Doctors of the Church

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Thursday, 13 June 2024 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that each and every one of us ought to obey the Lord our God, listen to Him and His words, walking in the path that He has shown to us. All of us as God’s beloved and holy people had been called to a life that is truly full of His grace and love by living our lives each day with the desire to be righteous, full of virtue and truly being worthy of the Lord. All of us have been called to be like God Himself, full of love, compassion and mercy towards each other, just as the Lord has always been loving and compassionate towards us in each and every moments of our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the First Book of Kings of Israel and Judah of the continuation of the story of the life and ministry of the prophet Elijah that happened during the reign of king Ahab of Israel, the wicked and unfaithful king who had led the people of Israel down a path of rebellion and disobedience against God. At that time, the people of the northern kingdom of Israel had long been disobedient against God, refusing to follow His Law and commandments because of the kings that had been wicked and stubborn in their ways, promoting pagan worship and the establishment of pagan idols and abominations, altars and sacrifices that were not directed to the Lord, their one and only true God.

And king Ahab brought this to a new low by his wicked actions and further disobedience against God. He persecuted the prophets and messengers of God, slaughtering and destroying them, refusing to listen to the words of premonition and warning which these prophets had spoken in reminding the people of the consequences of their wickedness and their sins against God. Elijah was the only prophet of God who remained active and alive back then, and he had to endure many hardships amidst his ministry. Elijah spoke of a great drought and famine that would strike against the whole land of Israel, and everything indeed happened as he had said, as rain did not come towards the land of Israel for several years.

In what we have heard in our first reading today was the moment when God through the prophet Elijah was showing His power to king Ahab of Israel. He showed to Ahab just how He had withheld the rain from coming over the land for years, He also brought the rain back over the land. By doing this, He essentially showed that He is truly in charge of all things, and just as He has also shown His might at Mount Carmel earlier on, bringing down fire upon the sacrificial offerings of Elijah while Baal, the god that king Ahab and the Israelites worshipped failed to do so, all these served to further highlight to the king and to the people of Israel of their folly of not obeying the words and the Law of God, their Lord and Master. The people have sinned because they preferred to follow their own ways and did not truly believe in God as they should have done.

In our Gospel passage today, we are all also reminded of this by the Lord Himself, Who told the people to be truly and genuinely faithful to the Lord, and to believe in Him in a way more genuine and appropriate than those of the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees. The Lord has mentioned this because those teachers of the Law and the Pharisees had been opposing Him on various occasions, doubting and questioning Him and His disciples because they disagreed on how the Lord and His disciples had been observing and practicing the Law of God. However, the reality was such that those teachers of the Law and the Pharisees were so focused and even obsessed with trivial details and rituals, the way how the Law and the commandments ought to be observed that they ended up failing to understand the true purpose, importance and significance of the Law of God.

What does this mean? It means that they observed the Law more with their external appearances and actions, but it was often not accompanied by genuine obedience and understanding of the Law and the commandments of God. This means that they often merely paid lip service and were doing everything that they had done in fulfilling the commandments and rules of the Law more so that they could feel proud of their accomplishments and their sense of superiority against others around them whom they deemed to be inferior and less worthy than them in their way of observing God’s Law and commandments. Essentially they have also made idols out of their preoccupation and obsession with the way how the Law should be observed in their minds, and like those of king Ahab and the Israelites in the past, all these distracted them from their faith to the Lord.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua, a great and renowned saint whose faith and life was truly inspirational and are good examples for us all to follow in our own lives, in how we should dedicate ourselves to serve the Lord at all times. St. Anthony of Padua was born into a wealthy family in what is now Portugal, and he was called by God to be His servant and follower, dedicating himself to be a priest and missionary of God. He became a member of the Franciscans and was ordained a priest. However, his dream and desire to go forth in missionary works was prevented by sickness, and instead, St. Anthony of Padua chose to continue his missions and works among the people of the places he ministered in.

St. Anthony of Padua was well-known for his great eloquence and wisdom, his care, love and concern for the poor and the needy. That was why through the works of St. Anthony of Padua, many people were touched in their lives and came to believe in the Lord, and they were also touched by the loving words of St. Anthony of Padua who had revealed to them the truth and love of God. St. Anthony of Padua dedicated his time and effort to care for those who have been neglected by the world, and he has also put the effort to reach out to everyone, finding those who have been lost from God and helping them all to come back towards Him. His inspirations and help for us have inspired countless people throughout history and even right up to this very day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all therefore be reminded of the need for each and every one of us to renew our faith and commitment to the Lord. Through the words of the Lord and the life and actions of St. Anthony of Padua, all of us are reminded that as Christians, each and every one of us must indeed centre and focus our whole lives, our attention and all of our efforts on the Lord. May the Lord our loving God continue to strengthen us in faith and in our conviction so that by our every words, actions and deeds we may continue to glorify Him and proclaim Him and His Good News to all the people around us. Amen.

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Thursday, 13 June 2024 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 5 : 20-26

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I tell you then, if you are not righteous in a much broader way than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to our people in the past : Do not commit murder; anyone who does kill will have to face trial. But now I tell you : whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial.”

“Whoever insults a brother or sister deserves to be brought before the council. Whoever calls a brother or a sister, ‘Fool!’ deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell. So, if you are about to offer your gift at the altar, and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with him, and then come back and offer your gift to God.”

“Do not forget this : be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court. Otherwise he will turn you over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, who will put you in jail. There you will stay, until you have paid the last penny.”

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Thursday, 13 June 2024 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 64 : 10abcd, 10e-11, 12-13

You water the land and care for it, enriching it with natural resources. God’s stream is filled with water.

So You prepare the earth to give us its fruits. You drench the furrows in the land and level the ridges; You soften the soil with showers and bless its crops.

You crown the year with Your goodness; abundance flows everywhere. The deserts have become pasture land, the hills are clothed with gladness.

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Thursday, 13 June 2024 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Kings 18 : 41-46

Elijah then said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for the sound of rain is rushing in.” So Ahab went up to eat and drink. Elijah, in the meantime, went to the top of Carmel, bowed to the ground and put his face between his knees.

Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look in the direction of the sea.” The man went up, looked, and said, “There is nothing.” Then Elijah said, “Go again;” and seven times he went. At the seventh time, he perceived a little cloud, the size of a man’s hand, rising out of the sea. Elijah told him, “Go, tell Ahab : Prepare your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.”

A little later the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and a strong rain fell. Ahab was riding on his way to Jezreel. As for Elijah, the hand of YHVH was on him, and tucking his cloak in his belt, he ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

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Saturday, 25 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Holy Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to listen to the words from the Sacred Scriptures, we are again constantly being reminded of the need for us all as Christians to be truly genuine in our faith and obedience to God. We should not be hypocrites who profess to believe in God and yet in our daily living, in how we live our lives, in how we act and behave, in what we say and do, we do not truly believe in the Lord, and we even sully and profane His Holy Name because our actions had been contrary to what we believe in, to our Christian faith and calling.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. James in which the Apostle continued with his exhortations to the people of God that we have heard in the past one or two weeks, as he told the people not to give in to the many temptations of the world, highlighting the fact that all those temptations had led to many people to fall into the path of sin and destruction, which leads only to damnation and suffering for us, and that was why the Apostle exhorted all the faithful to stay away from the path of temptation, disobedience and sin, all the things which could lead the people astray from truth and therefore into their downfall and defeat.

St. James told the faithful to stay rooted in their faith in God and to have genuine relationship and connection with God. Through prayer and the building of genuine commitment and relationship with God, we mankind can continue to live through our lives with renewed faith and that important connection that can help anchor us all in the faith. We must use the many opportunities, chances and moments that the Lord had given us so that we may build and establish a truly vibrant and living relationship with Him, strengthened through prayer and quality time, and through the faithful living of our lives as Christians.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples, reminding them all to be like little children in their faith. He was making this reference because they had been fighting and quarrelling with each other over favour and preference by the Lord, debating and disagreeing among themselves who among them was the greatest and the most important among the Lord’s followers. The Lord contrasted those attitudes with the pure faith of little children, who truly believe in the Lord and put themselves completely in His care, and not allowing themselves to be swayed by the temptations of the world.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of not just one but three holy saints of the Church, and these holy men and women hopefully can encourage us all through their exemplary lives so that by their good examples, we may indeed be strengthened in our resolve and commitment to follow their examples and live our lives ever more worthily in the Lord. First of all, St. Bede the Venerable was an English saint and remembered for his numerous writings and works on history as well as other Church matters, and then Pope St. Gregory VII was the leader and Pope of the Church, known for his role in the Investiture Controversy against the Holy Roman Emperor and his reforms of the Church, and lastly St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi who was a renowned Carmelite nun and mystic during the late Renaissance era.

St. Bede the Venerable was raised from young in a monastic area during the Anglo-Saxon period of England and its surrounding regions, eventually becoming a monk, ordained deacon and eventually as a priest, to be a faithful and good servant of God and His Church. As mentioned, St. Bede was well-known for his numerous writings and intellectual works, through which he chronicled not just many aspects of history of the British Isles and the general region, history of the world and other things, but his many writings and translations of the Scriptures were very influential in helping many generations of the Christian faithful in the British Isles and beyond after his time.

Pope St. Gregory VII as mentioned was embroiled in the bitter Investiture Controversy that had lasted for quite some time between the Church authorities and the secular powers of the world, with the Pope leading the Church on one side, while the Holy Roman Emperor entrusted with power and rule over all of Christendom on the other side. The Holy Roman Emperor, while crowned and anointed by the Pope to be the God-appointed ruler of all Christendom, began claiming the power to choose the bishops and prelates over the lands under his dominion as well, which was something that the Pope reserved to himself as the Vicar of Christ.

Thus, this led to a lot of struggles and disagreements, with the Holy Roman Emperors even appointing their own rival Antipopes to be the rival of the Popes in Rome, and to cast doubt on their authority, while trying to bring the Popes under Imperial dominion, power and influence. Pope St. Gregory VII laboured hard to oppose this intrusion of secular power into the spiritual and Church domain, rights and privileges, and he also spent a lot of time and efforts to reform the Church and its clergy, many of whom had fallen to corruption and excesses of the world. The Lord did many truly great things through this holy Pope and servant, who had dedicated himself thoroughly to His cause.

St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi was born into a very wealthy and influential family in what is today Italy, and since young, she had been brought up in great piety, and she soon exhibited great love and commitment to God, practicing self-mortification and wearing even a replica of the crown of thorns and other means to restrain her own worldly desires and temptations, while at the same time beginning to experience visions and mystical experiences that she would receive and encounter throughout her whole life. Eventually, after resisting her family’s effort to marry her to another nobleman, St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi joined religious life, dedicating her whole life to God, experiencing many visions and writing down her experiences, through which she inspired many others who were touched by her experiences.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard from the great examples of these three saints, holy men and women of God, in how they dedicated themselves and their whole lives to the Lord, let us all therefore strive to do our best to follow in their footsteps and to carry out whatever it is that God has entrusted to us to do so that by our every lives, actions and deeds, in our whole entire way of living, we may truly be worthy and will be great inspiration ourselves for all those who have witnessed us and our lives. Let us resist the temptations of worldly glory and desires, and the temptations of our ego, ambition, pride and other things that can lead us down the path towards our downfall. May God be with us always, and may He empower each one of us to live ever more faithfully in each and every moments of our lives. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Holy Virgins)

Mark 10 : 13-16

At that time, people were bringing their little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, and the disciples rebuked them for this. When Jesus noticed it, He was very angry and said, “Let the children come to Me and do not stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

Then He took the children in His arms and, laying His hands on them, blessed them.

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Saturday, 25 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Holy Virgins)

Psalm 140 : 1-2, 3 and 8

Lord, I call on You, hasten to help me! Listen to my plea when I call to You. Let my prayer rise to You, like incense; as I lift up my hands, as in an evening sacrifice.

O YHVH, set a guard at my mouth; keep watch at the gate of my lips. But my eyes are turned to You, o God, my YHVH; strip me not of life, for You are my refuge.

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Saturday, 25 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Holy Virgins)

James 5 : 13-20

Are any among you, discouraged? They should pray. Are any of you happy? They should sing songs to God. If anyone is sick, let him call on the elders of the Church. They shall pray for him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. The prayer said in faith will save the sick person; the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.

There will be healing, if you confess your sins to one another, and pray for each other. The prayer of the upright man has great power, provided he perseveres. Elijah was a human being, like ourselves, and when he prayed, earnestly, for it not to rain, no rain fell for three and a half years. Then he prayed again : the sky yielded rain and the earth produced its fruit.

Brothers, if any one of you strays far away from the truth, and another person brings him back to it, be sure of this : he who brings back a sinner from the wrong way, will save his soul from death and win forgiveness for many sins.

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Friday, 10 May 2024 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. John of Avila, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the hardships, challenges, persecutions and trials that we may have to endure in our path of life as Christians, as we all heard the examples and the persecutions facing the early Christian communities and the missionaries like the Apostles, especially what St. Paul and his companions had endured throughout their ministry among various people in their missionary journeys. We also have the history, life examples and evidences from the many saints and martyrs of the Church, throughout its long two millennia of history, where Christian faithful had been persecuted, enduring challenges and trials one after another, and yet, many of them still remained firmly in faith in God.

In our first reading today taken from the Acts of the Apostles, as mentioned earlier, we heard of the moment when St. Paul the Apostle was carrying out his missionary work and journey in the region of Macedonia and Greece, after he had laboured on firstly in Philippi and then in Athens, proclaiming the truth and love of God to the people who have not yet known Him, and even sparring words with the pagan philosophers and those who worshipped the Greek idols, to reveal the truth about God, the One and only True Master and Creator of all. He continued his work and mission in the nearby region of Achaia just as we heard from the passage of the Acts of the Apostles and how he stayed on in that region for a year and a half, spreading the truth of God and converting many among the people to the Christian faith.

We then heard how the some of the Jewish people in Achaia plotted against St. Paul by complaining against the Roman governor, Gallio, accusing St. Paul of having committed blasphemy against God by teaching in manner contrary to their own practices and ways. Contextually, it was likely that those Jews belonged to the group of the Pharisees, many of whom were very particular about how the Law of God ought to be followed, practiced and obeyed, as they took a very literal and excessive emphasis on the rituals and practices of the Law, embellished by centuries of modification and changes which had actually corrupted and turned the Law of God away from its original purpose, meaning and intention.

It was a similar issue which led to the Lord Jesus facing intense opposition and persecution from the members of the Pharisees and many among the chief priests for His teachings and ways, which the former disapproved of and considered as even wicked and blasphemous. St. Paul taught exactly what the Lord Himself had taught and revealed to this world, and especially his generous outreach towards the Gentiles, proclaiming salvation of God for the non-Jewish people was particularly disliked by the more conservative segments of the Jewish community then. To those people, salvation and grace of God could only belong to the Jews, and everyone else who were not God’s chosen people would not have a share in His glory and inheritance.

But as we heard, St. Paul kept on carrying out his mission nonetheless, just as the governor Gallio refused to intervene on behalf of the Jews, as he considered the matter as a private religious issue within the Jewish community. It was common for that time in the early history of the Christian Church that the early Christians were often considered as a sect of Judaism, and were therefore treated by the local Roman authorities as such. However, the Apostles clearly pointed out that the Christian faith and truth is the sole truth that sought to call all the people, Jewish and non-Jewish alike to follow the path and the way which the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, had shown to us. Those same missionaries like St. Paul and others committed themselves wholeheartedly to proclaim God’s truth and Good News, spreading the words of the Gospel to the ends of the world.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord telling His disciples about the sufferings that they would have to encounter and endure amidst their ministry and missions in various parts of the world. He told this to them in a rather veiled manner by comparing it to the woman who was suffering and enduring the pangs, pain and difficulties of childbirth. Then He also highlighted how all those pain and hardships would be overcome once the woman has given birth, which is actually an allusion to how the disciples and followers of the Lord would have to endure bitter sufferings and hardships as they laboured to proclaim the truth and Good News of God, facing persecutions and rejection from many, like what St. Paul himself had endured in Achaia and other places that he had ministered and preached in.

Yet, in the end, despite all these sufferings, the Church would continue to grow, and in the end, the Lord promised to all of us, His faithful ones, that we shall be triumphant with Him. Throughout its history the Church and the Christian faith had faced lots of difficulties and challenges, and yet all those did not prevent the Church from continuing to grow and to spread the truth to more and more people. Many had attempted to destroy the Church and the Christian faithful, and many martyrs had been made throughout all those many moments of sufferings and great trials, and yet, the Lord was always with His Church, guiding and providing for His faithful ones, and more and more people were called to the truth of God, to embrace His salvation and grace. All these are precisely just as how He Himself had foretold it.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. John of Avila, a great and holy priest who was honoured much later as a Doctor of the Church for his many contributions to the Church and the works of theology and other areas that he had done. He was born into a pious family and grew up well-known for his great sanctity and faith in God. Eventually he became a priest and devoted his time and efforts to serve the Lord and initially wanted to go to proclaim the Lord as a missionary in distant lands, but was dissuaded by the local Archbishop who saw great potential in this young priest. St. John of Avila therefore committed himself to the regions of Spain particularly in Andalusia, preaching and ministering to many of the faithful, while calling for reforms and criticising the excesses of the aristocratic families of his time.

Like St. Paul and the other disciples of the Lord before him, St. John of Avila also encountered lots of challenges and difficulties as he continued to work hard to champion the cause of the reform in the Church which at that time was beset by many troubles, especially that of the corrupt attitude and behaviours of the aristocracy and the members of the clergy which brought great scandal upon the Church and the Christian faith. That is why St. John of Avila was persecuted because of his outspokeness against the establishment, and he was once even put under the Inquisition, but he was exonerated from all of the charges put against him. The Lord was with St. John of Avila, and he continued to do many good works for the benefit of the Church and the faithful and holy people of God to the end of his life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to do our very best so that in whatever we do, we will always strive to proclaim His words and Good News to everyone we encounter in our daily lives. We should always do our best that our good lives and examples may be great inspiration for others around us in how we all should live our lives faithfully, and despite the many challenges and trials we may have to face and endure, let us always continue to persevere and be faithful and holy in our every moments in life, for the greater glory of God. Amen.

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Friday, 10 May 2024 : 6th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. John of Avila, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 16 : 20-23a

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly, I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. A woman in childbirth is in distress because her time is at hand. But after the child is born, she no longer remembers her suffering because of such great joy : a human being is born into the world.”

“You feel sorrowful now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice; and no one will take your joy from you. When that day comes you will not ask Me anything.”