Christmas

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Saturday, 6 January 2024 : Weekday of Christmas Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 5 : 5-13

Who has overcome the world? The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus Christ was acknowledged through water, but also through Blood. Not only water but water and Blood. And the Spirit, too, witnesses to Him for the Spirit is truth.

There are then three testimonies : the Spirit, the water and the Blood, and these three witnesses agree. If we accept human testimony, with greater reason must we accept that of God, given in favour of His Son. If you believe in the Son of God, you have God’s testimony in you.

But those who do not believe make God a liar, since they do not believe His words when He witnesses to His Son. What has God said? That He has granted us eternal life and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life, the one who do not have the Son of God do not have life.

I write you, then, all these things that you may know that you have eternal life, all you who believe in the Name of the Son of God.

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Friday, 5 January 2024 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to celebrate the joy of this Christmas season, we are all constantly being reminded through the Scripture readings we heard today of the love and examples shown by the Lord and how all of us should be inspired by that Love, which God has always shown us all the time. We are reminded that we should walk in this path of love and as Christians, it is important that our every actions, words and deeds, our every interactions are always filled with love and compassion, kindness and God’s grace. Love is always the hallmark of what being a Christian is all about, because without love, then whatever we do in this life, all become meaningless and empty.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. John in which the Apostle reminding the faithful to be always committed to the path of God’s love and righteousness, and in which the examples and comparisons to Cain, one of the first among the race of mankind, was made. Contextually, Cain was one of the sons of Adam and Eve, the first ones that God had created, and he was the eldest, while his brother Abel, was younger. If we recall from the Book of Genesis, in the story of Cain and Abel, Cain struck down his own brother out of jealousy, anger and hatred, when his offerings, made not out of true love and obedience to God, was rejected while Abel’s offering was accepted by God. Cain became angry at Abel, and eventually, he killed his own brother.

Cain and Abel’s story are reminders for us that hatred can indeed be very dangerous, as it can quickly escalate and lead to very unfortunate events such as what happened to Cain in his murder of his own flesh and blood, his own brother. St. John reminded and exhorted all the faithful people of God that they must always remain in the path of love, and do not let the corruption of evil and sin to mislead them down the path of destruction. He reminds us all that unless we have love in us, then we cannot be truly good, faithful and worthy disciples of the Lord. He used the example of the rich man who enjoyed the bounties and good things of the world, but who did not move a hand to help out someone who is suffering, which is an example of selfishness and lack of love.

This is what we must be careful about, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we do not end up allowing all the pleasures, comforts, glory, fame and other attachments found in our world today from leading us down the path of disobedience and sin. We must learn to turn away from worldly desires, from our greed and ego, our pride and ambition, all of which may become serious stumbling blocks in our path towards righteousness in God. We must always be ready to resist the many temptations which may threaten to bring us into the wrong paths in life, in following the whim of our own personal ambitions and desires, all of which may lead us to cause hurt and sufferings on others, or to commit acts that bring us in direct violation of God’s Law and commandments.

In today’s Gospel passage, we then heard of the moment when the Lord called Nathanael to be one of His disciples. This Nathanael was also known as Bartholomew, and he would become one of the Twelve Apostles. As we heard from that Gospel passage, the Lord called Philip, another one of His Twelve Apostles, at Bethsaida to follow Him, and Philip then told Nathanael about the Lord, telling him how Jesus was indeed the One prophesied and promised to be the Saviour of the world, the One of Whom the prophets had spoken about. Nathanael, as a wise and learned person, aware and well-versed in the Law and the Prophets, doubted that the Lord Jesus was indeed the Saviour of the world, because He had come from the region of Galilee.

But the Lord then revealed His great Wisdom and knowledge to Nathanael, telling the latter that He knows everything about him and He knows of what he has been doing, and thus, Nathanael believed in the Lord, and decided to follow Him henceforth. The Lord revealed everything that He has planned to do to all of His disciples, and through them to us in the Church, and that was how we have received the wonders of God’s love, His truth and Good News, which He has brought upon us through Jesus Christ, His Son, Whose birth and coming into this world leads into the love of God being manifested in our world today, manifesting in the Person of the Child Jesus, Who in time went on to reveal all the things just as He had done so with Nathanael. The Lord told us all to obey His Law, that is the Law and commandments of Love.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, since we have received the love of God most generously shown to us in Jesus Christ, and since He has told us all to love one another just as much as we love the Lord and ourselves, let us all therefore as Christians, immerse ourselves deeply and thoroughly in God’s love, and strive to show genuine and generous love at all times, love that is selfless, pure and compassionate from our hearts, just as how the Lord has loved us all these while. It is in our love for one another, our loving actions and deeds, our caring words and compassionate ways towards our fellow brothers and sisters all around us that we can truly be faithful and good Christians, not just in mere words or formality, but truly in all things, in our hearts and minds.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Creator, therefore be with each and every one of us, and may He empower us all that we may always be full of love and compassion, and be protected and kept from all sorts of hatred, evils and anger. Let us all be truly loving in all of our ways, be loving towards God and our neighbours, our fellow brethren, so that we may truly show the world what it means to be Christians, to be loved by God and to love all, with all our hearts. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 5 January 2024 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 1 : 43-51

The next day, Jesus decided to set off for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the One that Moses wrote about in the Law, and the prophets as well; He is Jesus, Son of Joseph, from Nazareth.”

Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, He said of him, “Here comes an Israelite, a true one; there is nothing false in him.” Nathanael asked Him, “How do You know me?” And Jesus said to him, “Before Philip called you, you were under the fig tree, and I saw you.”

Nathanael answered, “Master, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” But Jesus replied, “You believe because I said, ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ But you will see greater things than that. Truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened, and the Angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

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Friday, 5 January 2024 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

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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Friday, 5 January 2024 : Weekday of Christmas Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 3 : 11-21

For this is the message taught to you from the beginning : we must love one another. Do not imitate Cain who killed his brother, for he belonged to the Evil One. Why did he kill him? Because he himself did evil and his brother did good.

So, be not surprised, brothers if the world hates us; we love our brothers and sisters, and with this we know that we have passed from death to life. The one who does not love remains in death. The one who hates his brother is a murderer, and, as you know, eternal life does not remain in the murderer.

This is how we have known what is love is : He gave His life for us. We, too, ought to give our life for our brothers and sisters. If anyone enjoys the riches of this world, but closes his heart when he sees his brother or sister in need, how will the love of God remain in him? My dear children, let us love not only with words and with our lips, but in truth and in deed.

Then we shall know that we are of the truth and we may calm our conscience in His presence. Every time it reproaches us, let us say : God is greater than our conscience, and He knows everything. When our conscience does not condemn us, dear friends, we may have complete confidence in God.

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Thursday, 4 January 2024 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that Christ our Lord is our focus and right direction in life, and not all the other temptations and falsehoods all around us. We must not easily be swayed by the many pressures of worldly things and matters, and all the attachments we may have to such things, which may easily lead us down the wrong path to our downfall and destruction. This is why all of us must always be reminded of our obligations to Christ our Lord, and do whatever we can so that by all of our actions and deeds we will always walk in God’s Holy Presence and we will continue to glorify God by our exemplary lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. John, the Apostle spoke to the faithful of the need for everyone to be truly committed to the path of Christ, that is the path of righteousness and virtue, rejecting the path of disobedience that leads to sin. St. John exhorted all the faithful people of God to stay away from the path of the devil, and strive their best to follow the path of Christ, the Son of God, Who has been manifested in our world through His Incarnation and coming into our midst, born a Man through the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, which therefore allowed us all to experience firsthand the love of God that had been made tangible to us in Jesus. We have heard His teachings, known about His works and wonders from those who had experienced them firsthand, the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord, who passed their knowledge to us through the Church.

This must be understood in the context of why St. John wrote such a reminder in the first place. In other parts of the same Epistle, St. John also warned the faithful about the presence of antichrists, false prophets and false leaders who could mislead many among the faithful into walking down the path of evil and sin, by showing paths and ways of life that were contrary to what the Lord had shown and taught them. Many of those false leaders and guides sought to change the teachings of God and mislead the faithful to the wrong paths. Such is the path of the devil, the path of disobedience which leads to sin, and from sin into damnation and eternal destruction. But the Lord has sent us all His Son, so that all of us who believe in Him, may not fall into the same wrong paths that the devil has been busy trying to mislead us into.

Through Christ, the Lord has gathered us all back into His Presence, calling upon all of us to follow Him and to walk in His path once again. The Lord Jesus through His coming into this world, as He revealed unto us the wonders of God’s love and the truth which He has given us, wanted us to know that the path of the devil is the path to oblivion and destruction, and He planted in us all the seeds of faith, hope and love, the seeds of His Good News, by which all of us have been made to be the adopted children of God. This is a reference to the Church of God and all of us who have been made part of this Church, gathered and baptised all in the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, with the Lord calling us all to be part of His one Body, and bestowing on us the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the same calling echoed through the words of St. John the Baptist, who told and exhorted his own disciples to follow the Lord Jesus. At that time, Jesus came to St. John the Baptist who was busy baptising many people at the River Jordan, asking for St. John to baptise Him. St. John recognised Who the Lord was, and told Him that it was he who needed to be baptised instead. The Lord told St. John the Baptist to carry out things as it should be, and after His Baptism, the Heavens opened, with the voice of the Father and the Holy Spirit like a Dove descending upon the Son of God, and hence, affirming Who Jesus truly is. Thus, St. John the Baptist pointed out to his own disciples that the Lord is the Lamb of God, Whom they should be following.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that was exactly what the role of St. John the Baptist had, as he directed everyone towards Christ, the Saviour of the world. He did what was entrusted to him, and unlike all those false prophets and leaders, who served their own selfish interests and desires, St. John the Baptist was perfectly happy and satisfied to see his Lord and Master, Whose coming he had prepared and laboured for, prospering and gaining more and more followers. St. John the Baptist did not become jealous or envious at what the Lord had done and achieved, and he did not seek glory and greatness for himself. This was what set him apart and made him different from all those false leaders and false prophets who were rampant, in their pursuits of worldly agenda and glory, and in leading the people of God not to Him but to themselves.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all continue to progress through this joyous season of Christmas, let us always be focused on Christ and centre all of our celebrations and rejoicing on Him. Let us all not be easily distracted by all sorts of worldly pleasures and ambitions, temptations and the allures of worldly glories, that we do not end up falling into the wrong paths set before us by the devil and all those who sought our downfall and destruction. Let us all as Christians be great examples and role models for one another as we all carry on living our lives each day in our world today. Let us all be the faithful, good and worthy bearers of the light and hope of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, at all times.

May God be with us always, and may He continue to bless us and empower us all so that we may always be filled with His Wisdom, strength and the Holy Spirit, in enduring the challenges and trials of life, and in being ever faithful and committed to Him, and not being swayed by worldly temptations and the allures of worldly glory. Amen.

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Thursday, 4 January 2024 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 1 : 35-42

On the following day John was standing there again with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and said, “There is the Lamb of God.” On hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. He turned and saw them following, and He said to them, “What are you looking for?”

They answered, “Rabbi (which means Master), where are You staying?” Jesus said, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where He stayed, and spent the rest of that day with Him. It was about four o’ clock in the afternoon.

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard what John had said, and followed Jesus. Early the next morning he found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means the Christ), and he brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John, but you shall be called Cephas” (which means Rock).

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Thursday, 4 January 2024 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 97 : 1, 7-8, 9

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

Let the sea resound and everything in it, the world and all its peoples. Let rivers clap their hands, hills and mountains sing with joy before the Lord.

For He comes to rule the earth. He will judge the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.

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Thursday, 4 January 2024 : Weekday of Christmas Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 3 : 7-10

My little children, do not be led astray; those who do what is right are upright, just as Jesus Christ is upright. But those who sin belong to the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning.

This is why the Son of God was shown to us, He was to undo the works of the devil. Those born of God do not sin, for the seed of God remains in them; they cannot sin because they are born of God. What is the way to recognise the children of God and those of the devil? The one who does not do what is right is not of God; so, too, the one who does not love his brother or sister.

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Wednesday, 3 January 2024 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, which is a truly timely and proper celebration considering that we are still in the middle of the Christmas season, in which we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Himself, the Son of God Most High, incarnate in the flesh and appearing before all of us, as the perfect manifestation of God’s Love. On this day we honour and remember this Name which has been revealed to us, through the Archangel Gabriel, who revealed the Name of Our Lord and Saviour to Mary, the Lord’s Mother, to be the Name which is above all the other names, a Name by which all of us mankind are to be saved and liberated from all of our sins and bondage.

Today we focus on the importance of why the Most Holy Name of Jesus is so crucial for us all and how it is related to Christmas. It is because through His Incarnation, the Lord Himself has adopted our human existence, and as He has been born as a Child as all of us are, therefore, He has been given a name, just as Adam and Eve, our first ancestors had been given names by the Lord, and all of us ever since, in our own languages and terms. This is because it is by our name that we are known and called by others, and it is therefore by having been given a Name, the Lord may be known to us and revealed fully in His love and kindness. Through the Most Holy Name of Jesus, all of us have been liberated and freed from all bondage of sin and death.

Now, the Lord actually does have a Name, as if we read through the Old Testament and know about the history of the Israelites and how they perceive God, the Lord God was known as YHVH or Yahweh, also known as Tetragrammaton. This Holy Name of God was not meant to be pronounced or uttered, as it was considered a taboo for anyone to utter it, in any occasion. The only person who could utter the Holy Name of God was only the High Priest, and even so, he could only utter the Holy Name of God on a particular occasion in the year, as he entered into the Holy of Holies to meet with the Lord and be in His Presence. This is also related to the Third Commandment of the Ten Commandments that God had given to the people of Israel, which is ‘Keep holy the Name of the Lord’.

This is related to just how holy and mighty the Lord is, and how He has been perceived throughout the Old Testament, that even His Name cannot be uttered by us mankind, because of the sins we have committed which made us to be unworthy and separated from His love and grace. However, this is where then what the Lord had done for us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, has made Himself more available and approachable to us. How is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because by Him adopting our human flesh, nature and existence, He has come into our midst, becoming tangible, real and approachable to each and every one of us. His Name, Jesus, which the Archangel Gabriel revealed to Mary, is therefore a Name that we all can call, as the Name of Our Lord and Saviour, the Name in Whom we all hold on to hope for salvation in God.

Yet, while the Name of Jesus, unlike God’s Name in the Old Testament, is a Name that we can invoke, call upon and relate, or utter in our daily lives, at the same time, we must also not forget that this is still the Holy Name of God that we must always honour and respect above all and every other names, and which we should accord respect and honour even greater to the honour and respect that we give to ourselves. Why is that so? That is because through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, God had endeavoured to reach out to us and to bring us all to His redemption. God did not want us to be separated from Him, and hence, He gave us all His beloved Son, Jesus, by Whose Name all of us have received the assurance of eternal life and redemption.

We are all reminded that we all should appreciate and use the Name of Jesus with proper respect, honour and decorum, and not to utter or call His Name in vain. We must not be misusing the Lord’s Name or taking Him for granted, just as how many of us often take His Name lightly, and in some cases, even using His Name in curses and profanities, which are definitely not appropriate at all. One of the reason why people are losing their faith in God is because we have lost the sense of sanctity of God in our lives today, and this happened exactly because we have chosen to treat Him with disdain and did not honour and respect Him as we should have, and when we treat His Name without proper decorum and understanding just how powerful His Name is.

As St. Paul said in our second reading today, in his Epistle to the Philippians, that this is the Name by which all the knees of those in the Heaven, on earth or below the earth, in the underworld, essentially in all Creation and all of the Universe, shall bend, kneel and prostrate themselves. Even the devil, our great enemy, Satan the deceiver had to subject himself to the power of God, and in the Most Holy Name of Jesus is indeed among the most powerful weapon we have against Him, because through the Most Holy Name of Jesus, all those who seek to oppose us, shall be conquered, vanquished and defeated. This is why we must never take the Lord’s Holy Name for granted and we have to honour and respect it, as truly befitting our Lord, Master and King.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore put our hope and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, ever being reminded that in Him alone there is hope in the darkness of our world, and in His Name alone there is healing, liberation and freedom from the darkness of evil and sin. Let us all therefore strive to do our best in loving God and in entrusting ourselves to Him so that in everything that we all say and do, we will always be aligned to the Lord and His path, and continue to walk ever more righteously and with commitment to Him, at all times. May God bless us always and may He empower us all, to live in His Presence, entrusting ourselves to His Most Holy Name, now and forevermore. Amen.