Church fathers

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Saturday, 24 August 2024 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 144 : 10-11, 12-13ab, 17-18

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your power.

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endures from generation to generation.

Righteous is YHVH in all His ways, His mercy shows in all His deeds. He is near those who call on Him, who call trustfully upon His Name.

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Saturday, 24 August 2024 : Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Revelations 21 : 9b-14

And one of the seven Angels who were with the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues said to me, “Come, I am going to show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

He took me up, in a spiritual vision, to a very high mountain, and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, from God. It shines with the glory of God, like a precious jewel, with the colour of crystal-clear jasper. Its wall, large and high, has twelve gates; stationed at them are twelve Angels. 

Over the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. Three gates face the east; three gates face the north; three gates face the south and three face the west. The city wall stands on twelve foundation stones, on which are written the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

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Tuesday, 13 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded that each and every one of us should be willing to listen to God, to heed His words and the calling which He had made to us in each and every moments of our lives, as He has constantly done so, in reaching out to us and calling on us to return to Him and to embrace His love and grace once again. It is by our disobedience that we have fallen into sin and therefore been sundered from the fullness of God’s grace and love, and therefore that is why we have to wander and suffer in this world, as consequences of our rebelliousness and disobedience. But God truly did not wish for our destruction and damnation, and He truly wants each and every one of us to be reconciled and reunited with Him, and that is why He has always provided us with the means, help and guidance in order to do so, and we should heed what He has told and reminded us of.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel in which the continuation of the vision of the prophet Ezekiel which he received from God was told to us. We heard how in that vision, the prophet Ezekiel was tasked to speak to the people of Israel, the people of God, in order to remind them of the words that the Lord wanted to share with those people, the lamentations, the groaning and the woes which He had for them, for all of their stubbornness and unwillingness to listen to His words, despite everything that He had done for them. It was their own wickedness and disobedience, their refusal to follow the path that God has set before them which led them to their then predicament and hardships, as they were enduring exile and sufferings far away from the lands that they had been uprooted from, the lands of their ancestors.

Yet, God still cared for them and loved them nonetheless, and He reached out to them through His many prophets and messengers with this specifically in mind. God loved His people, each and every one of them, and He sent them prophets like Ezekiel and many others so that they might recognise their errors and wickedness, and embrace once again the path of God’s righteousness and virtues. And not only that, but He even sent us all, His most beloved Son, His only Begotten One, Jesus Christ, Son of God, the Divine Word Incarnate to manifest to us His ever enduring and present love, and as our loving and Good Shepherd, He wants us all to be found and gathered from this world, each and every one of us, the lost sheep of the Lord’s flock.

In our Gospel passage today, this is what we have heard from the Lord Jesus Himself, Who told His disciples the folly of their debates and their struggles with each other to determine who among them was truly the greatest and the first among the disciples of the Lord. He told them all that they ought to have the faith like that of little children because it is this kind of faith which is truly pure and genuine, not tainted and corrupted by the desires of the world, truly loving God and committing oneself to follow Him wholeheartedly instead of being so immersed and preoccupied by worldly matters and desires that we end up forgetting our true and most important mission in life as Christians, that is to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts and might, and to love one another in the same way as well.

The Lord then also reiterated this love which He has for each and every one of us. He told His disciples using the comparison with that of a shepherd and owner of the flock who would leave behind his ninety-nine safely accounted flock of sheep to seek for the one that had been lost to him. This is a representation and reminder to every one of us of just how beloved we are by the Lord and how precious we truly are to Him, that God will not let any one of us to be lost to Him. He will always show us His patient love and mercy, reaching out to us ever consistently and patiently to bring us out of the darkness into the light of His salvation and grace. That is why we all should heed His love and appreciate just how blessed all of us are to have been beloved in such a manner by our loving God, our Shepherd and Father.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus, two saints whose lives and commitments to the Lord, actions and examples have been great inspiration for each and every one of us. Pope St. Pontian was the leader of the Church at the time when the Church and Christians throughout the Roman Empire was persecuted for their faith in God, during the tumultuous years of the upheavals that were also facing the Roman Empire in that era. Pope St. Pontian and his predecessors, Pope St. Callixtus I and Pope St. Urban I also faced internal divisions and challenges such as from St. Hippolytus, whose feast we are also celebrating today. This St. Hippolytus, also known as St. Hippolytus of Rome, had been elected as a rival Pope or Antipope over the controversy of the Pope’s decision to extend absolution and forgiveness to Christians who have committed grave sins.

St. Hippolytus was among those who advocated rigorism and stricter attitudes against those Christians who have committed serious and grave sins such as adultery and idolatry, and thus, allowed himself to be elected by his supporters as a Rival Bishop of Rome and Antipope, which led to a bitter division in the Church which lasted through the next two Pontificates, up to that of Pope St. Pontian’s pontificate. When the persecution of the faithful intensified and led to the arrest of both Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus, it was told that when they were exiled to the Sardinian mines, they were reconciled with each other, with Pope St. Pontian apparently voluntarily resigning his Papal office to allow the election of a worthy successor to continue the office of the Supreme Pontiff while St. Hippolytus also repented his schism, which had led to the division of the Church. Eventually they were both martyred for their faith in God but not before they helped to restore unity in the Church and inspire many with their great courage and faith in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have discussed in our Scripture readings earlier today and as we have heard from the great examples and inspiration shown by Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus, let us all as Christians continue to strive to be faithful and committed to God, rejecting the evils and wickedness of this world, and follow Him in all of the ways of our lives. Let us all be willing to work with one another, overcoming our differences and seek forgiveness for one another just as Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus had shown us. Each and every one of us as Christians should be great role models and examples for our fellow brethren in everything that we say and do, in our every efforts and endeavours in our lives.

May the Lord continue to help and guide us in our journey of faith in life, and may He continue to strengthen and empower us so that in everything that we do, we will always continue to glorify the Lord by our every actions, words and deeds in life. May God bless each and every one of us and may He bless our every deeds, efforts and good works in all things, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 13 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 18 : 1-5, 10, 12-14

At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child, set the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, “I assure you, that, unless you change, and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble, like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child, in My Name, receives Me.”

“See that you do not despise any of these little ones; for I tell you, their Angels in heaven continually see the face of My heavenly Father. What do you think of this? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside, and go to look for the stray one? And I tell you, when he finally finds it, he is more pleased about it, than about the ninety-nine that did not go astray.”

“It is the same with your Father in heaven. Your Father in heaven does not want even one of these little ones to perish.”

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Tuesday, 13 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 118 : 14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131

I delight in following Your laws, more so than in all riches.

Your laws are my delight, my counsellors who uphold me.

Your law is more precious to me than heaps of silver and gold.

How sweet are Your promises to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Your statutes are my heritage forever, they are the joy of my heart.

I gasp in ardent yearning for Your commandments that I love.

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Tuesday, 13 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Ezekiel 2 : 8 – Ezekiel 3 : 4

God said to Ezekiel, “Listen then, son of man, to what I say, and do not be a rebel among rebels. Open your mouth and take in what I am about to say.”

I looked and saw a hand stretched out in front of me holding a scroll. He unrolled it before me; on both sides were written lamentations, groaning and woes. He said to me, “Son of man, eat what is given to you. Eat this scroll and then go; speak to the people of Israel.”

I opened my mouth and He made me eat the scroll; and then He said to me, “Eat and fill yourself with this scroll that I am giving you.” I ate it; and it tasted as sweet as honey. He said, “Son of man, go to the Israelites; speak to them with My words.”

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Thursday, 25 July 2024 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are celebrating the Feast of one of the Twelve Apostles of Our Lord, namely that of St. James the Apostle, also known as St. James the Greater, the brother of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. St. James was the son of Zebedee, a fisherman who worked and lived by the Lake of Galilee, and consequently, St. James and St. John themselves were fishermen at that same place. It was one of the days of his work when the Lord came to the place where St. James and the other fishermen performed their work, that St. John the Apostle, his younger brother, which Apostolic tradition showed us as a follower of St. John the Baptist, introduced the Lord Jesus, recently baptised by the former. It was at that occasion that the Lord called His first disciples from among those simple fishermen, namely the brothers St. Peter and St. Andrew, as well as St. James himself and St. John.

St. James became one of the Twelve members of the Lord’s inner circle, and among these twelve, He was one of the three that the Lord often brought with Him on various important events during His ministry, together with St. Peter, the one whom the Lord would appoint as the leader and chief of all the Apostles and disciples, as well as his own younger brother, St. John. St. James was there in various events such as the Transfiguration at Mount Tabor, the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus the synagogue official, the moment when the Lord went to the Gardens of Gethsemane prior to His Passion, and many others. St. James and the other two members of the Apostles mentioned were indeed very close confidants of the Lord and witnessed all those important events themselves. After the Lord rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven, St. James went on to serve the Lord faithfully as one of His Apostles, proclaiming the Good News in distant places and around the Holy Land alike.

According to the Apostolic traditions, St. James was involved in ministries in the lands of Israel earlier on in his works, and then, he took up a distant missionary journey and work in Hispania, in what is today parts of Spain and Portugal, on the opposite side of the Mediterranean Sea. St. James went to the region of northern Spain, at the area of Galicia where it was told that he carried out his mission in proclaiming the Word of God and His Good News to the local populace. It is the area where St. James would later on be buried after his martyrdom, where now stands the great Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the main and most famous shrine dedicated to St. James in the world. He also encountered a vision of the Blessed Virgin, Mary, Mother of God as he was carrying out his mission in that region, an apparition known later as Our Lady of the Pillar.

St. James would eventually return back to the Holy Land, and faced persecution from the local Jewish people and leaders, who opposed the Christian missionaries and works, and as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, it was told that St. James was arrested and imprisoned by King Herod Agrippa, the Herodian King of Galilee, who then killed St. James by beheading to satisfy and appease the Jewish leaders and community. Thus, St. James would be the first of the Holy Apostles of the Lord to be martyred and die, giving up his life in the defence of his faith. It is interesting then to take note how on the other hand, St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, his younger brother, was the only one who was not martyred and lived the longest among the Apostles.

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 of the challenges and hardships that the faithful and holy people of God would be facing amidst their lives and journeys of faith, their works and missions. Essentially St. Paul was also speaking of his own experiences, and what the other Apostles like that of St. James had also faced amidst their own ministries, works and missions, and what we ourselves as Christians may have also experienced throughout our own lives, and what we may yet encounter in our own paths. But at the same time, St. Paul also reminded us all that we have this most precious treasure in us, that is the gift of salvation through Christ, as God Himself has come to dwell in our midst.

This is an important reminder that amidst all the challenges that we may be facing in our respective lives, we must not lose faith in God, and we ought to continue to persevere in faith, in all the things that we say and do, in our every efforts to commit ourselves to the Lord. All of us must always keep our focus firmly aimed at the Lord, and not to allow ourselves to be swayed by the many temptations present around us, or by the persuasions to give in to despair and thus abandon the Lord, our God, because we seek to save ourselves and to avoid the sufferings and persecutions. That is why as Christians we should always strive to be inspired by the examples of the saints, the holy men and women of God, especially that of St. James the Apostle, whose memory and inspiration we remember and venerate today.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we listened to the Gospel according to St. Matthew where the account of the Lord telling His two disciples, the two sons of Zebedee, namely St. James himself and his brother St. John of the reality of being a disciple of His. At that time, as we heard from the Gospel passage, the mother of St. James and St. John came up to the Lord to ask from Him a special favour for her two sons. As mentioned earlier on, the Lord had already brought both of them and St. Peter to witness important events in His ministry and works, and they were likely seen as the favourites of the Lord. This led to the other disciples being jealous of the two of them, and bickered and grumbled about what they and their mother were trying to do.

The Lord therefore put an end to their bickering by telling them that to be His disciples and followers, then they had to embrace the path of Christian service, to be serving one another and to be humble rather than to seek vainglory and ambition. For the Lord Himself has shown with perfect example through His obedience and humility, in coming to us to show us the perfect love of God manifested in His Son. He would Himself also face great sufferings and persecutions just like what His disciples and followers would face. This cup of suffering which He received and drank, is truly the Cup of His Most Precious Blood, shed from His broken Body on the Cross. As Christians, all of us are reminded therefore that we must share in Christ’s sufferings just as we will also share eventually in the fullness of His glory and grace.

Let us all therefore remind ourselves and one another that each and every one of us are the ones to continue the great works which the Lord Himself has begun and entrusted to His Apostles. We should always strive to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles, of St. James the Apostle and the others, and the many other holy men and women who had followed them as well, as have become an equally great source of inspiration for us all. Each and every one of us as Christians should always be exemplary in the conduct of our whole lives and actions, in our every words, actions and deeds, and in our every interactions with one another so that we may truly be worthy and holy disciples, role models and examples for our fellow brethren all around us.

May the Lord continue to bless us all and be with us, and may He continue to strengthen and empower each and every one of us so that by our exemplary lives and actions, and ever inspired by the wonderful examples of His saints, especially that of St. James the Apostle, we will continue to live a truly good and faithful Christian living, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 25 July 2024 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 20 : 20-28

At that time, the mother of James and John came to Jesus with her sons, and she knelt down, to ask a favour. Jesus said to her, “What do you want?” And she answered, “Here, You have my two sons. Grant, that they may sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, in Your kingdom.”

Jesus said to the brothers, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They answered, “We can.” Jesus replied, “You will indeed drink My cup; but to sit at My right or at My left is not for Me to grant. That will be for those, for whom My Father has prepared it.”

The other then heard all this, and were angry with the two brothers. Then Jesus called them to Him and said, “You know, that the rulers of nations behave like tyrants, and the powerful oppress them. It shall not be so among you : whoever wants to be great in your community, let him minister to the community. And if you want to be the first of all, make yourself the servant of all. Be like the Son of Man, Who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life to redeem many.”

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Thursday, 25 July 2024 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 125 : 1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6

When YHVH brought the exiles back to Zion, we were like those moving in a dream. Then, our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.

Among the nations it was said, “YHVH has done great things for them.” YHVH had done great things for us, and we were glad indeed.

Bring back our exiles, o YHVH, like fresh streams in the desert. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs and shouts of joy.

They went forth weeping, bearing the seeds for sowing, they will come home with joyful shouts, bringing their harvested sheaves.

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Thursday, 25 July 2024 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Corinthians 4 : 7-15

However, we carry this treasure in vessels of clay, so that this all-surpassing power may not be seen as ours, but as God’s. Trials of every sort come to us, but we are not discouraged. We are left without answer, but do not despair; persecuted but not abandoned, knocked down but not crushed.

At any moment, we carry, in our person, the death of Jesus, so, that, the life of Jesus may also be manifested in us. For we, the living, are given up continually to death, for the sake of Jesus, so, that, the life of Jesus may appear in our mortal existence. And as death is at work in us, life comes to you.

We have received the same Spirit of faith referred to in Scripture, that says : I believed and so I spoke. We also believed, and so we speak. We know that He, Who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us, with Jesus, and bring us, with you, into His presence. Finally, everything is for your good, so that grace will come more abundantly upon you, and great will be the thanksgiving for the glory of God.