bishops

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Friday, 20 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr, and St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Martyr, and St. Paul Chong Ha-sang and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Corinthians 15 : 12-20

Well, then, if Christ is preached as risen from the dead, how can some of you say, that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is empty, and our belief comes to nothing. And we become false witnesses of God, attesting that He raised Christ, whereas He could not raise Him, if indeed, the dead are not raised.

If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith gives you nothing, and you are still in sin. Also, those who fall asleep, in Christ, are lost. If it is only for this life, that we hope in Christ, we are the most unfortunate of all people. But no, Christ has been raised from the dead, and He comes before all those who have fallen asleep.

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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.

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Tuesday, 17 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, and St. Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops, Holy Virgins and Doctors of the Church)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened from the words of the Sacred Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded of the various gifts and talents, opportunities and blessings which God has granted to us, and we are reminded that all those things had been provided to us so that we may put them to good use in the various distinct opportunities and areas of our lives that we have been entrusted to by God. All of us should not squander these various gifts and blessings that He has given us but we ought to do our best to continue living faithfully in His Presence in this world, proclaiming His truth and love, His Good News and wonders by our every words, actions and deeds, in each and every moments of our lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Corinth, we are all reminded of the various gifts and graces that God had granted, and also the calling which He has made upon us so that we may follow the Lord in whatever missions and ministries that He has entrusted to each and every one of us, doing our part to reach out to those around us who may be in need of our help and guidance. St. Paul also spoke of the various gifts and areas where the faithful people of God could contribute their talents and abilities, as not everyone can be Apostles, prophets and teachers, and therefore each and every one of them should strive to do their best in whatever calling and missions that God had entrusted to them.

This is why it is a reminder for all of us that we should embrace our own respective calling and missions in life as faithful and dedicated Christians instead of competing with each other and desiring another mission or calling, or looking down or negatively on other forms of calling and ministry in our Christian efforts and endeavours in this world. We should not think that our own ministry, calling and commitments should be less important or even less prestigious and important than the other one, as each and every ministries, missions and vocations are equally important and distinct in their scope and impact on the people around us. Each and every one of us as the ones whom God had called and chosen to be His disciples and followers ought to understand this and strive our best to fulfil what He has commanded us to do.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke in which the Lord miraculously raised the dead only son of a widow in the town called Naim, where He had been going to minister. In that occasion, the Lord saw the great sorrow that the mother had for the death of her son as well as the sorrow of everyone else in that entourage. The Lord therefore showed His power and raised the dead man back to life, showing that He truly had the power over life and death. This astonished the people who were there and witnessed all the miraculous occasions, and we are reminded through this event that the Lord Jesus Himself obeyed the commandments and missions which His heavenly Father has entrusted to Him.

The Lord made good use of the power and authority granted to Him, obeying His Father in all things, becoming for us the perfect example of faith and obedience, doing all that He could so that by His works and efforts, He might indeed touch the lives of many of God’s beloved people, who have seen and experienced the love of God manifested in the flesh, in the person of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Through this great example, all of us are therefore reminded that we should always be willing to listen to God and to allow Him to guide us in our path, embracing everything that He has told us and entrusted to us to do. Each and every one of us have been given the mission to proclaim the Lord and His Good News, in each and every moments of our lives, and we should do our best to fulfil these, being active evangelisers and missionaries even in the smallest things.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of two great saints, whose lives and dedication to God can be source of great inspiration and strength for each and every one of us. They are St. Robert Bellarmine and St. Hildegard of Bingen. St. Robert Bellarmine was a Jesuit priest, and later an Archbishop and Cardinal who had been very influential in the era of Counter-Reformation, when the Church and Christendom were bitterly divided and afflicted by divisions due to the many heretical thoughts and radical ideas from the numerous Protestant reformers and others who did not obey the teachings of the Church, and sought to follow their own standards and ways instead of following the true teachings of the Church as they should have done.

St. Robert Bellarmine spent a lot of time as an educator in teaching theology and other Church ideals and teachings, to many of his students in various educational institutes, including his mentorship of many members of the clergy and bishops. He was then involved in the reforms of the Church as someone who helped to implement the decrees and decisions of the Ecumenical Council of Trent in rooting out corrupt and wicked practices done by the clergy and the laity alike in the Church. He opposed the then common practice of having bishops frequently not residing within their respective dioceses, among other irregularities and corruptions in the Church. His personal piety and dedication to God inspired many long after his passing.

Meanwhile, St. Hildegard of Bingen was someone who had always been attracted to monastic life and a life of dedication to God from her early years, and she eventually professed to be a religious nun, living her life in hermitage and isolation from the world. She spent a lot of time in prayer, receiving various visions that made her to be a renowned mystic, and she wrote rather extensively about her experiences. That was her gift and talents given to her by God, just as St. Robert Bellarmine was given the gift of intellect and passion for reform, as well as the opportunities to do so. And as we discussed earlier, each one of them made good use of those talents and opportunities, doing great works for the Lord and positively affecting their fellow brothers and sisters, and also the Universal Church.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our part to accomplish our respective mission and calling in life, to make good use of the gifts, talents, abilities and opportunities that the Lord has provided us. Let us all serve Him faithfully and be good role models, inspirations and examples for one another, doing all that we can to glorify Him by our lives, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 17 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, and St. Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops, Holy Virgins and Doctors of the Church)

Luke 7 : 11-17

At that time, a little later after Jesus healed the servant of a captain in Capernaum, He went to a town called Naim. He was accompanied by His disciples and a great number of people. As He reached the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; there followed a large crowd of townspeople.

On seeing her, the Lord had pity on her and said, “Do not cry.” Then He came up and touched the stretcher, and the men who carried it stopped. Jesus then said, “Young man, I say to you, wake up!” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

A holy fear came over them all, and they praised God saying, “A great Prophet has appeared among us; God, has visited His people.” The news spread throughout Judea and the surrounding places.

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Tuesday, 17 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, and St. Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops, Holy Virgins and Doctors of the Church)

Psalm 99 : 2, 3, 4, 5

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people, the sheep of His fold.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His Name.

For the Lord is good; His love lasts forever and His faithfulness through all generations.

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Tuesday, 17 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, and St. Hildegard of Bingen, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops, Holy Virgins and Doctors of the Church)

1 Corinthians 12 : 12-14, 27-31a

As the body is one, having many members, and all the members, while being many, form one body, so it is with Christ. All of us, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, have been baptised in one Spirit, to form one Body, and all of us have been given, to drink from the one Spirit. The Body has not just one member, but many.

Now, you are the Body of Christ, and each of you, individually, is a member of it. So God has appointed us in the Church. First Apostles, second prophets, third teachers. Then come miracles, then the gift of healing, material help, administration in the Church and the gift of tongues. Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Can all perform miracles, or cure the sick, or speak in tongues, or explain what was said in tongues? Be that as it may, set your hearts on the most precious gifts.

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Monday, 16 September 2024 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Cornelius, Pope and Martyr, and St. Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord being spoken to us through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that the Lord has given us truly great grace and wonderful blessings through His Son, by which He has granted us all not just His love and kindness, manifested in the flesh and having become tangible and approachable to us, but He also gave us all none other than His own Most Precious Body and His Most Precious Blood, which He willingly and generously gave to us all from His Cross, as He laid there suffering and dying, nailed to the Cross, by which He would save and redeem each and every one of us. Through His love and ultimate sacrifice, all of us have received the assurance of salvation, and we should indeed respond to His love with our faith and trust.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Corinth in which the Apostle spoke to them all about the moment of the Last Supper, which he himself had not attended or been present in, as he was then not yet a disciple of the Lord, but which the tradition of the Apostles and their witnessing of everything that had happened were passed down to the faithful, telling them all of everything that the Lord had said and done, and which He had commanded all of them to do, to commemorate His ultimate sacrifice on the Cross, and giving them the power and authority, through the Apostles and their successors, our bishops and priests, to offer the same sacrifice of Calvary and through union to that supreme moment of selfless love and sacrifice, giving to each and every one of us, the very Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord.

That is what our Holy Eucharist is all about, and our firm belief that God Himself has given His own Body and Blood for us all to partake, He Who called Himself as the Bread of Life and as the Lamb of God, Who has willingly allowed Himself to be persecuted and led to the slaughter, and by Whose suffering and death had opened for us all the gates of Heaven and the path to eternal life. He Himself has said that whoever partake of His Body and Blood will not perish but have eternal life with them, and that His Body is real food and His Blood is real drink, and the Eucharist that we have received from the hands of our bishops and priests are the exact same Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord. This is our core tenet and faith in the transubstantiation of the bread and wine, that while both the bread and wine may still appear and seem to be bread and wine in appearance, in taste and senses, but we believe that what we partake is the Lord Himself.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the account of the interactions between the Lord Jesus and an army centurion, also described as a Roman military officer. Regardless of the exact detail, it was certain that this officer was a high ranking and very well-respected man as at that time, being a Roman and a Roman military officer no less, was something of a very high stature and standing in the area. He did not just represent the powerful and mighty Roman Empire but he also led many of its soldiers, and he was rightly powerful and feared for his prowess, position and capabilities. And yet, this same Roman military officer came to the Lord humbly, seeking Him to help him with his very sick servant, and trusted in the Lord to heal that servant and make him whole again.

We heard how the Roman military officer had such great faith in the Lord that he told the Lord that he believed that his servant would be well again if the Lord just declared it to be, and he trusted and had faith in the Lord’s power in being able to heal his dear servant. He did not require the Lord to perform the miracle before His own eyes or for himself to witness everything in order for him to believe in the Lord. This is clearly a contrast with the attitudes of many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who kept on doubting and questioning the Lord Jesus even after they had heard Him many times and saw the miracles that He performed before them on many occasions as well. The Roman military officer also had the humility to tell the Lord that he was not worthy to welcome Him into his house.

This was because at that time, among the Jewish people it was considered taboo for a Jew to come and enter into the house of a non-Jew or Gentile or pagan, and for the Pharisees who interpreted the Law of God very strictly, it would have made them to be ritually unclean and defiled. In fact, it was kind of taboo and looked down upon for one to interact with a non-Jew or pagan at that time. Yet, that was what the Lord precisely had done, and the Roman military officer, likely aware of this custom, told the Lord humbly that he was unworthy to receive Him at his house not only because he knew the Lord to be One greater than he was, but he also likely wanted to prevent any misfortunes or difficulties to fall upon the Lord should He come to visit his house.

And this is precisely the attitude that all of us as Christians ought to have, and we should be inspired to follow in the footsteps of the Roman military officer who believed so wholeheartedly in the Lord that he did not have to see the miracle to believe in Him. Linking this to what we have just discussed earlier in the first reading today on the Institution of the Holy Eucharist and our core belief in the doctrine of transubstantiation, of the bread and wine that truly became the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord at every celebration of the Holy Eucharist in the Mass, let us all therefore believe in Him and in His Real Presence in the Eucharist wholeheartedly as well. And when we are shown the Lamb of God, the One Who has taken away the sins of the world just before we are about to receive Him into ourselves, let us repeat what the Roman officer had spoken with great faith, ‘Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed.’

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of two of the Lord’s great saints, namely that of Pope St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage. Both of them were great leaders of the Church, and as the important Church fathers and leaders, they had shown us all great examples of faith and dedication to God, that despite all the challenges and difficulties which they had to face, they continued to be exemplary in faith and trust in God. Pope St. Cornelius was the leader of the Universal Church during a turbulent time in its history in the middle of the third century, when both the Roman Empire was troubled with a lot of wars and conflicts, while the Church and Christian believers were persecuted heavily for their faith and belief in God. Meanwhile, St. Cyprian was the influential Bishop of Carthage in North Africa at around that same time.

Both of them had to face the various persecutions of the Church and Christian believers as well as the divisions within the Church caused by the followers of one Novatian, also known as Antipope Novatian, who was a popular preacher and priest that opposed the re-admittance of Christians who had lapsed from their faith through various reasons, but especially due to the intense persecutions which forced some of them to at least publicly offered sacrifices to the Roman pagan gods and idols. Pope St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian both argued strongly against the Novatianists, and when the latter chose to elect Novatian as an Antipope, both of them worked hard to restore unity in the Church and to care and guide their flock at the same time. They were martyred for their faith under the persecutions of the Roman Emperors, but their faith and dedication to the Lord lived on in their veneration for long after their passing.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the great examples of our holy predecessors and do whatever we can so that our lives may truly be faithful to God, and that we may truly have faith in Him, believing wholeheartedly in Him and trusting in His guidance and help in all the things that we say and do in our respective lives. May all of us continue to walk faithfully in God’s Holy Presence, and do our very best so that we may always glorify Him by our exemplary lives, our every words, actions and deeds, now and always, forevermore. Amen.