing for the Lord, for His wisdom and light, which all of us seek, for we all live in darkness and away from the bliss and true joy which is in God alone, and we long for it. But on our path to reach it, many of us were often distracted by false leads and false pleasures of this world, which Satan is offering us to keep us away from the true path towards salvation in God.

The story of the life and conversion of St. Mary Magdalene should be an inspiration to us all. In it we saw a woman whose life once was filled with vice, and demons dwelled in her, and no one would want to go near to her, for the debauchery and wickedness she committed and the demons within her kept most people away. But the Lord showed mercy on her, cast out those demons from her and liberated her from the tyranny of evil.

What He told her and her other contemporaries, sinful women condemned but then rescued by the Lord was that they ought to go and sin no more, for their faith had saved them. They have been reclaimed from the darkness and sin no longer has power over them. And the same applies to us all as well. This is why the scene of St. Mary Magdalene who witnessed the resurrection of the Lord Jesus is important, because Christ risen from the dead represents the triumph over the forces of sin and death.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on this day on our own lives, on whether we have been like St. Mary Magdalene and all the other repentant sinners who became martyrs and saints like St. Augustine of Hippo, a great sinner once but turned to be a glorious saint because he turned his back to his past life of sin and embraced the love of God anew.

Indeed, what matters to all of us is that God does not call great men to do great things. On the other hand, He called sinners and people who had gone wayward to be His disciples and followers. Many great saints were once great sinners too, but most importantly, they changed their ways, repented and followed the Lord with a renewed faith and zeal.

The same too should happen to us all. We should also be renewed in our faith, so that by our conversion to the truth, we may be like St. Mary Magdalene in all her glory, for she is known no longer as a sinner, but as a devoted and holy woman, whose faith and righteousness has pleased the Lord. The Lord is willing to overlook our past sins and wickedness, if only that we abandon them thoroughly and commit ourselves to a new life in God.

May Almighty God be with all of us, and may He strengthen our resolve to look for Him, to embrace Him and to find Him, and be freed of the darkness and evils that had tainted our hearts and souls. May all of us be reunited to Him, our Lord and Master, and may we all love Him forevermore. God bless us all. Amen.