Month: December 2024

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Tuesday, 31 December 2024 : Seventh Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of Pope St. Silvester I, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 18-21

My dear children, it is the last hour. You were told that an antichrist would come; but several antichrists have already come, by which we know that it is now the last hour.

They went out from us though they did not really belong to us. Had they belonged to us, they would have remained with us. So it became clear that not all of us were really ours. But you have the anointing from the Holy One, so that all of you have true wisdom.

I write to you, not because you lack knowledge of the truth, but because you already know it, and lies have nothing in common with the truth.

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Monday, 30 December 2024 : Sixth Day within Octave of Christmas (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded to continue to keep our hope in the Lord and to resist all sorts of temptations and pressures so that we may continue to be righteous, just and worthy of God in all circumstances. We must not be ignorant of the dangers of the world and all the sins around us. If we do not take this seriously and do all the necessary preparations, it may be easy for us to be drawn into the path towards damnation and downfall, by losing sight in the true happiness and treasure that we will find in God alone. This is because the world and its many allures and alternative paths can indeed be very enticing and tempting, persuading us to take that path instead of God’s path.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. John the Apostle the exhortation that the Apostle made to the members of the faithful, addressed particularly to more senior members of the faithful, the fathers and parents who were supposed to bring up their children in the Christian faith, as well as the young men, those from the younger generation who have received the faith and its teachings from the Apostles and also from the guidance of their elders and seniors in their community. St. John exhorted all of them to put their faith in the Lord and in His salvation, in everything that He has done for our sake and overcoming all of the bondage for our sins and evils, all the things which had kept us tied and prevented from seeking God and His love and grace.

St. John also warned the faithful to be vigilant and to be wary of sin and all of its tempting allures, all the things that can lead us into downfall and destruction. He mentioned that if one loves the world and all the things that are in the world, then they will not have the love of God the Father in them. Essentially, it is not possible for one to be able to truly love the Lord and to love the world and all of its riches and temptations all at once. That is why St. John exhorted all the faithful so that they would not fall into this temptation and ended up on the wrong path in life, as if they are not careful, it is easy for them to end up falling ever deeper into the slippery slope of sin. This same reminder also applies to us all as well, and we should truly heed these reminders for our own good.

The Apostle also spoke of the fleeting and impermanent nature of the world against the permanence of God’s love and grace. This is a reality check for all of us especially if we reflect on all the things we often desire and want to pursue in our daily lives in this world. We must be aware that none of those things of the world that we seek, be it glory, fame, riches and wealth, material possessions, popularity and other forms of worldly parameters and things can truly satisfy us and none of them will also last and endure forever. All of them can be gone and disappear in mere moments, and none of us can bring them with us beyond this mortal life and existence we have on earth. The only thing that is truly everlasting is God’s Love and grace, His providence and salvation.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist in which the account of the time and moment when the Child Jesus was presented and offered at the Temple and House of God in Jerusalem, according to the Jewish laws and customs. At that time, the eldest child of the household and family of the Israelites ought to be dedicated and offered to God, about eight days after they were born. This was a sign of the renewal of God’s great Covenant, His love and enduring providence for all of His beloved people. Then, at that time, just as Mary and St. Joseph was at the Temple of God, two people came up to them and began to prophesy from God, giving thanks that they had managed to see the Saviour Himself appearing before them in the flesh. They were the old man Simeon and the prophetess Anna.

Both of them spoke of the many good things that the Lord God would do for His people through the Holy Child, and they also showed the first premonition of the kind of suffering and hardships which the Lord would eventually have to endure, and how that event would bring great sorrow and pain for Mary, His Mother. Yet, that was what the Lord had to go through in carrying out and completing His mission in this world, that is to bear the punishment and consequences for our many sins and wickedness, to bring forth into our midst the assurance of God’s salvation and grace, His forgiveness and ever enduring patience and love. And we are reminded of all these today in particular during this glorious and joyful season of Christmas so that we can continue to remember the true reason for our Christmas rejoicing and festivities.

The Lord and His love for us is and has always and will be so great that He has done everything for our sake, to help and rescue us from the depths of our predicament, from the darkness of our sins and troubles, from the snares of the devil and the threats of all those seeking our ruin and destruction. And because of this love all of us can now truly rejoice and be filled with hope, the hope for God’s salvation and the promise of eternal life and true happiness with Him. We should continue to put our faith in God and not easily allow ourselves to be distracted by the many temptations present all around us, all of which can lead us astray into the path towards our downfall. We should always trust in the Lord and distance ourselves from the excesses of worldly desires and pleasures, especially during this time of Christmas.

Let us all celebrate Christmas with proper understanding of its importance and significance to all of us, becoming the good role models for one another in how we put Christ at the heart and centre of all our festivities and rejoicing in this time and season. And at the same time, let us not be ignorant of and forget about the sufferings and trials that those who are around us may be facing in their lives. Some of us may also not be able to celebrate Christmas due to various difficulties and reasons, and all of us are therefore called and reminded to share our joy with one another. Let us all be the faithful and worthy bearers of the Light of Christ and His salvation to everyone, and may our Christmas joy be truly rooted and centred in Christ, as always. Amen.

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Monday, 30 December 2024 : Sixth Day within Octave of Christmas (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 36-40

There was also a prophetess named Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. After leaving her father’s home, she had been seven years with her husband, and since then she had been continually about the Temple, serving God as a widow night and day in fasting and prayer. She was now eighty-four. Coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, and spoke of the Child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.

When the parents had fulfilled all that was required by the law of the Lord, they returned to their town, Nazareth in Galilee. There the Child grew in stature and strength, and was filled with wisdom: the grace of God was upon Him.

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Monday, 30 December 2024 : Sixth Day within Octave of Christmas (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 95 : 7-8a, 8b-9, 10

Give to YHVH, you families of nations, give to YHVH glory and strength. Give to YHVH the glory due His Name.

Bring gifts and enter His courts. Worship YHVH with holy celebrations; stand in awe of Him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, “YHVH reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.

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Monday, 30 December 2024 : Sixth Day within Octave of Christmas (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 12-17

My dear children, I write this to you : you have already received the forgiveness of your sins, through the Name of Jesus. Fathers, I write this to you : you know Him, Who is from the beginning. Young men, I write this to you : you have overcome the evil one. My dear children, I write to you, because you already know the Father.

Fathers, I write to you, because you know Him, Who is from the beginning. Young men, I write to you, because you are strong, and the Word of God lives in you, who have, indeed, overcome the evil one. Do not love the world, or what is in it. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the craving of the flesh, the greed of eyes and people boasting of their superiority – all this, belongs to the world, not to the Father.

The world passes away, with all its craving, but those who do the will of God remain for ever.

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Sunday, 29 December 2024 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, the first Sunday after the Nativity of the Lord we all celebrate the occasion of the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph which is indeed appropriate as after all that is what Christmas is all about, the Holy Family and everything that happened with them, especially in Christ Jesus, the Son of God Who is the centre figure of Christmas, the Holy Child born in Bethlehem in Judea over two millennia ago as the fulfilment of everything which God has promised to all of us, His beloved people throughout all of history and time. This Feast of the Holy Family is a reminder for all of us of the great love of God which He has shown us all, as our loving Father and Creator, and we are all part of God’s beloved Family.

On this day we recall that perfect and model family, the Family that is the inspiration for all of our Christian families, just as we heard from the evidence and the passages from the Sacred Scriptures on how this Family of the Lord is a real, loving and genuine family where each of the members of this Family performed their respective roles dutifully and faithfully, as an example for all of us to follow. This is also an inspiration and reminder for all of us as Christians, how we are to live our lives within our wider and greater Christian family in this world, the Church of God and the various communities that we have in the Church, in our own families and relatives. All of us should be inspired by this example so that our own families may be truly faithful and worthy bearers of God’s truth and love in our world today.

Now, let us first look through our Scripture passages, beginning from the first reading which was taken from the Book of the prophet Samuel about the story of the birth and early life of the prophet Samuel, the firstborn son of Hannah his mother with Elkanah, his father. For the context, Elkanah, Samuel’s father had two wives, named Penninah and Hannah. The other wife, Penninah, had borne Elkanah many children while Hannah, Samuel’s mother, was barren and unable to conceive a child. Not only that but since Elkanah loved Hannah more, Penninah often bullied Hannah and mocked her for her lack of a child and barrenness, which was a sign negatively viewed at the time. Hannah sought the Lord and prayed for a son, and God heard her.

Hannah also promised to dedicate her son to the Lord if He granted her wish, and that was what we heard in today’s first reading passage, which detailed how Samuel was born, and then at the appointed time after he has been weaned from his mother, Hannah and Elkanah brought him to Eli, the then High Priest and Judge of Israel, to consecrate and commit Samuel to the service of God. And that was how the story of Samuel began and how He eventually became God’s Prophet and the Judge over all of Israel, the last of the Judges before the days and time of the Kings. And we can see clearly in Samuel’s family how they all put God at the centre of all things, being faithful and committed to God, centred on prayer and devotion to Him.

We also can see how love is truly evident in Samuel’s family, as Elkanah mentioned earlier loved Hannah very much, and vice versa, and Hannah took good care of Samuel before he was dedicated to the Lord’s service. No doubt even after that, although it was unrecorded in the Scriptures, that Samuel’s family would continue to visit him from time to time as he grew up ever stronger in wisdom and in the ways of the world. Their exemplary faith and love, and how they kept putting God at the centre of their family and existence is something that we should also be doing in our own families. This is similar to what we then heard from our Gospel passage today regarding the Holy Family, about the time when the Lord Jesus stayed behind at the Temple of Jerusalem while He was just twelve years old.

As we heard and should well know, the Lord Jesus quietly stayed back at the Temple of Jerusalem, being drawn to the House of His Heavenly Father and as a revelation of His true identity as the Incarnate Son of God. But this made His Mother Mary and St. Joseph to be worried, and they spent time trying to find where He was, tracing their path back to Jerusalem and the Temple of God where they finally found Him. We heard how the Lord Jesus obeyed them and followed them back to Nazareth even though He desired to stay at His Father’s House. From the Lord Jesus we saw the example of obedience, which He later on would show again at the moment of His Passion, bearing up willingly the weight of the Cross for our salvation, obeying perfectly His Father’s will for our salvation.

And hence from Mary and St. Joseph we saw the great love that they had for their Son. Mary as the Mother of the Lord naturally loved Him and she devoted herself completely to Him, and later on, she would follow her Son throughout various parts of His ministry, and she followed Him all the way even to the Cross, as she faithfully stayed by His side to the very end. She nurtured the Lord Jesus and cared for Him throughout His whole life, and hence, she is truly deserving of the great honour that we have given to her as the Mother of God. At the same time, St. Joseph, despite not being the biological father of the Lord and was just His foster-father, he continued to devote himself, his time and effort to provide for and to protect Mary and her Holy Child, just as he had been entrusted to do.

Through the examples that we have been provided with today, we are all reminded that our families are truly important parts of our lives and they also serve as the foundations and integral parts of the whole Church of God. If our families are not rooted in the Lord and if we do not spend good and quality time together with our fellow family members, then it will be easier for the evil one to strike at us and break through us, dividing us among ourselves and weakening our connection both towards God and to our fellow brothers and sisters, especially to our fellow family members. This is why we need to strengthen our commitment to our families and take heed from the inspirations and examples shown and discussed this Sunday so that our families may grow ever stronger and more resilient against the many challenges and pressures from the world.

What all of us should do is, whichever members of our family we are, be it as a parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling or others, all of us should strive and commit to spend good quality time with our fellow family members around us. If the family does not even spend good and quality time together at all, and instead being preoccupied by many distractions of worldly pursuits and ambitions, then how can the family stay together? Many families and marriages had faltered before and collapsed precisely because of this lack of good quality time that we should have spent with each other. And of course, another important part of our families must be God, and God should always be at the heart and centre of our every families.

Let us ask ourselves, when was the last time we spend good, quality and precious time with our family members, and as one family, praying together and doing activities together? If we have not done these recently, then it is imperative that we try our best to do them as soon as possible, and try to make the time for each other, even amidst our busy schedules and activities in life. Let us all realise the importance of good Christian families, all of which should be safe space and firm anchor for each one of us, as the strong pillars of our Church and faith, a safe place and space where each one of us can grow ever stronger in faith and grace of God. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to bless our families and their members. Amen.

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Sunday, 29 December 2024 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 41-52

Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, as was customary. And when Jesus was twelve years old, He went up with them, according to the custom of this feast. After the festival was over, they returned, but the Boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents did not know it.

They thought He was in the company, and after walking the whole day they looked for Him among their relatives and friends. As they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem searching for Him, and on the third day they found Him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. And all the people were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

His parents were very surprised when they saw Him, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Your father and I were very worried while searching for You.” Then He said to them, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?” But they did not understand this answer.

Jesus went down with them, returning to Nazareth, and He continued to be subject to them. As for His mother, she kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and age, and in divine and human favour.

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Sunday, 29 December 2024 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 3 : 1-2, 21-24

See what singular love the Father has for us : we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children, and what we shall be has not, yet, been shown. Yet, when He appears in His glory, we know, that we shall be like Him, for, then, we shall see Him as He is.

When our conscience does not condemn us, dear friends, we may have complete confidence in God. Then, whatever we ask, we shall receive, since we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. His command is, that we believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ, and that, we love one another, as He has commanded us.

Whoever keeps His commands remains in God and God in him. It is by the Spirit God has given us, that we know He lives in us.

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Sunday, 29 December 2024 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 83 : 2-3, 5-6, 9-10

How lovely are Your rooms, o YHVH of hosts! My soul yearns; pines, for the courts of YHVH. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Happy are those who live in Your house, continually singing Your praise! Happy, the pilgrims whom You strengthen, to make the ascent to You.

O YHVH of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, o God of Jacob! Look upon our shield, o God; look upon the face of Your Anointed!

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Sunday, 29 December 2024 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Samuel 1 : 20-22, 24-28

And Hannah became pregnant. She gave birth to a son and called him Samuel because she said : “I have asked YHVH to give him to me.” Once more Elkanah went to the Temple with his family to offer his yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow to YHVH. Hannah would not go along but she said to her husband, “I will bring the child there as soon as he is weaned. He shall be presented to YHVH and stay there forever.”

When the child was weaned, Hannah took him with her along with a three year old bull, a measure of flour and a flask of wine, and she brought him to YHVH’s house of Shiloh. The child was still young.

After they had slain the bull, they brought the child to Eli. Hannah exclaimed : “Oh, my lord, look! I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to YHVH. I asked for this child and YHVH granted me the favour I begged of Him. I think YHVH is now asking for this child. As long as he lives, he belongs to YHVH.”

And they worshipped YHVH there.