Day: October 7, 2025

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Saturday, 11 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to follow the Lord faithfully and wholeheartedly, resisting the temptations to follow all the wickedness and the vile things in this world, all of which we are surrounded by, which may prevent us from truly being able to serve God faithfully as we all should have. As Christians, those whom God has called and considered to be His own beloved people, His chosen ones, each one of us ought to be good role models and examples for everyone whom we encounter in life such that we may help lead each one of them ever closer to God as we should have done. This is what we are all called to do as Christians, to embrace our calling to be good inspirations in faith to all around us.

In our first reading today, taken from the continuation of the Book of the prophet Joel, we heard of the words of the Lord presented to His people in the kingdom of Judah, to whom the prophet Joel had been sent to, calling on all of them to repent and turn away from their sins, which is much of what the prophet Joel had been sent for. Back then, the people of the kingdom of Judah had long erred in their ways and in disobeying God to the point that they had forgotten and ignored God’s Law and commandments, much like their neighbours in the northern kingdom of Israel. As a result, they faced a lot of hardships and troubles, having to endure defeats, conquests and humiliations, and Judah and Jerusalem themselves would be destroyed in the end. Another tradition and consensus placed Joel’s ministry after the destruction of Judah and the return of the people back to their homeland.

Nonetheless, the essence of what Joel presented to the people of God remained true after all, that they all ought to keep themselves away from their wicked ways and the temptations of the evils and desires of this world. The Lord is indeed so kind, loving and merciful, that in His great compassion He still cared for all those people who had sinned against Him and hardened their hearts against  Him that He still reassured them of His love and providence, and how He would once again bless them all, allowing them to rebuild and reestablish their lives and livelihood again. Indeed, if Joel’s ministry took place during the years after the Babylonian exile period, it would serve as a confirmation of everything which God has spoken repeatedly and promised through His many earlier prophets.

Then, from our relatively short Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we are reminded that obeying God, doing His will and walking in the path of His Law and commandments is what we have been called to do as those who believe in Him. This is an important reminder for all of us that amidst our very busy daily schedules, works and everything that we are often preoccupied with, we must never forget to anchor ourselves in the Lord and to remain firmly trusting in Him, putting God ever at the centre of our lives and in everything we do. This is what we are reminded of today, along with what we have heard earlier from the prophet Joel, of the need for all of us to continue to live our lives each day ever centred on God in all of our actions and activities.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of Pope St. John XXIII, one of the more recent Popes who have lived and reigned as the Pope, Supreme Pontiff and Vicar of Christ in the middle of the twentieth century, leading the Church through rapidly changing and turbulent times, and was especially well-known for his contributions in convoking the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, also known as the Vatican II Council. Through his examples, Pope St. John XXIII should indeed be a great role model and inspiration for all of us in how we all should live our lives as true and genuine Christians, in all the things that we say and do in life. He was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in a poor family of Bergamo in northern part of Italy today. Despite having been born into a poor family, the young Angelo Roncalli was brought up well in the faith by his devout parents.

Eventually the young future Pope St. John XXIII entered the seminary and after a period in formation, was ordained as a priest, in which he then experienced firsthand the challenges of the people and the workers then, under the tutelage of his mentor, Bishop Giocomo Radini-Tedeschi, the then Bishop of Bergamo, who was a champion of the rights of the workers at the time, and impacted the young Angelo Roncalli greatly, as he was Bishop Radini-Tedeschi’s secretary then, until the latter passed away. Then, the young priest experienced the ministry among the trenches and warfare during the First World War before being appointed as the Apostolic Delegate and representative of the Pope to Bulgaria, and ordained as a bishop in the years following the war.

The experiences of the earlier days Pope St. John XXIII in his years as Apostolic Nuncio to Bulgaria, and then Greece and Turkey, and finally Apostolic Nuncio to France greatly expanded his horizons and views of the world, its divergent and great variety of peoples and groups, and in his ability to negotiate and work with various parties and collaborators of the works of faith. In Bulgaria, he was instrumental in making bridges and connections with the separated brethren from the Orthodox Church, while during his tenure in France, he helped to repair the often tense relationship between the Church and the state. As Patriarch of Venice for several years, he would continue to do what he has always passionately and courageously done since his youth and earlier days as a priest, that is dedicating himself to his flock and all those who had been entrusted to him.

As Pope, Pope St. John XXIII devoted himself to many great works and efforts, in leading a reform to the Church, by convoking and announcing the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican as mentioned, helping to bring the Church, its practices and beliefs more up-to-date in responding to the challenges and the difficulties faced by the faithful due to the rapidly changing world and conditions. He was also instrumental in his efforts to bring about peace between the feuding superpowers in the Cold War, namely the United States of America and the Soviet Union, particularly during the intense crisis in Cuba that almost led the world to nuclear war and total destruction, publishing his Papal Encyclical, Pacem in Terris or ‘Peace on Earth’, calling upon peace between peoples and nations. To the very end of his life, Pope St. John XXIII continued to labour greatly for the Lord’s sake.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have discussed earlier in the words of the Scriptures, and in the reminders we have received where we need to put our faith and trust in the Lord, and obey His will, and as we have reflected upon the good examples and inspirations which Pope St. John XXIII had done in his life and ministry, let us all therefore be inspired to follow the good examples of this holy man of God, and strive to do our best to be the shining beacons of God’s Light in our own community, among our fellow family members, friends and circles, and even to all those whom we encounter in each and every moments of our lives, in even the smallest things we say and do, and in our every interactions with those whom we meet in life.

May God be with us always, and may He continue to strengthen each and every one of us as Christians, to be ever committed and obedient to God’s will, striving to make best use of everything which God has entrusted to us, to be His instruments that can make this whole world a better place once again, in God’s grace. May God bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 11 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Luke 11 : 27-28

At that time, as Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, “Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!”

Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”

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Saturday, 11 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Psalm 96 : 1-2, 5-6, 11-12

YHVH reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Clouds and darkness surround Him; justice and right, are His throne.

The mountains melt like wax before YHVH, the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His justice, all peoples see His glory.

He sheds light upon the upright, and gladness upon the just. Rejoice in YHVH, you, who are blameless; and give praise to His holy Name.

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Saturday, 11 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Joel 4 : 12-21

Rise up, o people, and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, nations. Bring a sickle for the harvest is ripe; come and tread, for the wine press is full, and the vats overflow; so great is their wickedness! Multitudes and more multitudes in the Valley of Verdict! The day of YHVH is near in the Valley of Verdict! The sun and the moon become dark, the stars lose their radiance.

YHVH roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth are shaken. Indeed, YHVH is a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the Israelites. You will know that I am YHVH, your God, dwelling on Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be a holy place; and foreigners will never pass through there again.

On that day, the mountains shall drip wine and the hills flow with milk; all the streams of Judah will run with water; and a fountain will spring from the house of YHVH, and water the valley of Shittim. On the other hand, Egypt will be devastated; and Edom will become a deserted wasteland, because they committed violence against Judah and shed innocent blood in their country.

But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem through all generations. And I shall avenge their blood and not leave it unpunished, for YHVH dwells in Zion.

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Friday, 10 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

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 not be divided against each other, be in strife against our fellow brothers and sisters because of our pride and ego, which can prevent us from truly working with each other in the manner that God has wanted us to do. Each and every one of us as Christians need to put our faith and trust in the Lord at all times, and remind ourselves to be ever willing to listen to the words of those whom God may have sent into our path to remind and strengthen us in faith. We must always be humble in all things and we should not allow ego and pride to prevent us from listening to the Lord speaking to us especially through those who are around us.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Joel, we heard of the words of the Lord to His people, the people of Israel and their descendants in the land of Judah and beyond. According to Scriptural evidence and other historical perspectives, the prophet Joel had been sent to the people of Judah and the descendants of the Israelites either before the years of their exile in Babylon, or a century or so afterwards. Regardless of the exact timing of the prophet Joel’s ministry, what is truly important is that through the prophet Joel, the Lord reminded His people of the need for them to turn once again towards Him with faith and to repent from their many sins, and also His reassurances to them that He would always be with them, and He would bless them again generously as He had always done.

Through what we have heard from the Book of the prophet Joel today, we heard the moment when Israel was restored once again to grace, after they had faced all the humiliations of their years in exile and in dishonour, losing their own homeland and having their cities and the Temple that King Solomon had once built for the Lord. A new Temple was indeed established and rebuilt, and everything were restored once again to good order just as before. The Lord had promised His people that He would always be with them even through their hardest and darkest moments, and He did just that, fulfilling everything that He had promised to them. And it is in all of these that we should continue to trust in the Lord and to put our faith and hope in Him, even through our most difficult and challenging moments in life.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the accusation that some among the people, made against Jesus, which according to historical evidence and Scriptural context, likely originated from among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, many of whom often followed the Lord and made critical comments against Him throughout those works and ministries. And in this particular occasion, the Lord was accused by those people of having colluded with the prince of demons named Beelzebul in His performance of exorcism among the people that brought those who had been possessed by evil spirits. The Lord showed His power and authority, casting out all those evil and wicked spirits, truly the clear sign that He was indeed the promised Messiah or Saviour from God.

However, the religious and intellectual elites of the community of the people of God, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law among them had a rather rigid and elitist attitudes pertaining to this matter, and they often disagreed and even quarrelled with the Lord, debating with Him on His different way of practicing the faith, and in their disagreements, this often led to the rather bitter debates between them and the Lord, and culminating in this kind of very unkind accusation that they had made against the Lord, alleging falsely before the others that the Lord had colluded with the prince of demons in doing His miracles and signs, whereas the evidences clearly pointed out that the Lord had done it by His own power, the power of God Himself manifested in His Incarnate Son, and which the prophets themselves had spoken about.

The irony is such that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were the ones who should be more knowledgeable about the Lord’s coming, of the miracles and signs that He would be performing before the people. Yet, it was their own pride and ego that became their own undoing, as their ego made them to harden their hearts and minds against the Lord, Who had always patiently tried to reach out to them, to dialogue with them and to reveal to them the same truth that He has delivered to His people. They thought that they were superior to others around them, better and more worthy of God’s grace and salvation, even to the point of looking down on and despising those whom they deemed to be sinners and unworthy of God, like the tax collectors and prostitutes.

And before we are quick to point the fingers to blame the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law for being such stubborn and troublesome obstacles in the Lord’s works and ministry, let us all examine our own attitudes and way of life ourselves first, and let us all see if our own words, actions and deeds have also been just like those Pharisees and any others who have hardened their hearts and minds against the Lord. Have we allowed our pride and ego, our hubris and sense of self-importance to close the doors of our hearts and minds against God, and against all those through whom God is trying to speak to us and reach out to us? This is something that we ought to carefully reflect and consider so that we do not end up doing actions that cause harm to the unity of the Church and also to the salvation of souls.

Throughout history, there had been lots of instances where people ended up losing their faith in God and leaving the Church altogether because of the unbecoming and irresponsible attitudes and actions of those within the Church. And this happened even to those who are closest to us, those whom we thought would have kept us strong in the faith, and yet, because of pride and ego, disagreements and stubbornness, we ended up causing rifts and divisions to exist within the Church and among the faithful people of God. Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all do our best to overcome our differences and learn to work together, being ever reminded that none of us are perfect or more worthy than others. May the Lord continue to guide each and every one of us in our mission so that we may continue to journey faithfully and courageously towards Him in each and every moments in our lives. Amen.