Month: January 2017

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Friday, 13 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Hebrews 4 : 1-5, 11

Therefore let us fear while we are invited to enter the rest of God, lest any of you be left behind. We received the Gospel exactly as they did, but hearing the message did them no good, because they did not share the faith of those who did listen. We are now to enter this rest because we believed, as it was said : I was angry and made a solemn vow : they will never enter My rest – that is the rest of God after He created the world.

In another part it was said about the seventh day : And God rested on the seventh day from all His works. But now it is said : They will not enter My rest. Let us strive, then, to enter the rest and not to share the misfortune of those who disobeyed.

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Thursday, 12 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about Jesus our Lord healing the lepers, who came to Him asking to be healed and to be made whole. Jesus healed them from their leprosy, and asked them to present themselves to the priests that they might be reconciled officially with the rest of their communities and be welcomed back by them.

We also heard about the rebellion of Israel of old, at the time of Massah and Meribah, at the time when the people of God grumbled against Him and disobeyed Him because they complained that they did not have enough of what they desired, and they lamented that their lives in slavery in Egypt was better than what they received from God in the desert.

The link between these two readings from the Scriptures is that we mankind have been afflicted by many wickedness and by the diseases of the body, the flesh and the soul. Leprosy is the disease of the flesh, where the affected parts and limbs of the body would eventually become numb, necrotic and fall off. It was very feared at that time as there was not yet any cure discovered for leprosy. It is a disease which many thought would spread easily by contact, and therefore those who suffered were shunned by the community and were cast out to live in the desert.

In the same manner, sin is the disease of the soul, which corrupts everything, beginning from the inside to the outside, affecting our very beings. Sin causes us to be separated and estranged from God, to enter a spiritual desert, through which we suffer and long for liberation and salvation. It was like the people of Israel at Massah and Meribah, who have disobeyed the Lord and doubted Him, and as a punishment, God made them to wander for many years in the desert before allowing them to enter the Promised Land.

But if we worry because of that, let us no longer worry, for God Himself loves us all, each and every one of us, and He is concerned about us. He wants us all to be saved and to be liberated from our sins, and He wants us to be purified, cleansed and made worthy of Him once again, just as He had healed the lepers as mentioned in the Gospel passage today.

The important question is that, are we willing to be healed from our sins? Are we willing to let go of our past lives and our wickedness? Or do we prefer indeed to follow the path of the Israelites, who grumbled and complained against Moses and God even though they had been blessed with many things? Let us open our hearts and not be stubborn, brethren, or else the fate of those sinners will be ours as well.

It is important that as Christians we should care for one another, and indeed be concerned about the state of each other’s souls. We should not abandon our brethren who are living in sin, by tolerating their sins and allowing them to continue to be sinful. Let us also not fall into the temptations of the devil, and learn to resist the pleasures of the flesh and all sorts of things which the devil are using against us to bring about our downfall.

Let us help one another to walk on this path towards the Lord, and repent sincerely in our hearts, and be converted in our way of life and in our deeds, so that in everything we say and do, we will always remember to be faithful to the Lord, and be able to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him. Let us no longer hesitate, but seek Him out and His mercy and love. And let us all begin it from ourselves, by changing our own way of life to follow the way of the Lord, and then inspire others to follow our footsteps as well.

May the Lord be with us all, bless us and keep us in His grace. May He empower us all and give us the strength to carry out His will in this world, through our actions and deeds. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 12 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 1 : 40-45

At that time, a leper came to Jesus and begged Him, “If You want to, You can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to; be clean.”

The leprosy left the man at once and he was made clean. As Jesus sent the man away, He sternly warned him, “Do not tell anyone about this, but go and show yourself to the priest, and for the cleansing bring the offering ordered by Moses; in this way you will give to them your testimony.”

However, as soon as the man went out, he began spreading the news everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter any town. But even though He stayed in the rural areas, people came to Him from everywhere.

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Thursday, 12 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 94 : 6-7, 8-9, 10-11

Come and worship; let us bow down, kneel before the Lord, our Maker. He is our God, and we His people; the flock He leads and pastures. Would that today you heard His voice!

Do not be stubborn, as at Meribah, in the desert, on that day at Massah, when your ancestors challenged Me, and they put Me to the test.

For forty years they wearied Me and I said, “They are a people of inconsistent heart; they have not known My ways.” So I declared an oath in My anger, “Never shall they enter My rest.”

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Thursday, 12 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Hebrews 3 : 7-14

Listen to what the Holy Spirit says : If only you would hear God’s voice today! Do not be stubborn, as they were in the place called Rebellion, when your ancestors challenged Me in the desert, although they had seen My deeds for forty years. That is why I was angry with those people and said : Their hearts are always going astray and they do not understand My ways. I was angry and made a solemn vow : They will never enter My rest.

So, brothers, be careful lest some of you come to have an evil and unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. Encourage one another, day by day, as long as it is called today. Let no one become hardened in the deceitful way of sin. We are associated with Christ provided we hold steadfastly to our initial hope until the end.

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Thursday, 12 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Hebrews 3 : 7-14

Listen to what the Holy Spirit says : If only you would hear God’s voice today! Do not be stubborn, as they were in the place called Rebellion, when your ancestors challenged Me in the desert, although they had seen My deeds for forty years. That is why I was angry with those people and said : Their hearts are always going astray and they do not understand My ways. I was angry and made a solemn vow : They will never enter My rest.

So, brothers, be careful lest some of you come to have an evil and unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. Encourage one another, day by day, as long as it is called today. Let no one become hardened in the deceitful way of sin. We are associated with Christ provided we hold steadfastly to our initial hope until the end.

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Wednesday, 11 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we have heard about our Lord Jesus Christ being told to us both from our first reading, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews, from our Psalm and from the Gospel according to St. mark, where we were told about the good works of Jesus our Lord, the One Who had come into the world, God became Man, so that through Him all of us may be saved from our fate of eternal damnation because of our sins.

We heard in the first reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews, how Jesus our Lord came into our world sharing our nature of flesh and blood, that the Divine Word and Son of God took up the raiment of human flesh and blood, through His mother Mary was born as the Son of Man, so that, by sharing in all the human nature we have, save for our sinfulness, He might unite all of us to Himself, and by offering Himself as the High Priest of all mankind, He might save us all.

Jesus is indeed the High Priest of all of us, and just like the priests of the ages old, He offered sacrifice for the sake of the sins of the people, but unlike those priests who offered sacrifices of animal fats and blood to the Lord, burnt offerings and sin offerings, Jesus offered Himself, His own Most Precious Body and Blood, the perfect and unblemished Lamb of God, the perfect offering and sacrifice, the only One which is worthy for the absolution of all of mankind’s countless sins.

And why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? Why did Jesus do so much for our sake, even to sacrifice Himself on the cross for us? That is because He loves each and every one of us. God loves us all, as He created all of us out of His great love for us. He did not create us to abandon us and to see us destroyed because of our sins. Yet, it was we ourselves who have rejected God and rebelled against Him, we refused His offer of mercy and love.

And yet, amongst the stubborn people, our Lord had endeavoured to come and to heal them from their afflictions. He went among them and walked among them, showing gentle love and mercy to those who were sick and dying, healing them from those afflictions of the flesh. And more importantly, He also healed from them the afflictions of their souls, that is sin. He welcomed sinners back into His embrace and called them to repent from their sinful ways.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, sin is a disease of the flesh, one that will eventually devour us whole if we do not do anything about it. Sin corrupts our souls, hearts, minds and also our bodies. While the diseases of the flesh can be healed by doctors and by medical technology available today, but sin can only be healed by One, that is God Himself. No one else has the authority to forgive sins but God.

But are we willing to be forgiven? Are we willing to be healed from the affliction of our sins? It is our reluctance and refusal to be forgiven, because of our pride and our desires that led to our downfall. Are we the ones who place obstacles on our own path? The Lord wants to heal us and to forgive us our sins, but are we willing to accept His offer of mercy?

All that He asked of us is for us to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him, and to give our full commitment to repentance and to change our ways. We may think that this can be easily done, but in reality, it has been proven many times that mankind found it hard to commit themselves to God, and they kept getting distracted and tempted on their journey towards the Lord.

Let us spend some time to contemplate this matter, and think about what we can do in order to bring ourselves ever closer to God’s mercy and love. And let us also help one another to reach out to the Lord and let us make sure that none of us are lost to Him along the way. May God bless us all and all of our endeavours. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 1 : 29-39

At that time, on leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the home of Simon and Andrew with James and John. As Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with fever, they immediately told Him about her. Jesus went to her and, taking her by the hand, raised her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them.

That evening at sundown, people brought to Jesus all the sick and those who had evil spirits : the whole town was pressing around the door. Jesus healed many who had various diseases, and drove out many demons; but He did not let them speak, for they knew Who He was.

Very early in the morning, before daylight, Jesus went off to a lonely place where He prayed. Simon and the others went out also, searching for Him; and when they found Him, they said, “Everyone is looking for You.” Then Jesus answered, “Let us go to the nearby villages so that I may preach there too; for that is why I came.”

So Jesus set out to preach in all the synagogues throughout Galilee; He also cast out demons.

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Wednesday, 11 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 104 : 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His Name; make known His works among the nations. Sing to Him, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds.

Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

He remembers His covenant forever, His promise to a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the promise He swore to Isaac.

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Wednesday, 11 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Hebrews 2 : 14-18

And because all those children share one same nature of flesh and blood, Jesus likewise had to share this nature. This is why His death destroyed the one holding the power of death, that is the devil, and freed those who remained in bondage all their lifetime because of the fear of death.

Jesus came to take by the hand not the Angels but the human race. So He had to be like His brothers and sisters in every respect, in order to be the High Priest faithful to God and merciful to them, a Priest able to ask pardon and atone for their sins. Having been tested through suffering, He is able to help those who are tested.