Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Matthew 11 : 28-30
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you will find rest. For My yoke is easy; and My burden is light.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 104 : 1 and 5, 8-9, 24-25, 26-27
Give thanks to YHVH, call on His Name; make known His works among the nations. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.
He remembers His Covenant forever, His promise to a thousand generations, the Covenant He made with Abraham, the promise He swore to Isaac.
YHVH made His people fruitful and much stronger than their foes; whose hearts He turned, to hate His people, to deal deceitfully with His servants.
Then He sent Moses His servant and Aaron whom He had chosen. They performed His signs among them, His miracles in the land of Ham.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Exodus 3 : 13-20
Moses answered God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them : ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ they will ask me : ‘What is His Name?’ What shall I answer them?”
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO AM. This is what you will say to the sons of Israel : ‘I AM sent me to you.” God then said to Moses, “You will say to the Israelites : ‘YHVH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me.’ That will be My Name forever, and by this Name they shall call upon Me for all generations to come.”
“Go! Call together the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘YHVH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob appeared to me and said : I have seen and taken account of how the Egyptians have treated you, and I mean to bring you out of all this oppression in Egypt and take you to the land of the Canaanites, a land flowing with milk and honey.'”
“The elders of Israel will listen to you and, with them, you shall go to the palace of the king of Egypt and say to him : ‘The God of the Hebrews, YHVH, has met with us. Now let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to YHVH our God.'”
“I well know that the king of the Egyptians will not allow you to go unless he is forced to do so. I will therefore stretch out My hand and strike Egypt in extraordinary ways, after which he will let you go.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded that we should truly have faith and trust in the Lord, remaining true to His path and righteousness, distancing ourselves from the wickedness and evils present all around us. All of us should do our very best to embrace the path that the Lord has set before us, and not be swayed by worldly temptations, and by the coercions and pressures from all those who sought to sway and mislead us down the wrong path. In our Scripture passages today, each one of us are reminded of the moments when the Lord has shown His love and faithfulness to us, to the Covenant that He has established with us.
In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Genesis, we heard of the story of the moment when God told Abraham to bring his beloved son Isaac, the one whom the Lord had promised to Abraham, to Mount Moriah and to offer him as a sacrifice. Abraham obeyed the Lord wholeheartedly and brought Isaac with him to Mount Moriah as God has commanded him to do. Abraham might have indeed been pained and dumbfounded by God’s request, as Isaac was the son he had been long awaiting for, and this might have indeed led to questions in Abraham’s heart and mind. But whatever it is, Abraham did not let all those things to sway him from his faith in God, as he fully trusted the Lord, and knew that if God had provided Isaac to him, then He would provide for him in whatever He had called him to do.
Thus, Abraham brought Isaac all the way to Mount Moriah and placed him on the altar, ready to be sacrificed and offered to God, when God sent His Angel to stop Abraham and to tell him that He had seen the great and absolute faith which Abraham had shown him, and hence, He would bless Abraham all the more and reaffirmed the Covenant which He has established with him. God gave a ram to replace Isaac, and there God reaffirmed the Covenant He made, and showed us all that He truly loves each and every one of us, as He showed Abraham that He has always held His end of the promises and bargains made. Not only that, but this offering and sacrifice of Abraham’s son, Isaac, was in fact a prefigurement of what the Lord Himself would do for us all, which I would detail in a moment.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Who healed a paralysed man that had been brought to Him. He healed him and showed pity upon him, seeing the faith that the man and those who brought him to Him had, only to be faced with opposition and stubborn refusal by the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees in the midst of those who witnessed the miracle. Instead of giving thanks to God for the help that has been shown to the suffering man, they blamed and condemned the Lord, by thinking that He has blasphemed and uttered blasphemy by saying that He could forgive sins. They hardened their hearts and minds, and refused to believe in the truth that God had brought before their very own eyes.
Those same Pharisees and teachers of the Law had allowed their worldly desires and ambitions, their fears and attachments to the temptations of this world, their desires for fame and glory to mislead them down the wrong path. Unlike Abraham, who trusted in the Lord with all of his heart and might, who did not even withhold giving his most precious possession, Isaac, his most beloved son, the promised heir who was more worth than all of Abraham’s other vast possessions and wealth combined, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law prioritised their attachments to worldly glory and fame, and their fears that they would lose all those things were catalysts that led to their stubborn opposition against the Lord and His works.
As I mentioned earlier with the sacrifice of Isaac, the Lord Himself showed us that He was not hesitant to give us His Son, just the manner that Abraham gave his son willingly to the Lord. God gave us all His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, so that by His willing sacrifice, His obedience to His Father’s will, and by Him bearing all of our sins and wickedness, and all the punishments and consequences for those sins. God showed us His love and faithfulness, to the Covenant which He has established with us, the same Covenant that He had made with Abraham, and which was made anew and made into an eternal and everlasting Covenant through Christ, by His sacrifice of love on the Cross, by His suffering and death.
Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of St. Maria Goretti, a renowned saint remembered for her faith in the Lord, her righteousness and steadfastness amidst the things that she had to face and endure, the trial of her faith and dedication to God. St. Maria Goretti was a young woman who was born to a family of poor farmers, and her father’s early death led to her family having to live together with another family, the Serenellis, whose son, Alessandro, attempted to rape St. Maria Goretti as he made advances upon her. St. Maria Goretti resisted Alessandro’s advances and dissuaded him from committing such a sin with her, and as a result, she was assaulted many times by Alessandro, who stabbed her many times with a knife before fleeing.
St. Maria Goretti was found in a critical state, but just before she passed away, she told her mother and others that she forgave Alessandro and stating that she would want him to be in Heaven with her, along with her concern for her mother. This reflected what the Lord Himself had done for all of us, when He was on His Cross, praying for us and asking His Father not to hold our sins against us, those who have condemned Him to death on the Cross. Eventually, St. Maria Goretti’s assailant, Alessandro, repented from his sins and mistakes, and after having gone through the period of punishment and trial, in which time St. Maria Goretti appeared to him, Alessandro became a totally changed man, and together with the mother of St. Maria Goretti, they attended her canonisation as a saint.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us as Christians, as God’s followers and people are therefore reminded of our obligation and calling to commit ourselves to the Lord, to give our all in devotion to God, remembering just how the Lord Himself has been faithful to the Covenant He has made with us. And as part of that Covenant, all of us are called to live our lives as faithful and committed Christians, just as how St. Maria Goretti had lived, in her upholding of the sanctity of her virginity and her upright life, and how she forgave her assailant and murderer, and her prayers for him, right to the end. Can all of us do the same with our lives as well, brothers and sisters in Christ? Can we commit ourselves more wholeheartedly as how our holy predecessors had done?
May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, continue to be with us and bless us, and may He empower each and every one of us so that we may indeed live our lives most worthily, in all things and at all times. May all of us dedicate ourselves with ever greater commitment and faith, now and always, and be ever great role models and inspirations for our fellow Christian brothers and sisters all around us. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Matthew 9 : 1-8
At that time, Jesus got back into the boat, crossed the lake again, and came to His hometown. Here, they brought to Him a paralysed man, lying on a bed. Jesus saw their faith and said to the paralytic, “Courage, my son! Your sins are forgiven.”
Some teachers of the Law said within themselves, “This Man insults God.” Jesus was aware of what they were thinking; and said, “Why have you such evil thoughts? Which is easier to say : ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? But that you may know, that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins,” He said to the paralysed man, “Stand up! Take your stretcher and go home!”
The man got up, and went home. When the crowds saw this, they were filled with awe, and praised God for giving such power to human beings.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 114 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
Alleluia! I am pleased that YHVH has heard my voice in supplication, that He has not been deaf to me, the day I called on Him.
When the cords of death entangled me, the snares of the grave laid hold of me, when affliction got the better of me, I called upon the Name of YHVH : “O YHVH, save my life!”
Gracious and righteous is YHVH; full of compassion is our God. YHVH protects the simple : He saved me when I was humbled.
He has freed my soul from death, my eyes from weeping, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before YHVH in the land of the living.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Genesis 22 : 1-19
Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he answered, “Here I am.” Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I shall point out to you.”
Abraham rose early next morning and saddled his donkey and took with him two of his young men and his son Isaac. He chopped wood for the burnt offering and set out for the place to which God had directed him. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance, and he said to the young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go over there to worship and then we will come back to you.”
Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. He carried in his hand the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, “Father!” And Abraham replied, “Yes, my son?” Isaac said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” Abraham replied, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the sacrifice.”
They went on, the two of them together, until they came to the place to which God had directed them. When Abraham had built the altar and set the wood on it, he bound his son Isaac and laid him on the wood placed on the altar. He then stretched out his hand to seize the knife and slay his son. But the Angel of YHVH called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
And he said, “Here I am.” “Do not lay your hand on the boy; do not harm him, for now I know that you fear God, and you have not held back from Me your only son.” Abraham looked around and saw behind him a ram caught by its horns in a bush. He offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham named the place ‘The Lord will provide.’ And the saying has lasted to this day.
And the Angel of YHVH called from heaven a second time, “By myself I have sworn, it is YHVH Who speaks, because you have done this and not held back your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the lands of their enemies. All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your descendants because you have obeyed Me.”
So Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba and it was there that Abraham stayed.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of one of the great Apostles of the Lord, one of the Twelve Apostles, St. Thomas the Apostle, known as the one who doubted the Lord, His Resurrections, words and teachings. St. Thomas was not an easy man to convince, as the Scriptures has shown us. Yet, in the end, the Lord showed St. Thomas that everything that He has revealed and taught to him were truly the truth, and everything indeed happened as He had predicted and spoken about them. Thus, St. Thomas became one of the most ardent disciples of the Lord, and went on to do great things for the greater glory of God, spreading the Good News of God to more and more people who have not yet heard of Him.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Ephesians, of the nature that all the faithful people of God are parts of the Church, the Body of Christ. The Apostles meanwhile are the foundations and the pillars, as were the prophets and other great saints and messengers of God. Each one of them are important parts of the Church, which allowed the Church to grow ever larger and prosper among the people of God. St. Thomas the Apostle was one of these many pillars, and the contributions and works he had done, all were meant to strengthen the structure and the support of the Church. St. Paul also mentioned how all the whole structure is joined together, and rises to be a holy Temple in the Lord, representing how each and every one of us as those who believe in the Lord are Temples of the Lord’s Holy Presence.
The significance of those words, is that the Apostles and the many other saints are the good role models and inspirations for all the other faithful people of God, and through the holiness and sanctity that they had shown, in their lives and works, St. Thomas the Apostle, the other Apostles and the innumerable other holy men and women of God, those who have been declared saints and blesseds, all these helped us all in our own lives, by inspiring and showing us all what it truly means for us to be Christians, to be God’s people and members of His one Body, the Body of Christ the Church. Each and every one of us should be strengthened and empowered by the Apostles and all that they had done for the good of the Church and all the whole people of God.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the account of how the Lord appeared to St. Thomas the Apostle and the other disciples and proved to the former that He was truly risen from the dead. Initially, the Lord appeared to all the Apostles and disciples of the Lord except for St. Thomas himself who was away and not present. St. Thomas doubled down on his stubborn refusal to believe in the Lord’s resurrection, and even challenged that he would not believe unless he could put his fingers into the wounds of the Lord, and prove that He was truly risen in the flesh, or else he would not believe in Him. That was when the Lord proved him wrong and revealed to St. Thomas himself that He was indeed Risen from the dead.
Through all of these, we can see that God had called for Himself people who were imperfect, flawed and some might even consider unworthy to be the disciples and followers of the Lord, and less still as an Apostle and a role model for all the faithful. But lest we are quick to judge and think that St. Thomas was less than worthy to follow the Lord, we have to look at ourselves first. Are we not also flawed and faulty, imperfect and sometimes wicked in our ways? When God called us, it was not His intention to make those who are already great and perfect, unblemished and unflawed to be His followers. In fact, none of us would have ever been worthy of the Lord in that manner, and no one would have been worthy enough to be a follower of the Lord, being sinners that we are.
However, the truth is that God called His disciples and followers from the world, sinners and imperfect, and turned them all into those whose lives have been transformed and changed by their knowledge of God and His truth. For example, St. Thomas himself, once filled with doubt and stubbornness in refusing to believe in the Lord, became one of the Lord’s greatest servants in doing His will through many years of faithful service, proclaiming the Good News in many distant places and lands, and converting many to the true faith, revealing the Risen Lord to those who have not yet heard of Him. Once an unbeliever himself, St. Thomas spent many years in his works, in proclaiming the Risen Lord, and eventually even suffering and dying a martyr’s death for that same truth.
St. Thomas went to proclaim the Good News of God in many places, and most importantly, in what is now India, where he proclaimed the Messiah and the Son of God, the Risen Lord, in various parts of southern India. Apostolic and Church traditions, as well as historical evidences showed that St. Thomas helped to establish Christian communities in various places across coastal areas of India, evidently due to his works and contributions. Those Christian communities would endure and remain strong for centuries, and later on, those Christians kept their faith and continued to show the faith in the Lord despite the hardships and the challenges that they constantly faced. St. Thomas himself faced the same persecution and hardships, and was martyred in the midst of his ministry.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, we can clearly see that the Lord had called St. Thomas to be His faithful and worthy servant, although he was an unbeliever and was wavering in faith initially. He called the imperfect and the weak so that by His grace and strength, He might empower them all and strengthen them that they become the worthy followers and disciples of His. That is what He has done for us as well, and what He will do for us. Each one of us should realise that as Christians, as God’s followers and disciples, we should do our best to do God’s will, in all that He has entrusted to each one of us, the mission and works that we should be doing in the path that He has shown us. The question is then, are we able to commit ourselves like St. Thomas and the other holy men and women of God had done?
Let us all therefore seek to do our best to do God’s will in each and every moments and opportunities provided to us, so that we may continue to glorify Him by our lives, by our every actions, works and deeds, as well as in our every words and interactions with one another. May the Lord continue to bless us and guide us in our every efforts and good endeavours, so that we may continue to inspire each other and more people, just as how St. Thomas had inspired countless people throughout the history of the Church and the world. St. Thomas, Holy Apostle of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, pray for us all who are sinners and are weak in our faith, that God may also strengthen our faith in Him and our love and dedication to Him, as He has done with you. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Red
John 20 : 24-29
At that time, Thomas, the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with the other Eleven when Jesus came. The other disciples told Him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he replied, “Until I have seen in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in His side, I will not believe.”
Eight days later, the disciples were again inside the house and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see My hands; stretch out your hand, and put it into My side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe!”
Thomas said, “You are my Lord and my God.” Jesus replied, “You believe because you see Me, do you not? Happy are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 116 : 1, 2
Alleluia! Praise YHVH, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him.
How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 