Day: January 12, 2026

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Friday, 16 January 2026 : 1st 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 we should trust in the Lord and follow Him wholeheartedly instead of being entangled in ambitions, pressures and desires of this world, all of which can severely distract and keep us away from the path towards the Lord, which in truth is what we all should be focusing on in our lives. Unfortunately many of us are precisely being trapped in these tangle of web of worldly ambitions and power, all the allures of worldly glory and fame, all the things which have divided our attentions from the Lord and brought us all into disarray in our respective lives in this world because we trusted in our own strength, intellect and power more than we trust in God.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel the continuation of the story of the ministry of Samuel, whom God had made to be Judge and leader of all the Israelites, as well as a prophet. By the time frame of what we heard from today’s readings, Samuel was already old and had been the Judge and leader of the Israelites for a long time, but the same issue that happened with his predecessor Eli came back again in a similar way. Just as Eli’s two sons behaved wickedly and without fear of God in being corrupt and greedy, thus as we heard, the sons of Samuel were of the similar behaviour and manners as well. We heard then how the Israelites, their leaders and the whole assembly of the people all begged and even demanded Samuel to ask the Lord to give them all a king to lead and rule over them.

Their argument was that all of their neighbours and enemies were all led by lords and kings, while they alone were led by a Judge unlike those others. The kings and lords of that time, as is still to this day, were succeeded by their own sons and members of their family. Truly we can see the great irony in this demand, as the people of Israel had experienced not just once but more than once having Judges whose family members, especially children who behaved wickedly and unjustly, like that of the son of Judge Gideon, namely Abimelech, who declared himself king of Shechem and massacred his own many brothers and siblings in bitter plotting and rivalry for power. And as mentioned were also the cases of the sons of both Eli and Samuel who were wicked and unworthy of following in the footsteps of their fathers.

But the people were really stubborn and persistent and they demanded that their wishes were met, and no amount of persuasion and all the warnings which Samuel presented to them would change their minds and arguments as they kept on demanding to be led by a king who would rule over them and who would lead them to battle against their enemies. And despite all of these and stubborn attitudes, God still listened to the wishes of His people, and He gave them what they all wanted, as He chose one of them to be King to rule over all of them as the people of God, definitively bringing an end to the days of the Judges who have led Israel for probably a period of several centuries up to Samuel.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, in which the famous account of the healing of a paralysed man was told to us. In that occasion, a paralysed man was brought by his friends who literally climbed up the house that the Lord was in, and opened the roof of the house to lower the paralysed man right in front of the Lord Himself. And as we heard, the Lord had pity on the paralysed man and healed him saying that his sins had been forgiven. This immediately brought about a harsh criticism from the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were present there, all those who were quick to criticise the Lord because they refused to accept the fact that the Lord had the power and authority to forgive sins, and the dominion over all things.

The attitudes of those Pharisees and teachers of the Law were indeed lamentable because they allowed their preoccupation and obsession over human made laws and rules, their customs and traditions to overrule and to close their minds and hearts to the truth of God which the Lord Himself had brought into their midst. Those Pharisees and teachers of the Law put more trust in their own power and might, intellect and wisdom rather than to put their trust in God and in His Good News and truth, His Wisdom and Love which Christ Himself has shown. When God manifested His Love in the flesh and made it perfectly visible and tangible for all to experience, those people allowed their pride, greed and worldly ambitions to lead them astray.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, hence as we have listened to those words of the Sacred Scriptures and as we have discussed in depth through the things we have just talked about earlier on, we are reminded that we should put God’s truth and guidance above our own human wisdom, understanding and conventions. All of those things were what prevented many of the leaders of the people from doing what was right at both the time of the prophet and Judge Samuel, and also during the time of the Lord’s ministry in this world. The Israelites demanded that they ought to be granted a king to rule over them just in the manner of how the other states and nations were ruled, putting worldly customs snd ways above Divine guidance.

Similarly, as we have discussed, the attitudes of the Pharisees and the leaders of the people during the time of Jesus was motivated mostly by their refusal to let go of their pride, ego, greed and ambitions. It is therefore an important reminder for all of us that we should not fall into those same temptations and traps ourselves. We should indeed strive instead to put our faith and trust more in the Lord our God, in His Providence and in the ever wonderful and consistent love which He has always shown us. May the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God continue to be with us, journeying with us and strengthening us all in our resolve to live ever more faithfully as His good and devout followers, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 16 January 2026 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 2 : 1-12

At that time, after some days, Jesus returned to Capernaum. As the news spread that He was in the house, so many people gathered, that there was no longer room even outside the door. While Jesus was preaching the word to them, some people brought to Him a paralysed man.

The four men who carried him could not get near Jesus because of the crowd, so they opened the roof above the room where Jesus was and, through the hole, lowered the man on his mat. When Jesus saw the faith of these people, He said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now, some teachers of the Law, who were sitting there, wondered within themselves, “How can He speak like this, insulting God? Who can forgive sins except God?” At once, Jesus knew in His Spirit what they were thinking, and asked, “Why do you wonder? Is it easier to say to this paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your mat and walk?’ But now you shall know, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

And He said to the paralytic, “Stand up, take up your mat and go home.” The man rose and, in the sight of all those people, he took up his mat and went out. All of them were astonished and praised God, saying, “Never have we seen anything like this!”

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Friday, 16 January 2026 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 88 : 16-17, 18-19

Blessed is the people who know Your praise. They walk in the light of Your face. They celebrate all day, Your Name and Your protection lifts them up.

You give us glory and power; and Your favour gives us victory. Our king is in the hands of YHVH; the God of Israel is our shield.

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Friday, 16 January 2026 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Samuel 8 : 4-7, 10-22a

Because of this, all the chiefs of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel in Ramah. They said to him, “You are already old and your sons are not following your ways. Give us a king to rule over us as in all the other nations.”

Samuel was very displeased with what they said, “Give us a king to rule us,” and he prayed to YHVH. And YHVH told him, “Give to this people all that they ask for.” So Samuel answered those who were asking him for a king. He told them all that YHVH said to him, “Look, these will be the demands of your king : he will take your sons and assign them to his chariot and his horses and have them run before his chariot.”

“Some he will assign as commanders over a thousand men and commanders over fifty. Others will till his ground and reap his harvest, make his implements of war and the equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters as well to prepare perfumes, to cook and to bake for him. He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards and your olive orchards and give them to his officials.”

“He will take a tenth portion of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your menservants and maidservants, the best of your cattle and your asses for his own work. He will take the tenth of your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves. When these things happen, you will cry out because of the king whom you have chosen for yourselves. But by then, YHVH will not answer you.”

The people paid no attention to all that Samuel said. They insisted, “No! We want a king to govern us as in all the other nations. Our king shall govern us, lead us and go ahead of us in our battles.” Upon hearing all that his people said, Samuel repeated it to YHVH. But YHVH said to him, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

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Thursday, 15 January 2026 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paul the Hermit (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all gather together to reflect upon the words of the Lord that we have received from the Scriptures, we are reminded that all of us should put our faith and trust in the Lord, and we should always strive to obey Him and His words, His will, His Law and commandments. We should not do things in the manner that we decide by our own whim or ambition, or else it may likely cause difficulties and for us to lose our path and way amidst all the trials, challenges and obstacles that we may encounter in our respective paths in life. God has called on each one of us to follow Him and to trust in Him, to trust in His words and providence. God will never fail us and if we put our trust instead in worldly things, sooner or later we will realise that we will be disappointed by that decision.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel in which the story of how the Israelites went to battle against their great enemy, the Philistines, was told to us. We also heard how the Israelites were desperate after their defeats and tried to gain favour and advantage by bringing the Ark of the Covenant from Shiloh where it has been kept to the battlefield. In that occasion, we also heard of the two sons of Eli who was Judge of Israel, in which those two likely led the forces of the Israelites into battle as Eli was already very old at that time. For the context, Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas who led the Israelites in battle were wicked in their ways and actions, unbecoming of their position as priests and leaders of the people of God.

Those two were priests serving the people of God and yet, they kept the best of the people’s offerings for themselves while offering what were inferior to God, in contradiction to what the Lord had commanded them as His priests to do. This and other violations of the Law, and their wicked deeds have indeed been found wanting by God, and as such, just as we heard, the Philistines defeated the Israelites even as they brought their Ark of the Covenant with them, and those two wicked sons of Eli were slain. This was indeed a just retribution to all the wickedness and the sins which they had committed against God and His people alike, which led not just to the defeat of the Israelites but also the humiliating loss and hostage of their most precious Ark of the Covenant.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when a man suffering from leprosy came towards the Lord and asked Him to heal him, and it happened indeed that the Lord miraculously healed the man from his leprosy. At the same time, He also left strict instruction to the healed leper that he should immediately go to see the priest as prescribed by the Law of Moses and traditions, that he might be certified as being clean and healed from leprosy such that he might return back to the community. Back then, those who suffered from leprosy were not allowed to remain in the community and had to wander off in the wilderness, which was a result of the rules and laws that were practiced since the time of the Exodus when the Israelites were living in very close proximity to each other.

Therefore, those who suffered from leprosy and other contagious diseases were forced to leave the community until they were cured of the symptoms. And unlike what we may know about leprosy today, back then, all sorts of skin diseases were known and mentioned together as ‘leprosy’ and some were caused by fungal infection that were easily spread through direct or indirect contact, and were eventually curable. Regardless of what the man had actually suffered from, what mattered was that he sought help from the Lord and believed that He was able to heal him and make him to be rid of whatever it was that afflicted him. For that faith, he has been healed and made completely well again, and he must have indeed been very jubilant over it.

However, when the Lord instructed the man to not speak about the matter and the healing to anyone at all, he disobeyed the Lord and did not do as the Lord asked of him to do. But why is it that the Lord Jesus was so adamant about the man not letting anyone know about the way how he was healed by Jesus? That is likely because of various reasons, first of all the disease of leprosy being considered as taboo and unclean, and the fact that the leper had come to the Lord when he was still diseased would have made it taboo as well for the people to come near to the Lord, and hence, this led to difficulties in the Lord’s ministry, not considering also the oppositions and the unhappiness that the Lord faced from the Temple authorities, the chief priests and the Pharisees among others.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Paul the Hermit, also known by his epithet of St. Paul of Thebes. He lived during the third and fourth century in what was then Roman Egypt and reputedly lived through a long life, more than a century long and most of that long life was spent in a life of seclusion as a hermit, as one of the earliest known desert fathers, pre-dating even the more well-known St. Anthony the Abbot. It was told according to his hagiography that he and his sister lost their parents early on in their lives and their relatives cheated them out of their inheritance. Not only that but in his youth, St. Paul the Hermit had to face the effects of the intense persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Decius and his successor, Emperor Valerian. Consequently, he fled to the desert and lived in seclusion for quite a number of years in the beginning, but eventually he remained there for the rest of his life.

According to the same legend and hagiography, a raven would come each day bringing him food and provision, and St. Paul the Hermit remained in that life of seclusion, dedicated completely to prayer and meditation, inspiring others especially those who sought deeper relationship with God, purpose in life and disillusionment with earthly and worldly ambitions, desires and pursuits to come and follow his example. And as one of the first, if not the first person who adopted this kind of lifestyle, he was also known as ‘the first monk’, and his great personal holiness and piety served as an inspiration to many people long after he passed away. And while what he had done and chosen with his life is certainly not what most of us would ever consider, but we can indeed be inspired by the great commitment that this holy man of God had in focusing his attention wholly on the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we reflect upon the life and examples of St. Paul the Hermit, and also upon the readings of the Scriptures that we have received today, let us all seek to obey the Lord in all things, in obeying His will and in embracing what He has commanded and entrusted to us to do. Let us therefore be good and genuine Christians in all things, not just in words, but also in our every actions and deeds. May God bless our every good works and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 15 January 2026 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paul the Hermit (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Mark 1 : 40-45

A leper came to Jesus and begged Him, “If You want to, You can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to; be clean.”

The leprosy left the man at once and he was made clean. As Jesus sent the man away, He sternly warned him, “Do not tell anyone about this, but go and show yourself to the priest; and for the cleansing, bring the offering ordered by Moses in this way, you will give to them your testimony.”

However, as soon as the man went out, he began spreading the news everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter any town. But even though He stayed in the rural areas, people came to Him from everywhere.

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Thursday, 15 January 2026 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paul the Hermit (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Psalm 43 : 10-11, 14-15, 24-25

Yet now, You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies. You have let our enemies drive us back and our adversaries plunder us.

You have made us the butt of our neighbours’ insult, the scorn and laughingstock of those around us. You have made us a byword among the nations; they look at us and shake their heads.

Awake, o Lord! Why are You asleep? Arise! Reject us not forever. Why hide Your face from us? Why forget our misery and woes?

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Thursday, 15 January 2026 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paul the Hermit (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

1 Samuel 4 : 1-11

At that time Samuel was a prophet of Israel. The Israelites went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, while the Philistines encamped at Aphek. The Philistines then drew up in battle formation. They attacked Israel and after a fierce fighting, Israel was defeated, leaving about four thousand men dead on the battlefield.

When the troops retreated to their camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has YHVH allowed us to be defeated by the Philistines? Let us take the Ark of God from Shiloh and bring it here so that YHVH may be with us and save us from our enemies.” So the people sent messengers to Shiloh to take the Ark of YHVH Who is seated on the Cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, accompanied the Ark.

As soon as the Ark of YHVH entered the camp, the Israelites began to cheer so loudly that the earth resounded. The Philistines heard the shouting and asked, “What does this loud shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And they were told that the Ark of YHVH had been brought to the camp.

The Philistines were overcome with fear. They exclaimed, “A God has come into the camp. Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who can save us from the power of these mighty Gods? These are the Gods Who struck the Egyptians with all sorts of plagues – and in the desert. Take courage and conduct yourselves like men, o Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews in the same way they have been slaves to you. Be manly and fight.”

So the Philistines fought and Israel was defeated. Everyone fled to his home. It was a disastrous defeat; thirty thousand foot soldiers of Israel were killed. The Ark of God was captured and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.