Year: 2020

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Monday, 10 February 2020 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Kings 8 : 1-7, 9-13

Then Solomon assembled before him in Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, as well as the leaders of the ancestral houses of the Israelites, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of YHVH from the city of David, which is Zion.

All the Israelites assembled near king Solomon in the month of Ethanim, the seventh month. When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests carried the Ark of YHVH and brought it up together with the Tent of Meeting and all the holy vessels that were in the tent.

After the priests and Levites had brought them up, king Solomon with the entire congregation of Israel that had assembled before him and were with him before the Ark, sacrificed so many sheep and oxen that they could neither be counted nor numbered.

Then the priests laid the Ark of the Covenant of YHVH in its place in the inner Sanctuary of the house – the Most Holy Place – underneath the wings of the Cherubim. The Cherubim had their wings spread out over the place of the Ark, providing a covering above the Ark and its poles.

There was nothing in the Ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses placed there at Horeb, where YHVH made a Covenant with the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt. And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, such a cloud filled YHVH’s House that the priests could not continue to minister. Indeed, the glory of YHVH filled His House.

Then Solomon said, “YHVH has said that He would dwell in thick darkness. So the House I have built You will be Your House, a place for You to dwell in forever.”

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Sunday, 9 February 2020 : Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday all of us heard the message from the Sacred Scripture, in which the core message is that of each and every one of us as disciples and followers of the Lord must be ready to do what He has taught and commanded us to do. If we call ourselves as Christians and yet we are incapable, unwilling or fail to do what we have been called to do, how can we be Christians then? Are we not like the hypocrites who believe in one thing and yet act in a different manner?

In our Gospel passage today we heard from the Lord Jesus His famous parable of the salt of the earth and the light of the world. He was using them as a tool of comparison with all of those whom He had called and taught, reminding them of all the blessings and talents that God has given to each and every one of them, and thus all of us too. All of us have been blessed with wonderful talents and abilities unique to our own, but many of us have not realised this and many of us are not using those talents and abilities for the right purpose or simply misused them.

Today, let us all first look into the two things which the Lord used to represent His teachings and thoughts. The first one is salt, an essential flavouring agent and also a preservative used from many millennia ago in many cultures and civilisations around the world. And the second one is light, something that is naturally available to us through the sun and the distant stars and its reflections from the moon. And we also have artificial forms of light source, historically using candle flames and then later on electricity-powered lighting.

In our world today we may not fully understand the significance of these two very important commodities and why the Lord chose them to represent what He wanted to deliver to the people listening to Him. And that is because we live in a world where salt and light, as well as many other things that used to be very difficult to be gained or maintained, are now abundant and plenty. Salt and light are so plenty all around us that we often do not appreciate their significance to our lives.

Salt was very important as mentioned earlier, as a flavouring for food that would otherwise be bland and tasteless. And even more importantly, salt is usually the most common form of preservation of food, by using it to kill the microorganisms present in the food and also to slow down the growth of any other microorganism by dehydrating the food due to its properties. Salt are readily available from the seas and oceans, as there are plenty of saltwater in our world, making up the vast majority of the water we have.

However, because salt is so important and necessary for many uses in life, its production, which is time and labour consuming using the traditional method of evaporating seawater, salt has always been prized and treasured by many people, especially by those who live far away from the shores of the sea. As transportation systems in the past were not as advanced as it is now, it may be difficult for many people to have a steady and sufficient access to salt.

If salt no longer has its saltiness and presumably, its useful properties, then it really becomes useless as the Lord Himself said. Without its properties, salt is useless and meaningless, and has no value at all other than to be discarded, ignored and thrown away. And by using this, God wants His people to understand that our talents and abilities that He has given us are just like the saltiness and the preservative properties of salt.

And then, on the matter of light, light is also a very important commodity for us all, as we all know that without light, we cannot see any objects around us. Our vision of the objects and our surroundings can happen because light is reflected on the object’s surface and gets into our eyes. Without light, there will then be darkness, for darkness is indeed the absence of light. With light, darkness disappears and everything become bright and visible again.

Similar with salt, we live in a world where light is so abundant and available at any time of the day that we may no longer appreciate its significance. But in the ages past, especially before the discovery of electricity and the use of electricity in providing light sources for us, people feared the dark very much as they could not see, and harm could easily occur to those who were exposed in the open, such as wild beasts and predators, and other harms like obstacles and dangers lurking all around not visible to man because of the lack of light.

During the period when light was absent such as during nighttime, candles were used, and they were so precious that if we notice, traditional candlesticks where the candles were usually placed have a flared surface that was meant to capture all the melted wax during the burn. While not all the substance of the candle can be reclaimed this way, but with that, as much melted wax as possible could be reclaimed and then reused again for either lighting or other purposes.

And we all also know that light also produces heat, and in a world where nighttime can be cold and dark, especially during winter times, light was indeed very, very important as not just a source of hope but also a source of comfort and protection. And this is why the Lord make use of light as His example, and mentioned how useless and illogical it would be for anyone to hide a light source underneath a cover that the light could not be used to enlighten the darkened places.

Such an attitude would not make sense at all considering just how precious light as a resource was, especially at the time when Jesus conducted His ministry two millennia ago, way long before electricity and any forms of readily accessible lighting were available to us mankind. In the same way as how salt was described therefore, light was used as an important comparison of how God has given us talents, abilities and gifts, and blessed us with the opportunities to be used, and we should make use of them for the greater glory of God.

But more often than not, we do not or fail to recognise these gifts and blessings from God. Or we misuse them for our own selfish desires and benefits rather than using them as how God had intended for them to be used. We seek personal happiness and pleasure, and we want to satisfy our various inner desires. This is where we are all reminded that if we do all these, essentially we are doing what the Lord had said about being senseless, by hiding the light that God has placed within us and by losing that saltiness of ours as the salt of the earth.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all the light of the world and the salt of the earth because we have in us the light of God, Who is the True Light of the world. We reflect His light and glory and become beacons of His light in our darkened world today. He has also given us the gifts to bless others with our distinct personalities and talents, like salt that gives flavour to the food that we eat. And if we act in ways contrary to what the Lord had taught and shown us, we are hiding this light and not making use of what God has bestowed on us.

How do we then live our lives so that we may truly reflect God’s light and become bright beacons of His light and be true and meaningful salt of the earth? It is by heeding what we have heard in our first reading today taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah. The prophet mentioned how we all should share our joy, happiness and blessings with others, to live humbly and without excess that we may spare our joy with others who need help. We ought to reach out to the needy, those who are homeless and have none to care for them.

Essentially, we are all called to be selfless and to be willing to love one another sincerely, and we are called to live a genuine and virtuous Christian life each, so that by our lives and actions, the light of Christ will shine forth through us as the prophet Isaiah said, and be the guiding light for others who are still in the darkness of the world. Are we able to make the commitment to live our lives in an utmost Christian manner from now on?

It will not be easy for us to do so, as temptations are always aplenty trying to make us to live our lives for ourselves instead, causing harm and even hurt to others when we seek to satisfy our own selfish desires and demands. And if we do this, we are hiding the light of Christ and making ourselves useless as the salt of the earth. Our challenge is how do we keep our courage and strength to walk down the path that God has shown us, to bear witness to His truth and to share our joy in Christ with all those whom we encounter in life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let our lives be examples and demonstration of God’s love, and let our every words, actions and deeds speak of the glory of God, putting Him first and foremost above our own petty desires. Let us all reach out to our fellow brethren and show God’s love, and do our best within our own capacity, utilising our own talents and capabilities to touch others through our sincere and genuine show of love, care and concern, that we may bring light to illuminate the path of others who are still enshrouded by the darkness of uncertainty and sin, and bring happiness and joy to the life of others.

Let us all truly be light of the world and salt of the earth as our Lord Himself has called us to be, and let us dedicate ourselves, our time, energy and effort to serve Him ever more faithfully from now on. May the Lord bless us all and may He strengthen each and every one of us that we may always be faithful to carry out the missions which He has entrusted to us. May God bless us all and our many good works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 9 February 2020 : Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 5 : 13-16

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It has become useless. It can only be thrown away and people will trample on it.”

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a mountain cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and covers it; instead it is put on a lampstand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine before others, so that they may see the good you do and praise your Father in heaven.”

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Sunday, 9 February 2020 : Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 2 : 1-5

When I came to reveal to you the mystery of God’s plan I did not count on eloquence or on a show of learning. I was determined not to know anything among you but Jesus, the Messiah, and a crucified Messiah. I myself came weak, fearful and trembling; my words and preaching were not brilliant or clever to win listeners.

It was, rather, a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might be a matter not of human wisdom, but of God’s power.

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Sunday, 9 February 2020 : Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 111 : 4-5, 6-7, 8a and 9

The Lord is for the righteous a Light in the darkness, He is kind, merciful and upright. It will be well with him who lends freely, who leads a life of justice and honesty.

For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered and loved forever. He has no fear of evil news, for his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.

His heart is confident, he needs not fear. He gives generously to the poor, his merits will last forever and his head will be raised in honour.

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Sunday, 9 February 2020 : Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 58 : 7-10

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. 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.

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(Usus Antiquior) Septuagesima Sunday (II Classis) – Sunday, 9 February 2020 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Offertory

Psalm 91 : 2

Bonum est confiteri Domino, et psallere Nomini Tuo, Altissime.

English translation

It is good to give praise to the Lord, and to sing to Your Name, o Most High.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Muneribus nostris, quaesumus, Domine, precibusque susceptis : et caelestibus nos munda mysteriis, et clementer exaudi. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

With our gifts and prayers accepted, we beseech You, o Lord, both cleanse us by these heavenly mysteries and graciously hear us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Communion

Psalm 30 : 17-18

Illumina faciem Tuam super servum Tuum, et salvum me fac in Tua misericordia : Domine, non confundar, quoniam invocavi Te.

English translation

Make Your face to shine upon Your servant, and save me in Your mercy. Let me not be confounded, o Lord, for I have called upon You.

Post-Communion Prayer

Fideles Tui, Deus, per Tua dona firmentur : ut eadem et percipiendo requirant, et quaerendo sine fine percipiant. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

May Your faithful, o God, be strengthened by Your gifts, that receiving them they may still desire them and desiring them may constantly receive them. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Septuagesima Sunday (II Classis) – Sunday, 9 February 2020 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Matthaeum – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

Matthew 20 : 1-16

In illo tempore : Dixit Jesus discipulis Suis parabolam hanc : Simile est regnum caelorum homini patrifamilias, qui exiit primo mane conducere operarios in vineam suam. Conventione autem facta cum operariis ex denario diurno, misit eos in vineam suam.

Et egressus circa horam tertiam, vidit alios stantes in foro otiosos, et dixit illis : Ite et vos in vineam meam, et quod justum fuerit, dabo vobis. Illi autem abierunt. Iterum autem exiit circa sextam et nonam horam : et fecit similiter. Circa undecimam vero exiit, et invenit alios stantes, et dicit illis : Quid hic statis tota die otiosi?

Dicunt ei : Quia nemo nos conduxit. Dicit illis : Ite et vos in vineam meam. Cum sero autem factum esset, dicit dominus vineae procuratori suo : Voca operarios, et redde illis mercedem, incipiens a novissimis usque ad primos. Cum venissent ergo qui circa undecimam horam venerant, acceperunt singulos denarios.

Venientes autem et primi, arbitrati sunt, quod plus essent accepturi : acceperunt autem et ipsi singulos denarios. Et accipientes murmurabant adversus patremfamilias, dicentes : Hi novissimi una hora fecerunt et pares illos nobis fecisti, qui portavimus pondus diei et aestus.

At ille respondens uni eorum, dixit : Amice, non facio tibi injuriam : nonne ex denario convenisti mecum? Tolle quod tuum est, et vade : volo autem et huic novissimo dare sicut et tibi. Aut non licet mihi, quod volo, facere? an oculus tuus nequam est, quia ego bonus sum? Sic erunt novissimi primi, et primi novissimi. Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi.

English translation

At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples this parable, “The kingdom of heaven is likened to a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. And having agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.

And going out at about the third hour, he saw others standing in the marketplace idle, and he said to them, “You also go into my vineyard, and I will give you what shall be just,” and they went their way. And again he went out at about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did so in the similar manner. But at about the eleventh hour, he went out, and found others standing, and he said to them, “Why did you stand here all the day idle?”

They said to him, “Because no man had hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into my vineyard.” And when evening came, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, “Call the labourers, and pay them their hire, beginning from the last even to the first.” When therefore those who came at about the eleventh hour, they received a penny for every man.

But when the first also came, they thought that they should receive more, and they also received a penny for every man. And receiving it, they murmured against the master of the house, saying, “These last have barely worked but one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the heat.”

But he answering, said to one of them, “Friend, I did you no wrong, did you not agree with me for a penny? Take what is yours, and go your way. I will also give to the last even as to you. Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will? Is your eye evil, because I am good? So shall the last be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Septuagesima Sunday (II Classis) – Sunday, 9 February 2020 : Gradual and Tract

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Gradual

Psalm 9 : 10-11, 19-20

Adjutor in opportunitatibus, in tribulatione : sperent in Te, qui noverunt Te : quoniam non derelinquis quaerentes Te, Domine.

Response : Quoniam non in finem oblivio erit pauperis : patientia pauperum non peribit in aeternum : exsurge, Domine, non praevaleat homo.

English translation

The helper in due time, in tribulation. Let them trust in You, who know You for You have not forsaken those who seek You, o Lord.

Response : For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end, the patience of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, o Lord, let not man be strengthened.

Tract

Psalm 129 : 1-4

De profundis clamavi ad Te, Domine : Domine, exaudi vocem meam.

Response : Fiant aures Tuae intendentes in orationem servi Tui.

Response : Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine : Domine, quis sustinebit?

Response : Quia apud Te propitiatio est, et propter legem Tuam sustinui Te, Domine.

English translation
From the depths I have cried to You, o Lord. Lord, hear my voice.

Response : Let Your ears be attentive to the prayer of Your servant.

Response : If You shall observe iniquities, o Lord, Lord, who shall endure it?

Response : For with You is propitiation, and by reason of Your Law I have waited for You, o Lord.

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(Usus Antiquior) Septuagesima Sunday (II Classis) – Sunday, 9 February 2020 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Lectio Epistolae Beati Pauli Apostoli ad Corinthios – Lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians

1 Corinthians 9 : 24-27 and 1 Corinthians 10 : 1-5

Fratres : Nescitis, quod ii, qui in stadio currunt, omnes quidem currunt, sed unus accipit bravium? Sic currite, ut comprehendatis. Omnis autem, qui in agone contendit, ab omnibus se abstinet : et illi quidem, ut corruptibilem coronam accipiant; nos autem incorruptam.

Ego igitur sic curro, non quasi in incertum : sic pugno, non quasi aerem verberans : sed castigo corpus meum, et in servitutem redigo : ne forte, cum aliis praedicaverim, ipse reprobus efficiar.

Nolo enim vos ignorare, fratres, quoniam patres nostri omnes sub nube fuerunt, et omnes mare transierunt, et omnes in Moyse baptizati sunt in nube et in mari : et omnes eamdem escam spiritalem manducaverunt, et omnes eumdem potum spiritalem biberunt (bibebant autem de spiritali, consequente eos, petra : petra autem erat Christus) : sed non in pluribus eorum beneplacitum est Deo.

English translation

Brethren, do you not know that those who run in the race, all run indeed, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain. And every one who strives for the mastery, refrains himself from all things, and they indeed that they may receive a corruptible crown, but for us, an incorruptible one.

I therefore so run, not as at an uncertainty. I so fight, not as one beating the air, but I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway.

For I would not have you as ignorants, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all in Moses were baptised, in the cloud and in the sea, and all did eat the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ). But with the most of them God was not well pleased.