Month: December 2015

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Monday, 28 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of the Holy Innocents, the holy martyrs and amongst the first of those who were martyred for the sake of the Lord. The Holy Innocents were those infants of Bethlehem, who were those below the age of two, who were mercilessly slaughtered by Herod, the king of Judea at the time, because of his fear of the One Who was prophesied to be the King of the Jews.

We heard in the Gospels how the king Herod of Judea, upon hearing from the three Magi or the three wise men from the East that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, became jealous and refused to stand down and pay obeisance and honour the King of kings Who had come into the world. Instead, he plotted in his minds and in his heart, thinking of destroying the King in an act of jealousy, to conserve his own rule and authority, and to prevent his kingdom to be usurped.

We see in today’s Scripture readings the great danger of succumbing to vanity and personal desires, and to jealousy and hatred of others. We see the kind of things and atrocities that mankind was able to do to one another in order to selfishly preserve themselves and gain good things only for themselves. This is the ugly and real extent of our selfishness, the desire and the tendency to think only about ourselves.

We have seen what Herod was prepared to do in order to defend himself, in order to preserve himself and keep his position. He slaughtered innocent children and all those infants below the age of two without mercy and without hesitation in order to hopefully eliminate the King before He is to come to His glory and power. But while men try their best to preserve themselves, as we can see, God has His own plans.

Why do we call the martyrs today the Holy Innocents? That is because we believe that even though we mankind have been tainted by sin, but at a certain age before we are able to reason for ourselves and think for ourselves, and before we are tainted by the many concerns of the world, such as power, desires, jealousy and all of those things that had precisely afflicted Herod, the children of mankind are innocent and blameless.

And it was these pure and blameless beings, powerless and weak who were slaughtered by the king Herod in his futile quest to prevent the King of kings born into this world from claiming and getting His rightful throne, as the King over all of Israel, and as King over the whole world. In the end, the will of God will always triumph, and the proud man is left with none, as king Herod went to his death and certainly he is to be held accountable for all of his sinful deeds.

But one then may ask, that if God is so good, then why could He not have helped and prevented the children from being massacred in the first place? Was He not loving and merciful? If He is so, then how could He have allowed such an atrocity to take place? Surely these are the very questions that are likely to be in our minds as we heard the passages from the Scripture readings today.

In this we all have to realise that even though God indeed, as I have just mentioned, has His will and desire, but He does not oppress us by imposing upon us His will. We also have our free will granted to us by God, a free will to choose and to follow a path that we have chosen. Indeed, for Herod, he has a choice, either he should humbly accept the reality of his position, and give honour and glory to the one true King as the three Magi had, or he could choose to satisfy his own greed and pride, and try his best to remove his enemy.

Thus, all of us today are brought to reflect and to understand the importance of the implications of what we have heard and discussed today for our own sake, and for our own salvation. Should we follow Herod’s path? If we look at our own lives, I am sure we will realise that there are likely quite a few occasions in which we have acted in the same way as Herod had done, in how we interacted with our friends and even to those who are strangers to us.

Let us from now on, then, no longer be selfish and be too self-serving in our actions. On this feast of the Holy Innocents, let us all ask these holy martyrs to pray for our sake, that God will open our hearts and minds so that we will be better able to listen to Him and obey Him in all things, and so that we may grow lesser in our pride and desire, and stronger in our humility, for our own sake, and for our own salvation.

May God bless us and keep us, and may He strengthen us all in everything that we do, and empower us all to be ever more faithful children of God. O, Holy Innocents pray for us sinners and intercede for us before the Lord our God. Amen.

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Monday, 28 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 2 : 13-18

After the wise men had left, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon be looking for the Child in order to kill Him.”

Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and left that night for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. In this way, what the Lord had said through the prophet was fulfilled : I called My Son out of Egypt.

When Herod found out that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood who were two years old and under. This was done in line with what he had learnt from the wise men about the time when the star appeared.

In this way, what the prophet Jeremiah had said was fulfilled : A cry is heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation : Rachel weeps for her children. She refuses to be comforted, for they are no more.

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Monday, 28 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 123 : 2-3, 4-5, 7cd-8

Had not the Lord been on our side, when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive; such was their anger against us.

A bit more and the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away.

From the snare of the fowler; the snare was broken and we were freed. Our help is in the Name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

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Monday, 28 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 John 1 : 5 – 1 John 2 : 2

We heard Christ’s message from Him and announce it to you : God is light and there is no darkness in Him. If we say we are in fellowship with Him, while we walk in darkness, we lie instead of being in truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we are in fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus, the Son of God, purifies us from all sin.

If we say, “We have no sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He Who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all wickedness. If we say that we do not sin, we make God a liar, His word is not in us.

My little children, I write to you that you may not sin. But if anyone sins, we have an Intercessor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One. He is the sacrificial Victim for our sins and the sins of the whole world.

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Sunday, 27 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate on this Sunday after the Solemnity of Christmas, the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus our Lord, Mary His mother and Joseph, His foster father. On this day we honour that sacred family into whom our Lord and God had been born into this world. This is a model family from which all of our families should model after, and we should indeed heed their examples to be practiced in our own.

As we are still in the midst of the joy of the Christmas season, surely all of us are quite aware of the stories and all the things that are related to Christmas, when our Lord Jesus Christ was born into this world. It all began from the time when the Archangel Gabriel came to Mary and broke the news to her that she would be with a Child, bearing the Saviour in her womb and thus becoming the Vessel and Ark of God’s salvation for men.

And then Joseph, the man to whom Mary had been betrothed to, found out about her pregnancy, and thought that she had been unfaithful to him and committed an adultery, and even so, he tried to salvage her reputation by trying not to publicly denounce her or shame her with the revelation of her seemingly out of order pregnancy. But, when the Angel of God appeared to him in his dreams and revealed to him the truth, he faithfully devoted himself to God’s plans through Mary.

And this continued even so difficulties and challenges faced them together, beginning from the time when Mary was about to give birth to our Lord Jesus. She and Joseph had to travel the treacherous and long distance journey from their house in Nazareth in Galilee to the city of David, Bethlehem in Judea, a distance and journey that certainly no heavily pregnant woman should undertake.

But Joseph followed on very faithfully and helped to get Mary to a place where she could deliver her Child, even in a stable. He protected the newborn Child and His mother, and when the king Herod the Great, who heard of the coming of the Messiah who was prophesied to be the King of the Jews and who was jealous of Him tried to kill Jesus, Joseph guided by the Angel of God in his dream led his family into Egypt until all those who sought the death of Jesus were gone.

And Mary herself loved her Son and her husband equally well, and they together lived on in peace in Nazareth upon returning from Egypt, and as we witnessed in the Gospels, they went together to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve years old, in order to bring Him to the Temple of God in Jerusalem and join in the festival that was occurring there. We can be sure that they prayed together and worshipped the Lord together.

Indeed, it is likely that it was Mary and Joseph who had taught Jesus how to pray and how to live a life devoted to the Lord and to His commandments. Both Mary and Joseph were devout servants of the Lord, who practiced their faith in all their words, deeds and actions. This is a reminder to all the parents out there that it is their responsibility to teach the faith to their children and to teach them about the Lord.

And we should also note how Jesus, even though He purposefully stayed behind in the Temple of Jerusalem, and arguing with his parents that He had to be in His Father’s house, knowing His true identity as the Son of God and the Divine Word made Man, but He still obeyed His mother and His foster father, followed them and obeyed them as He grew up in the reckoning of man’s years.

This reminds us that children should listen to their parents and learn the right things that they teach them. And this also shows that a family that lives in harmony and love will persevere and prosper. This is very important for us to note, as we now live in a time where the respect and the honour given to the institution of family and the values associated with family life has become lessened and lessened ever more over time.

Yes, we should all be aware how family values and the importance of families became eroded over time, and became increasingly so these days, where people could just mock the institution of families, and family life which was once sacred, had been seen by many people as merely a formality and as even a form of archaism and backwardness.

There are many who sought to destroy the fabric of families, and not least, one of the perpetrators is we ourselves. We have not understood what is the importance of families and how relevant is having a good family to us all. In particular, do we all know that families are the basic units of our faith and the Church? And why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ?

That is because, as I have just mentioned earlier on, it is usually through the family that someone hears about the faith and the Lord. It is the responsibility of the parents and or godparents, as the vow which all of them had spoken at the time of the baptism of their child, which charged them to bring these little children in good faith and understanding of their Lord’s love and will.

A strong family grounded in good faith will be the foundation of a strong Church, and a strong Church in turn will safeguard its many souls from the attacks of the evil one and from the temptation to turn into sin and wickedness. It is the basic unit of the Church, of our faith, and the family is at the frontline of our regular and constant struggle against the devil and the darkness.

And indeed, the devil knows this, and it is one of the primary objectives of the devil to strike at the heart of the family, for if the family is destroyed, then the souls of the faithful will be in great risk indeed. This is why, on this great feast of the Holy Family, let us all uphold our faith through our family. Let us restore the strength and the harmony within our families, so that together as families blessed by God, each of our family members will be able to resist the devil and his assaults.

May the Lord Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, Who loved and obeyed His earthly parents and listened to them, and Mary, the Mother of God, whose faith and devotion were exemplary, and St. Joseph, foster father of our Saviour in his commitment and hard works inspire us all to do the same with our own families. God bless us and our families, now and forever. Amen.

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Sunday, 27 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 41-52

Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, as was customary. And when Jesus was twelve years old, He went up with them, according to the custom of this feast. After the festival was over, they returned, but the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents did not know it.

They thought He was in the company, and after walking the whole day they looked for Him among their relatives and friends. As they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem searching for Him, and on third day they found Him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. And all the people were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

His parents were very surprised when they saw Him, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Your father and I were very worried while searching for You.” Then He said to them, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s House?” But they did not understand this answer.

Jesus went down with them, returning to Nazareth, and He continued to be subject to them. As for His mother, she kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and age, and in divine and human favour.

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Sunday, 27 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 3 : 1-2, 21-24

See what singular love the Father has for us : we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children and what we shall be has not yet been shown. Yet when He appears in His glory, we know that we shall be like Him, for then we shall see Him as He is.

When our conscience does not condemn us, dear friends, we may have complete confidence in God. Then whatever we ask we shall receive, since we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. His command is that we believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another, as He has commanded us.

Whoever keeps His commands remains in God and God in him. It is by the Spirit God has given us that we know He lives in us.

Alternative reading

Colossians 3 : 12-21

Clothe yourselves, then, as is fitting for God’s chosen people, holy and beloved of Him. Put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience to bear with one another and forgive whenever there is any occasion to do so. As the Lord has forgiven you, forgive one another.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. May the peace of Christ overflow in your hearts; for this end you were called to be one body. And be thankful. Let the word of God dwell in you in all its richness. Teach and admonish one another with words of wisdom.

With thankful hearts sing to God psalms, hymns and spontaneous praise. And whatever you do or say, do it in the Name of Jesus, the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as you should do in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not get angry with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, because that pleases the Lord. Parents, do not be too demanding of your children, lest they become discouraged.

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Sunday, 27 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 83 : 2-3, 5-6, 9-10

How lovely are Your rooms, o Lord of hosts! My soul yearns, pines, for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Happy are those who live in Your house, continually singing Your praise! Happy the pilgrims whom You strengthen, to make the ascent to You.

O Lord of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, o God of Jacob! Look upon Your shield, o God; look upon the face of Your anointed!

Alternative reading

Psalm 127 : 1-2, 3, 4-5

Blessed are you who fear the Lord and walk in His ways. You will eat the fruit of your toil; you will be blessed and favoured.

Your wife, like a vine, will bear fruits in your home; your children, like olive shoots will stand around your table.

Such are the blessings bestowed upon the man who fears the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosperous all the days of your life.

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Sunday, 27 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Samuel 1 : 20-22, 24-28

And Hannah became pregnant. She gave birth to a son and called him Samuel because she said : “I have asked YHVH to give him to me.”

Once more Elkanah went to the Temple with his family to offer his yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow to YHVH. Hannah would not go along but she said to her husband, “I will bring the child there as soon as he is weaned. He shall be presented to YHVH and stay there forever.”

When the child was weaned, Hannah took him with her along with a three year old bull, a measure of flour and a flask of wine, and she brought him to YHVH’s House at Shiloh. The child was still young. After they had slain the bull, they brought the child to Eli.

Hannah exclaimed : “Oh, my lord, look! I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to YHVH. I asked for this child and YHVH granted me the favour I begged of Him. Now, I think, YHVH is asking for this child. As long as he lives, he belongs to YHVH.”

And they worshipped YHVH there.

Alternative reading

Sirach 3 : 3-7, 14-17a (Greek Septuagint version – Sirach 3 : 2-6, 12-14)

Whoever honours his father atones for his sins; he who gives glory to his mother prepares a treasure for himself. Whoever honours his father will receive joy from his own children and will be heard when he prays.

Whoever glorifies his father will have a long life. Whoever obeys the Lord gives comfort to his mother. He serves those who brought him to birth as he would serve the Lord.

For kindness done to one’s father will never be forgotten, it will serve as reparation for your sins. In the day of adversity the Lord will remember it to your advantage; for just as ice melts in the heat, so will your sins melt away. The man who abandons his father is like a blasphemer; he who annoys his mother is cursed by the Lord.

My son, conduct your affairs with discretion and you will be loved by those who are acceptable to God.

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Saturday, 26 December 2015 : Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the celebration of the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr or the Protomartyr of the Church and the Faith, which means that he was officially recognised to be the first to lay down his life for the sake of God and for the sake of his faith after the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Stephen, if we read the Acts of the Apostles, was one of the seven holy servants of God whom had been chosen by the Apostles themselves to be a new order of those who have been chosen to distribute the graces, goods and blessings of the faithful to those who have less, the poor ones and the less fortunate ones. He was one of the seven original deacons of the Church.

He served the people of God faithfully and the Holy Spirit was with him, and filled with the Holy Spirit, he was filled with courage and strength to proclaim the good works of God’s salvation to the people, and to testify courageously and without fear the truth which had been revealed through Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of the world. And yet, we also heard of those who sought to destroy the faithful and the Church, those who refused to believe in the truth.

Yes, and these persecuted the faithful people of God, and St. Stephen was the first to bear the brunt of their attacks and their wrath. He suffered and was persecuted, and yet if we see his great testimony in the first reading today and in the Acts of the Apostles, then we all should know how courageous and fearless he was as he spoke in the defence of his faith to the Lord, the true faith in the Lord Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

He did not even fear for his life or be discouraged by the whole multitudes of those who sought to silence him and destroy him, the whole assembly of the Sanhedrin, the elders of Israel and the Pharisees. Instead, just as our Lord had spoken in the Gospel today, the Holy Spirit gave St. Stephen the strength, the inspiration, the courage and the eloquence of words to preach the Good News of God’s salvation to them.

And he led an exemplary Christian life to the end, and imitated Jesus our Lord Himself in what He had done on the cross. That is when he had been tortured and brought to die by stoning, he forgave his accusers and enemies, just as Jesus had done Himself, and he surrendered himself completely to God Who had guided him and protected him all those while.

One may then wonder how come we are talking about martyrdom and death, the death of a faithful servant of the Lord on the day just after the revelry, the merrymaking and the joy of the Christmas day? Indeed, as the peak of the Christmas celebrations last for a week, this is still right in the middle of the Christmas celebration and joy. Therefore, why is this so, brethren in Christ?

That is because, the nature of Christmas and its reality cannot be separated from what we remember today in what St. Stephen and also the many other martyrs of the Church had done. These holy men and women were those who had dared to stand up for what they believe in the Lord God Who came down to us in the form of Man, and Who had given up Himself to be crucified and to be our sacrifice for our salvation.

Despite the opposition, the ridicule and the enormous pressures being meted out against them, and the threat against their own safety and their very own lives, these holy men and women, and chief of all represented by the very first one to be counted among them, St. Stephen, all of them had shown the resolve and the desire to remain faithful to the Lord despite all odds.

And let us ask ourselves, that if God had loved us so much and gave us so many blessings and graces, to the point of even giving Himself for our sake, to suffer and to die for us, shall we not do the same for us as well? God does not require long prayers or commitment of the flesh and the words, but what He truly desired from us is our love and complete dedicatiod to Him. May Almighty god strengthen our resolve to live our lives ever more devoted and commited to Him in every way conceivable.

Therefore, remembering the examples of these holy martyrs, and chief of all, St. Stephen, let us all remember what we have rejoiced for on Christmas day yesterday, and as we continue to glorify the Lord and rejoice in this Christmas season, let us all remind ourselves of the need to be courageous and to be willing to defend the same thing that we believe in, if we are to resist the temptation of sin and of the world, and remain true to the calling which God had given us through Christ, our Lord. God bless us all. Amen.