Ordinary Time 2024

by

Wednesday, 5 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures we are all reminded that we are God’s holy and beloved people, and we often may have to endure sufferings and hardships, one after another in the midst of our journey of faith as Christians, as those whom God had called and chosen to be His own people. All of us must always remain firm in our faith in the Lord and we must strive to focus our lives and existences on Him, He Who is the Lord and Master of all of our lives, the Lord and Master of all the living and the dead, the Master of all the Universe. We are all called as Christians to be the bearers of God’s truth and love, and to live lives that are truly good, righteous and worthy of the Lord at all times.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to St. Timothy in which the Apostle spoke of the reminder for all the faithful through St. Timothy, that all Christians, all of God’s faithful and holy people ought to do their best to stand up for their faith in the Lord, to be ever more committed to walk in the path of God’s righteousness and love. Each and every one of us have been given the various gifts and talents, the opportunities and chances by the Lord for us to reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters, to all those whom we encounter in our every day moments, so that by our interactions with them, and through our commitment to the Lord, our pious and faithful lives, we may inspire many others to believe in God as well and to embrace Him as their Lord and Master.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Mark in which the Lord Jesus was confronted with a group of the Sadducees who wanted to question and test Him with regards to their beliefs especially that related to the concept of resurrection from the dead. The Sadducees were one of the major and powerful groups that dominated the then Jewish community, composed of those who belonged to the high priestly and priestly caste, the Temple officials and others who were influential and powerful within the community of the people of God. Those Sadducees also represent all those members of the Jewish community who were largely Hellenised or influenced strongly by the Greek culture and customs. This is contrasted to the Pharisees who were the guardians of the Jewish culture and customs.

As the Sadducees were deeply entrenched in the worldly power, politics and hegemony, and as they enjoyed great prestige, position and power among the people of God, hence it is no surprise that they would have been very worldly in their outlook in life, in their beliefs and practices. They did not believe in the afterlife or the resurrection from the dead mostly because they revelled so much in the life they had in this world, all the glory, power and pleasures that they could not imagine an existence or life without all those things and privileges which they had enjoyed in life in this world. That was why they did not believe in the spiritual matters and life beyond this world, as they focused mainly on living their lives in this world and enjoying everything as best as they could.

But in doing so, they have not done as the Lord had entrusted to them to do. They being the leaders and influential members of the Jewish community, they should have become great sources of inspiration and leadership, as role models for all the people to follow, in how they embody their faith in God and the Law and commandments of God. And yet, by their worldliness and their embracing of the corrupt practices of the world, their love for money, wealth and prestige, all these made them to forget about their missions and what they were expected to do. In the end, they were all the examples of how we must always resist the many temptations and coercions, the desires for pleasures of the world that are always all around us.

Each and every one of us must indeed heed the words of the Lord reminding us that we are called to greater existence and holiness in life, to focus on Him and His truth, and not on the many desires and attachments of worldly things, all of which cannot truly grant us true and genuine happiness in life, and as well as in the life that is to come. The Sadducees in our Gospel passage today tested the Lord with the case of the seven brothers who shared a woman as a wife when each one of them passed away one after another without having any child, and this showed that their understanding of the Law and its precepts were superficial and they were driven a lot more by their desires and attachments to this world.

As Christians we must always remember that all of us must always live our lives centred and focused on the Lord in all things. We cannot serve God and worldly desires and temptations both, as the Lord Himself had said in another occasion in the Gospels. We must always strive that our every actions, words and deeds are rooted in the Lord, and we ought to resist whatever it is that may become hurdles and obstacles in our path towards God and His salvation. Otherwise, we may easily be swayed and tempted away from God’s path and fall into the slippery slope of sin, just as those Sadducees and many others of our predecessors had experienced. The temptations, coercions and pressures for us to succumb to sin are always aplenty, and if we are not careful, we may easily lose our path and fall into it.

Today the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Boniface, a great missionary and bishop who was crucial in his missionary efforts and works in the land of those who still adhered to pagan beliefs and customs, proclaiming the Lord to all of them and convincing many to embrace the Lord as their Master and Saviour. St. Boniface was born in England to a Christian family and was raised in the faith, eventually joining the monastic life against the wishes of his father. However St. Boniface persisted on and continued with his commitment to God, learning more about the faith and building up his experiences, eventually becoming a Christian monk and priest, and was sent as a missionary in the mainland Europe, specifically in the northern and north-western parts of Germany in the area known as Frisia, which back then was still largely pagan.

St. Boniface carried out his missions and works faithfully amidst the challenges and dangers that he had to face at the time, due to the conflicts between the Christian Frankish kingdoms and the still pagan Kingdom of Frisia. He continued his ministry and gained many conversions from among the pagans, tirelessly spending time and effort to proclaim the Lord’s Good News and His salvation to all those whom he encountered during his missionary works. According to a well-known tale, St. Boniface also performed a great miracle, in standing up against the pagans when he struck down a sacred oak that was worshipped by the pagans then, as a gust of wind miraculously helped St. Boniface to topple the great tree, and the people converted to the Christian faith when they, who had expected St. Boniface to be struck down by lightning, was unharmed, convincing them that the Lord, Whom St. Boniface had been proclaiming about, is indeed the one and only True God.

St. Boniface was also entrusted with the leadership of the newly established hierarchy and structure of the Church in the region of his works, appointed and ordained as a bishop, and he continued to labour hard and tirelessly in proclaiming the Lord. He helped to build up the Church in various places of his ministry from ground up, bringing many to the path of God’s grace and salvation. And in the midst of these efforts, work and ministry, St. Boniface was assailed by a group of robbers during one of his missionary trips in Frisia. He was attacked and killed together with his company, and thus died a martyr’s death. He was also credited with these words, which he uttered before his passing, ‘Cease fighting. Lay down your arms, for we are told in Scripture not to render evil for evil but to overcome evil by good.’ And that was how he and his companions died a martyr’s death, ever dedicated to live lives that are worthy of God to the very end.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard of the life and works of St. Boniface, his commitment to God and his thorough embrace of the missions entrusted to him, and how he had lived worthily as a Christian, and having been reminded of what we must be vigilant against, all of us should strive to do what we can so that our lives may truly be holy and worthy of God, and that everyone who witnesses our works and actions may truly recognise the Lord being present in all of us. Let us all thus continue to glorify the Lord by our lives and may the Lord continue to bless us in our every good works, efforts and endeavours. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 5 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 12 : 18-27

At that time, the Sadducees also came to Jesus. Since they claim that there is no resurrection, they questioned Him in this way, “Master, in the Scriptures Moses gave us this law : if anyone dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must take the woman, and with her have a baby, who will be considered the child of his deceased brother.”

“Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children. The second took the wife, and he also died leaving no children. The same thing happened to the third. In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Last of all the women died. Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.”

Jesus replied, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry, but are like the Angels in heaven. Now, about the resurrection of the dead, have you never had thoughts about the burning bush in the book of Moses?”

“God said to Moses : I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is the God not of the dead but of the living. You are totally wrong.”

by

Wednesday, 5 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 122 : 1-2a, 2bcd

To You, I lift up my eyes; to You, Whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master.

As the eyes of maids look to the hand of their mistress, so our eyes look to YHVH our God, till He shows us His mercy.

by

Wednesday, 5 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Timothy 1 : 1-3, 6-12

From Paul, Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, for the sake of His promise of eternal life, in Christ Jesus, to my dear son Timothy. May grace, mercy and peace be with you, from God, the Father, and Christ Jesus Our Lord.

I give thanks to God, Whom I serve with a clear conscience, the way my ancestors did, as I remember you constantly, day and night, in my prayers. For this reason, I invite you to fan into a flame, the gift of God you received, through the laying on of my hands. For God did not confer on us a spirit of fearfulness, but of strength, love and good judgment.

Do not be ashamed of testifying to Our Lord, nor of seeing me in chains. On the contrary, do your share in labouring for the Gospel, with the strength of God. He saved us and called us – a calling which proceeds from His holiness. This did not depend on our merits, but on His generosity and His own initiative.

This calling, given to us from all time, in Christ Jesus has just been manifested with the glorious appearance of Christ Jesus, Our Lord, Who destroyed death, and brought life and immortality to light, in His Gospel. Of this message, I was made herald, Apostle and teacher.

For its sake, I now suffer this trial, but I am not ashamed, for I know in Whom I have believed, and I am convinced, that He is capable of taking care of all I have entrusted to Him, until that day.

by

Tuesday, 4 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that we have to always commit ourselves to the Lord wholeheartedly in each and every moments of our lives, in our daily living and in everything we do, while at the same time doing what we can to be good and dutiful citizens and members of our communities in this world. All of us must always be exemplary in our every lives and actions so that in whatever we do, we are both truly seen and witnessed as holy people of God, whose actions, words and deeds truly reflect His light, truth and love. At the same time,we must also be good and law-abiding in our world as best as we can, as long as the worldly laws are in accordance to Divine laws.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Peter in which the Apostle spoke to all the faithful regarding what they all must do in the meantime as they were awaiting the coming of the Lord. He reminded all of them to do what was right and just, in accordance to the things that the Lord had taught them and led them through the Church. They must still continue to carry on living their lives worthily in the Lord and not to be idle or ignorant of their missions in life, and at the same time also reminding them to be careful and vigilant that they might not be tempted and swayed by the false teachings and ideas by those who might attempt to mislead them down the wrong path in life.

We must understand the context of what the early Christians perceived and understood so that we may understand better of what we have heard in that passage today. At that time, there was a general understanding and anticipation that the Lord’s Second Coming, which He Himself had pronounced and proclaimed, would come really very soon, and that it might probably even happen within one’s lifetime. Consequently, some among the faithful people of God and the Church might have thought that they, who had been assured of salvation in the Lord, ought to withdraw from public and worldly life, awaiting for the Lord’s return.

But St. Peter clearly stated and explained that this was not what they were all supposed to do. Regardless when the Lord would indeed come again, each and every one of the people of God and the Church must still continue to carry out whatever missions that the Lord had entrusted to them. Indeed, the Lord had entrusted to them very important mission that is to reach out to the people of all the nations, and to go forth to the ends of the earth, proclaiming the Good News and salvation of God to everyone. That is why, each and every one of the people of God must still continue to do their best to live truly holy and worthy lives in all circumstances, as best as they could.

At the same time, withdrawing from the world would also not be a good idea as this would have resulted in even greater difficulties and challenges for the nascent Christian community at that time. There were persecutions and trials facing the Church even from its earliest days, from both the Jewish and the Roman authorities, and from other local government figures and systems that saw the early Christians with great suspicion and even hostility. Some of the accusations were that the Christians were not obeying the laws and rules as they should have done, and thus, they were persecuted. But many of them indeed suffered because they remained true to their faith against those laws, rules and regulations which went against their faith in God, such as the order to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods and to the Emperor.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord and His disciples were faced with question from the Pharisees who wanted to test the Lord and potentially trap Him with the question regarding whether one should pay their taxes to Caesar or the Roman Emperor or not. At the time, this was indeed a very risky and politically charged issue which would have led to great trouble for the Lord and His disciples if that question was not answered in the right way. First of all, if the Lord had told the Pharisees that they all should pay the taxes to Caesar, then the latter could have assigned blame to the Lord as traitors to the people, as back then, Roman taxes were widely hated and despised by the people, who saw those taxes as sign of oppression.

On the other hand, should the Lord mention that the people do not need or should not pay the taxes to Caesar, then the Pharisees could then accuse Him to the Romans of wanting to incite rebellion against them, as they eventually did against Him during the time of His Passion, His suffering and death on Good Friday. The Romans took particular emphasis on all those who went against their authority and rule, oppressing and punishing harshly all those who attempted insurrection and rebellion against them. As such, we can see that the Lord was faced with problems no matter what he decided to do. But, He wisely and wonderfully settled it, by saying to the Pharisees that one ought to pay to Caesar what belonged to Caesar, and to God what belonged to God.

The coins that the people used to pay for their Roman taxes were minted by the Romans and were engraved with the image of the Roman Emperors, and hence, they indeed belonged to the Roman Emperors. Therefore, it is indeed lawful to pay what was due to the Caesars, just as one ought to pay what was due to God. And the latter was a reference and intention for the Lord to tell all of us to give our best to the Lord. Since all of us belong to the Lord, our Master and Creator, we must always strive to give Him the best of our lives, our every efforts to proclaim Him and His truth, to live worthily at all times, just as St. Peter had reminded the faithful earlier on as we heard in our first reading today. We must always strive to proclaim the Good News of God through our exemplary lives, and part of this is by our fulfilment of our obligations as citizens of our respective states in this world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do what we can so that in each and every one of our actions in life, we may always be truly committed and faithful to the Lord, to give our best to Him, just as we live our lives dutifully as the citizens and members of the states and countries of this world. Let our lives and examples be great inspirations and role models for everyone else all around us, so that we may show the path of righteousness and virtue to everyone whom we encounter, and that we may help one another to come ever closer to God and His salvation. May the Lord be with us always, and be with His Church, empower and strengthen us to live ever more worthily in His Presence, now and always. Amen.

by

Tuesday, 4 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 12 : 13-17

At that time, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and the elders sent to Jesus some Pharisees with members of Herod’s party, with the purpose of trapping him by his own words. They came and said to Jesus, “Master, we know that You are truthful; You are not influenced by anyone, and Your answers do not vary according to who is listening to You, but You truly teach God’s way. Tell us, is it against the Law to pay taxes to Caesar? Should we pay them or not?”

But Jesus saw through their trick and answered, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a silver coin and let Me see it.” They brought Him one and Jesus asked, “Whose image is this, and whose name?” They answered, “Caesar’s.” Then Jesus said, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” And they were greatly astonished.

by

Tuesday, 4 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 89 : 2, 3-4, 10, 14 and 16

Before the mountains were formed, before You made the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity – You are God.

You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, o mortals!” A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night.

Seventy years to our life, or eighty if we are strong; yet, most of them are sorrow and trouble; speeding by, they sweep us along.

Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. Let Your work be seen by Your servants and Your glorious power by their children.

by

Tuesday, 4 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Peter 3 : 12-15a, 17-18

As you wait for the day of God, and long for its coming, when the heavens will dissolve in fire, and the elements melt away in the heat. We wait for a new heaven and a new earth, in which justice reigns, according to God’s promise.

Therefore, beloved, as you wait in expectation of this, strive, that God may find you rooted in peace, without blemish or fault. And consider, that God’s patience is for our salvation. So then, dearly beloved, as you have been warned, be careful, lest those people who have gone astray, deceive you, in turn, and drag you along, making you stumble, and finally fall away.

Grow in the grace and knowledge of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ : to Him be glory, now, and to the day of eternity. Amen.

by

Monday, 3 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that each and every one of us are called to a truly holy and worthy existence, one that is truly blessed by God, that in our every words, actions and deeds, in our every dealings and interactions with one another, we will always continue to do what is right according to what the Lord has taught and shown us. As Christians, that is as those who have professed our faith in the Lord and have embraced Him as our God and Saviour, each and every one of us must always be exemplary and inspirational in how we all carry out our actions throughout our respective lives. We must also be wary lest we may be tempted by those pleasures, coercions and temptations present all around us which may mislead us down the wrong path.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Peter in which the Apostle spoke to the faithful regarding the need for all of them to follow the Lord and commit themselves to the path of Christian living, in doing what God has called them to do. This is because as St. Peter himself had explained and elaborated, all of us have shared in His divine nature and we are all indeed created in His image and likeness, and as His beloved children and chosen people, all of us truly should live our lives worthily and be holy just as our Lord Himself is holy. It is crucial that we must be Christians that are truly committed to God and truly genuine in our Christian living. Otherwise, we will end up being hypocrites and no better than unbelievers and pagans, if we do not truly live our lives in accordance to our faith.

Especially if we call ourselves as Christians and have known the way and the truth of God, and yet, we have allowed ourselves to be deluded and swayed by the evils of this world, by the corruptions of worldly pleasures and desires, all of which could lead us to actions that are contrary to God’s path and teachings. Many of our own predecessors have shown us of what could happen if we choose to follow those temptations and if we succumb to the forces of evil and darkness, to the temptations of power, glory and worldly comforts and pleasures. We cannot truly call ourselves as Christians if we have chosen this path, and not only that, but we may even scandalise our faith and sully the Holy Name of God and His Church, as many of our predecessors had done.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the teaching that the Lord Jesus gave to His disciples through the parable of the evil tenants and the landowner of a field. In that parable, the Lord told His disciples about the story of how those evil tenants refused to pay their rental dues, and how they went to the great lengths even to resist the landowner and all the servants that he had sent to them to remind them of their obligations, going as far as to persecute the servants and to made their lives difficult, and finally, killing them, and lastly, even killing the son of the landowner, whom the latter had sent hoping that the evil tenants would listen to his son.

This parable was clearly referring to the way how the people of God treated His servants, the prophets and messengers of God and finally, His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ Himself. Therefore, the Lord was in fact making a premonition and predicting everything that He Himself would have to endure and to suffer from because of the stubbornness of those who continued to doubt Him and refusing to listen to Him and His words. Those evil tenants represent the people of this world, while the landowner himself represents God, Who had entrusted this world to us, and we are indeed His stewards and the guardians of His Creation. To each and every one of us He has entrusted to us this world with all of its obligations and responsibilities.

However, just as we have heard from the Gospel passage and the parable story, those evil tenants had grown greedy from their possession of the fields, and refused to give their dues, which represent our own human greed and inability to resist the temptations of worldly pleasures, glory, fame and ambition, all of which had dragged so many people into the path of ruin and destruction. Those people had refused to obey the Lord because their hearts and minds had been corrupted by the temptations of the world, and by the allures of the false pleasures and joys which deluded them into the wrong paths. As such, we are reminded that we should not follow this same path in our own lives. We are all again called to be holy just as the Lord is holy.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions in martyrdom, the Holy Martyrs of Uganda. St. Charles Lwanga himself was an important official in the Kingdom of Buganda in what is now part of Uganda, where the Christian missionaries had been active during the time of his life and martyrdom, proclaiming the Good News, truth and salvation in God to the people there who were then still mostly pagans. At the time, more and more people began to embrace the Christian faith, as well as abandoning the wicked practices of their past pagan beliefs and customs, and this brought about tension within the Kingdom, between those who still upheld the pagan ways and those who have embraced the Christian faith.

The then King of Buganda ordered the massacre of Christian missionaries and persecutions of Christians throughout his domain. He was also infamously renowned for his immoral behaviours and actions, which led to St. Charles Lwanga, who had secretly converted to the Christian faith, to take many of the Christian converts under his protection, finding ways to hide them from the persecutions by the authorities. St. Charles Lwanga also spread the faith among the people, teaching quite a few of them about the Lord and the Christian faith, and not few were baptised by him and the other missionaries. Eventually, this led to him suffering for his actions and courage in defending his faith.

St. Charles Lwanga stood by his faith and refused to renounce his faith when confronted by the King who ordered that all of his servants and court pages to renounce Christianity if they had become a convert to the faith. Thus, St. Charles Lwanga and others who have embraced the Lord were put to great sufferings and torture, and was eventually martyred by burning at the stake at the site of Namugongo, where a great Basilica and church now stands, marking the place where these faithful servants of God committed themselves to the very end, against the temptations of worldly comforts and glory, and chose to side with the Lord, His truth and love.

Through the examples and the inspirations from the story of the Holy Ugandan Martyrs, St. Charles Lwanga and his many companions in martyrdom, let us all therefore live our lives from now on to the fullest, in the best way possible as those who are committed to the Lord, devoting ourselves in each and every moments to glorify the Lord by our lives, to live in a holy and worthy way so that by our every actions, deeds and interactions with one another, we may always truly proclaim the Lord at all times, and be the shining beacons of His light, truth, love and Good News in this world, as we have all been called to do.

May the Lord continue to bless us all in all of our every good works, efforts and endeavours. May He empower each and every one of us so that by our good examples and actions, we will continue to shine forth with the light of faith, helping many around us to come to the fullness of God’s love and grace. May God be with us all, His beloved people, His Church and flock. Amen.

by

Monday, 3 June 2024 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 12 : 1-12

At that time, using parables, Jesus went on to say, “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press and built a watch tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenants and went abroad. In due time he sent a servant to receive from the tenants his share of the fruit. But they seized the servant, struck him and sent him back empty-handed.”

“Again the man sent another servant. They also struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. He sent another and they killed him. In the same way they treated many others : some they beat up and others they killed. One was still left, his beloved son. And so, last of all, he sent him to the tenants, for he said, “They will respect my son.”

“But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him and the property will be ours.’ So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. Now what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

And Jesus added, “Have you not read this text of the Scriptures : The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone; this is the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it?”

They wanted to arrest Him, for they realised that Jesus meant this parable for them, but they were afraid of the crowd; so they left Him and went away.