Lent

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Friday, 3 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

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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Friday, 3 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 129 : 1-2, 3-4ab, 4c-6, 7-8

Out of the depths I cry to You, o Lord, o Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears pay attention to the voice of my supplication.

If You should mark our evil, o Lord, who could stand? But with You is forgiveness.

For that You are revered. I waited for the Lord, my soul waits, and I put my hope in His word. My soul expects the Lord more than watchmen the dawn.

O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with Him is unfailing love and with Him full deliverance. He will deliver Israel from all its sins.

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Friday, 3 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Ezekiel 18 : 21-28

If the sinner turns from his sin, observes My decrees and practices what is right and just, he will live, he will not die. None of the sins he committed will be charged against him, he will live as a consequence of his righteous deeds. Do I want the death of the sinner? – word of YHVH. Do I not rather want him to turn from his ways and live?

But if the righteous man turns away from what is good and commits sins as the wicked do, will he live? His righteous deeds will no longer be credited to him, but he will die because of his infidelity and his sins. But you say : YHVH’s way is not just! Why, Israel! Is My position wrong? Is it not rather that yours is wrong?”

“If the righteous man dies after turning from his righteous deeds and sinning, he dies because of his sins. And if the wicked man does what is good and right, after turning from the sins he committed, he will save his life. He will live and not die, because he has opened his eyes and turned from the sins he had committed.”

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Thursday, 2 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are called and reminded to turn towards the Lord our God whenever we are in dire straits and in need of help and consolation. Each and every one of us are reminded that the Lord is always ever faithful to the Covenant that He had made with us, and He is always loving and caring towards us, ever always showing us His patient and kind love despite the stubbornness and rebellious attitudes that we had shown towards Him. God is truly our loving Father and Creator, Who has created us out of love and hence, continues to watch over us and shows us His loving kindness at all times, but there are moments and times when we, as His children, need to seek for Him and ask for His help.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Esther the story of the Queen of Persia, Esther, who belonged to the Jewish people, that is the descendants of the people of Israel and Judah, and hence, was among God’s first called and chosen people. Back then, the remnants of Israel had been emancipated by the first Persian King of Kings, Cyrus the Great, who allowed them to return to their homeland and to rebuild their destroyed Temple in Jerusalem. They had endured many decades of persecutions and challenges, ever since they were uprooted from their homeland, forced to endure in humiliation being homeless and exiled, because of the disobedience and sins that they and their ancestors had committed in refusing to listen to the Lord or obey His will.

It was then that the enemies of the Lord and His people tried to rise up and gang up against the people of God, as highlighted in the Book of Esther as the role of a particular Haman the Agagite, a descendant of the King of Amalek, Agag, who was crushed and killed by God’s servant, Samuel, during the war between Israel and Amalek a few centuries prior, in the early days of the kingdom of Israel. The conflict hence led to the longstanding feud between the Israelites and their descendants with the descendants of Amalek. During the time of Esther, this came to a great culmination in the attempt by Haman to destroy the whole entire people of God by using his position and authority as a great right hand man of the King and regent over the whole Persian domain.

Haman managed to get the King to order the eradication of the entire Jewish people, all the descendants of God’s people, and it was there that Queen Esther was caught in a great quandary, as she wanted to help her people, but the law of the realm stated that she was not to come and approach the King unless he requested or called for her appearance, and to do otherwise would likely have led to her being deposed, as it was exactly how her predecessor as the Persian Queen, Vashti, lost her position and was exiled. Worse still, she could have also suffered even death for her attempt to help her people. Yet, encouraged by her uncle, Mordechai, who struggled in his own way against Haman and his wickedness, and ever having strong faith in the Lord, Queen Esther entrusted her life and everything in the hands of the Lord.

And that was exactly what we have heard in our first reading today, as Queen Esther prayed to the Lord, seeking for His guidance, help and strength, in leading her through whatever she would be doing for the sake of God’s own people, who was about to face destruction and damnation. She entrusted everything to the Lord, knowing that God would not abandon those whom He loved, and she asked Him for the courage and strength to face the King and all those forces seeking to destroy the people of Israel, so that God might indeed lead them out from the darkness, and save them in their hour of greatest need. Indeed, God intervened and helped, and not only that the people of God were saved, by the actions of Queen Esther, but Haman himself, the great enemy, faced the just consequences of his evils, and he suffered the same fate that he had wickedly planned for Mordechai and the Israelites.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard a related passage in which the Lord Jesus Himself told His disciples that they ought to ask, seek and approach the Lord, their God and their Father, as unless they come and ask, seek and find the Lord, and try to reach out to the Lord, then they would not be able to gain anything, and the Lord will open the door and help all those who have shown the willingness to reach out to Him. God truly helps only all those who are able and willing to help themselves first, strengthening and guiding them in the manner of how He has helped, blessed, protected and guided Esther in her effort to save her own people from utter destruction and annihilation. All of us are therefore also reminded in the same way that we should always focus our attention on the Lord, and do whatever we can to serve Him faithfully, following and obeying His Law and commandments.

This season of Lent is a particularly good and appropriate time for us to come and seek the Lord with renewed vigour and effort, especially if we have been separated and sundered from Him due to our many sins and evils. If we have been estranged from God because we did not truly know Him and did not spend enough time on Him, or in trying to find out and know more about Him, then this is indeed the time for us to repent from our many sins, stop disobeying the Lord, resist the many temptations all around us and embrace once again God’s ever generous mercy, compassion, kindness and love. Each and every one of us must indeed realise just how fortunate we are to have such a loving God and Father, Who has always watched over us and protected us, and Who has always called on us to return to Him, only to be faced with stubborn rejection from us.

May the Lord, our loving Father and Creator, continue to bless us and love us in each and every moments, and may all of us draw ever closer to Him, deepening our relationship and understanding of His love, through our Lenten practices, by our genuine and devout prayers, spending more precious and quality time with Him, communicating with Him and walking ever closely in His path and grace, and also by restraining our temptations and wickedness through fasting and abstinence, and by our practice of showing the same love and kindness that God has shown us, by our generous almsgiving and care for all those who are in need. May God be with us always, and may He empower each one of us to be His ever more faithful disciples, and good role models and inspirations to one another. Amen.

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Thursday, 2 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 7 : 7-12

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened. For everyone who asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; and the door will be opened to him who knocks.”

“Would any of you give a stone to your son, when he asks for bread? Or give him a snake, when he asks for a fish? As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?”

“So, do to others whatever you would that others do to you : there you have the Law and the Prophets.”

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Thursday, 2 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 137 : 1-2a, 2bcd-3, 7c-8

I thank You, o Lord, with all my heart, for You have heard the word of my lips. I sing Your praise in the presence of the gods. I bow down towards Your holy Temple and give thanks to Your Name.

For Your love and faithfulness, for Your word which exceeds everything. You answered me when I called; You restored my soul and made me strong.

With Your right hand You deliver me. How the Lord cares for me! Your kindness, o Lord, endures forever. Forsake not the work of Your hands.

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Thursday, 2 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Esther 4 : 17n, p-r, aa-bb, gg-hh (Latin Vulgate version – Esther 14 : 1, 3-5, 12-14)

Seized with anguish in her fear of death, Queen Esther likewise had recourse to the Lord. Then she prayed to the Lord God of Israel : “My Lord, You Who stand alone, came to my help; I am alone and have no help but You. Through my own choice I am endangering my life.”

“As a child I was wont to hear from the people of the land of my forebears that You, o Lord, chose Israel from among all peoples, and our fathers from among their ancestors to be Your lasting heritage; that You did for them, all that You have promised.”

“Remember us, Lord; reveal Yourself in the time of our calamity. Give me courage, King of gods and Master of all power. Make my words persuasive when I face the lion; turn his heart against our enemy, that the latter and his like may be brought to their end.”

“Save us by Your hand; help me who am alone and have none but You, o Lord.”

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Wednesday, 1 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded to turn towards God with contrite hearts and minds, to seek His mercy and forgiveness as we remind ourselves of God’s love for each and every one of us. If we only rend our hearts and turn away from our many sins and wickedness, and seek God’s ever generous and wondrous forgiveness, we can gain a lot of graces and goodness from Him, just as He has given to our ancestors and predecessors in the past. The Lord loves each and every one of us, but He despises our sins and wickedness, and it is important for us therefore to turn away from those things which have become great obstacles in our path and journey towards the Lord and His salvation and grace. This Lent is indeed the time for us to realise that each one of us are sinners in need for God’s healing and mercy.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jonah in which God sent Jonah to the great city of Nineveh and its people to proclaim to them their doom and upcoming destruction. Contextually, the city of Nineveh was the great capital of the mighty Assyrian Empire, one of the first in that region to carve a great and vast realm, conquering many smaller states and nations. However the Assyrians were also infamous for their brutality in their wars and conquests, causing many deaths and destruction all across their domains. They were also the ones that destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, the part of the remnants of the once glorious David and Solomon’s old kingdom, and brought many of its people into exile in distant lands, causing much mayhem and destruction in doing so.

In their great conquests and victories, the Assyrians likely had grown proud and haughty, and their sins became even more pronounced. This was when the Lord sent Jonah to them to remind them that in the end, it does not matter what great worldly glory or successes that they had in this world, as the Lord has the final say over all matters. In the times past, history and many evidences can show us that even the greatest of kingdoms and realms can be destroyed, crushed and humbled, decimated and brought down by many reasons including natural disasters, plagues, and other things that no man could have foreseen or predicted. All of those things are truly reminders of the limits of our human power and abilities, and how in the end, all of our pride, ego and haughtiness will lead us nowhere but to our ultimate destruction and downfall.

The people of Nineveh listened to the prophet Jonah’s words and believed in him. As we heard, from the king all the way to the humblest and least of the servants, all repented from their sinful ways and showed publicly their sign of repentance and regret from their many sins, with ashes and sackcloth. The Lord saw their show of repentance, their sincerity in turning their backs against their sinful ways, and showed them His mercy. The Lord showed us through this that ultimately, even the greatest of sinners can be saved, and no one is beyond His love and mercy, unless that person himself or herself refuse to be saved. God’s love, mercy and kindness are always generously shown upon us, at all times. It is often we mankind who refused God’s generosity and love, and as a result, we end up falling further and further away from God and His grace.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Jesus referring to the story of the prophet Jonah before the people, some of whom were constantly doubting Him, like some of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who questioned His authority and works. The Lord compared the people of Nineveh and their way of responding to the words of the prophet Jonah with how the people of the Lord Jesus’ time responded to His actions and works among them. The Lord highlighted how the Sign of Jonah would be shown to all of them, alluding to the parallel between the moment when Jonah spent three days inside the belly of a whale, with the three days of the Lord’s time in the underworld, between His suffering and death on the Cross, and His glorious Resurrection on the third day. This sign would indeed be shown to them, and many more signs in the face of the stubborn people who continued to resist the Lord.

The Lord essentially highlighted how even the pagans and foreigners were seeking the Lord, His mercy and compassion, guidance and help, as what the people of Nineveh had done, and in what the Queen of the South had done. The Queen of the South was a reference to the Queen of Sheba who came after a long journey from her homeland to seek the wisdom of King Solomon. And therefore, the Lord was referring to the many people, from all the nations who would come to seek God’s mercy and love, His wisdom and truth, through that mention of the ‘Queen of the South’. Contrary to what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law believed in, the Lord highlighted that every people has equal chance and opportunity in coming towards His salvation, and salvation is not reserved only for the elites like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law themselves.

What matters is what can be found within our hearts, and for us, that should be God and our love for Him. Unless we have this genuine and strong love for God in our hearts, it is easy for us to fall into the traps of sin and evil, and it is easy for us to slip into the path towards downfall and destruction. The Lord has always generously extended to us His love and mercy, and what we all need to do is to open our hearts and minds to welcome Him within them, and to humble ourselves that we may come to see just how much we need God in our lives in order to heal us and to bring us from the precipice of darkness all around us. This Lent is the perfect time for us to remove from ourselves, from our hearts and minds any taints of pride, ego and other things that may prevent us from truly finding our path towards the Lord and be saved through Him and His grace.

Let us henceforth do our best to turn back towards the Lord with faith, spending our time and effort to be with Him and to know Him more, deepening our spirituality and faith through prayer, fasting and almsgiving that we carry out during this time and season of Lent. Let us resist the many temptations of sin and let us be good role models and inspiring examples for our fellow brothers and sisters, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 1 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 11 : 29-32

At that time, as the crowd increased, Jesus spoke the following words : “People of the present time are troubled people. They ask for a sign, but no sign will be given to them except the sign of Jonah. As Jonah became a sign for the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be a sign for this generation.”

“The Queen of the South will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and here, there is greater than Solomon. The people of Nineveh will rise up on Judgment Day with the people of these times and accuse them, for Jonah’s preaching made them turn from their sins, and here, there is greater than Jonah.”

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Wednesday, 1 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 12-13, 18-19

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

You take no pleasure in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, You would not delight in it. O God, my sacrifice is a broken spirit; a contrite heart, You will not despise.