Day: October 10, 2016

by

Thursday, 13 October 2016 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 11 : 47-54

At that time, Jesus said to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, “A curse is on you, for you build monuments to the prophets your ancestors killed. So you approve and agree with what your ancestors did. Is it not so? They got rid of the prophets, and you build monuments to them!”

“For that reason the Wisdom of God also said : I will send prophets and apostles and this people will kill and persecute some of them. But the present generation will have to answer for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was murdered between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, the people of this time will have to answer for them all.”

“A curse is on you, teachers of the Law, for you have taken the key of knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you prevented others from entering.”

As Jesus left that place, the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees began to harass Him, asking Him endless questions, setting traps to catch Him in something He might say.

by

Thursday, 13 October 2016 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.

With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, the Lord!

by

Thursday, 13 October 2016 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Ephesians 1 : 1-10

Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, to you who share Christian faith : receive grace and peace from God our Father and from Jesus the Lord.

Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord, Who in Christ has blessed us from heaven with every spiritual blessing. God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and without sin in His presence.

From eternity He destined us in love to be His adopted sons and daughters through Christ Jesus, thus fulfilling His free and generous will. This goal suited Him : that His loving kindness which He granted us in His Beloved might finally receive all glory and praise.

For in Christ we obtain freedom, sealed by His Blood, and have the forgiveness of sins. In this appears the greatness of His grace, which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and understanding, God has made known to us His mysterious design, in accordance with His loving kindness in Christ. In Him and under Him God wanted to unite, when the fullness of time had come, everything in heaven and on earth.

by

Wednesday, 12 October 2016 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded yet again how to live truly like a disciple and follower of the Lord our God. We are reminded and shown how the ways of those who have lived like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were wrong, as they put a lot of emphasis on worldliness and appearances, and yet they forgot to remember about the Lord, the One Who should be their focus in life.

And worse still, they paraded themselves and were proud of what they have done, immersing themselves in the joys and in the pleasures of the world. They took pride at the praise and the fame they garnered through their acts of piety and by showing off their religiousness by praying loudly in open places and by seizing the first and most importance places in events, as if they were entitled to these.

They followed the path of the world, and attempted to satisfy the human needs and the desires of the flesh. As a result, they were misguided, and worse still, they also misguided others who were placed under their jurisdiction, responsibility and care. As the shepherds of the Lord’s flock, they should have led by example of their actions, but instead, they committed sinful and heinous deeds before God and His people alike.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from what we heard in the Gospel today and from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, our first reading, we can see that between following the Lord and submitting ourselves to the whims and the desires of this world, there is a vast gap that requires us therefore to make a stand and choose which side we are to follow. We cannot remain indifferent and ignorant to what the Lord is showing us on the incompatibility of His ways and that of the world.

We should look at our own actions and words in this life, and wonder for ourselves, just how much is it that we have been devoting ourselves and our lives for the Lord, and how much we have cultivated the gifts that God has given to each and every one of us, which He had sown in our hearts, namely the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the gift of faith, hope and love.

This is what St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Galatians, that the fruits of the Holy Spirit are what precisely he had preached to them, namely charity, joy, peace, patience, understanding, and basically, these gifts are not what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had brought into this world and among the Lord’s people when they acted as they did in how they observed the Law of God.

They sowed division and sin, fornication and temptation among the people by guiding them along the wrong path, and instead of opening the path to God’s salvation to many people who needed it, they closed the path before these people thinking that they alone deserved to be saved. And rightly God rebuked them for what they have done, as they have failed in their most important responsibility as God’s shepherds, that is to lead the people of God down the right path.

It is therefore a stark and real reminder to each and every one of us, that we should take heed of how they lived their faith life, and then not to follow them in what they have done. As Christians, each and every one of us should give our lives and ourselves in order to serve the Lord in all the things we do and say. We must be humble and be loving in all our deeds, as we are all mere creatures of the Lord, whom God had chosen to pour His love upon and to be saved.

We should deepen our spiritual love for the Lord and also the love which we ought to show our brethren. It is important that we learn how to resist our human desires and wants, which are often obstacles on our path as we attempt to draw closer to the Lord. If we can just resist those temptations and make the concerted effort to do what the Lord had asked us to do, and become true disciples filled with love and compassion, then surely God will bless us and keep us in His ever abundant grace.

Let the rebuke which God levelled on the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law be a reminder for all of us Christians and also be a challenge for us to live our lives ever more devoutly. Let us all help one another even as we draw closer to the Lord and His salvation. May God bless us all and be with us always. Amen.