Day: September 15, 2024

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(Apostolic Journey) On Pope Francis’ remark during the Inter-religious Dialogue with Youth at Catholic Junior College and Its Responses

I was inspired to write this during the Sunday Evening Mass at Cathedral of the Good Shepherd (Mother Church of the Archdiocese of Singapore) earlier today as I was serving at the Sanctuary:

I felt the tug in my heart to share these thoughts and reflections regarding the recent controversy and disagreements surrounding what Pope Francis had said during the Interreligious Dialogue with Youth at Catholic Junior College (in Singapore).

I am not going to repeat what had been endlessly discussed here but I would like to invite all of us to reflect upon these points and particularly the Gospel passage from Mark 8 : 27-35 today (Sunday, 15 September 2024 – Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time),

Satan is always hard at work in trying to undermine the good works of the Lord through His Church. It is precisely this very moment when the Pope concluded his trip to Singapore focusing on the theme of ‘Unity and Hope’ that he is making his move on us all trying to break this unity and dampen the hope that we have kindled.

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Unity: 

I am deeply saddened by those who called out the Pope for being supposedly unfaithful to the teachings of the Church, and even the more extreme ones saying that he has committed heresy. 

First of all, the Pope stated that there is only one God, and this is true. He also stated that religions are like languages, paths to reach God. He did not say that it is not true that in Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life. 

What he intended to say, if we understand the whole conversation is that, we all seek salvation in God, and he invites all the youths of different religions to continue to do good as what their beliefs state, and indirectly welcoming them to get to know more about Jesus.

If they one day may be touched by what they learnt about Him and through the encounter with the Pope who has opened the gates of their hearts and minds, then it is up to them to choose to embrace Christ fully and wholeheartedly.

We must understand the whole context of this event and why this was mentioned this way. Indeed, the Pope is also human and he is not perfect in using words to explain or elaborate his intentions – but it is clear that from the earlier parts before this, Pope Francis stated that if everyone is focusing on ‘my religion is true, and yours is not’ and starts attacking on each others’ supposed shortcomings, then indeed, ‘destruction’ and loss of unity is what will happen. We will no longer be united on our purpose and journey towards the Lord, but we’ll hating and attacking each other instead.

We can already see this at work with the attacks against the Pope’s remarks and comments, coming from within no other than the Church and her members. At Holy Communion today, as the Choir sang ‘Anima Christi’, and as I ponder upon all these, I literally teared up thinking about the tears in unity of the Body of Christ, the Church brought about by this.

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Hope:

On the matter of Hope, and with regards to this conversation – we are reminded that God’s salvation is offered for everyone, and that as Nostra Aetate mentioned clearly that there is good and truth in all religions and beliefs. And while in Jesus Christ and the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the fullness of truth and assurance of salvation are found, but this does not mean that others are excluded from this hope of salvation in God.

Let me bring forth the example of Christ Himself, the Good Shepherd, Who used the parable of the lost sheep to highlight this as an analogy:

Imagine that you are a sheep that is lost and separated from the flock and the shepherd comes towards you, chiding and scolding you for not listening to him (and running away), won’t you flee even further away from the shepherd? The Lord as the Good Shepherd is patient, in stepping out of His comfort zone, going to the distant places in looking out for us, calling us and reassuring us of His love. This was precisely what Pope Francis had done. As the Vicar of Christ, the Good Shepherd, he went to the peripheries, to places where there are still many who misunderstood God’s teachings and words, to show what our Christian faith is all about.

Just as mentioned earlier, using this opportunity of Interreligious Dialogue to mention the superiority of the Christian faith to other religions or to ask for people to convert to the faith is not just tone-deaf but also inappropriate. Pope Francis as the Pontifex Maximus, the ‘bridge-builder’, he established the ‘bridges’ and the opportunities so that more people from other faith and beliefs may come to find out more and know the Lord, and if they so choose, then they may come to embrace Him in the future.

I saw how some of the naysayers and the media that fanned out the controversy even said that this visit and trip should not have even been done in the first place. Then let me put it this way, it would have been a big missed opportunity for this dialogue and opportunity for true evangelisation of the Good News of Christ.

Hope in God’s salvation is what we offer to all the people, and the manner how we present it, is very important.

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Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is a perspective that I am offering on this matter to those of you who are affected in mind and heart by this issue, and also to those who are not aware of this.

Feel free to disagree with what I have said earlier, and it is alright for people to have differing perspectives and opinions. But I felt the Lord calling on me earlier today to share this, and I did what He asked me to do.

May the Lord continue to strengthen the Unity in our Church, united as one Body of Christ under His Vicar, Pope Francis, and encourage us always with the Hope in His Resurrection and eternal life, which He offers to all of us, calling us all to come to Him, not by force, but by our own free will.

Amen.

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Thursday, 19 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded through what we have heard in our Scripture passages today that we have truly received God’s most generous love and mercy, and each and every one of us should truly be thankful and appreciative of the great wonders and kindness that God has given to us, in His patient and persistent love, in Him never giving up on us, in all of these moments. We are reminded how He has come into our midst, showing us His love and mercy manifested perfectly in the flesh, making Himself approachable and tangible for us, revealing the fullness of His patient and ever enduring love and care for us. All of us are truly fortunate that God has never given up on us and still wants us to be reconciled and reunited with Him.

In our first reading passage today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region Corinth, in which the Apostle exhorted them all about everything that the Lord had done for their sake, in sending unto them the deliverance and salvation which He has promised and reassured them for, all that He had told them and their ancestors through the many prophets and messengers He sent to them. St. Paul spoke of how the Lord had begun and then carried out His ministry, calling His Apostles and disciples to follow Him, and to witness everything that He had done and performed. And He revealed all of that as well to St. Paul himself, whom God had called afterwards, turning from a great enemy of the Lord and the faithful to be a most courageous and faithful servant of God and champion of the faith.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account of the moment when the Lord was at a dinner in the house of a Pharisee who invited Him there, and an infamous and sinful woman who was living in that city came up to Him as we heard, anointing the feet of the Lord with the perfume she poured from the jar of alabaster she carried, and together with her tears and her hair, she wiped the feet of the Lord. This action and event immediately brought about the criticism and harsh remarks from the Pharisees who were gathered there, as they would not even come near those whom they deemed as sinners and unclean. To the Pharisees, such an action would have made them ritually unclean as well, defiling them by association and contact with one whom they deemed as sinners and unworthy before God.

But the Lord did not care about all that, and He let her to come to Him, honouring and respecting Him with great humility, humbling herself publicly and using her hair, the crown of her beauty and worldly appearances to wipe the feet of the Lord, with the feet often being associated with filth and dirt. Essentially, what she had just done was in fact a premonition of what the Lord Himself expected of us all, and what He wants to do with us, that is to come to Him with love and commitment towards Him, being sorrowful, regretful and humble over all of the sins and wickedness which we have committed in our own respective lives. And that the Lord Himself did not reject her but in fact embraced her warmly and defended her actions against the Pharisees showed clearly that God wants us all to come to Him and to be forgiven from our sins, to be reconciled and reunited with Him once again.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Januarius, a great and holy servant of God, a faithful and committed shepherd to his flock as a bishop of the Church. St. Januarius was mainly known from his hagiography and popular Christian legends, as actual details were rather scant due to the harsh nature of the intense persecution of Christians during the time when St. Januarius carried out his mission and works as a bishop and suffered persecution and martyrdom under the infamous Emperor Diocletian and his attempts to oppress Christians throughout the Roman Empire. St. Januarius was born into a rich Roman patrician family in the third century, during time of turmoil in the Roman Empire and persecution of Christians.

Eventually, he became the Bishop of Naples at a relatively young age, and he had to help protect the various people under his care, his flock and the ones persecuted by the Roman state at that time. He had to hide many Christians under his care and made the efforts to visit those Christians and others that had been persecuted and arrested, jailed and made to suffer. He was caught and arrested by the Roman magistrates, and eventually he himself was persecuted and tortured, sentenced to death for sedition and treason, and according to the hagiographic stories, St. Januarius was either thrown to the wild beasts or into a furnace, but he was unharmed in both instances and stories. He was eventually put to death and martyred, but his courage and commitment to God inspired many long after his passing. His blood relic stored in Naples is the centre of popular devotion to this day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we have listened to the story of the faithful and courageous St. Januarius, and as we remember the words of the Scriptures that we have just discussed about God’s love and generous mercy, let us all therefore remember that each and every one of us are truly beloved by God, and He has always patiently looked after us, caring for us all these while, sending unto us His help and guidance through the various means all around us and in every aspects of our lives. We should therefore be more aware of this great love and blessings which we have indeed received from the Lord, and strive to do our best so that our lives may truly be more attuned and worthy towards Him, by doing what we can so that we may truly be faithful to Him, and to keep ourselves away from all sorts of vices and evils.

May the Lord, our ever always loving and merciful God continue to love us all tenderly and may He continue to strengthen us all in our faith so that in everything that we say and do, hopefully we may come ever closer to God and continue to commit ourselves in each and every moments with great compassion and love for both the Lord and for our fellow brethren around us. Let us all humble ourselves and realise that we are all sinners in need of healing and forgiveness from God, and therefore strive to seek Him and to love Him with ever greater passion and commitment with each and every passing moments in our lives. May God continue to bless us all and may He continue to empower and strengthen us in faith, in our resolve and commitment to follow Him, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 19 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Luke 7 : 36-50

At that time, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to share his meal, so He went to the Pharisee’s home, and as usual reclined at the table to eat. And it happened that, a woman of this town, who was known as a sinner, heard that He was in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and stood behind Him, at His feet, weeping. She wet His feet with tears; she dried them with her hair; she kissed His feet and poured the perfume on them.

The Pharisee who had invited Jesus was watching, and thought, “If this Man were a Prophet, He would know what sort of person is touching Him; is this woman not a sinner?” Then Jesus spoke to the Pharisee and said, “Simon, I have something to ask you.” He answered, “Speak, Master.”

And Jesus said, “Two people were in debt to the same creditor. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty. As they were unable to pay him back, he graciously cancelled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?”

Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, who was forgiven more.” And Jesus said, “You are right.” And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? You gave Me no water for My feet when I entered your house; but she dried them with her hair. You did not welcome Me with a kiss; but she has not stopped kissing My feet since she came in. You provided no oil for My head; but she has poured perfume on My feet. This is why, I tell you, her sins, her many sins, are forgiven, because of her great love. But the one who is forgiven little, has little love.”

Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The others reclining with Him at the table began to wonder, “Now this Man claims to forgive sins!” But Jesus again spoke to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace!”

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Thursday, 19 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 117 : 1-2, 16ab and 17, 28

Alleluia! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His loving kindness endures forever. Let Israel say, “His loving kindness endures forever.”

The right hand of the Lord is lifted high, the right hand of the Lord strikes mightily! I shall not die, but live to proclaim what the Lord has done.

You are my God, and I give You thanks. You are my God, and I give You praise.

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Thursday, 19 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

1 Corinthians 15 : 1-11

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm. By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.

In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. Afterwards He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest.

Then He appeared to James and after that to all the Apostles. And last of all, He appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me. For I am the last of the Apostles, and I do not even deserve to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me has not been without fruit. Far from it, I have toiled more than all of them, although, not I, rather the grace of God, in me.

Now, whether it was I or they, this, we preach, and this, you have believed.