Month: July 2020

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Tuesday, 28 July 2020 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 13 : 36-43

At that time, Jesus sent the crowds away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” Jesus answered them, “The One Who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed are the people of the kingdom; the weeds are those who follow the evil one. The enemy who sows the weeds is the devil; the harvest is the end of time, and the workers are the Angels.”

“Just as the weeds are pulled up and burnt in the fire, so will it be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send His Angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom all that is scandalous and all who do evil. And these will be thrown into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine, like the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. If you have ears, then hear.”

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Tuesday, 28 July 2020 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 78 : 8, 9, 11, 13

Do not remember against us the sins of our fathers. Let Your compassion hurry to us, for we have been brought very low.

Help us, God, our Saviour, for the glory of Your Name; forgive us for the sake of Your Name.

Listen to the groans of the prisoners; by the strength of Your arm, deliver those doomed to die.

Then we, Your people, the flock of Your pasture, will thank You forever. We will recount Your praise from generation to generation.

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Tuesday, 28 July 2020 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Jeremiah 14 : 17-22

This you will say to them : Let my eyes shed tears night and day without ceasing! For a great wound has the virgin daughter of my people been wounded, a most grievous wound. If I go into the country, I see those slain by the sword. If I enter the city I see the ravages of famine. For the prophet and the priest did not understand what was happening in the land.

Have You then rejected Judah forever? Do You abhor Zion? Why have You wounded us and left us with no hope of recovery? We hoped for salvation but received nothing good; we waited for healing, but terror came! YHVH, we know our wickedness and that of our ancestors, and the times we have sinned against You.

For Your Name’s sake do not despise us; do not dishonour the throne of Your glory. Remember us. Do not break Your Covenant with us! Among the worthless idols of the nations, are there any who can bring rain, or make the skies send showers? Only in You, YHVH our God, do we hope, for it is You Who do all this.

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Monday, 27 July 2020 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us heard the readings from the Scriptures in which we heard the manifestation of God’s anger at His people’s disobedience and lack of faith as they constantly and consistently refused to listen to Him and continued to follow the path of sin instead of the path of the truth. Through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord wanted to make it clear to His people that it was by their stubbornness and refusal to believe in Him that they would face ruin and destruction.

And the destruction did come upon the people of God, of both Israel and Judah, crushed by their enemies and exiled from their lands, as a result of them putting their trust in their own might and power, in worldly power and alliances, in their pagan idols and gods rather than to trust in God. God had sent so many prophets and messengers to them, showed them signs and revelations and yet they still would not believe.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard something similar to this as the Lord spoke to His people in parables, teaching them about the kingdom of heaven and its meaning. And the Lord highlighted to His disciples that He always taught in parables and spoke in cryptic terms so as to both reveal the meaning of the truth He brought to those who are willing to listen to them, and to hide them from those who have hardened their hearts and refused to listen to Him.

This brings us then into the realisation that unless we are willing to embrace the Lord and His ways, then we will not be able to appreciate fully His truth and love, and we will not be able to embrace Him fully as we should have. And this is also shown through the parable that the Lord used in explaining the kingdom of heaven, the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the yeast and three measures of flour.

In all these parables, the Lord brought forth the fact of how those little things like mustard seed and yeast, mustard seed being one of the smallest among the seeds and yeast being very small and microscopic in size, were able to grow into immense proportions beyond imagination. The mustard seed grow into a relatively large tree with many branches while the yeast allow the dough to rise quite significantly in size.

The significance of this is such that subtly, the Lord is telling us that we need to make ourselves small and insignificant before God, minuscule and tiny, if we want to grow and be truly great before Him. It is by discarding all sorts of pride and greed, ego and ambition, selfishness and hubris, and instead embracing humility and meekness that we will be able to grow in faith. Unless we humble ourselves, we will be too full of ourselves to be able to nurture ourselves with the love of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, then, similarly, for the mustard seeds to grow and for the yeast to be able to make the dough to rise, they require specific conditions that if not fulfilled, then those things will not be able to happen. The mustard seeds need water, the right temperature and oxygen in the air to germinate, and later on will also need nutrients from the soil and sunlight to grow well into a great tree. Similarly, yeast also need the absence of oxygen and warm conditions for them to be able to function and make the dough rise. If the conditions are not fulfilled for either of them, then nothing good would have come out of them.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to live faithfully in God’s presence so as to provide the best condition for ourselves to grow in the sight of God, to grow like the mustard seed and to rise like the dough with yeast? We are all called to be good and fruitful Christians in life, and we should indeed do what we can to serve God and to dedicate ourselves to Him and to His ways, to be righteous and to be exemplary in how we act in our everyday living that by our faith, we become God’s shining examples.

Let us all therefore not harden our hearts and minds as what the people of God had once done, and instead, allow God to enter into our hearts and minds by making ourselves small before Him, humbling ourselves and dedicating ourselves to Him with all of our heart and with all of our strength. May the Lord be with us always and may He strengthen us all each and every moments of our lives that we may truly grow well in the faith and bear wonderful, bountiful fruits, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 27 July 2020 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 13 : 31-35

At that time, Jesus offered His disciples another parable : “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is smaller than all other seeds, but once it is fully grown, it is bigger than any garden plant; like a tree, the birds come and rest in its branches.”

He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast than a woman took, and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole mass of dough began to rise.” Jesus taught all these things to the crowds by means of parables; He did not say anything to them without using a parable. This fulfilled what was spoken by the Prophet : ‘I will speak in parables. I will proclaim things kept secret since the beginning of the world.’

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Monday, 27 July 2020 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Deuteronomy 32 : 18-19, 20, 21

They have disowned the Rock Who fathered them; they have forgotten the God Who gave them birth. The Lord saw this, and in His anger rejected His sons and daughters.

He said, “I will hide My face from them and see what will become of them. They are so perverse, so unfaithful!”

“They made Me jealous with their false gods and angered Me with their idols. I will, therefore, make them envious of a foolish people, I will provoke them to anger with an empty-headed nation.”

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Monday, 27 July 2020 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Jeremiah 13 : 1-11

This is what YHVH said to me : “Go! Buy yourself a linen belt and put it around your waist; do not put it in water.” So I bought the belt as YHVH ordered and put it around my waist. The word of YHVH came to me a second time, “Take the belt you bought, the one you put around your waist, and go to the torrent Perah; hide it there in a hole in the rock.”

I went and hid it as YHVH instructed me. After many days YHVH said to me, “Go to the torrent Perah and get the belt I ordered you to hide there.” I went to the torrent and dug up the belt but it was ruined and good for nothing; and YHVH said to me, “In this way I will destroy the pride and great glory of Judah, this wicked people who refuse to heed what I say, this stubborn people who go after other gods to serve and worship them. And they shall become like this belt which is now good for nothing.”

“For just as a belt is to be bound around a man’s waist so was the people of Israel and Judah bound to Me – it is YHVH Who speaks – to be My people, My glory and My honour; but they would not listen.”

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Sunday, 26 July 2020 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, all of us are called to reflect on what we have just heard from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures in which we are reminded of this question, ‘What is our precious treasure in life?’ This treasure that we seek in life, is it the treasure of worldly material goods and possessions, or fame and influence, or earthly pleasures? It is important that we reflect on this matter so that we will know what it is that we are seeking in life and we can then plot the right path going forward in life.

In our first reading today, the Lord appeared to the young king Solomon in his dream not long after he had succeeded to the throne of Israel following his father, king David. And the Lord told him to ask of Him anything he wanted and it would be given to him. King Solomon was still young and new to the throne, inherited a great kingdom, wealthy and prosperous, mighty and powerful in arms. And he asked not for more power, glory or wealth, but rather for wisdom, the wisdom to discern the good from the bad, and to be able to lead the people of Israel wisely in the ways of the Lord.

And God Who was pleased with this request of king Solomon, gave him not just the great wisdom of which Solomon would forever be known for, but also even more glory, wealth and power in his kingdom that surpassed greatly his father, king David’s kingdom. Through this, we can see how the Lord is truly generous and kind to those who trust in Him and we are also reminded that the true treasure we should seek is not in any worldly matters and goods, but rather, in trusting in God.

For Solomon had great faith in the Lord, and even as he asked for wisdom from God, he did so not to glorify himself and for his own selfish purpose, but rather to be able to govern the people of God entrusted to him effectively and well, and to lead everyone to God. This shows how Solomon during his early and younger days in particular, had the Lord as the treasure of his life, his focus and emphasis that kept him in the right paths.

Unfortunately, if we are to dwell further into the life and reign of king Solomon after what we have heard in today’s Scripture passage, as Solomon grew older, he began to be swayed by the many worldly matters, pleasures and temptations, with his hundreds of wives and concubines, many of whom began to lead Solomon away from the Lord. They reintroduced pagan worship and wicked practices, and Solomon began to act more tyrannically towards those who disagreed with him.

This is what happened when we allow the false treasures of the world to sway us and tempt us, and unless we resist those temptations, as we saw how even someone with great wisdom and knowledge like king Solomon had fallen, we too will likely end up going down the wrong path in life. Solomon’s glorious reign, his vast wealth and fame all over the world, his immense stature and the wisdom he had made him proud in the heart, and in turn, made his path in life to begin to veer away from the Lord.

In our Gospel passage today then, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples regarding the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, using parables to explain to His disciples and followers what the kingdom of heaven is like and what we need to do in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven. In the Gospel passage we heard firstly the parable of the treasure in the field, using the simple example of how someone discovered the treasure in the field and sold everything he had that he might buy the field and thus own the treasure.

And then, we also heard another parable in which the Lord compared the kingdom of heaven to a most beautiful and magnificent pearl of great worth and price. In that parable, again, the one who found the pearl of great price sold everything he had and buy the pearl as his true treasure. This is similar to the story of the treasure in the field, and the essence of the story is that the kingdom of heaven is so precious and great, that it is worth our entire existence to own it, and its value is beyond all that our earthly possessions and wealth can be compared to.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, the question that all of us need to answer then is, ‘What is our treasure in life? What is it that we have been looking for in life all these while? If our answer is wealth, worldly joy and pleasures, glory and fame, influence and power, then we must realise and understand that all of those things are superficial in nature and that they will also not last forever. None of them will endure and persist for long, and as easily as we gather them and accumulate them, we will also lose them.

Let us also keep in mind these words of the Lord in another part of the Gospel, that I feel is truly related to today’s passage, namely ‘What good is it for man, for him to gain the whole world but loses his soul?’ Through this phrase, the Lord wants us all to know that the world and everything it can offer us, all the ‘treasures’ and goods we may see and find attractive, all of these can lead us into losing our soul, meaning by falling into sin, and from sin into death and damnation.

Now, we also have to understand that the Lord does not ask us to sell everything we have and abandon all of our worldly dealings, wealth, possessions and all other things we have. If we read at His words and understand them literally, then it is what we may wrongly perceive and understand. What the Lord truly meant is that we have to get rid from ourselves all the unhealthy attachment, desire and obsessions. It is not wrong for us to possess material goods and to have worldly happiness, but we have to draw the line between having and being possessed and filled with desire for more of them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to detach ourselves from the unhealthy obsession and unbridled desire for the false treasures of life, and instead, seek for the true treasure that we can only find in God? Let us all heed from the examples of king Solomon, both his good example in his humility in asking for wisdom from God, the wisdom to be able to lead his people and rule with justice, and not seeking for worldly matters, and also his faults in the latter part of his life when he was overcome by the tempting power of the pleasures of life.

Are we able to resist these temptations to walk the path of sin and evil? Are we courageous and strong enough to reject these attempts by the devil to lead us astray and to distance ourselves from God? The Lord has called us to follow Him and He has shown us the way to reach out to Him, and now it is just for us to embrace this path that He has shown us. But it is easier to be said than done, as it will indeed prove a lot more difficult for us to seek the Lord’s path than the path of worldliness.

We live in a world inundated with plenty of materialism and even hedonism. We are flooded each and every day with subliminal messages encouraging consumeristic lifestyle, putting material wealth and goods first and foremost in our lives, and the prioritisation of self over others. The nature of our world today, our society and others emphasised to us a lot on selfishness, individualism, the pampering of the self and the pursuit of self-fulfilment and self-satisfaction.

And we need to know that we are up against all these in life, in our every living moments. Unless we strive hard to resist, we are bound to fall to the temptations that are indeed hard to escape from, especially if we have known many comforts in life. Once again, it is not wrong to have these comforts, but we must not crave or desire for these things in expense of finding our true treasure in life, that is God. Yes, in God alone we can find the true treasure that will last for eternity.

Ultimately, as our experiences and human history had shown us, we are usually never easily satisfied by what we already have in life, and we always desire for more, and many of the conflicts that happen in our world past and present, as it will also be in the future, are caused by these conflicting desires and by our greed. In the end, indulging in these false treasures will lead us nowhere but destruction, emptiness and pain and suffering.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on these readings today, let us also heed what St. Paul told us in his Epistle to the Romans in our second reading today, that God has called us and those whom He had called, He will make righteous and He will bless us in everything we have and do. We are indeed so fortunate to have such a loving God and caring Father by our side at all times. However, it is too often that we have ignored Him, refused to admit His love for us, and even rejected His generous offer of forgiveness, mercy and compassion.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we all need to reassess how we have lived our lives thus far. If we have not placed God at the centre of our lives and existence, then we seriously need to consider what we have just discussed earlier on. Is God at the centre of our lives and existence? And is He our focus and direction in life? Let us all seek the Lord from now on with renewed vigour and spirit, knowing that in Him alone that we will be able to find true joy and everlasting happiness. May the Lord be our guide and help us to find the right path in life. Amen.

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Sunday, 26 July 2020 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 13 : 44-52

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field. The one who finds it, buries it again; and so happy is he, that he goes and sells everything he has, in order to buy that field.”

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader, who is looking for fine pearls. Once he has found a pearl of exceptional quality, he goes away, sells everything he has and buys it.”

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a big fishing net, let down into the sea, in which every kind of fish has been caught. When the net is full, it is dragged ashore. Then they sit down and gather the good fish into buckets, but throw the bad away.”

“That is how it will be at the end of time; the Angels will go out to separate the wicked from the just, and to throw the wicked into the blazing furnace, where they will weep and gnash their teeth.”

Jesus asked, “Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered. So He said to them, “Therefore, every teacher of the Law, who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven, is like a householder, who can produce from his store things both new and old.”

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Matthew 13 : 44-46

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field. The one who finds it, buries it again; and so happy is he, that he goes and sells everything he has, in order to buy that field.”

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader, who is looking for fine pearls. Once he has found a pearl of exceptional quality, he goes away, sells everything he has and buys it.”

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Sunday, 26 July 2020 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 8 : 28-30

We know that in everything, God works for the good of those who love Him, whom He has called, according to His plan. Those whom He knew beforehand, He has also predestined, to be like His Son, similar to Him, so, that, He may be the Firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

And so, those whom God predestined, He called; and those whom He called, He makes righteous; and to those whom He makes righteous, He will give His glory.