priests

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Tuesday, 8 August 2023 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Numbers 12 : 1-13

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married and they said, “Has YHVH only spoken through Moses? Has He not also spoken through us?” And YHVH heard.

Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than any man on the face of the earth. Yet suddenly YHVH said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, all three of you, to the Tent of Meeting.” The three of them came out.

YHVH came down in the pillar of cloud and, standing at the door of the Tent, called Aaron and Miriam. They both went out and He said, “Listen carefully to what I say, ‘If there is a prophet among you, I reveal Myself to him in a vision and I speak to him in a dream. It is not so for My servant, Moses, My trusted steward in all My household.'”

“‘To Him I speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles, and he sees the presence of YHVH. Why then did you not fear to speak against My servant, against Moses?'” YHVH became angry with them and He departed. The cloud moved away from above the Tent and Miriam was there white as snow with leprosy. Aaron turned towards Miriam and he saw that she was leprous.

And he said to Moses, “My lord, I beg you, do not charge us with this sin that we have foolishly committed. Let her not be like the stillborn whose flesh is half-eaten when it comes from its mother’s womb.”

Then Moses cried to YHVH, “Heal her, o God, I beg of You.”

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Monday, 7 August 2023 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the love of God which He has always provided upon us, from time to time again, that He showed us His care and providence, when we were in great need and were facing hardships. The Lord never abandoned us or ignored us when we were in need, and when we were calling out to Him, and He has patiently loved us despite our frequent disobedience and refusal to obey Him and our wayward lives and wicked actions, abhorrent and evil in His sight. He still loves us all regardless and cares for us, sending His messengers and blessings on us, hoping on all of us to be called to repentance and to embrace His rich forgiveness, mercy and love once again. He does not want any one of us to be lost to Him because of our rebellions and downfall to sin.

That is why the Lord reminded us through the Church with our Scripture readings today, of the moments when He had taken care of our predecessors, as we heard from the feeding of the people of Israel during their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land with the manna, the bread from heaven, and also then with the well-known story of the Lord Jesus miraculously feeding the five thousand men and many others with the mere five loaves and two fishes made available to Him. Through all those events, we are all being reminded of just how wonderful God’s love is for us, that He still patiently cared for us despite our frequent stubborn and rebellious attitudes, in not listening to Him and in constantly being ungrateful despite having been so blessed and beloved by the Lord in so many circumstances. God still loves us all regardless, and wants us all to know of His love.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Numbers, we heard of the moment when the Israelites rebelled against and disobeyed God when they were all complaining of the manna that they received daily from the Lord as sustenance and food, to help and strengthen them in the journey through the mostly lifeless and resourceless desert. They complained because they compared what they had then in the manna every morning and the other sustenance that they were having in the desert, such as the flock of birds sent to their camp every evening, and the water provided to them, with the variety of goods and food that they had when they were still enslaved in the land of Egypt. This was a classic case of ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’, as they were thinking that even their old condition of being enslaved and treated as less than human beings were better than to follow the Lord to the assurance of the Promised Land, and everything that the Lord had done for them.

Nonetheless, the Lord continued to provide for them and helped them throughout their journey, patiently, through Moses, His servant, whom we can also notice and feel of just how frustrated he was from today’s reading passage, as he had to contend and endure the rebellious and hard-hearted attitude of the people that he was leading through all those years of hard journey and sufferings. The Lord helped His servant Moses and encouraged him to continue on, despite the challenges and hardships that he had to face, the ungrateful things that he had to face. This was how the Lord kept on caring for the people that He had called and chosen, loved and shown compassion towards, despite of their lack of faith and care for Him. Many years later, when He came into this world through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, that was how He blessed the five thousand men and many others who came to listen to Him, with the bountiful food and sustenance in the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes.

At that occasion, the Lord showed pity on the people who followed him, a great multitude of them in the wilderness with no food sources nearby and they were all hungry. Hence, the Lord miraculously multiplied the five loaves of bread and the two fishes that were found and presented to Him. This showed them all what it meant to be truly loved by God and at the same time, showing forth His power and truth of His nature as the Saviour of the world and the Lord of all. It was also a premonition and prefigurement of what He Himself would do at the end and culmination of His ministry, when He would lay down His own life and offer for all of us His own Most Precious Body and Blood for us to partake and share. The Lord loved us all so much that He was willing to endure the worst of sufferings and humiliations, and to let Himself be broken and shared among all of us, as the Bread of Life, the Living Bread of Heaven, in His own words. By this, the Lord wants us to gain passage to eternal life and to be truly reunited with Him.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of great saints, holy servants of the Lord whose lives and actions hopefully can inspire us in our own lives and actions, that we may always do our best to live our lives worthily of the Lord, and to thank Him and be grateful to Him for everything that He has always done for us. Today, we honour the glorious memories of Pope St. Sixtus II and his companions in martyrdom, who suffered during the trials and hardships, the martyrdom at the time of the persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Valerian, when many suffered and die died for their faith in God, and then as well as St. Cajetan, a holy priest and man of God, who was remembered for his dedication and love for the Lord, and for inspiring many others to follow in his path and examples, in living lives that are truly worthy of the Lord, good and righteous in all things.

Pope St. Sixtus II was the leader of the Universal Church during the difficult time of the middle third century when there were tumultuous events, conflicts in the world and also divisions among the faithful, due to various disagreements and heresies that were widespread during that time. According to Apostolic traditions, Pope St. Sixtus II devoted his life and efforts to reunite the Church, and led the faithful through those difficult and turbulent years, and brought back many of the wayward to the Holy Mother Church. He and many others, including another great saint, St. Lawrence of Rome, was martyred during the persecution of Christians during the reign of the Roman Emperor Valerian, faithful to the very end. Meanwhile, St. Cajetan was a lawyer and diplomat by profession in his earlier years, and then became a priest, dedicating himself to healing the sick, particularly focusing on the spiritual healing of those who have been separated from God and His love.

St. Cajetan laid the foundations for and established the Theatines, also known by its official name of the Congregation of the Clerics Regular, together with Archbishop Giovanni Petro Carafa, who would eventually elected as the Pope and leader of the Church as Pope Paul IV. He also interacted well with his contemporaries like St. Jerome Emiliani, another famous priest dedicated to the well-being of the faithful and those who were suffering, assisting the latter with the foundation of the Congregation of the Clerks Regular, or the Somaschan Fathers. Through all of his work and dedication, St. Cajetan, like that of Pope St. Sixtus II and his companions, they all showed us how we all should respond to God’s call and love, which He has always shown and lavished upon us. Each and every one of us should do whatever we can so that we may truly be faithful and worthy of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore commit ourselves with renewed zeal and faith to the Lord, following the great examples set by Pope St. Sixtus II and his companions in martyrdom, St. Cajetan and many other holy men and women of God who had devoted their lives and works for the greater glory of God. May the Lord be with us all, and may He empower each and every one of us so that we may draw ever closer to Him and His love. May God bless us all and our every good efforts and endeavours. Amen.

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Monday, 7 August 2023 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Matthew 14 : 13-21

At that time, when Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, He set out by boat for a secluded place, to be alone. But the people heard of it, and they followed Him on foot from their towns. When Jesus went ashore, He saw the crowd gathered there, and He had compassion on them. And He healed their sick.

Late in the afternoon, His disciples came to Him and said, “We are in a lonely place and it is now late. You should send these people away, so that they can go to the villages and buy something for themselves to eat.” But Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fishes.” Jesus said to them, “Bring them here to Me.”

Then He made everyone sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fishes, raised His eyes to heaven, pronounced the blessing, broke the loaves, and handed them to the disciples to distribute to the people. And they all ate, and everyone had enough; then the disciples gathered up the leftovers, filling twelve baskets. About five thousand men had eaten there, besides women and children.

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Monday, 7 August 2023 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Psalm 80 : 12-13, 14-15, 16-17

But My people did not listen; Israel did not obey. So I gave them over to their stubbornness and they followed their own counsels.

If only My people would listen, if only Israel would walk in My ways, I would quickly subdue their adversaries and turn My hand against their enemies.

Those who hate YHVH would cringe before Him, and their panic would last forever. I would feed you with the finest wheat and satisfy you with honey from the rock.

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Monday, 7 August 2023 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Numbers 11 : 4b-15

The Israelites wept and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish we ate without cost in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and garlic. Now our appetite is gone; there is nothing to look at, nothing but manna.”

Now the manna was like coriander seed and had the appearance of bedellium. The people went about gathering it up and then ground it between millstones or pounded it in a mortar. They boiled it in a pot and made cakes with it which tasted like cakes made with oil. As soon as dew fell at night in the camp, the manna came with it.

Moses heard the people crying, family by family at the entrance to their tent and YHVH became very angry. This displeased Moses. Then Moses said to YHVH, “Why have You treated Your servant so badly? Is it because You do not love me that You burdened me with this people? Did I conceive all these people and did I give them birth?”

“And now You want me to carry them in my bosom as a nurse carries an infant, to the land You promised on oath to their fathers? Where would I get meat for all these people, when they cry to me saying :’Give us meat that we may eat?'”

“I cannot, myself alone, carry all these people; the burden is too heavy for me. Kill me rather than treat me like this, I beg of You, if You look kindly on me, and let me not see Your anger.”

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded and called to remember the Lord, obey His Law and commandments, celebrate the feasts and festivals that He had appointed and placed before us, and which His Church had stipulated for us to commemorate. We should remain active in the living of our faith and participate as much as possible in the life of the Church and in Christian actions and commitments. Those are our calling and our responsibilities as the ones whom God had called and chosen, as Christians, as the holy people of God. We cannot ignore these responsibilities and we cannot be idle and ignorant, in disregarding what we are expected and what we have been shown to do by the Lord Himself. As long as we remain idle in our faith and close ourselves against the truth of God, His words and love, then we will likely remain distant and away from Him and His grace.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Leviticus, we heard of the Lord speaking to His servant Moses, in which He told him to tell the people how they should celebrate their various events and celebrations of faith, and all those celebrations were meant to keep so that they would always put the Lord and His precepts and laws at the very centre and as the focus of the whole entire community. Those were not just merely celebrations and spectacles, but in truth, they helped to keep the Lord present in the hearts and minds of the people, who were often rebellious and delinquent in their activities and lives. They have often disobeyed the Lord and abandoned Him for pagan gods and false idols, and hence, that was why the Lord gave them His Law and commandments, and all those celebrations to remind them of the path that they all should follow, and the way that they should obey in their lives.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the time when the Lord Jesus was in His hometown of Nazareth in Galilee. He was not well-received over there as many among the people doubted Him and ridiculed Him when they heard Him teaching before them, proclaiming the Good News and truth of God. The Lord has proclaimed the fulfilment of the prophecies and the words that the prophets had spoken, particularly that of the prophet Isaiah regarding the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour that God has promised to all of His beloved ones. That was because they presumed and thought that they knew Him better and that He could not have been the Messiah simply by Him being the mere Son of the village carpenter, St. Joseph, His forefather. The people thought that it was impossible for the Lord Jesus to be the Saviour and doubted and could not reconcile how His supposedly humble origins and background led to such great Wisdom and Authority.

Why was that so? It was because they did not have a strong and enduring faith in the Lord. They also did not see things through the eyes of faith, and instead, they saw things from the worldly perspectives, with their biases and prejudices. They thought that a carpenter, being then a job that no one wanted to do, and as a lowly profession could not have possibly been great and glorious, or educated and intellectual, and hence, they looked down on the Lord because of that, especially since many of them had seen and witnessed Him growing up in His youth as the Son of the local carpenter, and they refused to let their prejudices and biases to go away, and despite the great wisdom that the Lord had shown, and the news of all the miracles, wonders and signs that He had performed in the areas of Galilee, they refused to believe in Him.

That is why there is a need for all of us as Christians to turn away from our many worldly attachments and prejudices, and we should purify ourselves and keep ourselves free from the corrupting influences of the world. Otherwise we may end up falling deeper and deeper into the wrong path, the path of sin and evil, the path of disobedience and rebellion, lacking in faith just as our predecessors have shown in their actions, in how they rejected and abandoned the Lord, even after they had seen His wonders, His love and faithfulness to the Covenant that He had made and established with all of them. This is also why we should dedicate ourselves and our time and effort, our every actions, words and deeds to Him, following in the footsteps and examples of our holy predecessors, the holy men and women, saints of God.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. John Vianney, also known as John Maria Vianney, a simple parish priest from the village or town of Ars in southern part of what is today France. St. John Vianney was born into a simple, devout and faithful family where he grew up in faith and dedication to God, and grew to love the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, which gradually made him to come to realisation of the calling to be a priest. Hence, he began his education with the intention of becoming a priest and answering his calling. He did not have an easy time with all the preparations as he struggled with all the academic requirements and especially with the learning of the Latin language, the official and liturgical language of the Church. While he failed that again and again, it was his determination and desire to serve the Lord as a priest which kept him going and he eventually succeeded in doing so after facing many challenges, including the disruptions due to the Napoleonic wars that happened at the time.

St. John Vianney was assigned to a small parish church in the small town of Ars, far from the great churches and parishes, the large religious institutions where the ambitious among the clergy tried to get into those days. However, St. John Vianney was in the priesthood not for the glory or achievement, ambition or worldly fame. Instead, it was his very intense love for the Lord and his love for his fellow brothers and sisters, who have been entrusted to his care that led him to a very deep and committed life as a parish priest, which soon began to earn him the fame of being a truly holy and devout man of God. He spent many hours in the confessional, waiting for many people, which crowd kept on growing, to confess their sins and to ask him for guidance in life, just as he patiently helped to guide the people back to the Lord, in his patient, compassionate and yet firm and persistent preaching and homilies, which were meant to help the people to resist the indifference to the Church and the faith.

More and more people came to know of this holy man and priest of Ars, and thousands came to flock upon the small town as pilgrims and as sinners seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy. Miraculous tales, stories and events came in droves as many recounted how they received great graces from God through the words and actions of St. John Vianney, and how in one case, it was told that St. John Vianney could even communicate with the suffering souls in purgatory, and asking the living to pray for them. Throughout his life, St. John Vianney had done many great and wonderful works, by which he had brought countless souls back towards the Lord and to His salvation. He has inspired many generations priests and other faithful alike, in their renewed commitment to serve and follow the Lord in their lives and works. St. John Vianney might have been born to a simple family and had a simple, unassuming life and work, but in his love for God and in his commitment, his great efforts and dedication, he has been a great inspiration and role model to many others.

Now, the question is, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing and able to follow the great examples showed by St. John Vianney and the many other holy men and women who had gone before us, and who have shown us how we should all live our lives before the Lord? Are we able to turn away from the corruptions of worldly attachments and greed, desires and glory, and return our focus and attention back to the Lord? Are we capable of committing ourselves more wholeheartedly to the Lord and develop an ever better relationship with Him? May the Lord continue to help and strengthen us in our path, and may He empower and ever encourage us always so that we can continue to strive to live our lives as faithful and devout Christians, as God’s beloved and holy people. Amen.

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 54-58

At that time, Jesus went to His hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did He get this wisdom and these special powers? Is He not the carpenter’s Son? Is Mary not His mother and are James, Joseph, Simon and Judas not His brothers? Are not all His sisters living here? Where did He get all these things?” And so they took offence at Him.

Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is his hometown and in his own family.” And He did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 80 : 3-4, 5-6ab, 10-11ab

Start the music, strike the timbrel, play melodies on the harp and lyre. Sound the trumpet at the new moon, on our feast day, when the new moon is full.

This is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob, a statute He wrote for Joseph when he went out of Egypt.

There shall be no strange god among you, you shall not worship any alien god, for I, YHVH, am your God.

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Leviticus 23 : 1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37

YHVH spoke to Moses, “Then there are appointed feasts of YHVH at the times fixed for them, when you are to proclaim holy assemblies. At twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month is YHVH’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of this month it is YHVH’s feast of Unleavened Bread.”

For seven days you shall eat bread without leaven. On the first day there will be a sacred assembly and no work of a worker shall be done. For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to YHVH and on the seventh day you shall hold a sacred assembly and do no work of a worker.”

YHVH spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them : When you enter the land that I will give you and you reap its harvest, you will bring to the priest a sheaf, the first fruits of your harvest and he shall wave the sheaf before YHVH for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”

“From the day after the Sabbath, on which you bring the sheaf of offering, you are to count seven full weeks. The day after the seventh Sabbath will be the fiftieth day and then you are to offer YHVH a new offering. The tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly. You must fast, and you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH.”

“The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of Tents for YHVH, lasting seven days. The first day you shall hold an assembly; you must do no work of a worker. For seven days you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH. It is a day of solemn assembly in which you shall do no work of a worker.”

“These are the appointed feasts of YHVH in which you are to proclaim holy assemblies for the purpose of offering offerings by fire, burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings to YHVH, according to the ritual of each day.”

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Wednesday, 2 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop and St. Peter Julian Eymard, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops and Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we heard of the word of God from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to come ever closer to the Lord and to seek His treasures of truth and love, of His glorious majesty and compassionate kindness, which He has always generously and richly granted to us. All of us as Christians are God’s beloved people, and we have all received His wisdom and truth, through the Holy Spirit that He has imparted upon us. However, many of us still do not realise the importance and the value of these treasures of faith which the Lord has promised us, and which He has shown and revealed to us. Instead, many of us are busy in pursuing worldly treasures and pursuits of worldly glory and pleasures, which truly distracted us from the path of righteousness, virtue and grace, through which we can reach out to the Lord and to His salvation.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Exodus, we heard the continuation of the story of what happened around the time when the Israelites were camping at Mount Sinai, the holy Mountain of God, where Moses, God’s servant and the leader of the Israelites went up and gained for the people of God, for all of us, the set of Law and commandments, especially the Ten Commandments which God set over all of His beloved people, to guide and help them to remain true to the Covenant which He had set up with all of them. The Lord has called upon all of His people to follow Him faithfully, as He freed them from the slavery in Egypt. Many of them had grumbled and rebelled against Him, and just right after He gave them His Law and His Covenant, they established and built a golden calf idol to be their god and lord over them, in defiance and betrayal of God’s love and kindness.

But God forgave His people and showed them His most wonderful mercy. Those who were responsible most for the rebellion and the disgraceful pagan worship of the golden calf were crushed and made to suffer the consequences of their sins, while the rest of the people repented from their mistakes. And hence, as we heard, God did not hate us all and instead, He truly loves each one of us, but He detested and despised the sins and wickedness that we have committed in our lives. Each one of us should not take God’s love for granted and we should not spurn the love that He has always generously lavished upon us all these while. Like the people of Israel, who had often been ungrateful of the love of God despite them having been shown the great compassion and love of God in many occasions, and yet, they still grumbled, disobeyed and rebelled against God.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the parables that the Lord used in revealing the truth and knowledge of the kingdom of God to His disciples, that is with the examples of the treasures of the field and also the pearl of great price. Those examples represent just how important the great graces and blessings of God can be to us, and how each and every one of us should learn to put the Lord and His truth, Law and commandments as the centre and focus of our attention and our whole lives. We should not allow the worldly temptations and the allure of power, greed and desire to turn us away from the righteousness and salvation in God, just as those had mislead and misguided the people of God in the past, in their inability to resist the temptations of evil and sin, of worldly attachments, of glory and fame, amongst many others. The Lord has always been patient in guiding them all to His path, and sent His messengers to help and correct the people whenever they were wrong.

That is why, today all of us are reminded as Christians, as God’s beloved people, that we should always strive to lead a life that is truly worthy of the Lord as well as exemplary and filled with righteousness and justice. We should not allow the false treasures, pleasures and the excesses of our worldly existence and life to prevent us and to become obstacles in our path and journey towards the Lord. We have to keep in mind that it is only the true treasures and the precious grace of God that will last forever and that will keep us safe and good to the end of days and beyond. No matter how many worldly things and goods we have with us, none of these will be sufficient to satisfy us, and none of them can last forever. No form of worldly glory and fame, of joy and pleasures of the flesh, of the body and all the money and material satisfactions all around us can replace the true joy that we can only find in the Lord alone. Hence, that is why we should strive to resist those worldly temptations and allures, and reorientate ourselves and our lives towards the Lord and His path.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of not just one but two of God’s faithful servant, holy men who dedicated their lives to the Lord, who lived their lives with great commitment and love for God, and the Lord has made them to be great and inspiring role models and examples for many of us, the faithful people of God so that we may follow their examples and inspiration, in their dedication and commitment, their holiness and great actions. St. Eusebius of Vercelli and St. Peter Julian Eymard are truly blessed and worthy servants of God, His holy and just role models, for us all to follow. St. Eusebius of Vercelli was one of the Church fathers, a Roman bishop from Sardinia, in what is today part of Italy, who was remembered as a great and humble shepherd of the people that were entrusted to his care. St. Eusebius of Vercelli dedicated a lot of his time in living among his priests and flock, and cared for their spiritual needs, helping and guiding them on the way to the truth and salvation in God.

He was instrumental in the efforts of the Church in combatting the heresy and falsehoods of Arianism, the great heresy which had afflicted the Church and many among the people of God at that time. And as part of that ministry and work, he had to endure great challenges and sufferings, as he went up together with those who upheld the orthodox and true teachings and Christian faith against those who sided with the heretics. He had to endure bitter sufferings as he faced the opposition from those who supported the heretics and the false wicked ways. However, he remained firmly true to his faith and commitment to the Lord, and devoted himself wholly to the Lord, to the very end of his life, dedicating himself to guard the faithful against the false and heretical teachings that misled many to their destruction and downfall. His commitment to the Lord and his inspiring examples should be great inspiration to all of us as Christians.

Then, St. Peter Julian Eymard was a great and dedicated priest of the Lord who was renowned for his commitment and piety to the Lord, and for his popularisation of the dedication to the Blessed Sacrament, to the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. He dedicated much of his time and work in reaching out to the faithful and to all those in his ministry and areas of responsibility, who are suffering and in need of both physical and spiritual help. St. Peter Julian Eymard spent a lot of time reaching out to the lost souls and to those who are facing difficulties and hardships of the world, and helped many to find their way to the Lord. His commitment to serve the Lord and his efforts in gathering like-minded men and women in the two religious orders he founded, the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament and the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament, and the popularisation and spread of the effective Forty Hours devotion are truly great examples and inspirations for all of us to follow.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by the great examples shown by St. Eusebius of Vercelli, St. Peter Julian Eymard and countless other saints, holy men and women of God, all those who have shown us what it means for us to be truly dedicated and committed Christians, servants and followers of the Lord. Let us do our very best to lead a life of virtue that is truly worthy of the Lord, lives that are truly exemplary and great, free from the corruptions of various worldly temptations all around us, and worthy of those whom God had called and chosen, being ever thankful and grateful that He has always shown us such great compassion, tender love and mercy. And may He bless us all and keep us all in His grace, and empower each and every one of us to walk ever more faithfully in His Presence, now and always, forevermore. Amen.