Martyrs

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Wednesday, 9 July 2025 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the missions which the Lord had put into our paths and entrusted to each and every one of us, His disciples and followers. Each and every one of us have been put in certain places and given certain opportunities, talents or gifts in order to make good use of them in making it all a blessing for everyone, a grace for all those whom we encounter in life. All of us have been blessed with such great love by the Lord and hence, we should remember to love Him in the same way as well, and love all those who are around us, those who have been entrusted to us, and all those whom we encounter daily.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis in which the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob or Israel, and his brothers were told to us. For the context of the story, in case we forget what happened earlier on before the events depicted in today’s passage, Joseph, one of the youngest sons of Jacob, born from his beloved wife Rachel, was one of his favourite, and was showered with lots of favour from Jacob, to the point that the elder brothers of Joseph became envious of him. There were also occasions when Joseph received dreams from the Lord where in that dream he was given respect and obeisance from his brothers and even his parents. No one knew it then, even Joseph himself, that this was in fact a premonition of things to come, many years and decades later, when everything actually came to happen just as Joseph dreamt of it.

Joseph’s brothers actually plotted to kill him out of jealousy, and they were only prevented from doing so by the eldest brother, Reuben, who wanted to protect Joseph. In the end, they all trapped Joseph and then sold him to a Midianite slaver who brought Joseph to the land of Egypt, where he first ended up as a slave and was even imprisoned, but by God’s grace and help, as He had planned it all from the very beginning, Joseph was rescued from the prison after he helped to interpret the dream of the Pharaoh of Egypt, and made to be the powerful Regent of Egypt, no less than the second most powerful person in the whole kingdom after the Pharaoh himself. And it was this powerful Regent that the brothers of Joseph met him, at that time, when the world was gripped in great famine and sufferings.

It was in fact part of God’s plan for His beloved ones, as through this action and turn of events, which was surely most unexpected for everyone, not only that God turned sufferings into greatness, but in His perfect timing and divine plan, He made everything to be wonderful, reuniting Joseph with his brothers and family in the end, and at the same time, his careful stewardship of Egypt’s resources and food allowed him to help countless people in Egypt and many other places to survive through the great seven years of famine. We can see how God made even wicked things that the brothers of Joseph had done to Joseph into great and wonderful things for so many, all the works of His hands, His wonderful and most loving deeds for us.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord Jesus calling and dedicating His most important and closest collaborators, the disciples known as the Twelve, the members of His innermost circle of disciples. And we heard the Twelve being named for us, including the one that would betray Him in the end, Judas Iscariot. These people had been chosen and called by the Lord, from among those whom He had encountered and called, from different and diverse origins, and to them all He entrusted the power and authority to perform miracles and wonders, and to reach out to more and more of the people that He Himself would minister to, so that many more would come to know the Lord and His salvation, His Good News and love.

This is a reminder for all of us that as Christians, all of us have also been called like the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord, and we have been given the unique and diverse gifts and opportunities which God had provided to each one of us so that we may make good use of them in whatever it is that He wants us to do in our respective lives, in our respective capacities in whatever we have encountered daily in life, in all those whom we have met, interacted with and spent time with. All of us ought to bear with us all the courageous and genuine witnessing of our Christian faith in all that we say and do, in our every interactions with one another, in our love that we show to those who are dear to us, and in our care for our fellow brothers and sisters, our neighbours around us.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Augustine Zhao Rong and his companions in martyrdom, the Holy Martyrs of China, commemorating all those faithful holy men and women who had courageously stood up for their faith and defended their commitment to God without fear and willing to suffer and die as faithful disciples and followers of Christ, particularly against terrible and harsh repressions and persecutions against them and the Church. St. Augustine Zhao Rong himself was born during the middle of the eighteenth century in China, and was one of the Christian converts during a time when the Imperial Chinese government and state was highly suspicious of Christians and the missionaries, and which carried out sporadic persecutions against them and the faithful.

St. Augustine Zhao Rong wanted to become a priest and he received training to be such, and in such extraordinary circumstances, only five years after his baptism, he was ordained as a priest, becoming one of the first local Chinese to be ordained a priest, and he spent many years in service to the people of God and to the works of mission of the Church in various places. Then, according to the historic tradition, under the Emperor Jiaqing in the early nineteenth century, more persecutions were carried out against Christians, and St. Augustine Zhao Rong was one of those who were arrested, and then tortured and eventually martyred for their faith. There were many other Christian faithful, both the missionaries and the converts who gave up their lives in their faithful commitment and obedience to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be renewed and strengthened in faith, and let us all continue to do our best to live our lives each day with the strong desire to glorify God by our lives, knowing that God is always with us, providing for us at every steps of our journey in life. And through the inspiration provided to us by the courage and faith of St. Augustine Zhao Rong and his fellow companions in martyrdom, let us all continue to be faithful in all things and at all times. Amen.

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Wednesday, 9 July 2025 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 10 : 1-7

At that time, Jesus called His Twelve disciples to Him, and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out, and to heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the Twelve Apostles : first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the man who would betray Him.

Jesus sent these Twelve on mission, with the instruction : “Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town. Go, instead, to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. Go, and proclaim this message : The kingdom of Heaven is near.”

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Wednesday, 9 July 2025 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 32 : 2-3, 10-11, 18-19

Give thanks to YHVH on the harp and lyre, making melody and chanting praises. Amid loud shouts of joy, sing to Him a new song and play the ten-stringed harp.

YHVH frustrates the plans of the nations and brings to nothing the peoples’ designs. But His plan stands forever, and His heart’s design, through all generations.

But YHVH’s eyes are upon those who fear Him, upon those who trust in His loving kindness; to deliver them from death and preserve them from famine.

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Wednesday, 9 July 2025 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine Zhao Rong, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Genesis 41 : 55-57 and Genesis 42 : 5-7a, 17-24a

When the land of Egypt began to suffer from the famine, the people came to Pharaoh for bread. But Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do as he tells you.” When the famine had spread throughout the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians for the famine was indeed severe over the land.

As the famine had worsened throughout the whole world, people came from other countries to buy grain from Joseph. So the sons of Israel were among those going to buy grain, for there was famine in Canaan. It was Joseph, as governor of the land, who sold the grain to all the people. When his brothers arrived they bowed before him, with their faces to the ground.

Joseph recognised his brothers but did not make himself known and so he put them in prison for three days. On the third day Joseph said to them, “I will help you save yourselves, for I am a man who fears God. If you are sincere, let one of your brothers remain prisoner in the house of the guard where you now are, and the rest of you take the grain to save your families from famine. Then you will bring back your youngest brother; so the truth of what you say will be proved and your lives spared.”

They did as they were ordered and said among themselves, “Alas! We are guilty because of the way we treated our brother when he pleaded with us for mercy, but we did not listen. That is why this trouble has come upon us.” Reuben answered them, “Did I tell you not to sin against the boy. But you did not listen and now we are brought to account for his blood.”

Now they did not know that Joseph understood them as there was an interpreter between them. As for Joseph, he withdrew and wept.

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Monday, 30 June 2025 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the love and compassion which the Lord has shown to us all, His faithful and beloved people. We are reminded of the generous mercy and kindness which He has shown all of us, by His constant efforts in forgiving us all from our sins and in being patient with us despite us having frequently and constantly disobeyed Him from time to time again. He has even sent us His only Begotten Son to our midst so that by His coming into this world, He may become for us all the source of salvation and hope, and lead us all to Himself once again, reconciling us sinners with Him and allowing us all to find our way back to Him, our loving God and Father.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Genesis the account of the conversation between Abraham and God when he found out about God’s plan to bring about the destruction of the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the great sins and wickedness which they had committed before the Lord, and for their stubbornness in remaining in such sins and wickedness. But Abraham also knew and was aware that his own nephew, Lot and his family dwelled in the lands of Sodom and Gomorrah, and hence, should God bring about destruction to Sodom and Gomorrah, it might have led to harm to Lot and his family too, as with any other righteous people who might be found there in those two places as well. Hence, Abraham went on a series of conversations and requests to the Lord, asking Him to show mercy and withhold His destruction should there be some of those who were righteous in those two places.

God then repeatedly answered and reassured Abraham as he kept on asking about the fate and well-being of those righteous who might be found in the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, that for his sake and his faith in Him, He would not punish and destroy Sodom and Gomorrah should there be any of the righteous remaining in those places, as he has asked of Him. However, as we ought to know that there was only so few of the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah, essentially only Lot and his own immediate family, that not even what Abraham had asked of the Lord could be done. In the end, Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire and brimstone from Heaven, but not before the Lord sent His Angels to help rescue Lot and his family to safety.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus was asked by a teacher of the Law who told Him that he would follow Him wherever He would go, and the Lord told this teacher of the Law that following Him would mean moving from place to place, having no stable and steady place for him and anyone else following Him to stay at, and that commitment to follow Him often required them, that is His disciples to dedicate themselves, their time and effort to follow Him and do the works that He has entrusted them to do. And therefore, that was why the Lord asked for commitment from those who have asked Him to be His followers, as if they were still divided and unsure about what they wanted, it would be difficult for them to be truly His disciples and followers.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, first of all, we have to understand this from the context of what the disciples of the Lord did at that time, as the teacher of the Law asked of the Lord, his intentions was quite clear that he wanted to be like those members of the Twelve, the disciples that were always around the Lord and always helped Him to carry out His missions and works. And such missions and works would require one to be thoroughly committed to the cause, and hence, it was imperative that those who wanted to follow the Lord in this manner ought to be truly committed and not be divided in their attention and thoughts. This is essentially what those who have committed themselves to the calling to priesthood and religious life in our Church today have also done as well.

In another occasion, the Lord also told His disciples and those who followed Him, that none of those who have devoted themselves to Him, their effort and time, and all of their works would be ignored and abandoned by the Lord. In fact, the Lord knows all that they have done for Him and hence, if we are truly faithful to the Lord, in the end, we will be vindicated and will be triumphant with Him. There is nothing that the Lord does not know, and as long as we continue to do our best to entrust ourselves to Him and to fully have faith in Him regardless of the challenges and trials that we may encounter, then in the end, we will find true joy and satisfaction in the Lord, our most loving and faithful God.

Today, the Church also celebrates the occasion of the Feast of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church. This feast, which is celebrated on the day after the Solemnity of St. Peter and St. Paul, Holy Apostles and Patron Saints of Rome, has a special significance for the Church in Rome, referring to the Diocese of Rome, of which our Pope is the bishop of, and as the leader of the whole entire Church and particularly as part of the Roman Rite, we have this special connection with the Church of Rome and its bishop, as well as its past and history, in which today we recall the memory of all those who have been martyred together with the two Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, during the first great persecution of Christians in Rome.

At that time, the Christian Church has been growing and flourishing in Rome during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero after Christian missionaries have reached the capital of the Roman Empire during their missions, and the arrival of St. Peter the Apostle and St. Paul the Apostle no doubt strengthened those missionary efforts, with St. Peter having become the first Bishop of Rome and thus the leader of the local Church on top of his responsibilities as the head of the whole Universal Church, while St. Paul in his great missionary zeal and efforts to proclaim the faith and the Good News to the people, especially to the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people. However, as the number of Christians continued to grow, it began to lead to frictions with the traditional Roman pagan beliefs and traditions.

And at the time, the Emperor Nero, who was infamous for his lack of morality and his megalomaniac behaviour, began to come into friction with different segments of the Roman state and governance, which eventually would lead to his downfall and overthrow in the Year 68 AD. However, about four years prior to this event, Emperor Nero instigated a great fire in Rome, which many historical evidences pointed out to him being the mastermind behind the events. And he blamed the fire on the Christian populations in Rome, which had already been poorly regarded by the people of Rome, as scapegoats so that the Emperor could get away with his wicked ideas and plans. As a result, many of the Roman Christians were martyred, and it is their memory whom we remember today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we remember the great faith and courage which the first martyrs of the Church of Rome has shown amidst the great trials and challenges facing them, let us all be inspired by their examples so that we ourselves may continue to serve the Lord faithfully at all times, dedicating ourselves to His cause to the best of our abilities. May the Lord be with us always and may He encourage us all to be ever strong in out commitment to walk courageously in the path that He has shown us, and bless our every good efforts and works. Amen.

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Monday, 30 June 2025 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 8 : 18-22

At that time, when Jesus saw the crowd pressing around Him, He gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. A teacher of the Law approached Him; and said, “Master, I will follow You wherever You go.”

Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Another disciple said to Him, “Lord, let me go and bury my father first.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead.”

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Monday, 30 June 2025 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 8-9, 10-11

Praise YHVH, my soul; all my being, praise His Holy Name! Praise YHVH, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

YHVH is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger; He will not always scold nor will He be angry forever.

He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve. As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him.

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Monday, 30 June 2025 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Genesis 18 : 16-33

The men went away and turned towards Sodom. Abraham walked with them to set them on their way. And YHVH said, “Can I conceal from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham, in fact, is going to become a great and powerful nation and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed, for I have chosen him to command his sons and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that YHVH may bring about for Abraham what He has promised him.”

Then YHVH said, “How great is the cry for justice against Sodom and Gomorrah! And how grievous is their sin! I am going down to see if they have done all that they are charged with in the outcry that has reached Me. If it is not so, I will know.” The men with Him turned away and went towards Sodom, but YHVH remained standing before Abraham.

Abraham went forward and said, “Will You really let the just perish with the wicked? Perhaps there are fifty good people in the town. Are You really going to let them perish? Would You not spare the place for the sake of these fifty righteous people? It would not be at all like You to do such a thing and You cannot let the good perish with the wicked, nor treat the good and the wicked alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth be just?” YHVH said, “If I find fifty good people in Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

Abraham spoke up again, “I know that I am very bold to speak like this to my Lord, I who am only dust and ashes! But perhaps the number of the good is five less than fifty. Will You destroy the town because of the five?” YHVH replied, “I will not destroy the town if I find forty-five good people there.” Again Abraham said to him, “Perhaps there will be only forty.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.”

Abraham went on, saying, “May my Lord not be angry, but let me speak. Maybe only thirty good people will be found in the town.” YHVH answered, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty there.” Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to my Lord, what if only twenty can be found?” He said, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy the place.”

But Abraham insisted, “May my Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found?” And YHVH answered, “For the sake of ten good people, I will not destroy Sodom.” When YHVH had finished speaking with Abraham, He left and Abraham went home.

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Thursday, 19 June 2025 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the need for all of us to be firmly rooted in faith and to be truly committed to God, so that we do not easily fall into the false paths due to the temptations of worldly vices and falsehoods spread by those who seek our downfall and destruction. Each and every one of us as Christians are always called to remain vigilant against all those false teachings and to remain rooted firmly in God, and the best way for us all to do this is by doing what the Lord Jesus had taught us, His disciples to do, that is to pray to our Heavenly Father and to constantly communicate with Him so that we may truly realise what He wants us all to do in our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the region of Corinth, warning them of the temptations of Satan and all those seeking to mislead them all into the wrong paths, mentioning how there were others who taught differently from the way that St. Paul had already taught to the faithful there. This highlighted the reality of the earliest days of the Church, in those days when there was not yet any united doctrine or organised Church organisation in the manner that we are all familiar with these days. There were still preachers and charismatic teachers of the faith going around then spreading the teachings that might not have been in accordance to what the Lord had revealed to His Apostles and the Church.

That in itself might not have been wicked or negative in intention, as some of those preachers, one of which was the charismatic Jewish preacher named Apollos, or St. Apollos was in fact a believer of Christ, and yet, he had not yet received the full instruction of faith and the Holy Spirit yet, and hence, that was why what he taught and spoke to the people were somewhat different from what St. Paul and the other Apostles had taught and spoken to the faithful. However, there were indeed many other false teachers and preachers, whose heretical ideas and thoughts brought harm to the souls of many of the faithful, many of whom were ensnared by those wrong and perverted teachings and ways, leading to quite a number among them to be swayed by the tempting words and falsehoods.

This was what St. Paul had told the faithful in Corinth in order to remind and warn them so that they do not end up falling into temptations and all the falsehoods present all around them in the world. He was also sharing how while he was not among the members of the Twelve, which he probably jokingly mentioned as being ‘super-Apostles’, being those who were closest to the Lord and were present during His ministry unlike that of St. Paul, but whatever he had taught the faithful in Corinth and elsewhere, all that he had laboured for, all that he had shared to them were all the same as what the rest of the Apostles had taught as well. Essentially, he was telling them all that what he and the other Apostles have brought to them were the authentic and genuine expressions and details of their Christian faith, and they should remain rooted in that teaching, and not in the falsehoods.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord Jesus telling His disciples of how they ought to pray to their Father, not in the manner of the pagans and all those who usually use a lot of words in their prayers, a lot of actions and gestures, and yet, they did not truly pray in the right sense. That was why the Lord Jesus taught the disciples on how they ought to pray to their Father in Heaven, just as Jesus Himself frequently spent time in prayer and silent time with the Father. And that was how God wants us all to pray as well, in spending good, quality and committed time with Him as much as we are able to, in communicating actively with Him, in listening to Him just as we also speak to Him, as how we should in a proper communication.

In communicating with the Lord through prayer, all of us are taught and reminded by Our Lord Jesus Himself that first of all, we should not seek to impose on the Lord what we want, unlike how we normally conduct our prayers. If we do so, then we may end up not praying in the right manner. And this is what we all need to realise, as first of all we have to realise that the Lord is all holy and powerful, and we ought to thank Him first for every blessings that He has bestowed on us each day, even when we may not even realise it at all. Every breath we take and every moment that we are alive, each one of these are reminders for us of just how blessed we all are, and how fortunate for us to have the Lord our God, Who truly loves us all and Who has always been so generous with us.

And that is why we should always be grateful and thankful to God, and remember to ask Him to show us all His kindness and mercy, in giving us all that we need. The Lord knows all that we need, and we do not really actually need to tell Him what is in our hearts and minds, as God Who is all-knowing knows everything that we are, and all that are in our hearts and minds. Yet, at the same time, He also wants us all to call on Him, to come and ask Him for His Divine favours, and most importantly, He wants us to communicate with Him and to trust in Him instead of doing things with our own strength and power. Truly, with God, everything is possible and we can indeed do all things in Him Who strengthens and supports us. And this is why we need a good, prayerful relationship with God at all times.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Philip Minh and his companions in martyrdom, the Holy Martyrs of Vietnam. At that time, the Christian faith had just begun to spread to the land and region of Vietnam through the works of missionaries, particularly those from France, belonging mostly to the Society of the Paris Foreign Mission, also known as the Société des Missions Etrangères de Paris. These foreign missionaries went to distant lands to proclaim the Good News of the Lord and the Christian faith, and in this particular case, they came with the French to serve as missionaries to the land of Vietnam. However, due to their links with the French and their ulterior motives in coming to Vietnam, therefore the Christian missionaries and also the local converts were seen with great suspicion by the Vietnamese government then.

Gradually, persecutions continued to increase against the Christian missionaries and the local converts alike, as Christianity was seen as a foreign influence and possibly dangerous supporters of the French colonial power, and hence ought to be removed and eliminated. St. Philip Minh was one of these Catholic converts, who went to join the seminary in College General in Penang for a few years before he was ordained as a priest, with the intention of continuing the work of mission in Vietnam, to proclaim the Good News of God to more and more of his fellow countrymen. However, the Vietnam that he returned to had become even more hostile to the Christian faith, and eventually, he himself was seized and arrested, and martyred for his faith together with many other missionaries and fellow converts over the many decades of persecution.

Yet, despite all these sufferings and hardships, those Catholics who were persecuted for their faith, just as their predecessors in the early Church had suffered, remained firmly faithful to the Lord, and they remained strong in their conviction to follow Him because they have strong connection and attunement to God, which is what we are again being reminded of today. Let us all therefore continue to deepen our prayer life and to spend all the time to glorify Him through our every words, actions and deeds, in continuing to communicate with our loving God and Father at all times. May the Lord continue to love each and every one of us, and may all of us grow ever stronger in our love and faith in Him. Amen.

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Thursday, 19 June 2025 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 6 : 7-15

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “When you pray, do not use a lot of words, as the pagans do; for they believe that, the more they say, the more chance they have of being heard. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need, even before you ask Him.”

“This, then, is how you should pray : Our Father in heaven, holy be Your Name, Your kingdom, come, Your will be done on earth, as in heaven. Give us today, our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we forgive those who are in debt to us. Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from the evil one.”

“If you forgive others their wrongdoings, your Father in heaven will also forgive yours. If you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive you.”