Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 99 : 2, 3, 4, 5
Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people, the sheep of His fold.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His Name.
For the Lord is good; His love lasts forever and His faithfulness through all generations.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Revelations 18 : 1-2, 21-23 and Revelations 19 : 1-3, 9a
After this I saw another Angel coming down from heaven. So great was his authority that the whole earth was lit up with his glory. In a strong voice he cried out : “Fallen is Babylon the great! Fallen! She has become a haunt of demons, a lodge for every unclean spirit, a nest for any filthy and disgusting bird.”
A powerful Angel picked up a boulder the size od a large millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “With such violence will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down, never again to be seen. Never again will tunes of harpists, minstrels, trumpeters and flutists be heard in you. Never again will an artisan of any trade be found in you. Never again will the noise of the mill be heard.”
“Never again will the light of a lamp shine in you. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never again be heard in you. Because your traders were the world’s great and you led the nations astray by your magic spell.”
After this I heard what sounded like the loud singing of a great assembly in heaven : “Alleluia! Salvation, glory and might belong to our God, for His judgments are true and just. He has condemned the great harlot who corrupted the world with her adultery. He has avenged His servants’ blood shed by her hand in harlotry.” Once more they sang : “Alleluia! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever!”
Then the Angel told me, “Write : Happy are those invited to the wedding of the Lamb.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture, speaking to us about the reality of what we are to expect in becoming one of the followers of Christ, as Christians. That is what the Lord presented before His disciples in the Gospel passage we heard today, on how there would be persecutions and trials awaiting those who are faithful to God.
The Lord presented this fact to the disciples, that they should expect to suffer for the sake of His Name, when they would have to endure all sorts of ridicule, rejection and oppression just as the Lord has suffered at the hands of all those who refused to believe in Him. He revealed to them in advance what many of them would suffer as Christians, as what was made evident by the great persecutions in the first few centuries of the Church.
First the Jewish authorities, the Sanhedrin and the chief priests hunted the Christian faithful in Jerusalem, Judea and beyond, and Saul, who would later become a Christian himself as St. Paul, hunted and persecuted Christians harshly before his conversion. And this scattered many of the early Christians to the various places around the world, where they would still encounter persecution and challenges from those Jews who refused to believe in God, and in addition, from the Romans, Greeks and the Persians.
Through the many centuries since the birth of the Church, persecutions have been staple for Christians, throughout time and age. When one persecution ended, another persecution would rise in its place, and the faithful were often forced even to choose between remaining faithful to God and suffer, or to abandon their faith and receive plenty of worldly rewards and pleasures of life.
We have seen these persecutions in the recent centuries and decades, and even to this very day. Many people had to suffer indignations, injustice and pain, suffering and wicked deeds, just because they were Christians, believeing in God and following His ways. And there were many of those who sought to obliterate the Church and eliminate the faithful and all the truths and the teachings of Christ.
Yet, all of these eventually came to no avail, as despite the persecutions, in fact the Church continues to grow, to this very day. The words and sayings that ‘the blood of martyrs is the seeds of Christians’ indeed ring true in this case, as all those who have suffered and been persecuted for their faith in turn, became sources of great inspiration and hope for all those who follow after them, including that of all of us.
And all of these were because of the great faith that the people of God and the faithful had in the Lord, which overcame the fear and the doubt in their hearts and minds, and the promise of everlasting glory and true happiness with God, as we heard in our first reading today from the Book of the Revelations of St. John. St. John saw how at the end of time, God will send His Angels to bring forth destruction on all the wicked and all those who refused to believe in Him, but those who believe in Him, He will raise up and glorify.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us reflect on our own lives. Have we been truly faithful to God and been faithful to Him despite the challenges and persecutions that we are facing daily in our lives? We are called to be bearers and witnesses of God’s truth, but have we been truly faithful to God in our actions? Have our words, actions and deeds make and inspire others to be more faithful or have they instead caused others to distance themselves from God and His Church?
Let us all turn ourselves to God, and renew our commitment to love and serve Him from now on, each and every days of our life. May the Lord be with us and may He continue to love us always and give us the strength and courage to persevere in faith in Him. May God bless us all in all of our endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 21 : 12-19
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Before all these things happen, people will lay their hands on you and persecute you; you will be delivered to the synagogues and put in prison, and for My sake you will be brought before kings and governors. This will be your opportunity to bear witness.”
“So keep this in mind : do not worry in advance about what to say, for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends, and some of you will be put to death.”
“But even though, because of My Name, you will be hated by everyone, not a hair of your head will perish. By your patient endurance you will save your souls.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 7-8, 9
Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.
The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.
Let the sea resound and everything in it, the world and all its peoples. Let rivers clap their hands, hills and mountains sing with joy.
Before the Lord, for He comes to rule the earth. He will judge the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Revelations 15 : 1-4
Then I saw another great and marvellous sign in the heavens : seven Angels brought seven plagues which are the last, for with these the wrath of God will end. There was a sea of crystal mingled with fire, and the conquerors of the beast, of its name and the mark of its name stood by it.
They had been given the celestial harps and they sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb : Great and marvellous are Your works, o Lord, God and Master of the universe. Justice and truth guide Your steps, o King of the nations.
Lord, who will not give honour and glory to Your Name? For You alone are holy. All the nations will come and bow before You, for they have now seen Your judgments.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the word of God in the Scripture speaking to us about the time of judgment and reckoning that will come to each and every one of us. In the first reading today we heard from the Book of the Revelations in which the account of St. John regarding his apocalyptic vision had been written. We heard how the Lord commanded His Angels to reap the harvest of the world at the time that He has decided. All the earth was reaped in the harvest of the Lord.
The concept of reaping of harvest, symbolised with the harvest of grapes is linked closely to the concept of the passage of time, with the time of the harvest at the end of the process of planting and growing of crops that began with the ploughing of the soil, the sowing of the seeds and the growing and flowering or flourishing of the plants. When the fruits are ripe, the harvest time is at hand, and the fruits are harvested.
Therefore, the time of the harvest that the Lord mentioned in the Gospel, is in fact referring to the time of judgment, of all the creatures past and present up to the time of judgment, which will happen as the Lord Himself has revealed it, as the end of time. The Angels of God will take up the fruits of the earth, and the fruits reaped will be put into the winepress of the great anger of God. And why is that so? That is because those grapes that will be harvested, are rotten and wicked.
Those represents the wicked fruits of sin which the people at that time committed, in refusing to believe in God and in the truth which He has revealed to the whole world through His disciples and followers, and therefore, through His Church. They chose instead to side with Satan and believe in his falsehoods and lies, his false promises of earthly glory and the seduction of worldly temptations.
And the Lord has given them many opportunities to repent from their sins and to turn away from all the falsehoods and lies of Satan. As He Himself mentioned in the Gospel today, the Lord has given His people many signs and He has revealed the truth about Himself and about what is to come, to all the people who heard Him. And He also warned them about false prophets and all those who have spread lies and tempted the people away from the path towards the Lord.
Despite all of these, people still refused to believe in Him, and chose instead to follow all those leaders and false doomsayers, some of whom claimed to be the Messiah to come. They claimed to speak in the word and the power of God, and claimed that the time is at hand. But, in reality, no one knows the time and what is to come, exactly, save that of God Himself, and all those who claimed to know of the time, are false prophets.
Sadly, there are many who have fallen to this trap of Satan, and they veered off the path towards God’s salvation, and instead right into the expecting hands of the devil. And he is ever active in trying to snatch us from the hands of God’s salvation, sending his agents and emissaries to tempt us daily, to turn us against God and His truth. Many have fallen into this trap, and many more, including us, will, unless we remain firm in our faith.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are called to renew our commitment to God, to be bearers of good fruits of our faith instead of the rotten fruits of sin. Let our actions, words and deeds be the proof of our righteousness and faith in God, and let us turn from now on, wholeheartedly, to Him, committing ourselves to His ways and turn away from all the sins and unworthiness that we have lived our lives with, all these while. May God be with us on our journey, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 21 : 5-11
At that time, while some people were talking about the Temple, remarking that it was adorned with fine stonework and rich gifts, Jesus said to them, “The days will come when there shall not be left one stone upon another of all that you now admire; all will be torn down.” And they asked Him, “Master, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?”
Jesus then said, “Take care not to be deceived, for many will come claiming My title and saying, ‘I am He, the Messiah; the time is at hand!’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and troubled times, do not be frightened; for all these things must happen first, even though the end is not so soon.”
And Jesus said, “Nations will fight each other and kingdom will oppose kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and plagues; in many places strange and terrifying signs from heaven will be seen.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 95 : 10, 11-12a, 12b-13
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.
Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound; let the fields exult and everything in them.
Let the forest, all the trees, sing for joy. Let them sing before the Lord Who comes to judge the earth. He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Revelations 14 : 14-19
Then I had this vision, I saw a white cloud and the One sitting on it like a Son of Man, wearing a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. An Angel came out of the sanctuary, calling loudly to the One sitting on the cloud, “Put in Your sickle and reap, for harvest time has come and the harvest of the earth is ripe.”
He Who was sitting on the cloud swung His sickle at the earth and reaped the harvest. Then another Angel, who also had a sharp sickle, came out of the heavenly sanctuary. Still another Angel, the one who has charge of the altar fire, emerged and shouted to the first who held the sharp sickle, “Swing your sharp sickle and reap the bunches of the vine of the earth for they are fully ripe.”
So the Angel swung his sickle and gathered in the vintage, throwing all the grapes into the great winepress of the anger of God.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 