Month: June 2024

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Thursday, 4 July 2024 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded that we must always have faith and trust in the Lord for each and every one of us are His followers and disciples, and we are all called and expected to do what He has commanded us to do, to obey His Law and commandments and to follow Him wholeheartedly in all of our ways. Each and every one of us who have put our faith and trust in the Lord, as Christians, we must always be genuine in how we live our lives with fullness of faith in the Lord, and our lives, our every actions, words and deeds should always be exemplary and filled with God’s love and grace, as much as possible. This is our calling as Christians, and we should do well to heed it.

We heard from the first reading today from the continuation of the story of the prophet Amos and his ministry among the people of the northern kingdom of the Israelites, where today we heard of the encounter and confrontation between Amaziah, a priest of Bethel against Amos. In order to understand better the context of what we heard of this confrontation and the exchange between the two of them, we must understand the history of how the Bethel priesthood even came to be, which was actually a history spanning few centuries earlier before the time of Amos. Back then, during the time when the kingdom of Israel under David and Solomon was still united, the whole people of God, the Israelites had one King and they all worshipped the Lord in His Temple in Jerusalem, where the Ark of the Covenant was placed in.

However, once the kingdom was divided into two parts because of the sins of Solomon and his descendants, the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah respectively became embroiled in conflicts and wars, and one of the initiatives of the northern kingdom was to establish a rival priesthood and temple in Bethel to rival that of Jerusalem, obliging the people of Israel to go to Bethel instead of Jerusalem. Not only that but the then king Jeroboam also built a golden calf idol to represent their god, and this led the people of Israel into sin against God, as they came to worship false idols and pagan gods instead of obeying the Lord’s Law and commandments and worshipping Him alone as they were supposed to do. The prophet Amos was sent like the many other prophets of God before him to tell the people of Israel to abandon their sinful ways, and to bring forth the premonition and warning of the punishments they would have to endure for their disobedience.

Prophet Amos answered Amaziah’s rebuke of him with stern words of the Lord, and told him that he had been sent by God Himself to prophesy among the Israelites, with the mission from God to bring this truth and the revelations to the people who have disobeyed Him and refused to believe in Him despite the constant efforts and outreach from the Lor to them, in sending them help, guidance, reminders and assistance one after another. The Lord has always been patient in loving and caring for all of them, however, there is indeed a limit to His patience, and all the sins and wickedness that those people had committed, those things could not be ignored either. The prophet Amos told the people of their impending fate of being defeated, conquered and exiled by their conquerors, which would happen at that time, when the Assyrians conquered Israel, the northern kingdom, destroyed its cities and brought the people into exile in far-off lands.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the story from the Gospel of St. Matthew in which the Lord Jesus healed a paralysed man at His hometown, where He told the paralysed man brought to him to have faith and courage, and that he would be healed because his sins had been forgiven. This was met with an immediate criticism by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were there with Him, saying that the Lord Jesus had insulted God because of Him claiming that He had the power to forgive sins. It also happened in other occasions as recorded in the Gospels, when the Lord healed other people and told them that their sins were forgiven. They criticised Him and made noise against Him, claiming that He had committed a blasphemy.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is because they thought of the Lord as merely a Man, and they did not agree with Him on various issues, especially in how the Law of God ought to be practiced and observed. Consequently, despite having witnessed the many signs and wonders that the Lord had done before them, which confirmed what the prophets had been predicting and prophesying about the Messiah or the Saviour of the Lord, they failed to appreciate these signs and wonders and instead, they hardened their hearts, with pride and ego blinding them from seeing the truth. They likely thought that it was impossible for them to have been wrong given their knowledge and understanding of the Law and the Prophets, but the reality is that, the Lord came bearing His truth, and they refused to believe in Him just like how the Israelites refused to believe in Amos and the other earlier prophets that had been sent to them to remind and help them.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, a holy woman and devout servant of God whose faith and dedication to God should serve as a good example for each and every one of us on how we should live our own lives as Christians. St. Elizabeth of Portugal was an Aragonese princess who had a very religious upbringing, and she grew to be a woman who was very upright in her actions and very pious and close to the Lord in all things. When later on she was married to the King Denis of Portugal, she continued on with her pious way of life, caring for the needs of the sick and the poor throughout the kingdom. She was also actively involved in the maintenance of peace and harmony in the region, when she was involved in the arbitration between the neighbouring kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.

When her husband the King of Portugal passed away, the now Dowager Queen retired to a monastery where she continued to carry out pious and charitable acts, caring for the sick and the poor as much as she was capable of. She was the benefactor of many hospitals and other institutions that benefitted the people, especially those who were neglected and poor. She was also still involved in peace arbitrations, such as the one between Portugal and neighbouring Kingdom of Castile, where St. Elizabeth as the Dowager Queen helped to defuse the tensions between both kingdoms. She passed away shortly after this, but her efforts and contributions, her great piety and charity are well remembered throughout history and inspired many others.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence be inspired by the good examples which St. Elizabeth of Portugal has shown to us all, and let us all renew our faith in the Lord, committing ourselves to live a more worthy and virtuous life, and no longer harden our hearts like our predecessors, like those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, and like the Israelites before them. Let us all be humble and allow the Lord to lead and guide us all in our journey through life, and may He continue to bless us all in our every good works, efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 4 July 2024 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Matthew 9 : 1-8

At that time, Jesus got back into the boat, crossed the lake again, and came to His hometown. Here, they brought to Him a paralysed man, lying on a bed. Jesus saw their faith and said to the paralytic, “Courage, My son! Your sins are forgiven.”

Some teachers of the Law said within themselves, “This Man insults God.” Jesus was aware of what they were thinking; and said, “Why have you such evil thoughts? Which is easier to say : ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? But that you may know, that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the paralysed man, “Stand up! Take your stretcher and go home!”

The man got up, and went home. When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe, and praised God for giving such power to human beings.

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Thursday, 4 July 2024 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Psalm 18 : 8, 9, 10, 11

The Law of the Lord is perfect : it gives life to the soul. The word of the Lord is trustworthy : it gives wisdom to the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right : they give joy to the heart. The commandments of the Lord are clear : they enlighten the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is pure, it endures forever; the judgments of the Lord are true, all of them just and right.

They are more precious than gold – pure gold of a jeweller; they are much sweeter than honey which drops from the honeycomb.

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Thursday, 4 July 2024 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Amos 7 : 10-17

Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, then sent word to king Jeroboam of Israel, “Amos is conspiring against you in the very centre of Israel; what he says goes too far. These are his very words : Jeroboam shall die by the sword and Israel shall be exiled from its land.”

Amaziah then said to Amos, “Off with you, seer, go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there by prophesying. But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is a king’s sanctuary and a national shrine.”

Amos replied to Amaziah, “I am not a prophet or one of the fellow prophets. I am a breeder of sheep and a dresser of sycamore trees. But YHVH took me from shepherding the flock and said to me : Go, prophesy to My people Israel. Now hear the word of YHVH, you who say : No more prophesy against Israel, no more insults against the family of Isaac!”

“This is what YHVH says : Your wife shall be made a harlot in the city, your sons and daughters shall fall by the sword, your land shall be divided up and given to others, and you, yourself, shall die in a foreign land, for Israel shall be driven far from its land.”

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Wednesday, 3 July 2024 : Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Lord, also known as Thomas Didymus or Thomas the Twin. He was quite known in the Gospels as a figure who was always a doubter, a pessimistic person and disciple of the Lord, who always threw out doubts and questions against the Lord and His works and decisions. For example, at the time just before the Lord was about to embark on His last journey and Passion in Jerusalem, to face the moment of His sufferings, crucifixion and death, He told His disciples of His plan to return once again to Judea and Jerusalem despite the opposition and the threats which He had faced from the Pharisees and the chief priests, which St. Thomas replied rather sarcastically saying that they should all indeed follow the Lord to their deaths.

Then, we also heard in today’s Gospel reading from the moment after the Lord’s Resurrection from the dead, of how St. Thomas refused to believe in the Risen Lord despite all the other disciples of the Lord having told him that they had seen the Risen Lord Himself in the flesh, appearing before them shortly after His Resurrection at Easter Sunday. St. Thomas was not there at that moment, and he therefore refused to believe, and said that unless he could prove it himself that the Lord was truly Risen from the dead, and that it was truly indeed the Lord, to the point of mentioning that unless he can place his fingers into the holes that the wounds of the nails and the spear had made on the Lord’s hands and side, that he would not believe otherwise. St. Thomas truly had that doubting side in him which became a great barrier preventing him to truly believe in the Lord, but why is that so? That is because he has yet to embrace the Lord fully at that time and earlier on, allowing himself to be swayed by his pride and ego.

This pride and ego likely made St. Thomas think that he could not be wrong in his assessment that the Resurrection was just nonsense mentioned by the other disciples, and in his naturally doubtful mind, it was indeed hard for him to accept that his pessimism about the chances of the success of the Lord’s mission could have been wrong. Thus, he asked for the signs and proofs to prove to him that the Lord did indeed rise from the dead, because his pride and ego were still holding him back from truly being able to believe in the Lord, in His Resurrection, truth and Good News. But the moment the Risen Lord Himself appeared before him and everyone else, challenging him to do whatever he had said that he would do in order to prove that it was truly the Lord Himself, Risen in body and flesh, St. Thomas was struck dumbfounded and finally professed his faith before the Lord.

The words that were spoken by St. Thomas may indeed sound familiar to all of us, ‘My Lord and my God.’ That is because these are the same words that we all say right at the moment when the priest at the Mass during the time of the Consecration as the Consecrated Host and Wine, the Most Precious Body and Blood of the Lord to all the faithful before we are to receive Him at Holy Communion. Through the hands of the priest and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we have been shown the Lord Himself truly present in His Body and Blood before us, and although the shape and the appearance remain of that bread and wine, but through our faith and belief in the doctrine of ‘Transubstantiation’, all of us believe that the Eucharist, the bread and wine are truly the Most Precious Body and the Most Precious Blood of the Lord.

Therefore, when we utter the same words which St. Thomas had mentioned, essentially that is what the Lord had told St. Thomas about those who have not seen and yet believed, and truly how they will be blessed. We may not have seen the Lord Himself in His physical form as known and recognised by the Apostles like St. Thomas when He was still walking in this world, but we still believe in Him, in His Real Presence in the Eucharist, and we profess this faith in each and every moments despite not seeing the Lord in the form that is recognisable by us as a Man. But we know that in the Most Precious Body and Blood we have received and partaken, we truly receive the Lord Himself into our being, that He truly dwells within us.

St. Thomas himself would thereafter become a very steadfast servant of God, leaving behind all of his past doubts and lack of faith, embracing a new life of ministry and commitment to God, as he went to many distant places to proclaim the truth and Good News of God’s salvation and love, facing lots of hardships, persecutions and challenges on his path and journey. St. Thomas according to many Apostolic traditions and historical evidences, went to the region which is now part of southern India, where he proclaimed the Christian faith to the local population, gaining converts and establishing the first Christian communities in that area, which would remain strong after many centuries, known as ‘St. Thomas Christians’ for long afterwards.

It was told that he also ministered to other areas like Parthia or Iran today, and also the northwestern parts of India together with St. Bartholomew, another Apostle of the Lord. He continued to carry out his missions for many decades in the region of India, until about forty years or so after the Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension, he was martyred at the place known today as St. Thomas’ Mount in Chennai, southern India. It was told that he was martyred by being pierced with a spear in that place, likely after facing oppositions from those who worshipped pagan idols and opposed the efforts of St. Thomas in spreading the Christian faith and the belief in the Risen Lord among the local populace. We see how St. Thomas’ faith and trust in the Lord had developed that he no longer doubted but trusted in the Lord so wholeheartedly that he was willing to give up his life for Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all rejoice in the glorious memory of St. Thomas the Apostle, holy servant of God, let us all first realise that each and every one of us are also called to be faithful to God as St. Thomas had been reminded to have faith in God. All of us are reminded to be strong in our faith in the Lord so that any doubts, persecutions, oppressions and oppositions facing us in this world will not deter us from following God wholeheartedly. And then, at the same time, we are also reminded that all of us have the same obligations and missions to continue the good works of the Apostles in proclaiming the Good News and truth of God to more and more people. All of us are reminded that we should continue to do God’s will and to carry our whatever mission He has entrusted to each one of us.

May the Lord continue to bless and guide us all in our journey through life, and may He continue to empower and strengthen us all in our faith so that despite the many trials and challenges that we have to face, we may always continue to do our best to glorify the Lord by our exemplary lives and actions, at all times. May God bless us all in our every efforts, good works and endeavours for the Lord, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 3 July 2024 : Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 20 : 24-29

At that time, Thomas, the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with the other Eleven when Jesus came. The other disciples told Him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he replied, “Until I have seen in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in His side, I will not believe.”

Eight days later, the disciples were again inside the house and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; stretch out your hand, and put it into My side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe!”

Thomas said, “You are my Lord and my God.” Jesus replied, “You believe because you see Me, do you not? Happy are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

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Wednesday, 3 July 2024 : Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 116 : 1, 2

Alleluia! Praise YHVH, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him.

How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.

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Wednesday, 3 July 2024 : Feast of St. Thomas, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Ephesians 2 : 19-22

Now, you are no longer strangers or guests, but fellow citizens of the holy people : you are of the household of God. You are the house, whose foundations are the Apostles and prophets, and whose cornerstone is Christ Jesus. In Him, the whole structure is joined together, and rises, to be a holy Temple, in the Lord.

In Him, you, too, are being built, to become the spiritual Sanctuary of God.

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Tuesday, 2 July 2024 : 13th 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 Scriptures we are all reminded that we must always have faith and trust in the Lord at all times. We must always remain steadfast in our commitment to God and be exemplary in our way of life, in our every actions and deeds so that by our good role model and examples, by our courageous commitment to the path of the Lord, we will always exude the shining light of God’s truth and grace in our everyday moments in life, that everyone who witness our works and interact with us may come to realise God’s Presence through us, His works and love being made manifest through our own lives and actions. Each and every one of us are called to be these shining beacons of God’s light and love at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Amos, we heard of the words of the Lord speaking to His people, the Israelites in the northern kingdom of Israel, of His words of displeasure and disappointment with them because of their constant and persistent disobedience against Him, in them having continued to commit sin after sin, indulging in worldly wickedness and all the temptations of worldly pleasures which distracted and pulled them away from the path of God towards the path of worldliness and sin. They have profaned His temples and sanctuaries, worshipped pagan idols and gods in violation of God’s commandments and laws, trusting in their own human ways and instincts rather than to trust in God, their Lord and Master.

This is why the Lord reminded them all through His prophet Amos of the power that He has over all things, and how everything that had happened, is happening and will happen all came to be because of Him and what He had willed to happen. He also spoke of the moment of reckoning and punishment that the disobedient ones would have to endure as a just consequence for their many sins and wickedness, reminding them all of what had happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Each and every one of these were highlighted to the people through the prophet Amos, who went to the land of the northern kingdom of Israel from Judah to proclaim God’s judgment on the people who have repeatedly refused to embrace God’s path, persecuting those messengers and prophets, including that of Amos himself, whom God had sent to them to remind and help them.

The Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel of St. Matthew then spoke of the moment when the Lord calmed a great storm that threatened the boat in which He and His disciples were travelling in. The disciples of the Lord were terrified by the great waves and winds battering their boat, and they cried out to the Lord for help, which the Lord answered with a rebuke to them for their lack of faith and trust in Him. The Lord told them they should not be afraid and believe in Him, and showed them that He is truly in control over all things by calming the great storm with His mere words. Like that of the words of the prophet Amos in our first reading today, we heard how God showed through His Son, before the eyes of His disciples, that He is truly the Lord and Master over all things.

This passage on the great storm afflicting the boat that the Lord and His disciples was travelling in, and how the Lord calmed the storm afterwards showed us all the symbolism of the challenges and trials facing the Church of God, all of God’s faithful people, disciples and followers which were represented by the storm, the waves and the wind battering against the boat. The boat itself represented the Church, the entire holy people whom God had called and chosen, represented by the disciples of the Lord who were in that boat. The Lord was with His disciples throughout and was in the boat, representing how He is always with us, with His Church even through the most difficult and challenging moments, and we should continue to stay faithful to Him just as He has always been there for us, all throughout the most challenging moments of our lives.

That was how the Church had weathered through even the most intense persecutions and challenges to its existence in these past two millennia, and empires and kingdoms had come and gone, those who sought the destruction of the Church and the eradication of the Christian faith, and yet, the Lord’s Church and the Christian faith remained strong and going on even after all these things that had happened. The Lord continued to guide His faithful ones, His Church and all throughout the great storms of life throughout its existence just as He had been with His disciples on the boat through the storm, an calmed the storm, just as He will also steer us through those challenges and hardships, leading us to the ultimate triumph and victory with Him. If we remain faithful to the Lord, He will be with us, strengthening and encouraging us to overcome and persevere through the hardships in our path.

Let us all therefore make good use of this reminder which we have received this day so that we may grow ever stronger in our commitment and devotion to God, as we have been called to follow the Lord and to put our trust in Him wholeheartedly once again. We must not easily allow ourselves to be tempted and swayed by the various temptations, obstacles and hardships present all around us, and we have to remain firm in our faith in God, knowing that He will always stand by our side, and He alone will not leave us and fail us, even when all sorts of worldly means and all of our powers and abilities in this world fail us. On the other hand, if we choose to abandon Him, like how the Israelites had disobeyed and abandoned Him, then we shall face doom and destruction, much as how one would surely perish if he or she had jumped from the boat into the waves rather than staying in the boat with the Lord.

May the Lord continue to guide us all, strengthening us in faith and give us His protection and power, so that amidst all the hardships, trials and challenges that we may encounter in our paths through life, we may always be firm in our conviction and desire to follow the Lord ever more wholeheartedly and so that we may continue to walk ever more worthily in the path that God has shown us, that our lives may be great role models and examples for all those whom we meet and encounter in life. May God bless us always, and be with us in all circumstances, throughout our lives, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 2 July 2024 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 8 : 23-27

At that time, Jesus got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Without warning, a fierce storm burst upon the lake, with waves sweeping the boat. But Jesus was asleep.

The disciples woke Him up and cried, “Lord save us! We are lost!” But Jesus answered, “Why are you so afraid, you of little faith?” Then He stood up and rebuked the wind and sea; and it became completely calm.

The disciples were astonished. They said, “What kind of Man is He? Even the winds and the sea obey Him.”