Month: October 2022

by

Wednesday, 26 October 2022 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 6 : 1-9

Children, obey your parents for this is right : Honour your father and your mother. And this is the first commandment that has promise : that you may be happy and enjoy long life in the land. And you, fathers, do not make rebels of your children, but educate them by correction and instruction which the Lord may inspire.

Servants, obey your masters of this world with fear and respect, with simplicity of heart, as if obeying Christ. Do not serve only when you are watched or in order to please others, but become servants of Christ who do God’s will with all your heart. Work willingly, for the Lord and not for humans, mindful that the good each one has done, whether servant or free, will be rewarded by the Lord.

And you, masters, deal with your servants in the same way, and do not threaten them, since you know that they and you have the same Lord Who is in heaven, and He treats all fairly.

by

Tuesday, 25 October 2022 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in our Scripture passages today we are all reminded to live worthily of the Lord through our own relationships particularly that of within our own Christian families. Each and every one of us as Christians are called to be the faithful and committed members of our respective Christian families, building up within our own Christian communities good and faithful Christian families and relationships, which are truly the bedrock of Christian communities and the Church, and is essential in ensuring that the Church and the faithful community remain strong amidst the many challenges, temptations and trials they may all face.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, the Apostle spoke of the responsibilities that each and every members of the Church and in their respective obligations as families and as sons and daughters of God to do what has been expected of them in building up a loving and harmonious relationship within their families, in which every members are committed to each other and in which love is the foundation of their relationships. St. Paul elaborated on what each members ought to do, and how all Christians are tasked to follow this example, and to build up their holy and loving Christian families.

Back then, while various cultures had their own definition of families and marriages, which were in fact not very distinct from Christian marriage and family, but in practice, people still quite commonly practiced things like having mistresses and concubinage, especially in the culture of the Roman Empire. There were also quite a lot of immoral behaviour and attitudes, excesses of worldly habits and actions which led to great scandals and which are unworthy of those who have been called as Christians, as God’s own beloved children and people. As Christians, all of them were given higher standards and responsibilities.

St. Paul therefore reminded the faithful people of God that they are called to be the beacons of God’s light and truth, and that they ought to show good examples in the way they all lived their lives, where they were dedicated to one another in love, and where they were not led and guided by the temptations of their worldly desires, greed, pride and ambition. St. Paul told all of the people that they ought to show love and care for each other, in caring for the needs of their family, where husbands, wives, parents, children and relatives are all united in the bond of Christian love and virtues.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples and followers regarding the kingdom of God using a parable. Through the parable of the mustard seed and flour, the Lord wanted to highlight to them about the coming of His kingdom, and how each and every one of those who believe in Him, the members of the Body of Christ, the Church, are truly building and establishing this kingdom of God in this world. Yes, that is right, brothers and sisters in Christ, the kingdom of God is indeed already in our midst, and we witness its presence through our Church, the community of the faithful and also through our respective Christian families.

And we are all reminded through the parables mentioned of the importance of providing the necessary conditions for the nurturing of this kingdom of God in our midst, just as the Lord made use of the examples of the germinating and growing mustard seed, as well as the leavening of bread dough with the use of yeast. All of those are examples that were well known and understood by the people, as agriculture and bread-making are things that are crucial to the livelihood of most if not all of the people. Through this example, the Lord wanted His people, that is all of us included, to realise that we have to nurture our faith through providing the optimum condition needed for the growth of our faith, and this is important especially for our younger generation.

That is why the family is truly the domestic Church, the smallest and yet very important subunits of the Church. If our families are not founded upon the firm foundation of our Christian faith and the truth of God, and if the love of God is not present within our families, then easily our Christian families, our Christian communities and all the people in them will be swayed and tempted away from the path of the Lord’s righteousness and virtue, and we will be easily divided and led away from the unity that we should have within our families and communities. Unless we make the conscious efforts to live our lives according to the Christian truth and love, we have not been doing what we are called to do as Christians.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore commit ourselves to a renewed effort to be exemplary Christians in all things, in upholding our Christian values and virtues at all times, in all opportunities and possibilities. Let us all show by our faithful commitment to God, what it truly means for us to be Christians, and how we can help lead and inspire one another to be ever closer to God. May God bless us always and our every endeavours, and may He bless and strengthen our families, that we may always be committed to God and to one another, and be filled with love, the love of God, always and evermore. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 25 October 2022 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 13 : 18-21

At that time, Jesus continued speaking, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? Imagine a person who has taken a mustard seed, and planted it in his garden. The seed has grown, and become like a small tree, so that the birds of the air shelter in its branches.”

And Jesus said again, “What is the kingdom of God like? Imagine a woman who has taken yeast, and hidden it in three measures of flour, until it is all leavened.”

by

Tuesday, 25 October 2022 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 127 : 1-2, 3, 4-5

Blessed are you who fear the Lord and walk in His ways. You will eat the fruit of your toil; you will be blessed and favoured.

Your wife, like a vine, will bear fruits in your home; your children, like olive shoots will stand around your table.

Such are the blessings bestowed upon the man who fears the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosperous all the days of your life.

by

Tuesday, 25 October 2022 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 5 : 21-33

Let all kinds of submission to one another become obedience to Christ. So wives to their husbands : as to the Lord. The husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the Head of the Church, His Body, of Whom He is also the Saviour. And as the Church submits to Christ, so let a wife submit in everything to her husband.

As for you, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. He washed her and made her holy by baptism in the Word. As He wanted a radiant Church without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless, He Himself had to prepare and present her to Himself.

In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. And no one has ever hated his body; he feeds and takes care of it. This is just what Christ does for the Church, because we are members of His Body.

Scripture says : Because of this a man shall leave his father and mother to be united with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a very great mystery, and I refer to Christ and the Church. As for you, let each one love his wife as himself, and let the wife respect her husband.

by

Monday, 24 October 2022 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the words of the Lord telling all of us to remain faithful and true to Him. We must not allow the wickedness and evils of this world from coming into our midst and corrupt us. If we let those things to mislead and distract us from the path that the Lord has shown us, then many of us will unfortunately likely end up falling down the slippery slope towards damnation. We must remember that as Christians, each and every one of us are called to be righteous, good and full of Christian virtues, that in all the things we say and do, we always bring greater glory to God.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus regarding the Apostle’s reminder to the people of God there on how them being the people and children of God, they were all called to a greater new life, full of genuine faith and actions as Christians, and how they should not follow their past ways and wicked path anymore. They were called to a greater new existence, one that was no longer based on the ways of their predecessors and ancestors. Instead, they were all called to follow in the path that God has set before them, and which He Himself had shown to them through His Apostles and His Church.

St. Paul reminded the people of God in Ephesus how the Lord has called on all of them to be holy just as He is holy, and He called on all of them to be virtuous and good in their path, and not to bring scandal to the Lord’s Holy Name and to His Church. As Christians, they were all expected to make a stand against the wickedness of the world, to abandon the temptations of the world and to side with the Lord wholeheartedly. The Lord told them and also to all of us, that we cannot be servants of both God and Money, and that is, we cannot be servant of both the Lord and of the world. If we allow ourselves to indulge in the temptations of worldly glory and power, sooner or later we may end up falling deeper and deeper into the path of sin.

Instead, we are all reminded of what He Himself had done, all the teachings He has given us and all the truth that He has revealed to us, so that through all of those, we may know how we can proceed ahead as Christians in our way of life, in our actions and deeds, in whatever path we follow. That is what we ought to reflect as we recall the message of the Word of God contained within the Sacred Scriptures we have heard today. We heard from the Gospel passage today regarding the confrontation between the Lord and the leader of the synagogue simply because the Lord healed a crippled woman on a Sabbath day.

The Lord had wanted to heal the woman who had been crippled and kept bent and enslaved by the evil spirits for a long period of eighteen years, and He highlighted to His opponents and naysayers, just how ridiculous it was that the woman would have to wait any moment longer just because it was the day of the Sabbath, which according to the Jewish laws and customs back then, was a day when no work was allowed at any circumstances. Meanwhile, the Pharisees and the leader of the synagogue, who likely held the same belief, were most particularly strict and extensive in their efforts to preserve this custom and practice, in enforcing these rules on the people.

However, in doing so they had become elitist and wicked in their ways, as they became self-righteous and prejudiced against all those whom they deemed to be inferior to themselves, which were essentially everyone else, and especially those who were afflicted with diseases like that of the crippled woman herself. Yet, the Lord courageously challenged this action and view of the Pharisees and the synagogue elders, and healed the woman, showing all the people of God what God truly wants from all of us, to be loving and forgiving just as God Himself has shown us His love and compassion, His forgiveness and mercy.

Today we have yet another example who can help us to find our way in living our Christian faith ever more worthily of the Lord. St. Anthony Mary Claret, the founder of the Claretian religious order, was a Spanish Archbishop and missionary, who dedicated himself to a life of ministry to God, first preaching amongst the Catalans in a region that had been destabilised by wars, and was remembered for his great love for his flock, by his dedication in going from one community to another even on foot. He went to several distant areas like the Canary Islands, preaching the word of God there, and calling on many people to return to the Church of God.

As Archbishop of Santiago, in the New World area of Cuba, the Church entrusted St. Anthony Mary Claret with the mission to evangelise to his flock, in caring for the needs of his community, showing them the love of God as shown by his commitment to establish many hospitals and schools for the common folks, in the reorganisation of the diocesan seminary among others. Through his missionary efforts and writings, he inspired many others to follow his good examples, and that helped to lay the foundation of many good deeds. He spent a lot of time caring for the need of the poor, helping them and caring for their needs, and miracles abound in his works and presence, turning even more people towards God. He continued to do many good works even in his later years, dedicating his life to his missions even when he faced many challenges and hardships.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect on all these, and look upon the good examples set by the Lord Himself, and by our faithful and holy predecessors, the saints and martyrs, especially of St. Anthony Mary Claret whose memory we recall and venerate today. Let us all strive to do the will of God in the manner that the faithful sons and daughters of the Lord and His Church had done. And may God be with us always in our journey of faith, so that in our every words, actions and deeds, we will always ever be filled with the righteousness and virtues of God, and strive to glorify God and not seek our own glory in life. May God bless us always in all things, and bless our every efforts and endeavours. Amen.

by

Monday, 24 October 2022 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Luke 13 : 10-17

At that time, Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath, and a crippled woman was there. An evil spirit had kept her bent for eighteen years, so that she could not straighten up at all. On seeing her, Jesus called her and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” Then He laid His hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight and praised God.

But the ruler of the synagogue was indignant, because Jesus had performed this healing on the Sabbath day, and he said to the people, “There are six days in which to work. Come on those days to be healed, and not on the Sabbath!”

But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Everyone of you unties his ox or his donkey on the Sabbath, and leads it out of the barn to give it water. And here you have a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound for eighteen years. Should she not be freed from her bonds on the Sabbath?”

When Jesus said this, all His opponents felt ashamed. But the people rejoiced at the many wonderful things that happened because of Him.

by

Monday, 24 October 2022 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the one who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the law of the Lord and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.

by

Monday, 24 October 2022 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Ephesians 4 : 32 – Ephesians 5 : 8

Be good and understanding, mutually forgiving one another as God forgave you in Christ. As most beloved children of God, strive to imitate Him. Follow the way of love, the example of Christ Who loved you. He gave Himself up for us and became the offering and sacrificial victim Whose fragrance rises to God.

And since you are holy, there must not be among you even a hint of sexual immorality or greed, or any kind of impurity : these should not be named among you. So too for scandalous words, nonsense and foolishness, which are not fitting; instead offer thanksgiving to God.

Know this : no depraved, impure or covetous person who serves the god ‘Money’ shall have part in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty arguments, for these are the sins which God is about to condemn in people who do not obey.

Do not associate with such people. You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Behave as children of light.

by

Sunday, 23 October 2022 : Thirtieth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Mission Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us heard of the reminder that pride and ego, hubris and ambition have no place amongst us Christians and those things will only lead to our downfall and doom, if we allow those to control our lives and our actions. We have been shown and taught what it truly means to be Christians, in our daily living and actions, and if we take heed of what the Lord had reminded us, through the Scripture passages today, we should do our best to do His will, and to be humble and be focused on Him, and not to give in to the temptations of our human pride and desire, which had become the bane and the obstacle for so many of our fellow brothers and sisters, past and present.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Sirach, we heard of the words of the Lord speaking on how He listened to the prayers of the faithful and how He uplifted and strengthened the humble and the just, while at the same time, God condemns and crushes those who were proud and mighty, those who oppressed others and who did not live their lives in accordance with His ways. He judged unworthy those who were merciless and those who have treated their brethren with disdain and lack of respect, those who have acted with violence upon others and those who have exploited their fellow men. All these have no place in God’s Kingdom and Presence.

In the Gospel passage today, we heard the parable which the Lord Jesus mentioned regarding the tax collector and the Pharisee, in which both were praying at the same time at the House of God. We heard how the Pharisee looked down upon his fellow man, the tax collector, considering him as a sinner while praising his own self-righteousness and virtues, as was common at that time. Back then, the Pharisees were considered the elites of the Jewish society, very well-respected and even feared by the other members of the community for their knowledge, intellect, power and influence.

On the other hand, the tax collectors were often ostracised and prejudiced against for their work in collecting taxes for the rulers and for the Romans. They were seen as great sinners and greedy people unworthy of God and His salvation, and they were often shunned by the community, especially hated and rejected by the Pharisees and the elders, who saw them as abominations and traitors to the nation. As such, this prejudice was shown in the Lord’s parable, as He highlighted the folly of such prejudice and narrow-sighted and narrow-minded attitude. The tax collector, fully aware of his sins, was not even willing to look up, embarrassed and shamed by his sins, while the Pharisee, though a sinner himself, lauded his achievements and not only that, but also slandered others before God.

That, brothers and sisters in Christ, is how dangerous pride and ego is for us, as well as human desire and greed. The Pharisee in the parable fell to the trap of his own pride, thinking that he was better than the tax collector, and in doing so, he turned inwards, focusing on himself and his own achievements, which resulted in his prideful and self-congratulatory attitude, which led to him being focused so much on himself and so full of himself, that he failed to see that he himself was also a sinner like the tax collector requiring God’s mercy and redemption. Instead, he thought that everything he did made him worthy of God and that he was superior than others who did less than what he had done.

This is not what each one of us as Christians should be doing. As Christians, all of us have been shown and taught by the Lord, first and foremost to love the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all of our might, and not to love ourselves more than how we love God and others. As Christians we are called and in fact challenged to show our love to one another, to our fellow brothers and sisters, reminding ourselves that God has been so kind, loving, compassionate and merciful in reaching out to us and in showing us His providence and love. He has never given up on us even whenever we have always been rebellious and disobedient in our attitudes in life and despite how many times we have refused to listen to His servants.

But often times we shut the Lord out of our lives because we were too busy and preoccupied with the many things and matters we have in life, and we were often too full of pride and arrogance to admit that we can be mistaken, imperfect or wrong in our ways, and that we ourselves are in need of help and healing. We tend to lose sight on what truly matters, as we have not allowed the Lord to be the true centre and focus of our lives. Instead, we put our own ego and ambitions, our own pride and desires, our attachments for worldly things and goods on the pedestal, and we end up turning inwards and became like how the Pharisee in the Lord’s parable had behaved. That is not the path that a Christian like us should be following.

Instead, we have to realise first of all that we are sinners in need of God’s help and healing, and through God, all of us can gain the sure passage towards eternal life and glory. We have to trust in the Lord just as we remembered what St. Paul told St. Timothy in his Epistle to him today, in our second reading passage. St. Paul encouraged St. Timothy, reminding him of all that the Lord had done to him, that despite all the challenges and the trials that he had to endure, God has always been by his side, protecting him and providing for him, encouraging him and guiding him through the difficult and hard times. He had done what he had been called to do in evangelisation and proclaiming the Good News of God to people of various nations.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we recall and internalise the message contained within the passages of the Sacred Scriptures which we heard this Sunday, all of us are reminded to focus ourselves on God and not on ourselves and our own vanity and desires. And that is part of why the Church commemorates and celebrates Mission Sunday today, reminding us all that each and every one of us as Christians, all of us are called to be missionary in our lives and attitudes, to be life-giving and to be faithful witnesses of the Lord and our Christian faith at every possible opportunities. Each and every one of us as part of the same Church of God, as part of this same one Body of Christ are expected and called to be evangelising and missionary disciples and followers of Christ.

Now, what does it mean for us to be missionary and to fulfil our missions, brothers and sisters in Christ? It does not mean that we have to go and embark on mission to far away parts of the world, preaching the Good News of the Gospels and the Christian faith. Yes, there were and are still many people who have committed their lives to be full-time missionaries, as priests and religious members of the various orders involved in the missionary works all around the world, operating the various ministries and missions that the Church has placed all around the world, but those are not the only ones who should be involved in the mission of the Church.

On the contrary, it is the responsibility and integral part of being Christians that we have to dedicate our time, effort and attention to be true and living witnesses of our Christian faith and beliefs in God, in our every day moments, in living our best to serve the Lord and to do His will, not for our own glory and fame, but for the greater glory of God. Each and every one of us who partakes in the Body of Christ and are part of this Holy Communion of all the faithful and the saints, all of us are sharing in the same mission that Our Lord Jesus Christ has entrusted to His Church and His disciples, and that is to proclaim the Good News He has revealed to the world and to go forth and baptise all the people of all the nations in the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We do not have to do great and marvellous things. What matters is for us to do the best even in the smallest and simplest things we do, such that in all of those, we truly proclaim the Lord not only just by our words, but even more importantly, by our actions and deeds. If we truly embody our faith and beliefs in all of our actions, and do our best to uphold ourselves in virtue and justice, in obedience to God and righteousness, then naturally all those who see us, witness us, hear us and interact with us will come to know the Lord through us, and we may be surprised but our every actions do matter, and they can have great impact on the salvation of many souls.

And we are also reminded not to be elitist and self-righteous, as the example of the Pharisee in the parable of the Lord warned us. We must not let pride and our human greed and desire to be a serious hindrance and obstacle in our path towards God and His salvation. As long as we strive and do our best to resist those many temptations all around us, we will be able to remain faithful to the Lord, remembering as always that we are all sinners after all, all of whom the Lord had shown love, compassion and mercy on. The Lord has loved us all from the very beginning, and He does not mind even our rebellious and our stubbornness, but keep on reaching out to us. Therefore, we too should not be prejudiced against those who we may have deemed to be less than worthy than us. We should not forget that we ourselves have received great grace of God’s forgiveness, and if all even the greatest of sinners receive this love and mercy from God, why we cannot do the same as well?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore live our lives with genuine faith and dedication, and be good Christian missionaries in our every works and actions, so that we may genuinely proclaim the truth of God to the people of all the nations. We have to live our lives worthily and faithfully at all times, and be the beacons of Christ’s light in our world today. Let us all therefore dedicate ourselves anew to the Lord, and may the Lord continue to guide us and bless us in every moments, and in our every good efforts and endeavours, as this Mission Sunday ought to remind us of our calling and mission in life. May God strengthen and empower us to be ever worthy to be in His Presence, now and always. Amen.