Doctors of the Church

by

Thursday, 30 July 2026 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called and reminded of the love that God has shown us all, and everything that He has provided for us, in calling on all of us to return to Him, to find Him and to be reconciled with Him, so that we are no longer lost to Him but instead be moulded into a new people, a people who are faithful to God and His path, His truth and ways, and a new people who have embraced wholeheartedly the Law and commandments of God. That is also what each one of us as Christians have been called to do in our lives, to be sincere in how we live our lives each day with true and sincere faith in our loving God and Father.

In our first reading today, from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, we heard the Lord speaking to His people through Jeremiah, using the example of a potter working on his spoilt and broken pottery in delivering His point and truth across. He told them all through Jeremiah that just as the potter reshaped and patiently moulded the potter piece that was misshapen and broken, hence, He, the Lord, God of Israel and all also was like a Potter to the people, moulding and guiding them as a people, leading them down the path of righteousness, and patiently guiding them when they became astray, sending prophets and messengers to remind and help them to find their way back to Him.

The Lord used that comparison in order to make His people to understand just how patient He was in helping and guiding all of them, even if they were to be stubborn and unflinching in their position and behaviour. The Lord had done that for hundreds of years, kept on reminding the people through many generations of prophets and servants, sending them to both the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In occasions, they succeeded and helped the people to return to the right path, but the people often proved more stubborn, falling back again and again into their sinful ways, despite all that God had done throughout time to help and guide them, and yet He kept on trying and persevering on this out of His love for them.

Those who dwell, work and possess pottery especially back then might know just how difficult it is to make, craft and prepare a pottery work. It often requires patience and precision in order for a good quality pottery piece to be made, and sometimes it requires a long time and repeated efforts in order to achieve the desired product and quality. And what is amazing with pottery is that, as they are being made, they are flexible and easily adaptable in shape, and at the hands of a skilled artisan and potter, it can truly become a great piece of art and masterpiece. The Lord is that masterful potter Who moulded His people, His work of art, ever so patiently and kindly.

However, once the piece of work is completed, the result of the product will depend a lot on the pottery piece itself. If they are lacking in certain substances or parts, then it is more likely than not that the final product may be less than desired in terms of quality. That is what happens when the materials used are defective and flawed. And all of these represent us in our current state of life, just as it was for the Israelites, the people of God to whom Jeremiah spoke to. We are all flawed beings, sinful and corrupted by those sins we have committed. Yet, the Lord, our Potter, Guide and Master ceaselessly and continuously guided us on our way and journey to Him.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord spoke to His disciples regarding the kingdom of Heaven, in which He compared to a great net filled with various fishes of all types and sizes. The Angels will gather all of them and eventually sort them out. Those that are good will be gathered and kept, while the bad ones will be discarded. This is something that certainly many of the Lord’s followers and disciples understand, many of them being fishermen themselves or were working closely with them. The Lord told them all that all the faithful should be like the good fishes or else, they would face the consequences of their own evils and wickedness in the end.

How is that so? The net represents the Church of God, God’s kingdom in this world. To His Kingdom, God has called us all and invited us all to enter into His Presence, through His Church. And we have been given the opportunities and the means for us to embrace God and His ways, His truth and love through what we have heard in the Church. But it is really up to us whether we want to embrace God and His ways, or whether we prefer to follow our own paths and disobey God. If we continue to disobey the Lord and walk in the path of sin, then in the end, we are going to be like the bad fishes to be discarded at the end of time, to be destroyed and annihilated because of our own stubborn disobedience and rebellion.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Peter Chrysologus, a great and holy man of God whose life and devotion to God, great works and efforts should be great inspiration and model for all of us to follow. St. Peter Chrysologus was born in what is now part of northern Italy during the final decades of the Roman Empire in the Western Mediterranean, where he became first a deacon and then archdeacon in service to the Church, before the then Pope appointed him as the Bishop of Ravenna, which was then the de facto capital of the Western Roman Empire. It was told in Church tradition that the Pope saw a vision of St. Peter the Apostle and St. Apolllinaris of Ravenna pointing to a young man who would become the new Bishop of Ravenna, and this vision referred to the then young St. Peter Chrysologus.

St. Peter Chrysologus gained his epithet of Chrysologus or ‘Golden-worded’ exactly because of his often simple yet powerful homilies which touched the lives and hearts of countless people who were under his care and listened to him. St. Peter Chrysologus explained the Scriptures and the Christian teachings well and he also made a firm and courageous stand against all the falsehoods, heresies and other evils of his time, doing his best to lead the people of God in the path towards God all throughout his whole life. St. Peter Chrysologus is truly a great example for all of us as Christians, in everything that he had done and in the efforts that he had in devoting himself completely and wholeheartedly to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore follow in the footsteps of St. Peter Chrysologus and the many other saints, holy men and women of God in our lives, so that we may continue to do our best to grow ever stronger in our faith in the Lord, and that we may be truly worthy and faithful in everything that we say and do, in our every interactions with one another. Let us all let the Lord to shape and mould our lives, as our loving Potter and Master, so that our lives may be ever more worthy of Him, and that our lives and actions be ever more attuned to His will, in all the things we do, and that we may grow ever closer to Him, now and always, evermore. May God be with us all and bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours. Amen.

by

Thursday, 30 July 2026 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Matthew 13 : 47-53

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a big fishing net, let down into the sea, in which every kind of fish has been caught. When the net is full, it is dragged ashore. Then they sit down and gather the good fish into buckets, but throw the bad away. That is how it will be at the end of time; the Angels will go out to separate the wicked from the just, and to throw the wicked into the blazing furnace, where they will weep and gnash their teeth.”

Jesus asked, “Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered. So He said to them, “Therefore, every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven, is like a householder, who can produce from his store things both new and old.”

When Jesus had finished these parables, He left that place.

by

Thursday, 30 July 2026 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Psalm 145 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6ab

Alleluia! Praise YHVH, my soul! I will sing to YHVH all my life; I will sing praise to God while I live.

Do not put your trust in princes, in a great one, who cannot save. Not sooner his spirit has left, that he goes back to the earth; on that very day, any plan comes to nothing.

Blessed are they whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in YHVH their God, Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and all they contain.

by

Thursday, 30 July 2026 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Jeremiah 18 : 1-6

This is the word of YHVH that came to Jeremiah : “Go down to the potter’s house and there you will hear what I have to say.”

So I went to the potter’s house and found him working at the wheel. But the pot he was working on was spoilt in his hands, so he reworked it all over again into another pot that suits his desire.

Meanwhile YHVH sent me His word, “People of Israel, can I not do with you what this potter does? As clay in the potter’s hand so are you in My hands.”

by

Tuesday, 21 July 2026 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, speaking to us about God Who leads all of His people back to Himself as our Shepherd, as He showed us all the path to return to Him and to once again be worthy of His grace and love. The Lord has always reached out to us, and ceaselessly tried to be reconciled with us. He seeks for us to turn away from the path of sin and ruination, revealing to us His truth and love, so that hopefully we may embrace Him wholly and completely, and renewed once more in faith, following the path and examples that He Himself has shown us, in the most tangible form through His own Son, and also through His Blessed Mother Mary, our great role model and intercessor as we heard in the Scriptures today.

In our first reading today, we heard of the words of the prophet Micah speaking of the Lord’s love for His people, as the Shepherd for them, guiding them once again throughout their lands, providing and caring for them as He has always done. The prophet Micah spoke of the Lord’s great and generous love, His mercy and compassion which He has always shown to the people. At that time, the people of God were wayward and unfaithful, preferring to follow their own paths and ways rather than obeying and listening to God. The Lord sent Micah and other prophets to help them all find their way towards Him, calling on all those who have erred in their paths to return back once again and embrace God’s boundless mercy and love.

The prophet therefore reminded the people of God’s love and at the same time also presented their petitions and prayers, asking the Lord for the forgiveness and mercy, that He might once again look favourably upon them, though they all had sinned against Him, rejected Him and been stubborn in their rebellion against Him. The prophet was also calling on all the people to embrace the right path, abandoning their sinful and wicked way of life. And the Lord Himself told us the same thing when He came info our midst, through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that we heard in our Gospel passage today. Through Christ, all of us have witnessed the Love of God made manifest and tangible, approachable and truly real for us all.

In that passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to His disciples and followers regarding the matter of obedience to God and in following Him and the Law of God wholeheartedly. And while His family was waiting outside for Him, the Lord uttered those words. On a glance, it may seem that the Lord was being rude to His parents and family, but in fact, what He was saying was that while He honoured and respected His mother and His family, but it does not mean that He was restricted and limited by the ties He had with His family. He made Himself available to all of us, and called us all to follow Him, and to do the will of God. That way, we become the brothers and sisters in God’s great family, the Church.

All of us are reminded to turn towards the Lord with renewed faith and commitment, doing whatever we can to glorify Him by our lives. If we are faithful to the Lord and if we do what we can to follow Him, then the Lord surely will also protect us and give us His blessings and graces. But that depends on us whether we want to commit the effort and time to walk in the path that God has shown us. More often than not, we prefer to walk down our own path and follow the whims of our desires and the many temptations of this world rather than willing to listen to the Lord or obey His commandments and ways. And this was the reason why many of our predecessors fell into the darkness and were lost from the Lord.

As long as we continue to be stubborn and to resist the Lord then there can be little progress that we can make in our journey towards Him. Each and every one of us are called to open our hearts and minds, and allow the Lord to come into them, so that He may touch our hearts and minds with His love. We should also strive to get to know the Lord more so that we may be better able to live in the manner acceptable to Him and worthy of us as Christians, as those whom God had called to be His own people. All of us should seek the Lord with renewed faith and commitment, and we should begin from ourselves and our own lives, living lives that are truly and genuinely faithful, and not one that is merely superficial in being Christians, or being idealistic about that faith, but rather, applying actively our faith in our daily living at all times.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all do our best to entrust ourselves to God and to do His will. Let us all do what we can in serving Him and in glorifying Him by our exemplary lives and actions. All of us should do what we can to proclaim the Lord, His truth and love to all those whom we encounter through life. We should allow the Lord to lead and guide us down the path of righteousness, and help us to remain true to Him, in all the things we say, do and act, in all of our interactions with our fellow brothers and sisters, and even strangers and acquaintances all around us. If we do not do this, then we are no better than hypocrites who act in ways that are contrary to what they believe in.

Today, that is why we are reminded again that we should be truly faithful to God and be filled with love for Him as always. We should do our best so that in all things, we will continue to grow ever stronger in faith and love for the Lord, in our commitment and dedication to Him, as His beloved people. That is why today we all should also model ourselves upon the good and inspiring examples set by St. Lawrence of Brindisi, a great servant of God whose life and commitment to Him can inspire us in how we all also should live our own lives, with faith and with true love and devotion to the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God.

St. Lawrence of Brindisi was a priest and member of the Capuchin religious order, remembered for his piety and fluency in many languages, who had also fought in part of a conflict and war against the forces of the oppressors of the Church, according to tradition, being armed with only a crucifix. He committed his whole life to serve the Lord, in ministering his fellow Capuchin brothers and sisters as its vicar general and highest office holder, among other works such as being the Papal representative to various states, and his contributions and dedication of service among the people of God, right up to his last days.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, can we follow the great examples of St. Lawrence of Brindisi and discern carefully how we can carry out our lives ever more worthily for the sake of the Lord? Can we listen to the Lord, obey His Law and commandments more and more, growing in our love and faith in Him, remembering ever always just how great His love is for us, that He did so much for us, on our behalf, in order to deliver us from destruction due to sin and death. May the Lord, our most loving God, be with us all His Church, that we may always be faithful to Him at all times. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 21 July 2026 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Matthew 12 : 46-50

At that time, while Jesus was talking to the people, His mother and His brothers wanted to speak to Him, and they waited outside. So someone said to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside; they want to speak with You.”

Jesus answered, “Who is My mother? Who are My brothers?” Then He pointed to His disciples and said, “Look! Here are My mother and My brothers. Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”

by

Tuesday, 21 July 2026 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Psalm 84 : 2-4, 5-6, 7-8

You have favoured Your land, o YHVH; You have brought back the exiles of Jacob. You have forgiven the sin of Your people; You have pardoned their offences. You have withdrawn Your wrath and turned from Your burning rage.

But restore us, God our Saviour; put away, altogether, Your indignation. Will Your anger be ever with us, carried over to all generations?

Will You not give us life anew, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us, o YHVH, Your unfailing love, and grant us Your saving help.

by

Tuesday, 21 July 2026 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Micah 7 : 14-15, 18-20

Shepherd Your people with Your staff, shepherd the flock of Your inheritance that dwells alone in the scrub, in the midst of a fertile land. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as in the days of old, in the days when You went out of Egypt. Show us Your wonders.

Who is a God like You, Who takes away guilt and pardons crime for the remnant of His inheritance? Who is like You Whose anger does not last? For You delight in merciful forgiveness. Once again You will show us Your loving kindness and trample on our wrongs, casting all our sins into the depths of the sea.

Show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abraham, as You have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.

by

Wednesday, 15 July 2026 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop 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 Scriptures, we are all presented with the works of the Lord as He revealed to us His saving grace. He has given His kindness and love to His people and give justice to them. To those who obey Him and His Laws, He gives blessings and graces, protection and help, while those who haughtily and proudly disobeyed Him, remaining in their way and state of sin, were punished and faced consequences corresponding to their sins and faults, as the Scriptures today had presented to us. All of us are God’s beloved and precious children, and to God our Father Who truly and genuinely loves us, we are all wonderful and amazing in His eyes, and we have no need to worry because 

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the words of the Lord as delivered through Isaiah to the people of God in the kingdom of Judah, speaking about the proud and arrogant king of Assyria, whom God would put in his place, humiliate and remind that all of his glory and power were nothing without God’s approval and help. In order to understand the significance of these words and the passage, we have to know the circumstances during that time, when the king of Assyria came to destroy many nations and conquered many countries, including the wicked people of the kingdoms of Israel and Aram in Syria.

Back then, the king of Assyria became proud and arrogant, and thinking that he had all the power and glory in the world, that he went up against the faithful people of God in Judah and Jerusalem. King Sennacherib of Assyria brought his whole massive army to besiege Jerusalem and conquer Judah. Not only that but Sennacherib also boasted before the whole entire people of Jerusalem and Judah, their king Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah and all assembled that he had conquered many nations and peoples, and how all of their gods and idols could not protect them against his armies, and therefore, God would not have been able to protect Judah and Jerusalem too as what had happened to the other cities that were destroyed and subjugated.

Sennacherib forgot that whatever he had done, all had been made available by God, and in his moment of folly, pride and arrogance, he blasphemed against God and spoke proudly in great sin against Him. Hence, the Lord through His prophet Isaiah spoke to His people offering reassurance for them that He would be with them, and the Assyrians and their king would be humbled and defeated. The blasphemy and wickedness that king Sennacherib had publicly uttered before the Lord and all the assembled people would become his undoing, as later in the history of this Assyrian invasion, it was told that the entire Assyrian forces were wiped out by the power of God.

These are all reminders for all of us that we should not go up against God or in defying Him by following our own ways and paths. Each and every one of us should follow the truth and the path that Christ Himself, the Son of God, has shown us all through His disciples and His Church. In our Gospel passage today, that was what we heard as the Lord Jesus spoke of Himself having come from the Father, revealing to all of us mankind the truth that God has willingly shared with us, so that through that same truth, all of us may find the path and the way to eternal life and true joy in God, the ultimate goal and realisation of our lives’ paths and journeys in this world, all of which are supposed to lead towards God.

That is why today we are reminded that we should renew our trust and faith in God, and learn to follow His path and examples, while resisting the temptations of the world and the pressures all around us which may try to force us to succumb to those temptations and abandon our faith in the Lord. That is why today we should look upon the great faith shown by our predecessors, all those servants of God, disciples and followers of the Lord who had given their all in order to serve Him. Today we celebrate the feast of one of those servants of God, namely St. Bonaventure, a renowned Franciscan bishop, theologian and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, who was later on declared as one of the Doctors of the Church for his great contributions to the Christian faith and the Church, as well as his commitment to Church reforms.

He joined the Franciscan Order and had an interaction with its founder, the other renowned saint, St. Francis of Assisi. He wrote extensively on theological matters, so much so that he was known well as the ‘Seraphic Doctor’ by his contemporaries and later Church theologians. He was also elected as the leader of the Franciscan Order as its Minister General, and was instrumental in guiding the order through its works and principles, and at the same time also involving himself in greater and wider whole Church reforms. He was elevated to the Cardinalate by the Pope for his influential efforts and works in securing his election, and in his many other contributions to the good of the Church and the faithful people of God. The great examples of St. Bonaventure still inspired many people right even up to this very day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore follow the great examples set by St. Bonaventure and many of our other holy predecessors, in doing our very best to glorify the Lord by our works and efforts in every moments of our lives, that by our every actions, words and deeds, we will always put God first and foremost in all things, and not easily swayed by worldly temptations and desires. May the Lord continue to help and guide us all in our journey, in continuing to persevere in being ever more faithful and dedicated as those whom He has called and chosen as His own, now and always. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 15 July 2026 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 11 : 25-27

At that time, Jesus said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise You; because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father, this was Your gracious will.”

“Everything has been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”