Month: February 2017

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Saturday, 4 March 2017 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. Casimir (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Luke 5 : 27-32

At that time, Jesus went out, and noticing a tax collector named Levi, sitting in the tax-office, He said to him, “Follow Me!” So Levi, leaving everything, got up and followed Jesus.

Levi gave a great feast for Jesus, and many tax collectors came to his house, and took their places at the table with the other people. Then the Pharisees and their followers complained to Jesus’ disciples, “How is it that you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

But Jesus spoke up, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. I have not come to call the just, but sinners to a change of heart.”

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Saturday, 4 March 2017 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. Casimir (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 85 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Listen, o Lord, and answer me, for I am afflicted and needy. Preserve my life for I am God-fearing; save Your servant who trusts in You.

Have mercy on me, o Lord, for I cry to You all day. Bring joy to the soul of Your servant, for You, o Lord, I lift up my soul.

You are good and forgiving, o Lord, caring for those who call on You. Listen, o Lord, to my prayer, hear the voice of my pleading.

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Saturday, 4 March 2017 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. Casimir (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Isaiah 58 : 9b-14

If you remove from your midst the yoke, the clenched fist and the wicked word, if you share your food with the hungry and give relief to the oppressed, then your light will rise in the dark, your night will be like noon. YHVH will guide you always and give you relief in desert places.

He will strengthen your bones; He will make you as a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins will be rebuilt, the age-old foundations will be raised. You will be called the Breach-mender, and the Restorer of ruined houses.

If you stop profaning the sabbath and doing as you please on the holy day, if you call the sabbath a day of delight and keep sacred YHVH’s holy day, if you honour it by not going your own way, not doing as you please and not speaking with malice, then you will find happiness in YHVH, over the heights you will ride triumphantly, and feast joyfully on the inheritance of your father Jacob. The mouth of YHVH has spoken.

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Friday, 3 March 2017 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard a very clear message from the Sacred Scriptures, reminding all of us Christians that during this season of Lent, even as we prepare ourselves for the coming celebrations of the Holy Week and Easter, and as we practice the traditional Lenten practices of fasting and abstinence, we must understand what is it that we are doing, and how we are going to do them appropriately.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters? It is because it is very easy for us to end up doing things that our faith has prescribed, and yet without understanding of what it is that we are doing, and therefore in the end, we end up doing things for the sake of doing them. We end up becoming Christians for-show-only and not having much substance in our faith. We cannot be like these, brethren.

We cannot fast in the manner that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done, as they wailed and acted to show very visibly to all who saw them, that they were fasting. They wanted to be seen by all others in how pious they have been with their fasting, with how they wore the sackcloth and in their long prayers for God’s forgiveness, and yet, their words and prayers were empty, for they did not have God in their hearts, and their outward expressions of faith were meaningless.

All of these came to the basic question we all need to ask ourselves, what is it that we are fasting for? What is it that we are abstaining and doing all of our penance for? Is it for ourselves and for our own glory? Is it to make ourselves look good and praiseworthy in the eyes of others? If these are our motivations and intentions, then perhaps we really should spend some time to reevaluate our efforts this Lent.

We fast and abstain from certain kind of food, or from certain kind of our obsessions not because of ourselves, but because of the Lord our God. It is because we are sinners and we have been unworthy of the Lord that we fast. We fast because we are aware of just how sinful and wicked we are, and we humble ourselves before the Lord, asking Him to forgive us our trespasses.

And more importantly, the main reason of our fasting and abstinence is for us to restrain ourselves and our human and worldly desires, resisting the temptation of the flesh, the desires for pleasure and sexual gratification, for things that cause us to sin and fall into wickedness. And therefore, that is why in the first reading today, the Lord through His prophet Isaiah rebuked His people, because while they fasted and did all sorts of acts of penance, but they committed other forms of sin at the same time, by being angry upon others and by committing injustice and corrupt acts.

That was what happened to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law as well. On one hand, they acted as if they were pious and devout, following obediently the laws of God, fasting and following the important dates of the year, in all of its events and observations, but on the other hand, they had acted unjustly, condemning the poor and sinners who needed their help. They did not lift up their hands to help those who are in need of help.

And they even misled the people of God and acted as unjust shepherds, who abandoned their people when they are in need. In that way, their fasting and abstaining, all of their pious observations were meaningless not just because they did not do it for God or for the absolution of their sins, but also because they have done more wicked deeds than good, and therefore, their fast and abstinence were truly empty.

Is that what we are also doing with our own lives, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we also fasting and abstaining without understanding their true purpose and meaning? Are we doing them while at the same time, committing more acts of sin and injustice, of hatred and anger, and all sorts of wicked deeds that make our acts of penance meaningless?

Fasting is not just about staying away from food and resisting the temptations of hunger. The same goes with abstinence and other acts of penance we commonly do during this season of Lent. More importantly, we must show love, care and concern for others, so that as we restrain ourselves from doing what is sinful and wicked in the sight of God, we dull the edges of our sins, but at the same time, sharpening the edges of our righteousness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, during this season of Lent, let us all pray and work together, so that each and every one of us will not only learn to restrain ourselves and our sinfulness through fasting and abstinence, but also learn to grow stronger in our faith, committing ourselves through love and commitment to do what the Lord had commanded us to do. Love one another, care for those who have not received any love and care, and be merciful to our fellow brethren.

May the Lord bless us all, and help us that in this season of Lent, we may grow ever closer to the Lord, and may each and every one of us through right way of fasting and abstinence, be able to prepare ourselves thoroughly to celebrate the coming celebrations of Holy Week and Easter, and gain for ourselves righteousness in God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 3 March 2017 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Matthew 9 : 14-15

At that time, the disciples of John came to Jesus with the question, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not Your disciples?”

Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the Bridegroom is with them? The time will come, when the Bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

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Friday, 3 March 2017 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 50 : 3-4, 5-6a, 18-19

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

For I acknowledge my wrongdoings and have my sins ever in mind. Against You alone have I sinned; what is evil in Your sight I have done.

You take no pleasure in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, You would not delight in it. O God, my sacrifice is a broken spirit; a contrite heart You will not despise.

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Friday, 3 March 2017 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Isaiah 58 : 1-9a

Cry out aloud for all you are worth; raise your voice like a trumpet blast; tell My people of their offences, Jacob’s family of their sins. Is it true that they seek Me day after day, longing to know My ways, as a people that does what is right and has not forsaken the word of its God?

They want to know the just laws and not to drift away from their God. “Why are we fasting,” they complain, “and You do not even see it? We are doing penance and You never notice it.” Look, on your fast days you push your trade and you oppress your labourers. Yes, you fast but end up quarrelling, striking each other with wicked blows.

Fasting as you do will not make your voice heard on high. Is that the kind of fast that pleases Me, just a day to humble oneself? Is fasting merely bowing down one’s head, and making use of sackcloth and ashes? Would you call that fasting, a day acceptable to YHVH? See the fast that pleases Me : breaking the fetters of injustice and unfastening the thongs of the yoke, setting the oppressed free and breaking every yoke.

Fast by sharing your food with the hungry, bring to your house the homeless, clothe the one you see naked and do not turn away from your own kin. Then will your light break forth as the dawn and your healing come in a flash. Your righteousness will be your vanguard, the Glory of YHVH your rearguard. Then you will call and YHVH will answer, you will cry and He will say, I am here.

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Thursday, 2 March 2017 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scriptures, firstly from the Book of Deuteronomy, about how Moses laid two choices before the people, either to obey the Lord and be righteous, or to disobey the Lord and turn away from the Lord. The choice was made very clearly, between following the Lord and its accompanying actions, with following the ways of the world and wickedness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue through the second day of the season of Lent, we are reminded that in order to follow the Lord, we have to be committed throughout, and we have to dedicate ourselves to His ways. We cannot and we should not be indecisive in this manner, as sooner or later, we will be forced to make a decision and choose between following the ways of God and with following the paths of the world.

We are reminded that Jesus Himself, our Lord, had been rejected by this world, and made to suffer rejection, ridicule, humiliation and eventually death on the cross, by all those who refused to believe in Him and refused to follow Him. Jesus Himself had to endure all the pains and sorrows, and He had to bear the heavy weight of that cross as He made His way from Jerusalem to the hill of Calvary, bearing all the multitudes of our sins and their consequences upon Himself.

This is where all of us Christians are told to share what He had endured and experienced, for just as the Lord had suffered rejection from the world, so we all will also be rejected by the world as well, because of our faith in Him. That is because what is acceptable to God and righteous in the sight of the Lord, is unacceptable for the world. And of course, what is acceptable to the world, is often against the ways of our Lord.

Why is that so? That is because the world had been marred and corrupted by sin, ever since sin entered the world through the sins of mankind. Man had disobeyed the Lord and went away from His ways, and became more and more separated from Him, and Satan became their master instead of their one and true Lord and Master, Who is God. Satan ruled over the world, because he had power over the hearts and minds of many people through sin.

And we know just how busy Satan was in his attempts to undermine the salvation of mankind, as he came to tempt Jesus in the desert in three occasions but without any success, and later on, he would persuade the hearts and minds of the Pharisees and the scribes and elders to rally against Jesus and oppose His works at almost all possible opportunities, before entering into the heart of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus to His enemies.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in all of these, we have to understand that the reality of our faith is one that is always come into conflict and opposition with the forces of those who do not want to see us saved from the darkness, those who would rather keep us in our state of sin, chained and kept to the slavery under our sinfulness. But God Who loves us do not want to see us in this way, as He came to rescue us and redeem us from all that had brought us down, and through His own suffering and death, He wants to show us that by following Him, no matter how difficult it will be, that there is a way out of the darkness and into the light.

In this season of Lent, it is important for us to remember what the Lord Jesus had told His disciples, that all those who follow Him must take up their own crosses and follow Him. What does this mean, brothers and sisters? It does not mean that we literally and physically carry up wooden crosses just as Jesus had done. Instead, it rather means that we have to stand up for our faith and commit ourselves to what we believe at all times, even when opposition and challenges come upon us.

Are we able to do that, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we able to remain true to the Lord even amidst challenges and even persecutions? Let us keep in mind our suffering brethren in faith in many different parts of the world, all those who have to even worry about the safety of their very lives just to remain faithful to the Lord, and where to practice the faith may mean costing someone their freedom, their status in the society, as well as their rights.

Let us all spend some time during this season of Lent, to prepare ourselves wholly that we may grow ever closer to the Lord, so that we will not just treat this moment just as any other moments, but spend it well, by the means of abstinence that we practice during this season, abstaining from sin and from all acts that are against the Lord, and also by helping one another to persevere in our faith.

Let us pray for one another, and support each other, so that even though we have to bear the heavy crosses of our faith, and even when difficulties, challenges and even persecutions come our way, we will not give up and will be able to remain true to our faith, and therefore, be found righteous and worthy of the salvation found in our God alone. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 2 March 2017 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Luke 9 : 22-25

At that time, Jesus added, “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the Law, and be put to death. Then after three days He will be raised to life.”

Jesus also said to all the people, “If you wish to be a follower of Mine, deny yourself and take up your cross each day, and follow Me! For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for My sake, you will save it. What does it profit you to gain the whole world, if you destroy or damage yourself?”

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Thursday, 2 March 2017 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the one who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the law of the Lord and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.