Month: March 2024

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Saturday, 16 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 11 : 18-20

YHVH made it known to me and so I know! And You let me see their scheming. But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter. I did not know it was against me that they were plotting, “Let us feed him with trials and remove him from the land of the living and let his name never be mentioned again.”

YHVH, God of hosts, You Who judge with justice and know everyone’s heart and intentions, let me see Your vengeance on them, for to You I have entrusted my cause.

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Friday, 15 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the need for all of us to be aware that in our lives as Christians, in our obligation, duty and way of life in living our lives faithfully as those whom the Lord has called and chosen, we may encounter lots of challenges, trials, difficulties and obstacles in our path, depending on the situation and conditions around us, which may be different from one person to another. The reality is such that the path of the Lord is often at odds with the norms and ways of the world, and therefore, if we follow the Lord faithfully and with commitment in every moments of our lives, we may have to face the same difficulties that the Lord and His many servants and messengers, His prophets and disciples had suffered.

In our first reading today we heard from the Book of Wisdom in which the author spoke about the sufferings, persecutions, challenges and difficulties that the servants and prophets of God had to endure throughout their ministry, all because of the stubbornness that the people to whom they had been sent to, their refusal to follow the Law of God and their rebelliousness, through which they had gone ever deeper into the path of sin and evil. The Lord nonetheless still loved them all, and patiently helped and guided them back towards Himself, sending to them those servants and messengers to assist and lead them all in the right path. Yet, they often rejected His offer of love and mercy, and many of them preferred to walk down in their own rebellious path. Thus, they persecuted those servants and messengers, making a mockery of their status as God’s beloved people.

As much as it was a story of what had happened in the earlier eras, this passage from the Book of Wisdom is at the same time also a prophecy and premonition of what was to come, when the Messiah or Saviour finally came into the midst of God’s people. Why is that so? That is because the same fate and sufferings which the prophets and messengers of God had often faced during their ministry and work, would also be faced by the Messiah of God. The Son of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Whom the Father had sent into our midst, had to experience suffering and rejection from those whom He had been sent to, and what the author of the Book of Wisdom had described, was everything which the world had plotted against this same One through Whom the salvation of the world would come from. He would be faced with stubborn opposition from those who were not willing to accept the truth of God.

That is because those people were filled with pride and ego, and with the desires and attachments of the world that they could not rid themselves of, allowing themselves to be swayed and tempted by those same temptations and allures of worldly glory, that they hardened their hearts and minds against God, and persecuting even the same Messiah that they had all long expected and been awaiting for. They refused to admit that they had been wrong, mistaken and erroneous in their way of following God and observing those Law and commandments which they had been entrusted with. This led to them plotting against the Lord, turning their backs against their own Saviour, abandoning the One Who had clearly presented to them with the undeniable proofs of God’s love and providence, leading to Him being persecuted and eventually crucified and died on the Cross.

This fact was highlighted in our Gospel passage today, in which the Lord Jesus spoke and elaborated about the challenges and persecutions that He Himself would soon face in Jerusalem, as He embarked on the last part of His earthly ministry. He had to face a lot of hardships and rejection, challenges from the Temple authorities, from the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council, many of whose members refused to accept the teachings and the works that the Lord had presented to them. They all believed that their way of observing the Law, their beliefs and their practices are superior than everyone else’s and that they could not have been wrong or mistaken, and hence, they treated the Lord as a great rival to them and a dangerous threat to their privileged existence and status in the community. That was why, they would eventually arrest Him and then condemned Him to death on the Cross through the means of the Romans.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have clearly heard from the readings of the Sacred Scriptures, there were indeed lots of tribulations, trials and challenges that the Lord Himself and His servants and messengers had suffered. The same sufferings and trials have also been faced by our predecessors in faith, just as the history of the Church and the story of the many saints and martyrs of the Church can tell us. This is a reminder therefore, that if we want to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and completely as we should, we may have to endure those same sufferings and challenges, trials and difficulties as well. But at the same time, we should not be afraid or fearful because the Lord Himself will be with us, by our side, protecting and guiding us in our respective journeys and paths.

In this season of Lent, we are given the time, opportunity and choice, whether we want to follow the path of those who have rebelled against God, disobeyed Him and refusing to follow His will, or whether we want to stay by His side, enduring whatever obstacles and trials that may come in our path as we continue living our lives faithfully in the presence of God. We should always remain firm in our faith and conviction, as well as in the desire to continue being good and worthy followers and disciples of God. It is why we are all reminded of all the dangers of sin and evil today through the Scriptures and in our past few days of readings. We should continue to strive to reject the temptations of the world, the allures of sin and evil, and do our best that our lives may truly be worthy of God, and be good examples and inspirations for others around us.

May the Lord continue to guide us in our journey of faith towards Him. May He empower each and every one of us so that we may always be strong and firm in our commitment to live our lives worthily of the Lord, at all times. Let us all continue to seek to glorify the Lord by our lives, by each and every one of our works, actions and deeds. Amen.

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Friday, 15 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 7 : 1-2, 10, 25-30

At that time, Jesus went around Galilee; He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews wanted to kill Him. Now the Jewish feast of the Tents was at hand.

But after His brothers had gone to the festival, He also went up, not publicly but in secret. Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the Man they want to kill? And here He is speaking freely, and they do not say a word to Him? Can it be that the rulers know that this is really the Christ? Yet we know where this Man comes from; but when the Christ appears, no one will know where He comes from.”

So Jesus announced in a loud voice in the Temple court where He was teaching, “You say that you know Me and know where I come from! I have not come of Myself; I was sent by the One Who is true, and you do not know Him. I know Him for I come from Him and He sent Me.”

They would have arrested Him, but no one laid hands on Him because His time had not yet come.

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Friday, 15 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 33 : 17-18, 19-20, 21 and 23

But the Lord’s face is set against the wicked to destroy their memory from the earth. The Lord hears the cry of the righteous and rescues them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the distraught. Many are the troubles of the just, but the Lord delivers them from all.

He keeps all their bones intact, and none of them will be broken. But the Lord will redeem the life of His servants; none of those who trust in Him will be doomed.

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Friday, 15 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Wisdom 2 : 1a, 12-22

Led by mistaken reasons they think, “Let us set a trap for the Righteous, for He annoys us and opposes our way of life; He reproaches us for our breaches of the Law and accuses us of being false to our upbringing. He claims knowledge of God and calls Himself Son of the Lord. He has become a reproach to our way of thinking; even to meet Him is burdensome to us. He does not live like others and behaves strangely.”

“According to Him we have low standards, so He keeps aloof from us as if we were unclean. He emphasises the happy end of the righteous and boasts of having God as Father. Let us see the truth of what He says and find out what His end will be. If the Righteous is a Son of God, God will defend Him and deliver Him from His adversaries.”

“Let us humble and torture Him to prove His self-control and test His patience. When we have condemned Him to a shameful death, we may test His words.” This is the way they reason, but they are mistaken, blinded by their malice. They do not know the mysteries of God nor do they hope for the reward of a holy life; they do not believe that the blameless will be recompensed.

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Thursday, 14 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that we must all be truly faithful and committed to God, in following and obeying His Law and commandments, and not just merely paying lip service to the Lord. We must always be truly genuine in what we believe in, in all of our every words, actions and deeds, or otherwise we are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers who do not truly have faith in them. We have heard from the Scriptures and from past examples of our history how many people, our predecessors have disobeyed the Lord, refused to obey and follow His Law and commandments, and consequently fell into the path of sin, wickedness and evil. If our lives are not strongly anchored and rooted in Christ, then it will be very easy for us to fall deeper and deeper into the darkness of sin.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Exodus in which the story of the disgraceful moment when the Israelites, the people of God rebelled against God was told to us. At that moment, which was just very recently after the Israelites themselves had been led out of the land of Egypt by God Himself, from their slavery at the hands of the Egyptians and their Pharaoh, they had quickly turned away from the path of the Lord, abandoning Him for a false god and idol, making a fool of themselves and a mockery of their faith in God. They made for themselves an idol from molten gold, crafted ironically in the image of the gods of the Egyptians, a calf like that of a popular Egyptian deity, calling that idol the God Who had saved them from the land of Egypt, when it was the Lord Who had done so, and had been with them throughout the journey.

At that time, as we all should already well know, the Lord was giving to His people His Law and commandments, which He passed down to them through Moses, His servant and leader of the Israelites. Moses went up the mountain of God, Mount Sinai, after God had established His Covenant anew with His people, renewing the Covenant that He had made with their ancestors. God gave His Law and commandments, the rules and all matters that can help the people to remain firmly attached to the path of righteousness, only for those same people to quickly lose faith in Him, and thinking that Moses was already dead. Despite having witnessed God’s power and all the things He had done for them, in so many occasions, but they still failed to trust Him and did not truly have faith in Him. They hardened their hearts and minds against God, and rebelled against Him.

This is a reminder for all of us that each and every one of us must not merely be superficial in our faith in God. Unless we develop the genuine relationship and connection with God, deepening our trust and faith in Him, then there will be no way and path forward for all of us in our journey towards God and our salvation in Him. Moses had faith not only in God but also in all the people whom he cared and loved for, despite their stubbornness and wickedness, and interceded for them, pleading on their behalf before God, when God wanted to wipe them all out and destroy them for their wickedness, disobedience and unfaithfulness. But God also revealed that despite the anger He had towards the sins and wickedness which those people had committed against Him, He still loved them all nonetheless, and wanted them to return to Him with repentant and contrite hearts.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the same kind of stubbornness and wicked attitudes that the people of God had exhibited as they all refused to believe in the Lord Jesus, in everything that God had done for them through His Son, Who is Our Lord and Saviour. The Lord had brought to them His truth, His Law and commandments personified in Him, the very essence of the Law and the Word of God manifested to us in the flesh, and He has performed many wonders and miracles, fulfilling the many prophecies and predictions that the prophets and messengers of God in the past had all spoken about. Yet, it was those very people who were supposed to be most knowledgeable and understanding of the Law and commandments of God, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were the most stubborn in opposing God’s Saviour.

Why was that so? That was because they were prideful and arrogant, thinking that they were better than anyone else, that their way of observing the Law, their intellect and understanding of those laws and rules of the Lord could not be wrong, mistaken or superseded by the truth of God. That was why they hardened their hearts and minds against God, persecuting Him and rejecting His Saviour, doubting Him and making it difficult for Him to carry out His works and ministry among the people of God, saying that He had been acting and going against the Law when it was actually their stubbornness which made them to be unable to see the truth and accept that. It is why the Lord told them off very clearly that it would be Moses himself and the Law that would judge them, for their lack of understanding and appreciation of God’s Law and His true intentions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to live our lives well throughout this time and season of Lent, let us all continue to spend good and quality time to deepen our relationship with God. We have been given the time and opportunity to fix our mistakes and faults, and to reflect upon the wickedness and sins we have committed in our lives thus far. God has always been kind, merciful and compassionate, and He has always ever patiently reached out to us, showing His willingness to be reconciled with us, to forgive us all our sins and mistakes, and to lead us all patiently and lovingly to His Presence once again. Now, the question is, are we all willing to embrace His mercy, compassion and love? Are we willing to commit ourselves to the path of forgiveness and grace, and enduring the sufferings and challenges that we may have to encounter in this journey?

May the Lord our loving God and Master continue to love and guide us all in our journey in life, and may He empower each and every one of us in our path, so that we may continue to remain faithful to the calling, mission and vocations which He has entrusted to us. May God be with us all and may He bless us all with His guidance and strength, and bless our every good efforts, deeds and works, in all circumstances and things, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 14 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 5 : 31-47

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “If I bore witness to Myself, My testimony would be worthless. But Another One is bearing witness to Me, and I know that His testimony is true when He bears witness to Me. John also bore witness to the truth when you sent messengers to him, but I do not seek such human testimony; I recall this for you, so that you may be saved.”

“John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were willing to enjoy his light. But I have greater evidence than that of John – the works which the Father entrusted to Me to carry out. The very works I do bear witness : The Father has sent Me. Thus He Who bears witness to Me is the Father Who sent Me. You have never heard His voice and have never seen His likeness; therefore, as long as you do not believe His messenger, His word is not in you.”

“You search in the Scriptures, thinking that in them you will find life; yet Scripture bears witness to Me. But you refuse to come to Me, that you may live. I am not seeking human praise; but I have known that love of God is not within you, for I have come in My Father’s Name and you do not accept Me. If another comes in his own name, you will accept him. As long as you seek praise from one another, instead of seeking the glory which comes from the only God, how can you believe?”

“Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. Moses himself, in whom you placed your hope, accuses you. If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”

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Thursday, 14 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 105 : 19-20, 21-22, 23

They made a calf at Horeb and worshipped the molten image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of a bull that eats grass.

They forgot their Saviour God, Who had done great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Sea of Reeds.

So He spoke of destroying them, but Moses, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him to shield them from destruction.

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Thursday, 14 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Exodus 32 : 7-14

Then YHVH said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a molten calf; they have bowed down before it and sacrificed to it and said : ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.'”

And YHVH said to Moses, “I see that these people are a stiff-necked people. Now just leave Me that My anger may blaze against them. I will destroy them, but of you I will make a great nation.” But Moses calmed the anger of YHVH, his God, and said, “Why, o YHVH, should Your anger burst against Your people whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with a mighty hand?”

“Let not the Egyptians say : ‘YHVH brought them out with evil intent, for He wanted to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth.’ Turn away from the heat of Your anger and do not bring disaster on Your people. Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the promise You Yourself swore : I will multiply Your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land I spoke about I will give to them as an everlasting inheritance.”

YHVH then changed His mind and would not yet harm His people.

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Wednesday, 13 March 2024 : 4th Week of Lent, Eleventh Anniversary of the Pontificate of Pope Francis (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we are all reminded through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures, we are presented with the important reminders of God’s salvation to all of us mankind, as He reached out to us with love, showing us all His compassion and mercy, the desire to forgive us all our many sins and wickedness, and His efforts in calling us all out of the darkness so that we may turn away from this path of evil and sin, embracing His ever generous mercy, compassion and love. During this time and season of Lent that we are currently progressing through, we should put a good and conscious effort to draw ever closer to God, renewing our commitment to follow Him and in doing our best to live out our lives ever more worthily in His path.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the words of the Lord reassuring His people, the people of Israel, of the love and kindness, the mercy and compassion which He has always had for them, and which He will continue to show, despite their sins and rebelliousness, their refusal to obey His Law and commandments. God has always been patient in caring for those people He loved, and He has always reached out to them, sending unto them His prophets and messengers, reminding them to turn away from the path of sin, evil and wickedness, and calling upon all of them to embrace once again the fullness of His love and grace. The Lord has always loved all of us, and despite our fallen state and corruption by sin, He loves us all equally and if not even greater.

At that time, the people of Israel had been long rebellious and disobedient against God, and they had long chosen to follow the path of evil and sin. They have ignored the messages of the Lord, His reminders and calls which He had made to them through those same prophets and messengers. They rebelled against Him, chose to put their lot and side with the pagan gods and idols of their neighbours and enemies instead. They took for granted all the love, kindness and compassion which God has given to each and every one of them, all the generous blessings that they have received. God despised their sins and wickedness, but that cannot erase the fact that He still loved them all regardless. His love for us endured and is far greater than the power of our sins and wickedness.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because God created us all out of love, and He wanted to love us all, and sharing that love with us, and He still loves us so even after we have betrayed and abandoned Him, preferring to listen to and believe in the evil ones rather than to believe in and trust in Him. God does not want us all to be separated from Him, and His love endured through all time. If He had hated us personally, He could have erased us from existence easily by the mere will of His thought alone, as easily as He had created us, and yet, He did not do that, because He saw in us, the ability and the potential to seek forgiveness and to attain full reconciliation in Him.

That is why, He gave us all the opportunities, help, guidance and the many other means through which He hoped that many of us will come to see reason and His truth, and be called to enter once again into His grace and love, and to walk and journey towards His salvation. He has opened wide the doors of Heaven, His path of mercy to us, so that through His most wonderful love and mercy, He would continue to bring us ever closer to Him, and cleanse from us our corruptions and wickedness, that hopefully one day, upon the time of reckoning, we may all be found worthy and just, and can enter into the everlasting kingdom of true happiness and joy with Him, which we shall enjoy forever.

In our Gospel passage today, we continue to be reminded of this through the words of the Lord Himself, Who affirmed His status to His disciples, the truth about Himself as the Son of God, Who has been sent into this world to come into our midst, to dwell amongst us, and to gather each and every one of us so that through Him all of us may be saved and be reunited wholly with God. The Lord highlighted to the people how He as the Son had to obey the Father’s will, in doing everything that He had been entrusted to do. He had done everything so that He can be the perfect example of faith and obedience for all of us, as the role model for us to follow in how we live our own lives with faith.

In that same occasion, the Lord also made it clear to everyone that the time is coming when the moment of reckoning will come for everyone, be it living or dead, for them to render an account of their lives before the great Judge, the Lord Himself, the One Who will mark if a person is either worthy or unworthy of eternity in Heaven, at the Last and Final Judgment. This reminder is also important for us because of the consequences that our sins and wickedness, all those corruptions and evils can do to us, if we let them to continue ruining our lives and refusing to accept God’s forgiveness and mercy right up to the very last moments. We must not be ignorant of this same reminder and call that the Lord has given us all, firstly through the prophets and messengers, and finally through His own Son.

We must remember that ultimately, while God has always been full of love, mercy and compassion upon us, and while He has always readily extended His love and care for us, calling us ever more to follow Him and to come to His embrace, but we must not take all these for granted, as it is by our own stubbornness and foolish rejection of God’s generous love and compassion that many among us and our predecessors have ended up in Hell and eternal damnation. It is by our own conscious choice in choosing sin over God, evil over righteousness that we have ended up in the fallen state and damnation. We must remember this so that we will not continue to walk down this wrong path. We should also make use of this time and opportunity given to us to deepen our relationship with God and to help others to come closer to God as well.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore seek the Lord with renewed faith and contrite hearts, making best use of the opportunities that He has provided to us, especially during this time and season of Lent, so that we may be able to find our way back towards Him. May God continue to love us and help us in our journey of faith back to Him, lead and guide us ever always in the right path, now and forevermore. Amen.