Month: June 2021

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Friday, 18 June 2021 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Corinthians 11 : 18, 21b-30

As some people boast of human advantages, I will do the same. But if others are so bold, I shall also dare, although I may speak like a fool. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I begin to talk like a madman) I am better than they.

Better than they, with my numerous labours. Better than they, with the time spent in prison. The beatings I received are beyond comparison. How many times have I found myself in danger of death! Five times, the Jews sentenced me to thirty-nine lashes. Three times, I was beaten with a rod. Once I was stoned. Three times, I was shipwrecked; and once, I spent a night and a day, adrift on the high seas.

I have been continually in hazards of travelling; because of rivers, because of bandits, because of my fellow Jews, or because of the pagans; in danger, in the city, in the open country, at sea; in danger from false brothers. I have worked, and often laboured without sleep, I have been hungry and thirsty and starving, cold, and without shelter. Besides these, and other things, there was my daily concern for all the churches. Who is weak, that I do not feel weak as well? Whoever stumbles, am I not on hot bricks?

If it is necessary to boast, let me proclaim the occasions on which I was found weak.

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Thursday, 17 June 2021 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scripture we are reminded of the need for all of us as Christians to be vigilant against the attempts by the devil and all those who oppose the Lord, in trying to subvert us and turn us away from Him through lies and deception. We have to remain faithful to the Lord and focus on Him, and the best way for us to do this is to deepen our relationship with God through prayer, as we heard in our Scripture passages today.

In our first reading today, we heard St. Paul the Apostle in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, reminding all of them to be focused on the truth of God and not to give in to the efforts of those who tried to bring about our downfall through falsehoods and heretical teachings, by which even that early in the history of the Church, the Church and the faithful had been badly affected by the false prophets and teachers who claimed to know the truth and yet spread false teachings and ideas against the true faith.

When St. Paul mentioned that he has the jealousy of God seeing the faithful agreeing and following the teachings of the false preachers and heretics, and ranted on regarding how while he was perhaps not as good as the other Apostles, but he still laboured among them, preached the faith in their midst and others that he had done. And he said all these because he was indeed frustrated at how easy the people had been swayed by the false truth, and how, despite all that the Lord had done for their sake, they readily abandoned Him for the falsehood of the devil.

This is because mankind is often too easily swayed by the temptations of their desires, their ambitions and pride, which often became obstacle in the path they walk towards God and His salvation. There are often too many distractions and also attempts by those who sought to lure us into paths that seemed to be easier and more profitable and enjoyable for us, and yet, which will lead us into the path of downfall and eternal regret. And all these are possible because our faith in the Lord is not strong and we do not have strong relationship with Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how can we build up a genuine and strong relationship if we cannot even spend quality time and put the effort to build that relationship? And the first and best way that we should do is to pray and spend our time to pray sincerely and fervently, for it is through prayer that we communicate with the Lord and come to know His will. And through prayer, we can attune ourselves better to Him, and learn to trust Him better and to treat Him as our true Lord and Master, as One Whom we truly know.

That is why in our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord’s Prayer, the most ideal form of prayer, one that is not centred on ourselves and on our own selfish desires and wants, unlike what many of our prayers are like, but rather, centred and focused on God, with the emphasis on listening rather than speaking, for after all, God knows everything that is inside our hearts and minds. He is all-knowing and all-powerful, and we do not need to tell Him what we need. In fact He knows better than us what we truly need.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all turn towards the Lord now with a renewed faith and zeal, and endeavour to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and faithfully, at all times. We should spend more time and effort in prayer, reaching out to the Lord and allowing Him to speak to us in the depth of our hearts. This is why we need to do what we can to live a most prayerful life, where we spend quality time with the Lord and seek Him with all of our might and sincerely strive to walk in His path at all times.

May the Lord be with us all and may He strengthen our faith, and may through our prayers, we will get ever closer to Him, and endeavour to do His will, at all times, and following in the footsteps of the Apostles, like that of St. Paul and others who have given their all for the glory of God. Amen.

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Thursday, 17 June 2021 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 6 : 7-15

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do; for they believe that, the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask Him.”

“This, then, is how you should pray : Our Father in heaven, holy be Your Name, Your kingdom, come, Your will be done on earth, as in heaven. Give us today, our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us. Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from the evil one.”

“If you forgive others their wrongdoings, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you.”

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Thursday, 17 June 2021 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 110 : 1-2, 3-4, 7-8

Alleluia! I thank YHVH with all my heart in the council of the just, in the assembly. The works of YHVH are great and pondered by all who delight in them.

Glorious and majestic are His deeds, His righteousness endures forever. He lets us remember His wondrous deeds; YHVH is merciful and kind.

The works of His hands are faithful and just, trustworthy are all His precepts, ordained to last forever, bearers of truth and uprightness.

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Thursday, 17 June 2021 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Corinthians 11 : 1-11

May you bear with me in some little foolishness! But surely you will. I confess that I share the jealousy of God for you, for I have promised you, in marriage, to Christ, the only Spouse; to present you to Him, as a pure virgin. And this is my fear : the serpent that seduced Eve, with cunning, could also corrupt your minds, and divert you from Christian sincerity.

Someone, now, comes, and preaches another Jesus, different from the One we preach, or you are offered a different spirit from the One you have received, with a different gospel from the one you have accepted – and you agree! I do not see how I am inferior to those super Apostles. Does my speaking leave much to be desired? Perhaps, but not my knowledge, as I have abundantly shown to you in every way.

Perhaps my fault was, that I humbled myself, in order to uplift you, or that, I gave you the Gospel free of charge. I called upon the services of other churches, and served you with the support I received from them. When I was with you, although I was in need, I did not become a burden to anyone. The friends from Macedonia gave me what I needed. I have taken care, not to be a burden to you in anything, and I will continue to do so.

By the truth of Christ within me, I will let no one in the land of Achaia stop this boasting of mine. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows that I do!

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Wednesday, 16 June 2021 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are presented with what we are expected to do as Christians, that is to be genuine in our faith and way of life, and to dedicate ourselves to the Lord with sincere heart and devotion, not because we want to be praised or adored for our actions. We are all called today to reexamine our path in life, and consider carefully what each and every one of us can do as those who believe in Christ and as those who walk in His path.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples with regards to the matter of prayer and fasting, and how they ought to be doing it and how they should not follow the way that the Pharisees were doing their prayers and fasting. The contrast was drawn between the way that the Pharisees conducted their prayers and other deeds in public so that everyone could see them and praise them, and how true believers ought to avoid doing that. This is because praying, fasting and any other actions of faith we do, should all be done with the intention of glorifying God and focusing ourselves on God rather than anything else.

That is why it is important that when we fast, we do it for the right purpose. Fasting is not so that people praise us for our piety, righteousness or holiness, but fasting is rather meant for us to restrain ourselves and our desires, to resist against the many temptations that are attempting to pull against us and drag us into disobedience and therefore sin against God. If we treat fasting as a show of faith, then does it not actually defeat the purpose of fasting? That is because we end up indulging in the desires and our pride instead of regretting our sins and wickedness in life, as we should.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is also the same with prayer as well. Prayer is not just for show or for entertaining our human desires for praise and honour, acknowledgement or glory. And we should also stop entertaining our ego and pride in doing so. Prayer is not about ourselves and indeed, is much less about what we want or what our desires are. Many of us may not have realised that we have been praying the wrong way, when we spend our prayers praising ourselves or in launching a litany of wants and desires, in asking God to fulfil what we wanted.

That, brothers and sisters in Christ, is the wrong way of praying, just as fasting for appearances and praise is also the wrong way for fasting. Prayer is an intimate way of communication between us and God, and therefore, we should make sure that we make our prayer as one that is filled with our love for the Lord and with our sincere desire to communicate with Him, to know His will and to deepen our relationship with Him. If we are able to do this, then we have prayed in the right manner, and if we know how to do so, we should also know how to do the other acts of faith in the right way.

And as Christians it is important that we ‘walk the talk’, that is we have to be good role models for our fellow brothers and sisters, in each and every one of our dealings, in our actions and interactions with one another, so that we may inspire each other and help one another to remain faithful to the Lord, as well as in building a genuine and healthy relationship with the Lord. This is why our Christian faith must not be just for show, or just a mere front to satisfy our personal ego and desires, but rather, we have to seek the Lord with all of our hearts and with all of our might.

We should remember well what St. Paul the Apostle wrote in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Corinth, in our first reading today, that all those who sow meagrely shall also reap meagrely, while those who labour hard and do their best, in being faithful, then they shall all be rewarded for their great faith, not because they sought for the reward, but rather because through that genuine effort and faith, they enter blissfully into God’s grace and are bestowed blessings and wonders by God, Who is ever faithful to His people and beloved ones.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all reaffirm our faith in the Lord and let us all commit ourselves anew to Him, so that in all things, we may always glorify Him through our actions, words and deeds, and that we may grow ever closer to Him, in each and every days of our lives. May all of us have the courage and the strong, sincere desire to love the Lord, to be with Him and to communicate with Him regularly, that we will truly be attuned to Him and may be faithful in walking down the path that He has shown us. May God be with us always, and may He bless us all in our every good works and endeavours. Amen.

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Wednesday, 16 June 2021 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 6 : 1-6, 16-18

At that time, “Be careful not to make a show of your good deeds before people. If you do so, you do not gain anything from your Father in heaven. When you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted before you, as do those who want to be noticed in the synagogues and in the streets, in order to be praised by people. I assure you, they have their reward.”

“If you give something to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift remains really secret. Your Father, Who sees what is kept secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not be like those who want to be noticed. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners, in order to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have their reward.”

“When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father Who is with you in secret; and your Father Who sees what is kept secret will reward you. When you fast, do not put on a miserable face, as do the hypocrites. They put on a gloomy face, so that people can see they are fasting. I tell you this : they have been paid in full already.”

“When you fast, wash your face and make yourself look cheerful, because you are not fasting for appearances or for people, but for your Father, Who sees beyond appearances. And your Father, Who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.”

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Wednesday, 16 June 2021 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 111 : 1-2, 3-4, 9

Alleluia! Blessed is the one who fears YHVH, who greatly delights in His commands. His children will be powerful on earth; the upright’s offspring will be blessed.

Wealth and riches are for his family; there, his integrity will remain. He is for the righteous a light in darkness; he is kind, merciful and upright.

He gives generously to the poor; his merits will last forever; and his head will be raised in honour.

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Wednesday, 16 June 2021 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Corinthians 9 : 6-11

Remember : the one who sows meagerly will reap meagerly, and there shall be generous harvests for the one who sows generously. Each of you should give as you decided personally, and not reluctantly, as if obliged. God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to fill you with every good thing, so that you have enough of everything, at all times, and may give abundantly for any good work.

Scripture says : He distributed, he gave to the poor, his good works last forever. God, Who provides the sower with seed, will also provide him with the bread he eats. He will multiply the seed for you and also increase the interest on your good works. Become rich in every way, and give abundantly. What you give will become, through us, a thanksgiving to God.

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Tuesday, 15 June 2021 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us and reminding us all again and again what it truly means for us to be Christians, as those whom God had chosen and called to follow Him, and to be His witnesses among the people of this world. He has taught and shown us His love, and how He has loved us sincerely and tenderly, and therefore, we are expected to show this love through our lives and actions, at all times and in all places and occasions.

In our Gospel passage today, we are all reminded that as Christians we are all entrusted to be able to love one another, that is to learn to forgive those who have sinned against us and to reach out and care even for those who despised and hated us. This is what the Lord has taught and shown us to do, to be exemplary in our faith and in our way of life, that we may be walking in the same path that the Lord has walked before us, as He showed us all what it truly means to love.

Many of us love only ourselves and those whom we love or those who are dear to us, and we are biased against those whom we disagree with or whom we find to be different from us or incompatible. That is why we have not truly been wholehearted in our obedience to the Lord and His path. We are often too blinded by our selfishness and pride, our human desires and many other emotions and distractions that led us astray and keep us away from the true path of Christian love and charity.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is easier said than done for us to love others, especially more so for those whom we despise and who consequently also mutually despised us. It is difficult for us to let go of the anger and the negativities, the bitterness and pain that exist between us. But this is exactly where we should then model ourselves upon the Lord and His own example of love, as He has shown us what is meant by true and most unconditional and selfless love, love that is genuine, sincere and vast beyond all things.

How is it not so, brothers and sisters, when the Lord has given so much for our sake, loved us so wonderfully and patiently even when we have already caused Him so much pain and anger, and after we have betrayed, abandoned and wronged Him time and again, from the moment that we first fell into sin. Through our disobedience and our wickedness, we have been sundered from the true grace and happiness in Eden and in heavenly glory, and yet, God still loved us all, even when we are dirty, corrupted and wicked.

He ceaselessly reached out to us and sent to us His messengers and servants, to call on all of us to return to Him and to be reconciled with Him. He reached out to us with love, hoping that we will change our hearts and minds, and be willing to open the doors of our hearts to allow Him to enter and transform us, freeing us from the chains of our sins and from the tyranny of evil and death. And last of all, He fulfilled all that He has promised us by sending us His own Beloved Son, the same Christ, Our Lord, to be our Saviour.

He endured all the worst of sufferings and pains, the worst of humiliations out of love for us. He bore the blows and insults from His enemies and all those who hated Him, and even still, He prayed for them all and asked His Father not to hold anything against those who had condemned Him to death and made Him to suffer. And when He referred to this, we need to realise that He was in fact also referring to each and every one of us. It was our burdens and punishments that He bore, and yet, He bore them faithfully with love, for us, that we will not have to suffer that damnation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, can we see now just how fortunate we are to be so beloved by the Lord? And therefore, can we grow to appreciate His love more, day after day, by welcoming Him into our hearts, embracing His love and mercy, and allow Him to transform us into His beloved children, a people of the true Light? And in this same manner, we should also imitate Him in all things including love, and it means that we should be the wonderful beacons of His love and light in our world today.

May all of us as Christians, in our every works, efforts and endeavours, in our interactions and outreach will always be filled with true love, love that is pure and selfless, in being concerned and caring towards each other. May God be with us all and may He guide us in our path, that we will always be faithful to Him. Amen.