Day: January 17, 2017

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Saturday, 21 January 2017 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Hebrews 9 : 2-3, 11-14

A first tent was prepared with the lampstand, the table and the bread of the Presence, this is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain, there is a second sanctuary called the Most Holy Place.

But now Christ has appeared as the High Priest with regard to the good things of these new times. He passed through a sanctuary more noble and perfect, not made by hands, that is, not created. He did not take with Himself the blood of goats and bulls but His own Blood, when He entered once and for all into the sanctuary after obtaining definitive redemption.

If the sprinkling of people defiled by sin with the blood of goats and bulls or with the ashes of a heifer provided them with exterior cleanliness and holiness, how much more will it be with the Blood of Christ? He, moved by the eternal Spirit, offered Himself as an unblemished victim to God and His Blood cleanses us from dead works, so that we may serve the living God.

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Friday, 20 January 2017 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded of the new covenant which God had made with us all, His people, that is with all of mankind. And He had made all of these through the mediation of Christ, Who is the Mediator of the new covenant, by which all of us are to receive salvation and grace, because Christ Himself had done the amazing and unimaginable deed of laying down His own life for the sake of our salvation.

Through Him, God had placed into our hearts the truth about Himself, what He had revealed to the whole world about His salvation. He had sent us His Holy Spirit, through Whom the truth is placed into our hearts, so that all of us who have believed in Him, and received the Holy Spirit will understand fully what it means for us to follow the Lord our God, and to walk in His ways.

However, this is also where we need to take note how in the Gospel passage today, it was mentioned that Jesus called His disciples, the primary twelve members among them in particular. They are known as the Twelve Apostles, whose names we are certainly quite familiar with. They were called by Jesus, together with the other Apostles and disciples, to be His witnesses and helpers in the good works He was bringing into the world for our salvation.

Through this, we can see how God needs our help to continue His good works in this world, as the works He has started are certainly not yet complete. All these works are still ongoing, and there are even more things to be done. There are many people who have yet to witness and experience the truth of the Lord, and there are many others who have yet to receive the Good News unlike us.

The works of the Apostles, who preached and witnessed for the Lord are still ongoing, as we are the ones who are now called to be the modern day disciples and witnesses of our God and of our faith in Him. Through us God will make His truth known to all, that He establishes a new covenant with us, and by that we are altogether saved. It is up to us then to lead others, our brethren, to walk on this path towards God’s salvation and grace.

And how do we do that, brothers and sisters in Christ? The saints Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian whose feasts we are celebrating today, had shown many others what it meant to be a disciple of Christ, and what are to be expected from us if we are to take His side and defend our faith in Him. They lived during times of great difficulty for the faith, when being a Christian meant that one could be prosecuted and arrested by the state, and persecution of the Church and the faithful were rampant.

Pope St. Fabian was the leader of the Universal Church and the faithful both across the Roman Empire and all Christendom, as well as in the city of Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire. The Roman Emperor at the time, the Emperor Decius was particularly hostile against Christians and their faith, and he ordered a distinctively brutal persecution against them.

As the leader of the flock of God, Pope St. Fabian did not fear the threat of persecution and suffering. Instead, he continued to minister courageously to the people of God, going from places to places and minister to those who need help. Eventually he was arrested and tortured, and as an example to all the other Christians, the Emperor Decius sentenced the faithful saint to death, and thus, in doing what he had been called to do, Pope St. Fabian met his end in glorious martyrdom.

Then, St. Sebastian was a soldier in the employ of the Roman Emperor, told to be a courageous man whose skill earned him a place in the contingent of the Imperial guardsmen. The Emperor at that time, Diocletian was also renowned infamously for his brutal persecution of the Christian faith and the faithful. All the Roman soldiers were ordered to offer sacrifices to the Emperor, who was then treated as a living god, and those who refused to do so were persecuted.

St. Sebastian courageously refused to offer sacrifices to the Emperor as ordered, because he stood by faithfully to his Christian faith. He refused to obey the Emperor’s orders even though he fully knew that doing so would bring about the wrath of the Emperor and would almost certainly mean his death. He did not want to compromise his faith and kept strongly to the faith which he had in the Lord.

And thus, by his courage, he was tortured and put to death, after a long and miraculous process where we were told that he was shot with arrows but did not die because of the Lord’s intervention, before finally he was martyred with a sword. Through their examples, Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian had shown us all that being a Christian require commitment and courage, and real action instead of inaction.

We, as the modern day successors of the Apostles and disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ should be role models for our brethren, and become genuine and real witnesses for Him, even though persecution, challenges and difficulties may come in our way to hinder us and stop us from doing whatever it is that we want to do for this purpose. Let us all pray, brothers and sisters in Christ, that God will give us the courage and strength to do so.

Let us all follow in the footsteps of the holy saints and martyrs who had gone before us, and who have left behind their illustrious examples for us to follow. Let us all follow in the footsteps of Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian in their total commitment to the Lord and their courageous faith. And finally, let us all continue to pray for the unity of all Christians that all those who believe in God may come together and be reunited in the Church of Christ under the leadership of His Vicar, our Pope. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 19 January 2017 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s readings we continued to hear yet again about our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, Who is our Master and our Saviour. It was through Him that we have received salvation and the promise of eternal life. It was through Jesus that God had made us all mankind whole again and became worthy of His grace and love.

We were once delinquents, rebels and we were those who were condemned to destruction and suffering, because we have not been faithful to the covenant which God had made with us and with our ancestors. Yet, because He loves us all so tenderly, and because His love for us is so great, there is nothing that could stop Him from doing what He had done in order to secure a different future and fate for us. He rescued us all from the depths of darkness and brought us into the light.

He is the One Whom God had appointed to be the Mediator, the One to mediate between us and our Lord and Creator. It was through Jesus that mankind which was once sundered from God, had been reunited with Him, because Jesus through His suffering and death on the cross, and also then through His glorious resurrection, had become the steady bridge through which we mankind can cross through the chasm separating us and God.

The deep chasm that existed between us and God came about because of our sins, that is because of our disobedience and our refusal to listen to the Lord and our reluctance to follow Him. It was because of all these that many of us had wandered far away from the Lord, and embraced all sorts of the wickedness found in this world. But God wanted us to find our way back to Him, and that was why He sent us Jesus, His only begotten Son, to be our Guide and Help.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our Lord had done so much for us, as He had not only given Himself to rescue us, but He also even took upon Himself the burdens of our sins, and also bear for our sake, the consequences and the punishments for those sins. He did all these so that all of us who believe in Him will not perish and die because of our sins, but instead, by having been forgiven, we will be saved.

Many of us are reluctant to believe in the Lord, or to follow Him because we are doubtful and not sure in our hearts. We are still often divided between Him and the world, all the concerns of worldly origins, that we find if difficult for us to commit ourselves to Him. And yet, it was through Him alone that we can be saved. God will not abandon us, just as He did not abandon our ancestors, but instead did all He could in order to help them.

We should follow the example of the people of Judea at the time of Jesus, which we heard in the Gospel today, in how they came in large numbers to the Lord, looking for Him and wanting to be healed from their afflictions. They braved hunger and even rain, in order to be able to come to the Lord Jesus, to hear Him teaching them and also to get themselves healed by Him. Are we able to show the same conviction as they did?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that each and every one of us as Christians should commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord. Let us no longer be burdened by the many concerns and doubts we have, but instead, learn to trust everything to the Lord, and to believe in Him with all of our might. Let us all follow Him just as the people at the time of Jesus had done, and be healed from all of our bodily and more importantly, spiritual afflictions, that is to be forgiven from all of our sins.

May the Lord bless us all, empower us to live more genuinely in the faith, and help us so that all of us may come together to glorify Him with full faith and trust in Him, knowing that He will succour us and deliver us from destruction and darkness into the light and new hope in Him. Lastly, let us also pray that the divisions that exist between the faithful people of God may be healed, and all those who call themselves Christians may be reunited as one people, one flock and one Church under the Vicar of Christ, our Pope, as we embark and progress through this week of prayer for Christian unity. May God be with us all. Amen.

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Friday, 20 January 2017 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Mark 3 : 13-19

At that time, Jesus went up into the hill country, and called those He wanted and they came to Him. He appointed twelve to be with Him, and He called them ‘Apostles’. He wanted to send them out to preach, and He gave them authority to drive out demons.

These are the Twelve : Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John his brother, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, which means ‘men of thunder’; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

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Friday, 20 January 2017 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 84 : 8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14

Show us, o Lord, Your unfailing love and grant us Your saving help. Yet Your salvation is near to those who fear You, and Your Glory will dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.

The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.

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Friday, 20 January 2017 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Hebrews 8 : 6-13

Now, however, Jesus enjoys a much higher ministry in being the Mediator of a better covenant, founded on better promises. If all had been perfect in the first covenant, there would have been no need for another one. Yet God sees defects when He says : The days are coming – it is the word of the Lord – when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.

It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They did not keep My covenant, and so I Myself have forsaken them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come : I will put My law into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people.

None of them will have to teach one another or say to each other : Know the Lord, for they will know Me from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and no longer remember their wrongs. Here we are being told of a new covenant; which means that the first one had become obsolete, and what is obsolete and ageing is soon to disappear.

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Thursday, 19 January 2017 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 3 : 7-12

At that tine, Jesus and His disciples withdrew to the lakeside, and a large crowd from Galilee followed Him. A great number of people also came from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, for they had heard of all that He was doing.

Because of the crowd, Jesus told His disciples to have a boat ready for Him, to prevent the people from crushing Him. He healed so many, that all who had diseases kept pressing towards Him to touch Him. Even the people who had evil spirits, whenever they saw Him, they would fall down before Him and cry out, “You are the Son of God.” But He warned them sternly not to tell anyone Who He was.

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Thursday, 19 January 2017 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 39 : 7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 17

Sacrifice and oblation You did not desire; this You had me understand. Burnt offering and sin offering You do not require. Then I said, “Here I come!”

“As the scroll says of me. To do Your will is my delight, o God, for Your law is within my heart.”

In the great assembly I have proclaimed Your saving help. My lips, o Lord, I did not seal – You know that very well.

But may all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; and may all who love Your saving grace continually say, “The Lord is great.”

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Thursday, 19 January 2017 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Hebrews 7 : 25 – Hebrews 8 : 6

Consequently Jesus is able to save for all time those who approach God through Him. He always lives to intercede on their behalf. It was fitting that our High Priest be holy, undefiled, set apart from sinners and exalted above the heavens; a Priest Who does not first need to offer sacrifice for Himself before offering for the sins of the people, as high priests do. He offered Himself in sacrifice once and for all.

And whereas the Law elected weak men as high priests, now, after the Law, the word of God with an oath appointed the Son, made perfect forever. The main point of what we are saying is that we have a High Priest. He is seated at the right hand of the Divine Majesty in heaven, where He serves as minister of the true Temple and Sanctuary, set up not by any mortal but by the Lord.

A high priest is appointed to offer to God gifts and sacrifices, and Jesus also has to offer some sacrifice. Had He remained on earth, He would not be a priest, since others offer the gifts according to the Law. In fact, the ritual celebrated by those priests is only an imitation and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary.

We know the word of God to Moses with regard to the construction of the holy tent. He said : You are to make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain. Now, however, Jesus enjoys a much higher ministry in being the Mediator of a better covenant, founded on better promises.

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Wednesday, 18 January 2017 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us heard yet again about the works of our Lord Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, Whom God had made to be His Saviour, the One through Whom He willed to make all of His people worthy and purified once more, that they will be filled with grace and will be cleansed from the taints of their sins and wickedness.

Through Him, all had been made whole, because it was not just by any hands that all were healed, but through the sacrifice of the one and only Lamb of God. The Lamb of God has offered Himself, His own flesh and blood for the sake of the salvation of the entire world. Ha gave Himself for our sake so that even though He suffered and died on the cross, through Him we will not need to suffer the consequences of our sins.

Such was God’s love for us, that He was willing to approach us and seek us, as a Good Shepherd as He is, He went forth to collect us and to gather us all in, His wayward sheep and flock. Though all of us have been unfaithful many times, again and again, but He remains ever faithful, and His promise to those who are faithful to Him always stands no matter what.

But it was indeed sad to notice how there were such great oppositions against Christ as what we witnessed in our Gospel passage today. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were waiting for the opportunity to trap Jesus in His own words and in His works, so that they could accuse Him and arrest Him under the false charges of blasphemy or through breaking the laws of Moses.

To go to that extent in order to preserve themselves and to remove from their sight the opposition that they saw in Jesus, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had shown us all the ugly side of mankind, our own ugly side, which is our pride and our greed for worldly glory and power, for influence and fame, for human praise and for wealth. These are the things that have become an obstacle for each and every one of us, that prevent us from truly being able to reach out to the Lord our God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God wants to heal us from the sickness of our sins, from the corruption of our wickedness and from the taint of our disobedience. But are we willing to accept His offer of healing? Are we willing to receive the mercy which He had so generously granted to us? Are we open to the opportunity to welcome His forgiveness into ourselves? These are the questions that we need to ask ourselves to see if we ourselves are holding us back from God’s mercy and grace.

As Christians all of us should be humble, and should indeed be willing to listen and to welcome the truth of our God into our hearts. We should not be proud or be arrogant, but instead follow the example of Christ our High Priest, our Leader, our Shepherd and our Role Model, that through Him, and by following His examples, we may be able to lead a more Christian way of life.

Let us all reflect on this, especially as today we begin the week of prayer for Christian Unity. This week we are praying for the unity of all those who believe in God and in His ways, that each and every one of us may be reunited together once again in the one and only Church that God had established in this world, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, that is the Catholic Church, under the leadership of the Vicar of Christ, our Pope.

We hope for the unity of all Christians, that everyone may find their way to the Lord through the Church, and that all parties involved in the division of the Church may find the humility and the conviction to overcome their differences, and learn through the faith, what needs to be done in order to reconcile themselves to the truth found only in the Church, and therefore all may stand ready to be found worthy when the Lord comes again.

May the Lord bless us all, and bless our Church that it may remain united amidst all the challenges and the difficulties it encounters. We pray that all of us Christians will also be able to lead a more Christ-like life, that each and every one of us may devote ourselves wholeheartedly to Him, and make our world altogether a better place for us to live in. May God be with us all, His Church, and keep us all as one people and one flock, all faithful to Him. Amen.