Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Mark 12 : 35-37
At that time, as Jesus was teaching in the Temple, He said, “The teachers of the Law say that the Messiah is the Son of David. How can that be? For David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declared : The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies under Your feet!'”
“If David himself calls Him Lord, in what way can He be his Son?” Many people came to Jesus, and listened to Him gladly.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Psalm 145 : 1-2, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
Alleluia! Praise the Lord, my soul! I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to God while I live.
The Lord is forever faithful; He gives justice to the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free.
The Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord straightens the bent. The Lord loves the virtuous, but He brings to ruin the way of the wicked. The Lord protects the stranger.
He sustains the widow and the orphan. The Lord will reign forever, your God, o Zion, from generation to generation. Alleluia!
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Tobit 11 : 5-17
Now Anna was sitting there, scanning the road along which her son should return. She saw Tobias and Raphael coming in the distance and said to the father of Tobias, “Your son is coming with the man who accompanied him.”
While Tobias and Raphael were still going along the road, Raphael said to Tobias, “I am sure that your father will regain his sight. Rub his eyes with the fish gall and when he feels his eyes itching, he will rub them and the film will come away like scales from his eyes. He will regain his sight and see the light.”
Anna ran to meet Tobias and threw her arms around his neck saying, “At last I have seen you again, my child. Now I can die!” And both of them began to cry. Tobit also got up and, stumbling, arrived at the door of the courtyard. Tobias ran to him with the fish gall in his hand. He breathed on his father’s eyes, embraced him and said, “Father, have confidence!”
Then he spread the fish gall on Tobit’s eyes. Tobias waited. When his eyes began to itch, Tobit rubbed them and with both hands scaled off the film from the corners of his eyes. When Tobit saw his son he threw his arms around Tobias’ neck and began to weep. He said, “Blessed be You, o God. Blessed be Your Name forever. Blessed be Your holy Angels. You have punished me, but You have taken pity on me, and now I can see my son, Tobias.”
Tobias was very happy. After entering the house he told his father about the important things that had happened in Media. He told his father about the successful outcome of his journey, how he got his money, and how he married Sara, daughter of Ragouel, who just then was approaching the gates of Nineveh.
Tobit, happy and praising God, went out to meet his daughter-in-law at the gates of Nineveh. All those who saw him walking alone and unaided, were amazed that he could see. Tobit proclaimed to them that God had taken pity on him and cured him. Then he went to Sara and blessed her saying, “Welcome, daughter! May God be blessed for having brought you to us and may your father and mother also be blessed.”
It was a day of great rejoicing for all Tobit’s relatives who lived in Nineveh.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us heard from the Scripture readings about that one thing which all of us Christians must have in our lives, and yet which in reality, many of us are still lacking them, or are not able to fully appreciate its importance for us. And what is that, brothers and sisters in Christ? What is it that is so important that all of us must have it in us?
It is love, brothers and sisters in Christ, but not the love which we often know it as, or the love which the world promotes to us. We often know love as the romance between man and woman, between a man and someone he loves and wants to have a family with, and vice versa. Alternatively, we know love as the happiness and joy between two people who are deeply attracted to each other. But these kind of love are not the most important, and is merely one form of love.
Instead, love is the giving of oneself to another person, and true love in essence is unconditional and pure in nature, not saddled down by lust, worldly desires or the pleasures of the flesh. All of these distract us from the true nature of love, and it is true love which all of us need to show one another, as Christians, as those who have believed in our Lord Jesus Christ, followed Him and knew His example of love, the perfect love He had shown us from the cross.
Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, for all of us, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate symbol and reality of love, the remembrance of the ultimate sacrifice which He had made for all of us, for each and every one of us because of one singular reason, that He loves each of us very much that He was willing to give up His life for us, and suffer grievously for our sake. There is no greater love than this, as He Himself had said.
It is this kind of love that each and every one of us as Christians must have in us, and which we must profess and practice from time to time, throughout our entire lives. We cannot call ourselves as Christians if we do not love or do not show love through our actions. It is even worse when we who are Christians act in ways that are contrary to our faith. It is a scandal to our faith and to the Holy Name of our Lord if we do so.
What do I mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? Whenever we cause pain, hurt and suffering on others by our actions, when we are thinking selfishly of our own wants and desires, we end up not doing what the Lord had asked us to do, that is to love tenderly and graciously, following what our Lord Himself had shown us by His selfless and loving sacrifice on the cross.
There are many troubles and evils in this world which is caused either by our selfish acts and works, which cause pain and suffering for others. Otherwise, it is our silence and lack of action, when we see our brothers and sisters who are suffering, walking past them and ignoring them, just as the Levite and the priest ignoring the man who was attacked on his way to Jericho, in the story Jesus told His disciples.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us must realise that sin is not just caused by our actions that are wicked, unjust and evil, but also caused by our failure to act when there is perfect opportunities for us to act, to do something in order to protect the innocent, the weak and the oppressed, and yet we turn a blind eye on what is happening and moved on with life.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, from now on, let us all commit ourselves ever more faithfully to the Lord, by practicing our faith in our lives, and by committing ourselves wholeheartedly to Him and to His cause, by loving one another and showing that love wherever and whenever we are able to do so. Let us seek to do what He has taught us to do, and remember always how His love for us has allowed us all to live with peace knowing that He has delivered us from our fated destruction, and thus, show the same love to each other. May God bless us all, always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 12 : 28b-34
At that time, a teacher of the Law came up and asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is : Hear, Israel! The Lord, our God, is One Lord; and you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. And after this comes a second commandment : You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these two.”
The teacher of the Law said to Him, “Well spoken, Master; You are right when You say that He is One, and there is no other besides Him. To love Him with all our heart, with all our understanding and with all our strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves is more important than any burnt offering or sacrifice.”
Jesus approved of this answer and said, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask Him any more questions.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 127 : 1-2, 3, 4-5
Blessed are you who fear the Lord and walk in His ways. You will eat 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.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Tobit 6 : 10-11 and Tobit 7 : 1, 9-17 and Tobit 8 : 4-9a
When Tobit and Raphael had entered Media and were already approaching Ecbatana, Raphael said to Tobias, “Friend, we shall spend the night at the house of Ragouel. He is a relative of yours. He has no son, just an only daughter called Sara.
When they arrived in Ecbatana Tobias said to Raphael, “Friend Azarias, take me straightaway to our friend Ragouel.” So Raphael led Tobias to Ragouel’s house and they found Ragouel sitting by the door of the courtyard. They killed a sheep and served them numerous dishes.
After they had bathed and washed, as they were relaxing before the meal, Tobias said to Raphael, “Friend Azarias, tell Ragouel to give me Sara my kinswoman. Talk about what you were saying during our journey, that the matter may come about and be accomplished.”
Ragouel overheard the conversation and he said to Tobias, “Eat, drink and be merry tonight. You are the man who has most right to take Sara my daughter because you are my kinsman. Indeed it is impossible for me to give her to any other man but you, because you are my closest relative. But, my son, I must tell you the whole story. I gave her to seven husbands from among our kinsmen. They each died on the wedding night. But, for the moment, my son, eat and drink and the Lord will arrange things for you.”
Tobias said, “I shall eat nothing if you do not stop now and bring this matter to a conclusion.” Ragouel said to Tobias, “Take her from now on; I give her to you according to the Law of Moses and you have to understand that God Himself gives her to you. Receive your kinswoman, from now on you are her brother and she is your sister. She is yours from today and forever. Now God will bless you this night and may He give you both His mercy and peace.”
He called his daughter Sara and taking her by the hand, he gave her to Tobias as his wife. He said, “According to Moses’ Law, take her now and bring her to your father’s house.” And he blessed them. Ragouel then called Edna his wife; taking a sheet of parchment, he wrote down a matrimonial contract and they both affixed their seals.
Then they all began to eat. Ragouel called his wife and said to her, “My sister, prepare the other room and take Sara there.” Edna did as Ragouel told her and she took Sara to this room and Sara began to cry. Edna dried her daughter’s tears and said, “Have courage, my child, the God of heaven and earth will change your sorrow into joy. Have confidence, my daughter!”
When Sara’s parents had left the room and closed the door, Tobias got up from the bed and said to Sara, “Get up, my sister, and let us ask the Lord to have mercy on us and save us.” She got up and they began to pray, asking that they be given life. Tobias began like this, “May You be blessed, o Lord God of our fathers, and may Your holy and glorious Name be blessed forever. May the heavens and all creatures bless You. You created Adam and You gave him Eve, his wife, as a helper and companion, so that from these two the human race might be born.”
“You said : ‘It is not good that man should be alone, let Us give him a companion who is like himself.’ Now, Lord, I take my sister to myself in sincerity and love, not merely seeking pleasure. Have mercy on us and grant us a long life together.” Together they said, “Amen,” and returned to bed for the night.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard two stories, one from the first reading, from the Book of Tobit, in which the son of the faithful Tobit, Tobias was sent to his relative, Ragouel who has a daughter named Sara, who was beset by a powerful demon, Asmodeus. She had had seven husbands, all of whom had died before they were able to consummate the marriage, because of the work of the demon, and she was highly distressed because of that.
But through the her prayers, which she made in her time of distress and despair, the Lord had heard her call for help, and sent to her the Archangel Raphael, who with Tobias, the son of Tobit, chased the demon away from her, and Sara was given to Tobias as a wife. And the demon did not disturb her any longer, and a new family was created, eventually leading to the healing of Tobit who became blind, and could see again.
This is likely the story which the Sadducees quoted in the time when they tried to argue with the Lord Jesus, which we heard today in our Gospel passage. The Sadducees were the group of powerful and influential people, one of the two main power groups in control of the Jewish society at that time, in opposition to the Pharisees, the other group in power.
Unlike the Pharisees, whose unbending and strict adherence to the laws of Moses brought them into conflict with Jesus because of the Way which He had taught the people, bringing the real truth and meaning of the Law away from the corruptions of the laws which the Pharisees upheld, the Sadducees were against the Lord Jesus because He preached about His own death and later resurrection, as well as resurrection of all the people into a new life in God.
That is because the Sadducees were the ones who enjoyed the good fruits of this world, those who were close to the ruling nobles and rulers, especially with Herod the king of Galilee and other powerful people in the society. They were the ruling elite, who enjoyed the privileges and influences of this world, and therefore, they believed in living their lives in this world, their earthly existence to the fullest, and refused to believe of the notion of life after death.
The Sadducees therefore argued with Jesus, using the example of the woman who had had seven husbands to trap Jesus, by using the legal examples of the law of Moses, which allowed a woman to remarry the brother of her husband if her husband has died without having a children with her, which in fact, is what the Sadducees put in place against Jesus, when the woman married all the seven brothers, and all died without having any children.
Their inability to comprehend the truth and teachings of Jesus lay in the fact that they still thought of the afterlife in the same manner as their earthly existence, whereas in fact, the life after death for all of us is an existence far superior and perfect compared to what we have now on earth. The Lord told us mankind to marry and procreate to fill the earth with our descendants, because we are still living in this world, and are still bound to it, with all of our earthly desires and wants.
However, once we have been brought into the new and eternal life in God, we have no more need for such earthly desires, sustenance, relationships or other things such as money, influence, power, and all the other things we mankind normally treasure in this world, and particularly important for those Sadducees, who valued their worldly existence above everything else. No, that is not the case, since when we are with God, we have all we need through Him, and He is our Bridegroom, Who will be with us forever.
That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings are reminders for us to live as how the Lord had taught us to live, as Christians, who are not so much concerned about worldly matters and worries, so as to detract us from our true goal, that is to love the Lord and to serve Him with all of our heart and strength. We should not be greedy or be preoccupied with gathering material wealth and worldly influence or power, all of which are superfluous in nature, for none of these will be ours as we pass through from death into new life in God.
Which one do we want, brothers and sisters in Christ? To enjoy so much the pleasures and goodness of life in this world, and yet then falling into eternal damnation and suffering in hell? Or rather for us to be focused on the Lord and His way, the way which He had shown us all, that as true and devout Christians, we may live our lives filled with love and care, for the Lord first of all, and then also for our fellow brethren? In the end, the Lord will reward us with life everlasting with Him, and we will experience true joy and happiness that the world cannot give.
May the Lord be our strength, and may He guide us in this journey of life, so that it does not matter what kind of problems we have encountered in life, we will always persevere through and remain faithful to the Lord, and not be distracted by the many temptations of worldly life. Let us seek the Lord and remain true to Him forevermore. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 