Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Psalm 146 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Alleluia! How good it is to sing to our God, how sweet and befitting, to praise Him! YHVH rebuilds Jerusalem; He gathers the exiles of Israel.
He heals their broken hearts and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of stars; He calls each of them by name.
The Lord is great, and mighty in power; His wisdom is beyond measure. YHVH lifts up the humble, but casts the wicked to the ground.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Isaiah 30 : 19-21, 23-26
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. When you cry, He will listen; when He hears, He will answer. When the Lord has given you the bread of anguish and the water of distress, He, your Teacher will hide no longer. Your own eyes will see Him, and your ear will listen to His words behind you : “This is the way, walk in it.”
He will then give rain for the seed you sow and make the harvest abundant from the crops you grow. On that day your cattle will graze in wide pastures. Your beasts of burden will eat silage tossed to them with pitchfork and shovel. For on the day of the great slaughter, when fortresses fall, streams of water will flow on every mountain and lofty hill.
The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven times greater, like the light of seven days, when YHVH binds up the wounds of His people and heals the bruises inflicted by His blows.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures presented to us, we are reminded that all of us are truly dear and beloved to God, and by the account of our faith, trust and hope in Him we have been assured of the Lord’s favour and providence, and if we continue to live our lives ever more faithfully, making our faith truly alive and truly growing in us, and not merely an outward expression or focusing on appearances, then the Lord Who sees all and knows all will indeed bless and provide us with everything that we need, and we will not lack anything because all things we need will be available for us, in God’s providence and care. Instead of worrying about how we are to live and what we will have, we should focus on trusting in the Lord and just do our best in each and every moments of our lives.
In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Rome, continuing from what we have heard in the past few days, of him exhorting the faithful there to continue to put their trust in God and to believe in Him regardless, and to be united as one Church of God despite all the forces that may seek to divide them all, to overcome the divisions due to their various backgrounds, with some among them coming from among the Jewish diaspora population in Rome, while others were converts from the non-Jewish or Gentile population in Rome, from the Romans themselves, Greeks and many others. Definitely there were some frictions and disagreements between them, but St. Paul told them all to overcome those differences and to remain truly faithful and centred on God.
And in today’s passage, we heard of the mention of how those who have obeyed and trusted the Lord, would be blessed by God and made worthy. The examples of Abraham and David were mentioned to us, particularly that of Abraham. Both were very revered figures in the history of the Israelites, as those who have had great faith in the Lord, and which St. Paul likely quoted to highlight his point on the importance of faith in one’s life as a Christian. Abraham trusted faithfully in God and followed Him even when he was not yet able to see the things that God had promised and reassured him with, and eventually by his faith and by the good actions and works that emanated from that faith, he received everything that he had been promised, even long after his passing.
Meanwhile, David also put his faith in God even through the most difficult moments in his life. When he faced the giant Philistine champion Goliath, he trusted in the Lord and not in the might of his own arms and armour. By God’s grace and guidance he managed to triumph against his enemy, and this happened again many more times throughout the entirety of his life, from being a young shepherd boy, to the slayer of Goliath, then to a fugitive from the court of Saul, King of Israel, and finally as King of Israel himself. David kept on believing in God and never lost faith in Him even through the most difficult times, and it is this faith which we ourselves ought to have in God as well, and we should inspire others around us to remain strong in their own faith as well.
Then, from the Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the Lord concluding His rebuke and criticism of the Pharisees, of the manner of how they had not been truly obedient to the Lord and how they had been wayward in their observation and their manner of practicing and enforcing the Law of God, which had been passed down to them and entrusted to them to teach and show the people on how they can live their lives more faithfully in God’s ways. Instead, the Pharisees had been hypocrites in their faith, placing heavy burdens on the people and on their condemnations of those whom they deemed to be inferior to them and to be unforgiveable sinners. And yet, God’s mercy and forgiveness were truly great and boundless, extended to everyone who seek for them.
God reassures His people through His Son, that His mercy, love and compassion are extended to all of them without exception, and He does not want any one of us to be lost to Him, as He has always been ever patient in caring for us and providing for us. Hence, we should always grow ever stronger in faith in Him and in our trust in the Lord’s Providence, knowing that we are more precious than anything else, and God will not purposefully abandon us to destruction and darkness. He has given us all the best benefits and the perfect gift through His own Son, and we should indeed appreciate everything that He had done for us, all the kindness and patience that He has shown us without exception, all the patient and generous love that He has always had for us, and this is what we are reminded of, that we should always be faithful to Him at all times.
Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Ignatius of Antioch, one of the earliest Church fathers and leaders of the Church, whose faith and dedication to the Lord was truly exemplary and great, and whose commitment and obedience, focus and emphasis on the Lord remains strong and firm despite his important position in the Church, as he led the flock entrusted to him with great zeal, courage and faith at all times. St. Ignatius of Antioch was one of the earliest Bishops of Antioch, as the successor of the Apostles, in being a disciple and follower of St. John the Apostle according to the Apostolic and Chruch traditions. He was also known as Theophorus, or God-Bearer, as according to some traditions, he was one of the children who had been brought to the Lord and blessed by Him.
St. Ignatius of Antioch dedicated himself to the well-being of his people, in spreading the Good News of God and the truth, love and hope that the Lord has revealed to His Apostles and disciples. Antioch was then one of the early and major centres of the Christian faith, and many people each day converted to the faith thanks to the efforts of the Apostles and their successors, including that of St. Ignatius of Antioch himself. St. Ignatius of Antioch courageously carried out his duties with great humility, and with great commitment and devotion, to be the Good Shepherd in managing the people of God and leading them to the right path. He was martyred during one of the persecutions of Christians running rampant at that time, but until the very end, St. Ignatius of Antioch has always remained firm in his conviction and faith in God, in serving Him all the time, throughout his life.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore remind each other of the great love of God for us, and how fortunate we have been to receive the great graces and blessings from Him. And we should not therefore not taken Him and His patient love for granted. Let us all continue to lead lives that are righteous and worthy of Him at all times, doing our best to lead more and more people towards Him, now and always, through our own exemplary lives and actions. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Luke 12 : 1-7
At that time, such a numerous crowd had gathered that they crushed one another. Then Jesus spoke to His disciples in this way, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered that will not be uncovered; or hidden, that will not be made known. Whatever you have said in darkness will be heard in daylight, and what you have whispered in hidden places, will be proclaimed from housetops.”
“I tell you, My friends, do not fear those who put to death the body and, after that, can do no more. But I will tell you Whom to fear : Fear the One Who, after killing you, is able to throw you into hell. This One you must fear. Do you not buy five sparrows for two pennies? Yet not one of them has been forgotten by God. Even the hairs of your head have been numbered. Do not be afraid! Are you less worthy in the eyes of God than many sparrows?”
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 31 : 1-2, 5, 11
Blessed is the one whose sin is forgiven, whose iniquity is wiped away. Blessed are those in whom YHVH sees no guilt and in whose spirit is found no deceit.
Then I made known to You my sin and uncovered before You my fault, saying to myself, “To YHVH I will now confess my wrong.” And You, You forgave my sin; You removed my guilt.
Rejoice in YHVH, and be glad, You who are upright; sing and shout for joy, You who are clean of heart.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Romans 4 : 1-8
Let us consider Abraham, our father in the flesh. What has he found? If Abraham attained righteousness because of his deeds, he could be proud. But he cannot be this before God; because Scripture says : Abraham believed God, Who took it into account, and held him to be a just man.
Now, when someone does a work, salary is not given as a favour, but as a debt that is paid. Here, on the contrary, someone who has no deeds to show, but believes in Him, Who makes sinners righteous before Him : such faith is taken into account, and that person is held as righteous.
David congratulates, in this way, those who become righteous, by the favour of God, and not by their actions : Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven and whose offences are forgotten; blessed the one, whose sin God does not take into account!
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that each and every one of us should always continue to have faith in the Lord our Saviour, in Jesus Christ, His Son, Who has manifested for us all the great and most enduring love of God, given to us in the most tangible, approachable form in Christ Himself. We should remember how fortunate and wonderful it is for all of us to have been beloved in such a manner by our Lord, that He has done everything that He could in order to bring us all out of the darkness of sin and the threat of eternal damnation, opening for us the sure path to eternal life and salvation with Him. And this is why we also need to continue to be faithful in the Lord even amidst all the trials and challenges that we may have to face in our paths, and continue to do what God has called us all to do in our respective lives.
In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Colossae in Asia Minor, where Turkey is today, we heard of the words of St. Paul greeting the faithful there and praying for them for their faith in God to be strengthened. Like the faithful in the region of Thessalonica that we have heard about in the past two weeks of Epistle readings, the faithful in Colossae, the Colossian Christians were also good and worthy in their way of living their Christian faith, and St. Paul commended them for their obedience to God and for their willingness to live in the manner that has been shown them by the Apostles and the missionaries, according to the Good News or the Gospels of Christ.
This is therefore also a reminder for each and every one of us living in this world today to continue to live up to our Christian faith in the best manner possible, to be ever more faithful and dedicated at all times, in everything that we are doing in life, even to the smallest and seemingly least significant of what we are doing, so that by all these things we will continue to walk faithfully in God’s Presence and do our best to glorify Him by our lives. After all, just as it was back during the time of the Apostles and the early Church when this Epistle to the Colossians was written, all of us as Christians living today are the examples and role models for one another, in how we live our lives with faith, just as the faith of the faithful in Thessalonica and Colossae inspired the other Christians, including even St. Paul himself, in wanting to do more to glorify God.
And we must realise that as much as our actions can inspire others to follow the Lord and as much as our faith can help others to be faithful and stronger in our devotion towards God, if we are not faithful in our way of life and even worse, act in manners that are contradictory to what our faith had taught us, then we may end up pushing more and more people from God and His salvation. Yes, this is indeed true, and there had been many examples in the past throughout the history of the Church where immoral and inappropriate behaviours of the members of the Church, including even those high in the Church hierarchy, even some amongst the Popes themselves, had led to great scandal against the Church that not only besmirched the Holy Name of God and His teachings, but also caused many to leave the Church and causing divisions in the Church. That is why, it is important that we must live our lives well in accordance to the way that the Lord had taught us.
Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the story of the time when the Lord Jesus came to visit the home of St. Peter the Apostle, then still known by his original name as Simon. Simon’s mother-in-law at that time was very sick and knowing that the Lord could miraculously heal many of those sick that had been brought to Him and having witnessed His miracles before, certainly they, especially Simon must have hoped that the Lord could also make his mother-in-law to be well again too. And the Lord did so, healing Simon’s mother-in-law and making her well again. But such deed was quickly known by everyone in the area, and very soon as we heard, many people brought to Him all their sick ones for Him to heal them all.
We then heard how the Lord Jesus then quietly slipped out of the great crowd when He was able to do so, and when the disciples came seeking for Him and asked why He had done so, He told them all that He still had a lot of responsibilities and missions to do in the other places. It was indeed easier for Him just to settle in that one place and receiving a lot of support and praise from everyone who welcomed Him and had been healed by His miracles, but the Lord had been sent to reach out to more and more people, including even those who would disagree with Him and refuse to believe in Him, and to them all, the Lord had been sent to reach out towards, and this was what He obediently do, in obeying the will of His Heavenly Father, and in this manner therefore, showing us all how we too should do the same, in obeying God’s will in all things.
Now, the Church today also celebrates the Feast of one of the most renowned saints of the Church, a great Pope and leader of the Universal Church of his time that had reformed greatly the Church especially in the Western parts of Christendom, and who was also very much involved in the efforts of evangelisation, in spreading the Word of God and the Good News to many parts of Christendom and even in the lands beyond in order to bring more and more people towards Christ and His salvation. Pope St. Gregory the Great has done many great contributions to the Church, and while he was born into a wealthy noble Roman family in the middle of the sixth century and brought up well in extensive education on philosophy, rhetorics, sciences, law and other areas, becoming a government official, eventually he chose to follow a monastic lifestyle after his father’s passing.
Eventually through his years as a monk and then rising through the Papal court as a Papal legate trusted by the Pope, involved in diplomacy and even theological disputes in which one particular episode against the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople himself gained him great renown among his supporters and notoriety amongst his critics and enemies, the future Pope St. Gregory the Great gained extensive experiences and insights from his works that would prove to be essential to the success of his many efforts and works when he was elected as Pope and successor of St. Peter the Apostle. As Pope, Pope St. Gregory the Great reformed the Papacy and the structures of the Church, making it much more efficient, and at the same time also started a great missionary drive, sending out missionaries to places like England with St. Augustine of Canterbury, to Germany and other areas where the Church had not yet taken root.
He was also known for his great works of charity and compassion for the poor and the needy, showing great love for the others that Christ Himself has advocated and taught, making good of what the Lord entrusted to His Church to do. Through his efforts and works, the once neglected almsgiving and charitable works of the Church were reformed and strengthened, and in addition, he also worked famously on reforming the Church music, creating a systematic process and development that would later on give rise to the Chant that would bear the name of its initiator, that is the Gregorian Chant. It was through his works that Pope St. Gregory the Great helped to formulate the liturgical order of the Mass in Western Christendom, which eventually evolved to the Mass as we are familiar with today, both in the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms of the Latin Rite. Pope St. Gregory the Great continued to devote himself with great enthusiasm to the end of his life, and is indeed truly a great inspiration for all of us to follow.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we have heard from our Scripture readings today and discussed earlier, with what we have discussed about the life and examples of Pope St. Gregory the Great, let us therefore discern carefully our path forward in life so that we may continue to do our best for the greater glory of God and to proclaim His truth and Good News to more and more people, not just through our words but also through our genuine actions and our whole lives that are truly filled with sincere and genuine faith, through which we can then inspire many others to follow in our footsteps as well. And it is by doing all these that we can be truly faithful to the Lord, and not merely just paying lip service or being outwardly faithful but we are not truly genuinely filled with true faith in the Lord. May the Lord continue to strengthen us all and inspire us all to be ever more faithful to His cause, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 4 : 38-44
At that time, leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the house of Simon. His mother-in-law was suffering from high fever, and they asked Him to do something for her. Bending over her, He rebuked the fever, and it left her. Immediately, she got up and waited on them.
At sunset, people suffering from many kinds of sickness were brought to Jesus. Laying His hands on each one, He healed them. Demons were driven out, howling as they departed from their victims, “You are the Son of God!” He rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, for they knew He was the Messiah.
Jesus left at daybreak and looked for a solitary place. People went out in search of Him, and finding Him, they tried to dissuade Him from leaving. But He said, “I have to go to other towns, to announce the good news of the kingdom of God. That is what I was sent to do.” And Jesus continued to preach in the synagogues of Galilee.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 51 : 10, 11
But I am as a green olive tree that thrives in the house of God : I trust in God’s unfailing love forever and ever.
I will praise You forever, for all You have done; and proclaim Your good Name before the faithful ones.
Liturgical Colour : White
Colossians 1 : 1-8
Paul, Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, and Timothy, our brother, to the saints in Colossae, our faithful brothers and sisters in Christ : Receive grace and peace from God, our Father, and Christ Jesus, our Lord. Thanks be to God, the Father of Christ Jesus, our Lord!
We constantly pray for you, for we have known of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of your love for all the saints. Indeed, you await in hope the inheritance reserved for you in heaven, of which, you have heard through the word of truth. This Gospel, already present among you, is bearing fruit, and growing throughout the world, as it did among you, from the day you accepted it, and understood the gift of God, in all its truth.
He who taught you, Epaphras, our dear companion in the service of Christ, faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, has reminded me of the love you have for me, in the Spirit.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 