Month: May 2018

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Saturday, 26 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture, telling us about the importance for us as Christians, to care for one another, our fellow faithful, our brothers and sisters in the same Lord. St. James told us this, in the Epistle he wrote, that we should pray, pray for our sake and pray for each other.

A good and devout Christian will pray, and pray in order to communicate with the Lord, Our God, the source of our strength, hope and power. And through prayer, we show our concern towards one another, and then, we put ourselves into action, to help lead and guide one another, that each and every one of us are responsible for the well-being of one another in faith.

And this means that, we should not be quick to judge or to cast our brothers or sisters out, just because we think that they were not as faithful as we are, or that they are not doing things the way we want it to be. In the Gospel passage today, we saw how the Lord Jesus rebuked His disciples because they tried to prevent children from coming towards Him. He was angry at them because they tried to impose what they thought was right over others.

And we have to understand this in the context of their actions towards one another. The disciples were often arguing and bickering among themselves on who among them, will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. But in doing so, they are trying to undermine each other, and exclude others from God’s grace and love. St. James and St. John went with their mother to the Lord, asking Him to grant them special favours over that of the other disciples.

But the Lord showed them that it is not the way that He wants from each one of His followers and disciples. Rather, He showed that the Church must be welcoming, especially to little children who want to come to the Lord and know Him. This is important because, those children are still innocent, and are willing to know the Lord with genuine intention and faith.

If we prevent them from reaching out to the Lord, then we have committed a great sin, for we have caused their souls to be lost to Him. And then, if we, through our actions have caused them to fall into sin, because we ourselves have not been faithful and committed what is wicked and sinful before God, then we will also be held accountable for the souls of these little children, as well as anyone else that we have misled into sin.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we celebrate the feast of St. Philip Neri, a famous holy man and devout servant of God, who was an Italian priest remembered for his great dedication to the Lord, for his missionary work and outreach to many of the faithful, calling many people to repent from their sins and follow the Lord. As a result, many people followed the Lord and turn away from their sins. He has done the Church and the people of God a great service.

Now, each and every one of us as Christians should follow the examples of St. Philip Neri and live in the way that he has lived his life, and in how he has served the people of God. Let us all devote ourselves anew to God, and be exemplary in our lives, by truly living them with faith, through genuine actions, by loving one another and by our guidance towards one another in faith. We hope that through all these, we may help to guide each other, to remain true to our Christian faith, and welcome all those who seek the Lord, especially those who desire His love, like those little children who come to Him.

May the Lord be with each and every one of us, and may He continue to strengthen us in faith, that we will grow to love Him more and more, with each and every passing day of our lives. Amen.

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Saturday, 26 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 10 : 13-16

At that time, people were bringing their little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, and the disciples rebuked them for this. When Jesus noticed it, He was very angry and said, “Let the children come to Me and do not stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

Then He took the children in His arms and, laying His hands on them, blessed them.

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Saturday, 26 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 140 : 1-2, 3 and 8

Lord, I call on You, hasten to help me! Listen to my plea when I call to You. Let my prayer rise to You, like incense; as I lift up my hands, as in an evening sacrifice.

O YHVH, set a guard at my mouth; keep watch at the gate of my lips. But my eyes are turned to You, o God, my YHVH; strip me not of life, for You are my refuge.

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Saturday, 26 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Neri, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

James 5 : 13-20

Are any among you, discouraged? They should pray. Are any of you happy? They should sing songs to God. If anyone is sick, let him call on the elders of the Church. They shall pray for him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. The prayer said in faith will save the sick person; the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.

There will be healing, if you confess your sins to one another, and pray for each other. The prayer of the upright man has great power, provided he perseveres. Elijah was a human being, like ourselves, and when he prayed, earnestly, for it not to rain, no rain fell for three and a half years. Then he prayed again : the sky yielded rain and the earth produced its fruit.

Brothers, if any one of you strays far away from the truth, and another person brings him back to it, be sure of this : he who brings back a sinner from the wrong way, will save his soul from death and win forgiveness for many sins.

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Friday, 25 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, and Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests or Popes or Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture telling us to be true to our promises and words, and not to show that our words cannot be trusted or upheld. If our words cannot be trusted, then all the more the Lord Who knows what is in our hearts, will not show us His favour. For the Lord does not want in His presence, all those who lie and are untrustworthy.

For the Lord Himself is an ever-faithful God, Who upholds every single promises He made and truly means whatever He said and is faithful to every words that came out from His mouth. When He promised all of us, that He would save us from certain destruction because of our sins, and give us the Saviour and Deliverer, He did that perfectly, and faithfully, even unto the giving of Himself as the perfect Sacrifice on the Altar of the Cross.

He gave Himself to us so completely, that He was willing to bear the weight of the cross for our sake, and not just the physical weight of the wooden cross, but the true weight of the cross, which is the combined weight of the sins of man, which the Lord bore willingly upon Himself, that we do not have to bear the consequences for those sins which we have committed. That is just how much commitment the Lord has for all of us.

Unfortunately, it is us man, who often break our promises, which we made to God, and which we also made to one another. In the Gospel passage today, we heard of the exchange between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees, on the matter of marriage and its importance, as the latter argued that divorce should be allowed as in the laws of God passed on through Moses, the Lord allowed for a person to divorce his or her spouse, providing a certain settlement had been made.

However, the Lord Jesus revealed the truth about His true intention, and the truth behind God’s laws. He said that the Lord only allowed His people to do as the Pharisees contended, that is the matter of divorce, because they were so stubborn and were so wicked with their adulterous behaviour, that He granted them that permission, so that they would not commit even more sin of adultery than what they had done.

God never intended to allow the practice of divorce, and in fact, reiterated the importance of the vow of marriage and its sanctity. A marriage is a sacrament in the eyes of the Church, where a man and a woman made solemn promises to each other, to remain with each other, in times of good and in times of hardships, and through whatever life may throw at them. A marriage is a contract between a man and a woman, blessed and confirmed by God, and as the Lord Jesus made it clear, that what God had united, no one, no man, should ever dissolve.

Now, let us see the sorry state and reality in our world today, where the institution of marriage and the family is under constant attack. There are increasingly more and more occasions of divorces and broken families, due to various reasons, but primarily, infidelity and adultery between each of the married couples. And increasingly, people become more and more accustomed to see such practices and even allow them to flourish.

In the present world, we take our marriage vows and promises lightly, and are easily tempted by the pleasures of the flesh, and the temptation of materialism and greed. That is why so many marriages ended up being broken, and many children are left abandoned or troubled as a result. But the Lord reminded all of us through the Scripture passages we heard today, that we as Christians, must be faithful to each other, and ultimately to God Himself, just as He had been faithful to the promises He made to all of us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now, let us all reflect on our own respective lives, in all of our dealings and actions, in how we have interacted with each other. How many of us have that tendency to go back on our words and promises, or tell lies in order to gain advantage for ourselves? How many of us do not keep our promises even to our closest ones? I am sure many of us would remember the times when we have faltered in this regard.

The main reason for this is that we cannot overcome our pride, our ego and desire. We want satisfaction and good things to come to us, and it may happen that others suffer because of our pride, ego and desire, and our inability to resist those pressures and temptations. Now, it is important that each and every one of us learn to resist and do our best to overcome these temptations to be unfaithful.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we remember the memory of a few holy saints of God, namely St. Bede the Venerable, an English monk who devoted himself to his faith in God, and completely entrusted his life to Him, spending his time writing his many works about the faith, many of which still survived through the centuries to this very day. And then, we also remember Pope St. Gregory VII, the Successor of St. Peter and Vicar of Christ, remembered especially for the bitter struggle he had with the secular ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the Emperor, who wished to impose his power and will over the Church.

This holy Pope refused to give in to the demands of the Emperor, who demanded sovereignty over the bishops in his domains, and defended the rights of the Church, and stayed true to the faith and the commitment, despite the challenges from the Emperor and his nobles. Finally, St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi was an Italian Carmelite nun who was remembered for her intense dedication to the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, spending hours after hours in devout prayer.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we should follow the examples of these holy predecessors of ours. We should be more faithful in all of our deeds, and do our best to follow the Lord our God, in all that He has taught us to do. Let us deepen our relationship with Him, and spend more time in prayer. May God be with us always, ever faithful to His Covenant, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 25 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, and Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests or Popes or Virgins)

Mark 10 : 1-12

At that time, Jesus then left that place and went to the province of Judea, beyond the Jordan River. Once more crowds gathered around Him and once more He taught them as He always did. Some (Pharisees came and) put Him to the test with this question, “Is it right for a husband to divorce his wife?”

He replied, “What law did Moses give you?” They answered, “Moses allowed us to write a certificate of dismissal in order to divorce.” Then Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you, because you are stubborn. But in the beginning of creation God made them male and female, and because of this, man has to leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body. So they are no longer two but one body. Therefore let no one separate what God has joined.”

When they were indoors at home, the disciples again asked Him about this, and He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against his wife, and the woman who divorces her husband and marries another also commits adultery.”

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Friday, 25 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, and Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests or Popes or Virgins)

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 8-9, 11-12

Praise YHVH, my soul; all my being, praise His holy Name! Praise YHVH, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

YHVH is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger; He will not always scold nor will He be angry forever.

As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins.

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Friday, 25 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, and Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests or Popes or Virgins)

James 5 : 9-12

Beloved, do not fight among yourselves and you will not be judged. See, the Judge is already at the door. Take for yourselves, as an example of patience, the suffering of the prophets, who spoke in the Lord’s Name. See how those who were patient are called blessed. You have heard of the patience of Job and know how the Lord dealt with him in the end. For the Lord is merciful and shows compassion.

Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth, or make a habit of swearing. Let your yes be yes and your no be no, lest you become liable for judgment.

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Thursday, 24 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Mary, Help of Christians, Our Lady of Sheshan, World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Mary, Help of Christians)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the memorial of Mary, Our Lady, Help of Christians, and the Lady of Sheshan, named after the famous Sheshan Basilica in Shanghai, China. On this day, in particular, we remember all those brothers and sisters of ours, who are currently facing intense persecution and difficult time, as they struggle to remain true to their faith in God.

That is why, the Church has designated this day, true to the memorial I just mentioned, as the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. We are praying on behalf of our brethren in faith, who may be undergoing and are indeed, for many among them, facing persecution and challenges just because they identify themselves as Christians, that is as those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and take Him as their Lord and Saviour.

In China today, especially in recent years, there had been increasing intolerance towards Christians in particular, and many of the faithful find it more and more difficult to remain true to their faith. I am sure many of us have heard news of how crosses were forcibly removed from churches, and restrictions put in place on Christian worship, and even, young children were barred from attending the Holy Mass or going to Church.

In all these, we can see how the persecution of Christians that once happened during its early days came back once again, especially in China, but in truth, is happening in many other parts of the world, such as in the Middle East, Africa, in the Western world, the Americas, and even recently in the Philippines, being a Christian, and especially for priests, it can be very challenging and a matter of life or death.

And when I speak about persecution and challenges, it is not just about persecution with lions and gladiators, or with swords and whips and lances, as how it was in the Ancient Roman times. Indeed, such kind of persecutions still exist, but nowadays, persecution exist in many more ways than what we think persecution is truly about. Persecution happened in many areas, in the political world, in the society and the community, through the attacks on Christian values and faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we should spend some time, to think about these suffering brethren of ours, and pray for them, that God will protect them and defend them from their enemies, all the forces of darkness assembled against them. And then, we should also realise just how fortunate we may be, if we have not faced a similar kind of persecution and challenge as these brethren of ours had experienced.

Let us all do our best therefore, to live our lives as true Christians, dedicated and devoted to the Lord, that we show love and charity in our actions, towards all those who are around us. However, most importantly, in order to show our true faith, we cannot forget, that the most important virtue is indeed, love, and love that is unconditional and generous, as the Lord Himself had done.

It is easy for us to be angry at our enemies and to all those who hate us and persecute us. However, if we become angry at them, hate them and strike back at them, then are we not just as evil and wicked as our enemies had been wicked? If the Lord Jesus Himself had forgiven those who condemned Him to death and crucified Him from the cross, and prayed for them? Should we not do the same then?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, let us all be exemplary in our faith, that we become inspiration for one another, and also even strength for those who are being persecuted for their faith, by standing up for the Lord’s sake and living our lives with faith. Let us all pray for our brethren, that God will be with them, and also with all of us, that together, we may in the end, enjoy forever the eternal grace and glory of heaven, having suffered for His sake. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 24 May 2018 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Mary, Help of Christians, Our Lady of Sheshan, World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Mary, Help of Christians)

Mark 9 : 41-50

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone gives you a drink of water because you belong to Christ and bear His Name, truly, I say to you, he will not go without reward. If anyone should cause one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a great millstone around his neck.”

“If your hand makes you fall into sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand, than with two hands to go to hell, to the fire that never goes out. And if your foot makes you fall into sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot, than with both feet to be thrown into hell.”

“And if your eye makes you fall into sin, tear it out! It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, keeping both eyes, to be thrown into hell, where the worms that eat them never die, and the fire never goes out. The fire itself will preserve them.”

“Salt is a good thing; but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.”