Month: August 2025

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Thursday, 4 September 2025 : 22nd 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 Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that we should always trust in the Lord at all times, doing our best to keep our faith in God even when we are unable to see where we are going, or what the outcome we will have in the end. We need to trust in the Lord and believe in His Providence and guidance whenever He leads us down the path that He has shown us, so that we will continue to faithfully follow Him and will not be easily distracted by whatever temptations, pressures and coercions which may try to pull us away from the Lord and from His path. We should always do our best to listen to the Lord speaking to us and calling on us to follow Him, so that we may find the best and surest path to His salvation.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Colossae, that is now part of Asia Minor, where St. Paul prayed for the faithful there in that region so that they all might remain committed and faithful to the missions and the ways which they had been walking through, and that they had been shown by the missionaries and the Apostles. The people in Colossae had been quite faithful to the Lord’s message and teachings, unlike some others around the region who had not listened to the Lord and refused to believe in the Apostles and the other missionaries. However, at that time there were indeed a lot of pressures and challenges that the faithful were facing, and in order to strengthen their resolve that was why St. Paul wrote this Epistle to them to encourage them.

At that time, the early Christians were facing oppositions and challenges firstly from the Jewish community and the members of the Jewish High Council, many of whom rejected the Lord Jesus as the Saviour or Messiah, but also persecuted openly the Apostles and the other Christians. There were indeed some members of the Jewish community who believed in the Lord and became Christians themselves, but there were many of those who were opposed to the Christian teachings and message. Then, in addition, the early Christians also faced persecutions and oppositions from the local pagans and the Roman state, for their refusal to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods and idols, and for their ideals of equality which also brought them opposition from the slaveowners, as slavery was very common at that time.

Amidst all of these, St. Paul prayed to the Lord that the faith and the good works of the Colossian Christians might be strengthened and preserved, and this is also in fact a reminder and call for us all to be faithful as well to the Lord despite the challenges and persecutions which we ourselves may be facing in our own lives. We must not be easily tempted and swayed to abandon the Lord for the more convenient ways and paths of the world, for the worldly desires, ambitions and other distractions in this world that may keep us away from being truly faithful to God. Instead, in all opportunities, we should continue to put the Lord at the centre of our lives, and in everything that we say and do in our respective lives, in each and every moments, we should always live up to our Christian faith in the most genuine way possible.

Then, from our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the miraculous occasion that happened when the Lord was at Galilee, in the beginning period of His ministry, when He encountered the fishermen working there at the Lake, that was the moment when He called His first disciples. He taught to the people there as we heard, and then we heard also how He told Simon, one of the fishermen, the one we would later know as St. Peter the Apostle, to go forth and follow His instruction in how he and the other fishermen ought to be catching the fish. Despite having captured no fish at all the entire earlier time, Simon and the other fishermen obeyed the Lord when He asked them to put out their net to the deep waters, and immediately and miraculously, they caught so many fishes.

It was at that occasion that Simon and some other fishermen, that is likely his brother Andrew, and the sons of Zebedee, James and John, came to follow the Lord, leaving behind their boat and profession as fishermen, and following the Lord wholeheartedly, they became His disciples full time from that moment henceforth. This show of commitment by those whom the Lord had called and chosen as His disciples and followers is an important reminder for all of us, to whom God Himself had entrusted various responsibilities and missions in our respective areas of life, so that we may truly live our lives with great faith, with great devotion and commitment to what He has called and entrusted to all of us to do, so that we may truly be worthy of Him and that we may also be good role models and examples for our fellow brothers and sisters around us. 

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we have heard from our Scripture passages today, let us all hence continue to commit ourselves to the Lord and put our trust in Him, in living our lives to the best of our abilities as Christians, even when we may be facing lots of oppositions, pressures, coercions or encountering temptations and disappointments in life. We should continue to trust in the Lord even when we may face opposition from those close to us, so that we do not end up losing faith and focus on the Lord. In the past that was what many of our holy predecessors, the saints and martyrs had to go through, and they still remained true to their faith in God, trusting that the Lord would guide them to the right path.

May the Lord continue to strengthen our faith in us, and may He continue our every efforts and endeavours in life. May our faith continue to be empowered and growing through our ever stronger relationship with Him. Let us all go forth faithfully and courageously at all circumstances and opportunities, doing our best in every actions we do, to truly proclaim Him in our communities by our exemplary living and genuine faith, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 4 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 5 : 1-11

At that time, one day, as Jesus stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, with a crowd gathered around Him listening to the word of God, He caught sight of two boats, left at the water’s edge by fishermen, now washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to pull out a little from the shore. There He sat, and continued to teach the crowd.

When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon replied, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing. But if You say so, I will lower the nets.” This they did, and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. They signalled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. They came, and they filled both almost to the point of sinking.

Upon seeing this, Simon Peter fell at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Leave me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For he and his companions were amazed at the catch they had made, and so were Simon’s partners, James and John, Zebedee’s sons. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. You will catch people from now on.” So they brought their boats to land and followed Him, leaving everything.

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Thursday, 4 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 97 : 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6

YHVH has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love, nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you, lands, make a joyful noise to YHVH, break into song and sing praise.

With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, YHVH!

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Thursday, 4 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Colossians 1 : 9-14

Because of this, from the day we received news of you, we have not ceased praying to God for you, that you may attain the full knowledge of His will, through all the gifts of wisdom and spiritual understanding.

May your lifestyle be worthy of the Lord and completely pleasing to Him. May you bear fruit in every good work and grow in the knowledge of God. May you become strong, in everything, by a sharing of the glory of God, so that you may have great endurance and perseverance in joy.

Constantly give thanks to the Father, Who has empowered us to receive our share in the inheritance of the saints, in His kingdom of light. He rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son. In Him, we are redeemed and forgiven.

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Wednesday, 3 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that each and every one of us should always continue to have faith in the Lord our Saviour, in Jesus Christ, His Son, Who has manifested for us all the great and most enduring love of God, given to us in the most tangible, approachable form in Christ Himself. We should remember how fortunate and wonderful it is for all of us to have been beloved in such a manner by our Lord, that He has done everything that He could in order to bring us all out of the darkness of sin and the threat of eternal damnation, opening for us the sure path to eternal life and salvation with Him. And this is why we also need to continue to be faithful in the Lord even amidst all the trials and challenges that we may have to face in our paths, and continue to do what God has called us all to do in our respective lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Colossae in Asia Minor, where Turkey is today, we heard of the words of St. Paul greeting the faithful there and praying for them for their faith in God to be strengthened. Like the faithful in the region of Thessalonica that we have heard about in the past two weeks of Epistle readings, the faithful in Colossae, the Colossian Christians were also good and worthy in their way of living their Christian faith, and St. Paul commended them for their obedience to God and for their willingness to live in the manner that has been shown them by the Apostles and the missionaries, according to the Good News or the Gospels of Christ.

This is therefore also a reminder for each and every one of us living in this world today to continue to live up to our Christian faith in the best manner possible, to be ever more faithful and dedicated at all times, in everything that we are doing in life, even to the smallest and seemingly least significant of what we are doing, so that by all these things we will continue to walk faithfully in God’s Presence and do our best to glorify Him by our lives. After all, just as it was back during the time of the Apostles and the early Church when this Epistle to the Colossians was written, all of us as Christians living today are the examples and role models for one another, in how we live our lives with faith, just as the faith of the faithful in Thessalonica and Colossae inspired the other Christians, including even St. Paul himself, in wanting to do more to glorify God.

And we must realise that as much as our actions can inspire others to follow the Lord and as much as our faith can help others to be faithful and stronger in our devotion towards God, if we are not faithful in our way of life and even worse, act in manners that are contradictory to what our faith had taught us, then we may end up pushing more and more people from God and His salvation. Yes, this is indeed true, and there had been many examples in the past throughout the history of the Church where immoral and inappropriate behaviours of the members of the Church, including even those high in the Church hierarchy, even some amongst the Popes themselves, had led to great scandal against the Church that not only besmirched the Holy Name of God and His teachings, but also caused many to leave the Church and causing divisions in the Church. That is why, it is important that we must live our lives well in accordance to the way that the Lord had taught us.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the story of the time when the Lord Jesus came to visit the home of St. Peter the Apostle, then still known by his original name as Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law at that time was very sick and knowing that the Lord could miraculously heal many of those sick that had been brought to Him and having witnessed His miracles before, certainly they, especially Simon must have hoped that the Lord could also make his mother-in-law to be well again too. And the Lord did so, healing Simon’s mother-in-law and making her well again. But such deed was quickly known by everyone in the area, and very soon as we heard, many people brought to Him all their sick ones for Him to heal them all.

We then heard how the Lord Jesus then quietly slipped out of the great crowd when He was able to do so, and when the disciples came seeking for Him and asked why He had done so, He told them all that He still had a lot of responsibilities and missions to do in the other places. It was indeed easier for Him just to settle in that one place and receiving a lot of support and praise from everyone who welcomed Him and had been healed by His miracles, but the Lord had been sent to reach out to more and more people, including even those who would disagree with Him and refuse to believe in Him, and to them all, the Lord had been sent to reach out towards, and this was what He obediently do, in obeying the will of His Heavenly Father, and in this manner therefore, showing us all how we too should do the same, in obeying God’s will in all things.

Now, the Church today also celebrates the Feast of one of the most renowned saints of the Church, a great Pope and leader of the Universal Church of his time that had reformed greatly the Church especially in the Western parts of Christendom, and who was also very much involved in the efforts of evangelisation, in spreading the Word of God and the Good News to many parts of Christendom and even in the lands beyond in order to bring more and more people towards Christ and His salvation. Pope St. Gregory the Great has done many great contributions to the Church, and while he was born into a wealthy noble Roman family in the middle of the sixth century and brought up well in extensive education on philosophy, rhetorics, sciences, law and other areas, becoming a government official, eventually he chose to follow a monastic lifestyle after his father’s passing.

Eventually through his years as a monk and then rising through the Papal court as a Papal legate trusted by the Pope, involved in diplomacy and even theological disputes in which one particular episode against the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople himself gained him great renown among his supporters and notoriety amongst his critics and enemies, the future Pope St. Gregory the Great gained extensive experiences and insights from his works that would prove to be essential to the success of his many efforts and works when he was elected as Pope and successor of St. Peter the Apostle. As Pope, Pope St. Gregory the Great reformed the Papacy and the structures of the Church, making it much more efficient, and at the same time also started a great missionary drive, sending out missionaries to places like England with St. Augustine of Canterbury, to Germany and other areas where the Church had not yet taken root.

He was also known for his great works of charity and compassion for the poor and the needy, showing great love for the others that Christ Himself has advocated and taught, making good of what the Lord entrusted to His Church to do. Through his efforts and works, the once neglected almsgiving and charitable works of the Church were reformed and strengthened, and in addition, he also worked famously on reforming the Church music, creating a systematic process and development that would later on give rise to the Chant that would bear the name of its initiator, that is the Gregorian Chant. It was through his works that Pope St. Gregory the Great helped to formulate the liturgical order of the Mass in Western Christendom, which eventually evolved to the Mass as we are familiar with today, both in the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms of the Latin Rite. Pope St. Gregory the Great continued to devote himself with great enthusiasm to the end of his life, and is indeed truly a great inspiration for all of us to follow.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we have heard from our Scripture readings today and discussed earlier, with what we have discussed about the life and examples of Pope St. Gregory the Great, let us therefore discern carefully our path forward in life so that we may continue to do our best for the greater glory of God and to proclaim His truth and Good News to more and more people, not just through our words but also through our genuine actions and our whole lives that are truly filled with sincere and genuine faith, through which we can then inspire many others to follow in our footsteps as well. And it is by doing all these that we can be truly faithful to the Lord, and not merely just paying lip service or being outwardly faithful but we are not truly genuinely filled with true faith in the Lord. May the Lord continue to strengthen us all and inspire us all to be ever more faithful to His cause, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 3 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 4 : 38-44

At that time, leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon. His mother-in-law was suffering from high fever, and they asked Him to do something for her. Bending over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately, she got up and waited on them.

At sunset, people suffering from many kinds of sickness were brought to Jesus. Laying His hands on each one, He healed them. Demons were driven out, howling as they departed from their victims, “You are the Son of God!” He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, for they knew He was the Messiah.

Jesus left at daybreak and looked for a solitary place. People went out in search of Him, and finding Him, they tried to dissuade Him from leaving. But He said, “I have to go to other towns, to announce the good news of the kingdom of God. That is what I was sent to do.” And Jesus continued to preach in the synagogues of Galilee.

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Wednesday, 3 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 51 : 10, 11

But I am as a green olive tree that thrives in the house of God : I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever.

I will praise You forever, for all You have done; and proclaim Your good Name before the faithful ones.

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Wednesday, 3 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Colossians 1 : 1-8

Paul, Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the saints in Colossae, our faithful brothers and sisters in Christ : Receive grace and peace from God, our Father, and Christ Jesus, our Lord. Thanks be to God, the Father of Christ Jesus, our Lord!

We constantly pray for you, for we have known of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of your love for all the saints. Indeed, you await in hope the inheritance reserved for you in heaven, of which, you have heard through the word of truth. This Gospel, already present among you, is bearing fruit, and growing throughout the world, as it did among you, from the day you accepted it, and understood the gift of God, in all its truth.

He who taught you, Epaphras, our dear companion in the service of Christ, faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, has reminded me of the love you have for me, in the Spirit.

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Tuesday, 2 September 2025 : 22nd 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 Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that in God we have our Hope and the Light that will dispel and drive out the darkness and evils surrounding us. We must not and should not be afraid of the forces of evil arrayed against us, and we have to do our best to live our lives in the manner that is truly worthy of God so that by our every actions, words and deeds, we will always proclaim the wonders, the love and the glory of God at all times. We should always seek to trust in the Lord and His Providence, doing our best to follow His path and teachings, becoming good role models and examples for everyone around us in doing so.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, those who belong to the Church of God in the city and region of Thessalonica in northern Greece today. In that passage we heard how St. Paul encouraged the faithful there who have been good and worthy in their way of live as Christians, in caring and showing love for one another, as well as in their warm welcome for the Apostle and his fellow missionaries. St. Paul encouraged the faithful in Thessalonica with the message of hope, reminding all of them that the Lord will eventually come and vindicate them in their good efforts and faithful life, even amidst the challenges and sufferings which they might have to face in their journey and life.

St. Paul mentioned clearly that what the Lord Himself desired is not our destruction and damnation, but for all of us to be saved and brought out from our fated destruction, and He willingly did all of these through His own Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Who has shown us all the love of God manifested most wonderfully through everything that He has delivered upon us and all the generous love which He has shown us, not just through words alone but also through genuine actions, in Him embracing the least and the worst among us, those who have been abandoned and ostracised even by their own fellow brothers, and ultimately, in what Christ Himself had done in taking up the Cross for our salvation.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important indeed that we should realise just how beloved we have been by the Lord that He has reached out to us with such great love that He has shown us through His Son, that He has  given us this most wonderful hope manifested in us by His most perfect and selfless love, His ultimate sacrifice on the Cross. For it was by that sacrifice that each and every one of us have been brought to a new Hope and assurance of eternal life, for all of us who are still in this world, and for all those who have departed from this world, everyone since the beginning to the very end of time. God will gather all of us to Himself and bring us into the eternal joy and happiness that He has promised and prepared for us.

Therefore, just as we have been reminded to have faith and trust in Him, we are reminded again of what we have ourselves heard from the Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel passage according to St. Luke the Evangelist, in which the story of the Lord’s ministry in the town of Capernaum in Galilee was highlighted to us. In that occasion, we heard how the Lord Jesus cast out the evil spirits and demons that had possessed a man there, and the evil spirits within him recognised the Lord and proclaimed publicly that Jesus is indeed the Holy One of God, the One Whom the Lord had sent into this world to bring about its salvation.

The Lord therefore showed His power and might, ordering the evil spirits to leave the possessed man behind, and those evil spirits obeyed, and the man was therefore healed from his condition. The people were astonished by the power and authority which the Lord Jesus had shown them, and how the evil spirits had to obey His words and leave the man. This no doubt brought about more people to come to believe in Him, and this had been recorded for us all so that we too may believe in the Lord, in His power and providence for us. God will not abandon us in our hour and time of need, and He will always be by our side, providing for us and strengthening us, being with all of us at all times.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, let us all continue to be faithful to the Lord at all times and in all circumstances. Let us all not be distracted in our efforts to follow Him ever more faithfully, and let us always strive to live lives that are truly worthy of Him. We should continue to do our part in every opportunities provided to us so that by our every actions we may always be attuned to the Lord our God, to His will and to the path which He Himself has shown and revealed to us, and we will continue to proclaim Him to all those whom we encounter in life, from our loved ones and friends, and even to those strangers and others whom we encounter daily in each and every moments.

May the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God continue to guide each and every one of us in His beloved and holy Church, all of us His beloved sons and daughters so that in each and all things that we say and do, in our every interactions with one another, we will continue to be ever more faithful and devoted to Him, and in our every day examples and actions, we will continue to do our very best to glorify Him by our lives. May God bless us all and our every efforts, works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 2 September 2025 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 4 : 31-37

At that time, Jesus went down to Capernaum, a town of Galilee, and began teaching the people at the Sabbath meetings. They were astonished at the way He taught them, for His word was spoken with authority.

In the synagogue, there was a man possessed by an evil spirit, who shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I recognise You : You are the Holy One of God.”

Then Jesus said to him sharply, “Be silent and leave this man!” The evil spirit then threw the man down in front of them, and came out of him without doing him harm. Amazement seized all these people, and they said to one another, “What does this mean? He commands the evil spirits with authority and power. He orders, and you see how they come out!”

And news about Jesus spread throughout the surrounding area.