Day: October 24, 2015

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Tuesday, 27 October 2015 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 13 : 18-21

At that time, Jesus continued speaking to His disciples and to the people, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? Imagine a person who has taken a mustard seed, and planted it in his garden. The seed has grown, and become like a small tree, so that the birds of the air shelter in its branches.”

And Jesus said again, “What is the kingdom of God like? Imagine a woman who has taken yeast, and hidden it in three measures of flour, until it is all leavened.”

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Tuesday, 27 October 2015 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 125 : 1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6

When the Lord brought the exiles back to Zion, we were like those moving in a dream. Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.

Among the nations it was said, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord had done great things for us, and we were glad indeed.

Bring back our exiles, o Lord, like fresh streams in the desert. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs and shouts of joy.

They went forth weeping, bearing the seeds for sowing, they will come home with joyful shouts, bringing their harvested sheaves.

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Tuesday, 27 October 2015 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 8 : 18-25

I consider that the suffering of our present life cannot be compared with the Glory that will be revealed and given to us. All creation is eagerly expecting the birth in glory of the children of God. For if now the created world was unable to attain its purpose, this did not come from itself, but from the One who subjected it.

But it is not without hope; for even the created world will be freed from this fate of death and share the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pangs of birth. Not creation alone, but even ourselves, although the Spirit was given to us as a foretaste of what we are to receive, we groan in our innermost being, eagerly awaiting the day when God will give us full rights and rescue our bodies as well.

In hope we already have salvation. But if we saw what we hoped for, there would no longer be hope : how can you hope for what is already seen? So we hope for what we do not see and we will receive it through patient hope.

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Monday, 26 October 2015 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about Jesus and His healing of the sick woman who had suffered for over eighteen years due to the binding and works of the devil, who made her to suffer grievously. And yet, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law criticised Him for what He had done, for to them, He has blasphemed and sinned by breaking one of the most important law in the eyes of the Jews, that is the law of the Sabbath.

And yet, their faith and their reasoning failed them, for they saw with the eyes of their flesh, and they tried to understand the meaning of the Law of God using the feebleness and the limitations of their human minds and thoughts. They were unable to truly understand nor comprehend what Jesus had done, and what He had intended to reveal to them by that action, that they might see the truth.

As St. Paul put it in his letter to the Church and the faithful in the city of Rome, he explained how all of us mankind must no longer walk in the way of the flesh, or the way of worldliness, but rather, we ought to walk from now on in the way of Christ, as we are all children and belonging of the Spirit of God, and not the belongings of the prince of this world, that is Satan and his angels.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law thought in the way of this world, thinking of themselves and priding themselves as the impeccable and flawless guardians of the faith, and as the just and faithful ones because of their numerous prayers, devotions and also strict adherence to the laws passed on to them from the time of Moses.

Yet, they failed to understand that those laws and ordinances were all actually given to mankind for a singular purpose, that is to bring them closer to God, to bring them to much more active and genuine commitment to God, and to turn them away from the path of evil and into righteousness and salvation in the Lord. And they were not conceived or given to mankind in order to have some to lord over others and think that they had the right to just so and so just because they deemed themselves more superior in piety.

Jesus indeed rebuked these people harshly, for their misguided ways and inability to understand God’s true intentions, despite them being educated, supposedly wise and as the shepherds of the people of God. Jesus showed them that God intended His laws to guide mankind to Him, and not to bring about unjust and unnecessary sufferings, especially to those who are willing to change and repent their ways.

Therefore, God showed His mercy and compassion for us, by healing the woman who had been afflicted and enslaved by the devil for over eighteen years. Why did He then choose to do it on the Sabbath? It is to show it clearly to those who have been hypocrites and failed to understand God’s intention and the meaning of His laws, that He wants us all to be saved, and if possible, as soon as it is possible to save us, not a single moment must be lost.

We can see this being practiced in how the Church regulates the baptism of infants after their birth. It is truly imperative that parents bring their newborn child to be baptised as soon as possible after birth, so as to grant them the seal of the living God, the eternal seal of baptism that is stamped upon the souls of all those who have been received into the Church of God. The salvation of our souls is God’s priority.

Let us all now therefore renew our commitment to God, and be committed in our faith, to help one another to reach out to the Lord, just as Jesus had done. Let us help all those who are still living in the darkness of sin, and help them so that they may find their way to reach the Lord who loves them and wishes them all to be saved, that is all of us. May God be with us in all of our endeavours and bless us always. Amen.

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Monday, 26 October 2015 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 13 : 10-17

At that time, Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, and a crippled woman was there. An evil spirit had kept her bent for eighteen years, so that she could not straighten up at all.

On seeing her, Jesus called her and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then He laid His hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight and praised God.

But the ruler of the synagogue was indignant, because Jesus had performed this healing on the Sabbath day, and he said to the people, “There are six days in which to work. Come on those days to be healed and not on the Sabbath!”

But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Everyone of you unties his ox or his donkey on the Sabbath, and leads it out of the barn to give it water. And here you have a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years. Should she not be freed from her bonds on the Sabbath?”

When Jesus said this, all His opponents felt ashamed. But the people rejoiced at the many wonderful things that happened because of Him.

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Monday, 26 October 2015 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 67 : 2 and 4, 6-7ab, 20-21

Arise, o God, scatter Your enemies; let Your foes flee before You. But let the righteous be glad and exult before God; let them sing to God and shout for joy.

Father of orphans and Protector of widows – such is our God in His holy dwelling. He gives shelter to the homeless, sets the prisoners free.

Blessed be the Lord, God our Saviour, who daily bears our burdens! Ours is a God who saves; our Lord lets us escape from death.

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Monday, 26 October 2015 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 8 : 12-17

Then, brothers, let us leave the flesh and no longer live according to it. If not, we will die. Rather, walking in the Spirit, let us put to death the body’s deeds so that we may live.

All those who walk in the Spirit of God are sons and daughters of God. Then, no more fear : you did not receive a spirit of slavery, but the Spirit that makes you sons and daughters and every time we cry, “Abba! (This means Dad) Father!” the Spirit assures our spirit that we are sons and daughters of God.

If we are children, we are heirs, too. Ours will be the inheritance of God and we will share it with Christ; for if we now suffer with Him, we will also share Glory with Him.

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Sunday, 25 October 2015 : Thirtieth (30th) Sunday of the Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day the readings from the Holy Scripture all unanimously speak of one thing, one fact and reality, that is the salvation, healing and redemption brought about through our Lord Jesus Christ, the High Priest of all, Lord and Master of all, through Whose works and actions, all of us had been made justified and righteous, and purified from the taints of our original sins.

In the first reading, taken from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, God made a promise to all of His people that He will never forget them, and that His love for them will always endure, so long as they too love Him and dedicate themselves to Him. He will save them and bless them once again with His grace and love, just as once He had done in the past.

This was in the context of the time, when the prophet Jeremiah lived at a time of difficulty and hopelessness, where the people of the ten tribes living in the northern kingdom of divided Israel had been carried off into exile and slavery by the Assyrians who had invaded and destroyed their kingdom. God punished them for their lack of faith and wicked deeds, for their worship of the pagan gods like Baal and Asherath, and paid no honour to Him, the one and only true God.

And the people in the southern kingdom of Judah were not faring much better either, as the Babylonians that came after the Assyrians now threatened to bring destruction to Judah and Jerusalem, and indeed, they would destroy Jerusalem and the Temple of God built by Solomon, and the people would be carried off to exile and slavery in lands far away from their homes.

But after all these, the punishments for Israel’s sins, just as their ancestors wandered in the desert for forty years due to their disobedience, and just as all mankind had to suffer and perish in this hard and challenging world, due to the sins of our forefather Adam and Eve, his wife, thus, God also promised salvation and liberation from all sufferings to all of His people if they would return to Him.

And God had promised all of us this since the beginning of time, when mankind first fell into sin, namely by promising to Adam and Eve, that even though Satan got them and tricked them into disobedience against God, but there would be a time to come, when God would send a Deliverer and Saviour to them, to the sons and daughters of mankind.

And God continued to renew His promise to His people throughout time, as He promised His servants Abraham, Moses, David, and many others through His prophets and messengers, or by directly speaking to them. God blessed His people and kept them with the hope of His deliverance and salvation. Yet, it was so often that the people refused to listen to the words of His prophets.

And today in the Gospel reading, we heard about how the blind man called out to Jesus Christ our Lord to save him and heal him from his blindness. The blind man struggled on and he did not give up, even when Jesus apparently did not hear him and continued on His way. And indeed, the blind man’s efforts were rewarded by the Lord, who healed him from his afflictions and restored his sight to him.

This is related closely to what we heard today in our second reading today from the Letter of St. Paul directed to the Hebrews, where he spoke if our Lord Jesus Christ as the High Priest, and not just as any other ordinary High Priests of the Temple of God, but truly as the High Priest over all mankind and over all of creation, for it was by what He had done as our one and true High Priest that He had saved and delivered us all.

Yes, as mentioned earlier with regards to the salvation of our souls and the redemption from our sins, we have had the perfect and complete fulfilment of God’s promised salvation through Jesus Christ, the Saviour and the One through Whom God made His will complete, the will that all of us His beloved ones ought to be drawn closer to Him and be brought out from the pit of misery and sin we are currently in now.

Truly, we are like the blind man, sickened and troubled, afflicted and suffering the consequences of our sins. Yes, for sin is not just the disobedience against God and all the wickedness we have committed in our words and actions, but in fact, sin is a disease and like a cancer that afflicts our souls, our hearts, our minds and also our bodies.

And sin is eating away into our beings, crushing us, destroying us and making us rotten. Unless we do something concrete and real to get ourselves clean and free from all these sins, we shall be brought down by them into the abyss of eternal darkness and suffering. For this is true hell, the eternal suffering of knowing that we have been completely separated from the love and the grace of God, and there is no hope for escape.

Just like the priests and high priests of Israel, whom God had chosen and ordained out of the people, to be those sanctified and empowered to offer the offerings for the sake of the sins of the people, or sin offerings, where the priests offer the lovely smell of animals and burnt offerings at the altar for the temporary remission and forgiveness of the sins of the people of God, so God had also instituted once and for all the eternal redemption by the one true High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ.

And Jesus did not offer the blood of rams or bulls, or birds or any other earthly offerings. Rather, He offered His own Precious Body and Precious Blood, His own Life, so that by that one and singular offering made at the Altar of Calvary, lifted up high on the cross, He might become the perfect offering, the perfect sacrifice which is worthy and the only one worthy to absolve forever the whole multitude of all of our sins.

And He offered it all willingly and freely for all of us, sinners and wicked people who have acted like the Israelites of old, like the people living during the time of the prophet Jeremiah in Judah. Exile and destruction would have been ours if not for the mercy and the richness of the love of God. However, this does not come free and easy for us. Why is this so? This is because mercy requires dedication and genuine repentance.

We often forget that God’s mercy and love requires first on our side, the willingness to accept them, and also the willingness and the desire, as well as the seriousness to leave behind our past sins and wrongdoings. No mercy will be shown or given to us if we persist in our sinfulness, in our rebellion against God’s will, for the simple fact that just as much as God loves us all without exception, even the greatest sinners, He despises our sins just as much, for evil has no place in His presence.

Today, as we all gather together to glorify our Lord and to give thanks to Him for His wondrous mercy, let us all not forget that we must dedicate ourselves to a life of holiness, far away from all sorts of sin and wickedness, far away from all sorts of adultery and unfaithfulness, from all sorts of debauchery and greed, from anything that can separate us from the love of God and thrust us into eternal damnation.

Let us all renew our faith in the Lord and commit ourselves anew to a new life blessed by His love and by His justice, that in all the things we say and do, we proclaim Him and we bring glory to Him. May God bless us all in our endeavours, and may He keep us united to Him and never be separated once again from His love. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.