Month: December 2022

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Monday, 19 December 2022 : 4th Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened together to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded that the Lord remembers us all His people, all that He has promised us and how God will not abandon those who have been faithful to Him, but that He will lift them out of the darkness and into the light, sending them His salvation and grace, strength and hope, through the servants whom He had appointed, called and chosen from among His people, and in the case of our Scripture passages today, we heard of the examples of two of God’s great servants whom He sent to be with His people at a time of hardship, and to prepare the path for His glorious reign, namely through Samson and St. John the Baptist.

There are indeed many parallels between the story of Samson and St. John the Baptist, that such a connection is explored in our set of Scripture readings today. Both of them had been dedicated to God before they were even born and conceived in their mothers’ womb, and the Lord proclaimed through His Angels, of the coming of those two mighty servants, through whom God would do great deeds among His people. Samson would be one of the Judges of Israel, becoming a leader of the people of God at the time when they were troubled and constantly harassed by the Philistines, leading the Israelites free from their troubles, while St. John the Baptist would be the Herald of the Messiah, guiding and showing God’s people to the path of repentance and freedom from the bondage and dominion of sin, evil and death.

In our first reading today, we heard how Samson’s birth and arrival was announced by God through His Angel, who told his parents that he would be consecrated and dedicated to God, and essentially, he became what was then known as a ‘Nazirite’, that is someone who gave himself or herself to the cause of the Lord completely, and who abstained from worldly corruptions such as wine and strong drink, and led a certain kind of lifestyle such as what Samson, and later on St. John the Baptist would follow. In the Gospel passage we heard then of the similar story of what happened before St. John the Baptist was born, how his birth was announced by the Angel of God, traditionally associated with the Archangel Gabriel. Both Samson and St. John the Baptist were also conceived when their mothers had not been able to conceive for a long time, and had been without hope.

Hence, through their miraculous conception, God removed from their mothers the stain of barrenness, which was actually a taboo and a disgrace in the eyes of many in the community of the people of God. The Lord showed His providence and guidance to them, and also through the coming of His servants, brought a new hope to His people, that just as He promised, He would lead them all into freedom, into the path of light and salvation, where their troubles and hardships would be no more. And even more importantly, both of them also preempt the coming of the even more glorious days of God’s reign over His people, with Samson being one of the last judges, preparing the path for the days of the kingdom of Israel, with David as the most prominent of the Kings, leading Israel into glory and triumph over its enemies, as David himself was remembered for his triumph over Goliath the Philistine, and his victory over them, the same Philistines whom Samson struggled against throughout his life.

In the same way, as we all know, St. John the Baptist is the Herald of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. St. John the Baptist and his coming into the world marked the moment when God revealed to His people just how imminent the coming of the day of His salvation was. Christ Himself is the Heir of David, the One Who would sit upon David’s Throne and restore the people of God, reconciling all of them to His heavenly Father, leading them from the darkness of sin and despair into the light of God’s ways and salvation, grace and hope. And through St. John the Baptist, many came to respond to God’s call and changed themselves, submitting themselves to His will and repenting from their sins, and hence preparing themselves for the coming of the Saviour, through Whom God will save all of His people, all mankind from the path towards damnation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we heard the story of these two faithful and great servants of God, let us all be reminded of God’s love and compassionate mercy for all of us, just how generous He has been with the efforts He did in order to reach out to us and to be reconciled with us. He never gave up on us although we have often disobeyed Him and rejected His love and kindness. He still patiently reached out to us and cared for us, and because of this, we can have hope in Him, in all the love that He has shown us. The Lord has already given us all so much, although we are still sinners and although we have often hurt and disobeyed Him. Yet, He still called on us all and wanted us to be reconciled with us nonetheless. That is, brothers and sisters, the very reason why we rejoice in Christmas, and why we spend this time of Advent to prepare ourselves well that we may worthily and properly celebrate Christmas as we should.

Now, as we continue to draw ever closer to the end of the Advent season and the beginning of the glorious and joyful Christmas season, let us all therefore reorientate our lives and our focus, that we turn our attention and direction in life, our celebrations and our rejoicing to be focused once again on God and not on all the material things and goods of this world. We can see for ourselves all the extensive merrymaking and festivities surrounding the mostly secular way of how Christmas is celebrated, and while we can indeed rejoice in that way, we must take care to remind ourselves and each other that we do not end up losing sight on what is important and what matters in our celebration of Christmas, which should be focused on Christ and His role in bringing about new Hope in our hearts and minds, as He came into our midst, to dwell among us.

As we reflected upon the lives of Samson and St. John the Baptist, let us all first of all therefore remember God’s love and care for us, that He gave us those faithful servants to help lead and guide us to Himself, and at the same time, let us also reflect upon the obedience and the commitment which each one of them gave to the Lord, in dedicating their whole lives to God and in serving Him wholeheartedly so that we too may also do the same with our own lives. Let us hence make good use of this remaining time of the Advent season to redirect our attention and efforts, and also our focus on the Christmas celebrations and preparations so that we may truly celebrate it with proper understanding and appreciation of how through Christmas, God has brought us towards His salvation and grace, and showed us His perfect and wonderful love.

May the Lord continue to guide us through this remaining time of Advent, and help us to appreciate all that the Lord had done for us because He truly loves us all very much, so that He wants us all to be lifted up and rescued from our fated destruction, forgiven from our sins and be reconciled with Him. Let our actions and deeds be exemplary at all times, and help to inspire our fellow brothers and sisters all around us to be able to live their lives faithfully in accordance with the path that the Lord has shown us as well, just like how Samson and St. John the Baptist ought to have inspired us all in our faith and lives. May God be with us all and may He bless our every efforts and good works, our every endeavours for His greater glory, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 19 December 2022 : 4th Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 5-25

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there lived a priest named Zechariah, belonging to the priestly clan of Abiah. Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife also belonged to a priestly family. Both of them were upright in the eyes of God, and lived blamelessly, in accordance with all the laws and commands of the Lord, but they had no child. Elizabeth could not have any and now they were both very old.

Now, while Zechariah and those with him were fulfilling their office, it fell to him by lot, according to the custom of the priests, to enter the Sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense. At the time of offering incense, all the people were praying outside; it was then, that an Angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. On seeing the Angel, Zechariah was deeply troubled and fear took hold of him.

But the Angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, be assured that your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall name him John. He will bring joy and gladness to you, and many will rejoice at his birth. This son of yours will be great in the eyes of the Lord. Listen : he shall never drink wine or strong drink; but he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.”

“Through him, many of the people of Israel will turn to the Lord their God. He, himself, will open the way to the Lord, with the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah; he will reconcile fathers and children; and lead the disobedient to wisdom and righteousness, in order to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah said to the Angel, “How can I believe this? I am an old man and my wife is elderly, too.” The Angel replied, “I am Gabriel, who stands before God; and I am the one sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news! My words will come true in their time. But you would not believe; and now, you will be silent and unable to speak until this has happened.”

Meanwhile, the people waited for Zechariah; and they were surprised that he delayed so long in the Sanctuary. When he finally appeared, he could not speak to them; and they realised that he had seen a vision in the Sanctuary. He remained dumb and made signs to them. When his time of service was completed, Zechariah returned home; and, some time later, Elizabeth became pregnant.

For five months she kept to herself, remaining at home, and thinking, “This, for me, is the Lord’s doing! This is His time for mercy, and for taking away my public disgrace.”

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Monday, 19 December 2022 : 4th Week of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 70 : 3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17

Be my Rock of refuge; a Stronghold, to give me safety; for You are my Rock and my Fortress. Rescue me, o my God, from the hand of the wicked.

For You, o YHVH, have been my Hope; my Trust, o God, from my youth. I have relied on You from birth : from my mother’s womb You brought me forth.

I will come to Your strength, o YHVH, and announce Your justice, Yours alone. You have taught me from my youth and, until now, I proclaim Your marvels.

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Monday, 19 December 2022 : 4th Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Judges 13 : 2-7, 24-25a

There was a man of Zorah of the tribe of Dan, called Manoah. His wife could not bear children. The Angel of YHVH appeared to this woman and said to her, “You have not borne children and have not given birth, but see, you are to conceive and give birth to a son.”

“Because of this, take care not to take wine or any alcoholic drink, nor to eat unclean foods from now on, for you shall bear a son who shall be a Nazirite of YHVH from the womb of his mother. Never shall his hair be cut for he is consecrated to YHVH. He shall begin the liberation of the Israelites from the Philistine oppression.”

The woman went to her husband and told him, “A messenger of God who bore the majesty of an Angel spoke to me. I did not ask him where he came from nor did he tell me his name.” “But he said to me : ‘You are to conceive and give birth to a son. Henceforth, you shall not drink wine or fermented drinks, nor eat anything unclean, for your son shall be a Nazirite of God from the womb of his mother until the day of his death.’”

The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew and YHVH blessed him. Then the Spirit of YHVH began to move him when he was in Mahane Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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Sunday, 18 December 2022 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday is the fourth and the last of the Sundays of the Advent season, reminding us all that Christmas is coming very soon and Advent is already ending. It seems that it was just yesterday that Advent started, is it not? But that is the reality, that time passes on, and sometimes really quickly before we realise that much time has actually passed. A good question to ask ourselves now is, how has our Advent journey been so far? Has it been meaningful and fruitful for us? Has it been good in preparing ourselves for the upcoming celebration of the Nativity or the birth of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ? Or have we instead been preparing ourselves for Christmas in the wrong way?

We do not have to look far, and we just have to open our eyes and see everything all around us. Except in places where Christians cannot worship in the open or where Christian influences and festivities are banned or not allowed, virtually everywhere else in the world, Christmas celebrations and festivities have been all around us for weeks or even months as of now. Yet, in most of all those festivities, celebrations and merrymaking, something and someone is indeed inconspicuously missing from all the celebrations. Ironically, this One Who is missing is exactly the One for Whom the celebrations we have at Christmas had been intended to, and Christmas is indeed about Christ first and foremost. It marks the moment when the Lord Jesus, Son of God, was born into this world, revealing God’s perfect and enduring love, manifested and personified, becoming tangible and approachable by us.

And yes, that is exactly what we should be focusing on this Sunday, brothers and sisters in Christ, rather than the many distractions that the secular Christmas pageantries and festivities have presented to us. This Sunday, just as in the previous Sundays of Advent, we focus on a particular theme or aspect of this Advent season, beginning with Hope at the first Sunday when we reminded ourselves of the Hope we have in the coming of Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, the Hope out of the darkness and despair reigning all around us. And then we have Peace at the second Sunday, where we focus ourselves on the upcoming Peace that God Himself will bring in the end, in His role as the Prince of Peace, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Who will rule over all of His people, reuniting all of them in peace, harmony and love. Then, on the third Sunday of Advent last week, also known as Gaudete Sunday we have focused on the aspect of Joy, where we rejoice in the coming of the true Joy of Christmas, that is Christ Himself.

And lastly this Sunday, we focus on the theme and aspect of Love, the Love of God made Man, personified and manifested in Jesus Christ, Our Lord. This theme of Love is arguably the most important of all, as it is the enduring and ever-present Love that God has for each and every one of us is the very reason why we still have Hope in Him, and why we can look forward to His reign of Peace, and for the Joy of His everlasting kingdom and our eternity of true happiness and bliss with Him. Without the Love of God, none of these would and will have been possible. If God had not loved us, upon our rebellion and disobedience against Him, in refusing to follow His Law and commandments, and in choosing to listen to Satan and his lies instead, we could have easily been crushed and annihilated by God, by the mere whim of His Almighty will alone.

We could have been condemned to an eternity of suffering in hell, sharing the fate of the devil and all of the wicked spirits, the fallen angels and demons, and we could have endured all those punishments and sufferings because of our lack of faith in Him, our stubborn attitude and refusal to believe in Him. Yet, despite all of our delinquencies and stubbornness, God is Himself equally persistent in loving us and caring for us, still reaching out to us and trying to help us, because ultimately, He had created us out of His overflowing and perfect love, that He willingly shares with each and every one of us. Although we may have scorned and rejected His love, He never ceased to love us all, most patiently, and sending unto us reminders and helpers, like what we heard in our first reading of the encounter between the prophet Isaiah and King Ahaz of Judah.

At that occasion, the prophet Isaiah came bearing God’s words to King Ahaz, the ruler of Judah, the southern half of the kingdoms established over the people of Israel. And back then, the northern half of the kingdom, the kingdom of Israel centred in Samaria had just been destroyed and crushed by the Assyrians, who came and conquered Samaria, defeated the Israelites, and uprooted many of them to be exiled to far-off and distant lands, replacing them with foreigners from other parts of the world. Only the kingdom of Judah therefore remained among those people of God back then. The northern kingdom fell because of the constant wickedness of its people and how most of its kings and people continued to worship pagan idols and gods, persecuting the prophets and messengers that God had sent to them.

And although the southern kingdom of Judah was comparatively better, with several good and faithful kings, there had also been a lot of wickedness committed by the people of Judah, in not listening to God and His reminders, and in similarly persecuting the prophets and messengers sent to remind them to keep the faith. King Ahaz himself was one of the kings deemed by the historians and writers of the Old Testament records as an evil king, one who disobeyed the Lord and brought the people into sinful ways. When God sent Isaiah to Ahaz as we heard in our first reading today, we heard how the King of Judah refused to ask for a sign from God as Isaiah told him, and as a result, Isaiah told the king that God Himself will, in due time, show the greatest of all signs to His people, the sign of the Emmanuel, of the Virgin who would bear a Child.

Some of us may think that King Ahaz was being humble in not asking for a sign from God, but the truth is, it is more likely that he did so out of his lack of faith in God, and also he did not believe much in the signs and wonders that God had done for His people through His many prophets in the ages past. Not only that, but sometimes true humility also entails obedience, as by not doing what God had asked him to do also has the implication of pride, as the king might have thought that he had no need of God’s signs, protection and providence, and that he could do everything all by himself, despite the rising issues and troubles facing the kingdom of Judah back then, surrounded on all sides by its many enemies, and threatened by the rising might of Assyria which had just destroyed the kingdom of Israel to the north of Judah.

Hence, God proclaimed through Isaiah what He would do nonetheless, to show us all, the whole world, of His love for each one of us, that He sends unto us, His Love manifested through His Son, the Divine Word of God Incarnate. He became Emmanuel, ‘God is with us’, that He came to dwell amongst us, in our midst, in the flesh. He made Himself tangible, approachable and touchable by us, giving us this perfect manifestation of this Love, which is reiterated again in our Gospel passage today from the Gospel of St. Matthew, where again, the fact that God Himself has come to dwell among His people, Emmanuel, God Who is with His people, showed His great love by willingly coming down to us to be with us, loving us all most dearly and wonderfully with His ever generous love.

This same love is the love that Christ showed us all, when He picked up His Cross and walked that path of suffering, the Via Dolorosa, from Jerusalem where He was scourged and condemned to death, to Golgotha or Calvary where He was nailed to His Cross and made to suffer a most painful and humiliating death for us. He became for us the perfect offering of Love, the Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God sacrificed and crushed for all of us, and Himself as our Eternal High Priest offering this perfect sacrifice of love, most unblemished and perfect in all things, for the complete atonement of our innumerable sins, and for the redemption of all mankind. To all those who share in His Most Precious Body and Blood, in the Eucharist, worthily, He has given us the assurance of eternal life and joy, as we have received the Love of God Himself into our midst, and into ourselves.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we reflect upon this theme and aspect of Love, let us all therefore keep reminding ourselves of the Love which God has for each and every one of us, and the Love which made all things possible for us, that Hope, Peace and Joy can come our way once again, because the Love of God had been made incarnate in the flesh and born of the Virgin, Mary His mother, and which we celebrate most joyfully as Christmas. Therefore, if our Christmas preparations and celebrations have been mostly or even entirely secular and worldly in nature, perhaps it is not yet too late for us to change our direction and focus. Christmas is still a full week away from today, and there are a lot of things that we can do in this one week to prepare ourselves so that we can celebrate Christmas most worthily and meaningfully.

First of all, let us all as Christians be filled with God’s love, and show that same love in our lives and actions just as He has taught us to do. His Law and commandments are essentially about us loving God first and foremost before all else, and then loving one another just in the same way as well. We have to love our fellow brothers and sisters more, and grow ever more in our love for God and our faith and trust in Him as well, with every celebrations of Christmas. This time and season of Advent is a really good time to remind us to reconnect ourselves with God especially if we have allowed our busy schedules and life activities to distract and make ourselves becoming more and more distant from God. We also cannot allow ourselves to be swayed by so much festivities and merrymaking that we forget to remember that even in our midst, there are people who are still suffering, and unable to rejoice or celebrate due to various reasons.

Let us all be the bearer of God’s Love, as well as His Hope, Peace and Joy to our communities, to our families and circles of friends and even to all those strangers and all whom we encounter each day throughout life, so that through us, more and more people may come to experience God’s love, of Christ’s love having been made manifested in our midst. May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, continue to shower us with His love and kindness at all times. May He show us the path of love and justice, for us to follow, and encourage and strengthen us along the journey that we may continue to persevere faithfully in walking the path of righteousness and love that we should be walking on as Christians. May God bless us all and be with us all, now and always, evermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 18 December 2022 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 1 : 18-24

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to disgrace her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, she has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ fo He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means : God-with-us. When Joseph awoke, he did what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do, and he took his wife to his home.

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Sunday, 18 December 2022 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Romans 1 : 1-7

From Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, an Apostle, called and set apart for God’s Good News, the very promises He foretold through His prophets in the sacred Scriptures, regarding His Son, Who was born in the flesh a descendant of David, and has been recognised as the Son of God, endowed with Power, upon rising from the dead, through the Holy Spirit.

Through Him, Jesus Christ, our Lord, and for the sake of His Name, we received grace, and mission in all the nations, for them to accept the faith. All of you, the elected of Christ, are part of them, you, the beloved God in Rome, called to be holy : May God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, give you grace and peace.

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Sunday, 18 December 2022 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 23 : 1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord, the world and all that dwell in it. He has founded it upon the ocean and set it firmly upon the waters.

Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who will stand in His holy place? Those with clean hands and pure heart, who desire not what is vain.

They will receive blessings from the Lord, a reward from God, their Saviour. Such are the people who seek Him, who seek the face of Jacob’s God.

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Sunday, 18 December 2022 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 7 : 10-14

Once again YHVH addressed Ahaz, “Ask for a sign from YHVH your God, let it come either from the deepest depths or from the heights of heaven.”

But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask, I will not put YHVH to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Now listen, descendants of David. Have you not been satisfied trying the patience of people, that you also try the patience of my God? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign : The Virgin is with Child and bears a Son and calls His Name Immanuel.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Fourth Sunday of Advent (I Classis) – Sunday, 18 December 2022 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : Violet

Offertory

Luke 1 : 28

Ave, Maria, gratia plena; Dominus tecum : benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus Fructus ventris tui.

English translation

Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Sacrificiis praesentibus, quaesumus, Domine, placatus intende : ut et devotioni nostrae proficiant et saluti. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Look with favour, we beseech You, o Lord upon these offerings here before You, that they may profit both for our devotion and for our salvation. 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

Isaiah 7 : 14

Ecce, Virgo concipiet et pariet Filium : et vocabitur Nomen Ejus Emmanuel.

English translation

Behold a Virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a Son, and His Name shall be called Emmanuel.

Post-Communion Prayer

Sumptis muneribus, quaesumus, Domine : ut, cum frequentatione mysterii, crescat nostrae salutis effectus. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Having received Your gifts, o Lord, we pray that the saving effect of the mystery may increase as we frequent it. 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.