Reflections

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Wednesday, 15 January 2025 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paul the Hermit (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded once again of the salvation which we have generously received from the hands of the Lord Himself, Who has come into our midst, to reveal His love and mercy, His power and compassion so that by this act of supreme and most perfect, selfless and ever enduring love, God has made available to us the most wonderful grace of His love, reaching out to us through His Son, opening for us all the gates of Heaven. That is why we have to appreciate everything that He has done for us and realise what we have been entrusted with as Christians, in the need for all of us to love Him sincerely and genuinely from our hearts, and to carry out the missions He has given to us.

In our first reading today, we heard of the words mentioned by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, who is likely St. Luke the Evangelist based on historical evidence, in which the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into this world has become the means by which He has destroyed the chains of sin and death that have dominated over us and kept us ensnared and trapped in the path towards our destruction and damnation. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews explained how the Messiah, the Saviour of all had embraced our human nature for the specific reason of saving each and every one of us from the destruction because of our sins which have corrupted us all and our human nature. This justified the appearance of God in the form of Man, as Christ our Lord has revealed to us.

We must first understand that from the very beginning of time, we have been corrupted and made imperfect because of our disobedience against God and our choice of obeying and trusting the words of the evil one, Satan, the Deceiver rather than to put our faith and trust in God. We allowed ourselves to be swayed by the temptations of worldly desires, ambitions, greed and more such that we defiled our pure and perfect origin, as it had been crafted and designed by God, and we allowed sin to corrupt our nature through disobedience against God, His will, Law and commandments. And hence, in order to undo this corruption of our nature and to remove the darkness that has covered all of us, separating us from the fullness of God’s grace and love, hence God sent unto us His deliverance through His Son.

For this Son of God has been incarnate in the flesh, and become one just like us all, assuming our human nature and existence just as mentioned by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. And by His total and perfect obedience to the will of His Heavenly Father, He has become the archetype and example of the perfect Man, that had once been lost to us through sin and death. He has indeed become the New Adam, the New Man, breaking us all free from the dominion of sin, which He did by offering Himself as our High Priest, making the perfect supplication and offer on our behalf by the means of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, broken and outpoured for our sake on the Altar of His Cross at Calvary.

He can do this because while He has assumed our human flesh, existence and nature, but His humanity is distinct from His Divinity, and yet, both are indivisible and inseparable from each other. That is why, what He is offering is offering of Humanity which is made perfect by His Divinity and by His freedom from any taint of sin. Through Him and all of His works, His most perfect and wonderful sacrifice, in His ever enduring and powerful love for us, Christ has opened the doors of salvation to us, which in our Gospel passage today we have also heard and witnessed His great desire to bring us all back to the light of God’s grace, healing and strengthening us all amidst all the hardships and challenges that we have to face in life.

In that account from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard how the Lord healed the very sick mother-in-law of His disciple Simon, later to be known as St. Peter the Apostle. That occasion made many people to come and bring their sick ones to Him, so that He might heal them all as well. The Lord could very well have stayed and remained there, as He was very popular thanks to His miracles and healing, but as we heard, He chose to quietly leave the place behind, so that He could fulfil the missions and works that had been entrusted to Him. In this we have seen yet another example of the obedience and faithfulness which Christ has shown in His life, as opposed to the disobedience which we have shown against God.

It is a reminder that all of us as Christians must always strive to be obedient to God and to listen to Him at all times. We should not allow ourselves to be swayed by our desires, by the many temptations and evils all around us, which may attempt to lead us astray by pandering to our desires and our ego, our ambitions and attachments to worldly matters and pursuits. This is where we have to make the strong and firm stand for our faith in the Lord, committing ourselves wholeheartedly to His cause and to obey Him just as Jesus our Lord has shown us all the perfect example for all of us to follow. As Christians it is important that we should always show good examples and be good role models in our faith to everyone around us.

Today, the Church traditionally celebrates the Feast of St. Paul the Hermit, an ascetic whose great faith, commitment and obedience to God can truly inspire us all in how we all should live our own faith. He was a longtime ascetic after he escaped from the intense persecution of Christian during his youth by the Roman Emperor Decius, when he was just in his early twenties. According to tradition and hagiographic evidence, he would spend the next nine decades living as a hermit in the desert, dedicating himself to prayerful life in solitude, which eventually inspired many other people like the other famous ascetic, St. Anthony of Egypt, also known as St. Anthony the Great. His great holiness and dedication to a life pleasing to God is indeed an inspiration to us all as Christians, a life detached from all the worldly glory and temptations that often distract and mislead us down the wrong paths in life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore follow in the examples shown to us by the Lord Himself and also His saints, like St. Paul the Hermit among others. Let us all strive to be ever more faithful and committed to the cause of the Lord from now on, doing whatever we can so that our every words, actions and deeds, our every interactions and good works, efforts and in all things, we will inspire many more people to live lives that are truly and wholeheartedly committed to God, as faithful and good Christians, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 14 January 2025 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words from the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded again of the salvation and great grace that we have received from God through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Saviour and Redeemer. For through Him, all of us have been shown the sure and direct path towards eternal life and true joy with God, by all that He had done in offering Himself with the perfect sacrifice and offering of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, as the Paschal Lamb offered on the Altar of His Cross. And as Christians, this is the core tenet of our faith, our belief in the Lord’s ultimate sacrifice and love for all of us sinners, that He has willingly embraced each one of us and loved us all despite us having sinned against Him, disobeyed Him and betrayed Him.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle to the Hebrews, in which the author, likely St. Luke the Evangelist, wrote to the Jewish community of his time, both to the Jewish converts to the Christian faith and also those who have not yet believed in Christ, we heard of the continuation of the testimony about the truth and reality of the identity of the Messiah or the Saviour of the world, in Jesus Christ, the Divine Word of God and Son of God Incarnate in the flesh, having become the Son of Man. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews spoke of the great power, dominion and sovereignty which God has given to His Son, born into this world through His mother, the ever Blessed Virgin Mary.

It was also mentioned how no power, no dominion or greatness can surpass the great things that have been entrusted to this same Man, the Saviour of the world, the Son of God made Man, in Whom all of us Christians believe in and put our trust into. In Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, God has revealed the fullness of His love and grace, made whole and complete, tangible, real and approachable to us through Christ, and by Whose suffering and death, in uniting His humanity to ours, made us all to also share and partake in His glorious Resurrection, overcoming forever the power and dominion of sin and death, fulfilling what God has promised to our ancestors since the very beginning, that Satan and all the wickedness of sin will eventually be defeated.

And this testimony is to highlight to the Jewish people how the One that their leaders had chosen to reject and persecute, oppress and handed over to the Romans to be crucified, was truly the Saviour of the world, and not the False Messiah unlike what those Jewish leaders tried to spread falsely among the people, including the attempt to give a false story regarding the Lord’s Resurrection by saying that the Lord’s disciples had stolen His Body and hid Him. It is also therefore a reminder for all of us Who it is that we truly believe in and put our faith and trust in, Whom we worship, honour and glorify by our lives, in each and every moments we have been given.

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, proclaiming the truth of God to everyone listening to Him, and we heard how it was described that the Lord spoke with power and authority, with great wisdom unlike those leaders and other teachers who were there. This fact, accompanied by what happened afterwards, as the Lord cast out demons from a man who had been possessed, and such demons proclaiming the truth about this Man, truly the Holy One of God, the Son of God incarnate, are proofs for the people then and for all of us that the historical Jesus Christ is truly the Messiah, the Incarnate Word and Son of God.

For no one can have authority over the evil spirits unless given by God, and even if some of them wanted to prove otherwise or even insinuate that the Lord had done it by colluding with the evil spirits like some of the Pharisees and the leaders of the people did, all those false and baseless accusations cannot stand against the truth and wisdom of God, and even the evil spirits cannot lie about this fact, for even they are bound by their obedience to God and their submission to Him, their true Lord, Master and Creator. Even in their rebellion against Him, they could not speak untruths about Him, and the most that they did, was trying to sow discord using this truth by revealing this fact to the people, in trying to turn some of them against the Lord.

That was why the Lord told those evil spirits to remain quiet, and those evil spirits obeyed Him. All these again highlighted that our faith in Jesus Christ is important, and what we have heard today through the Sacred Scriptures are crucial reminders for us to understand more about Who it is that we are proclaiming about, the One Who has saved us all from certain destruction by His suffering and death on the Cross. Through His suffering, Christ our Lord has revealed the fullness of God’s love and compassionate mercy towards us, and He has shown us that He is truly the One through Whom and only Whom we can have hope in, for in no other Name or power or means that we can be saved from the multitudes of our sins.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our best in each and every moments of our lives so that we may truly be empowered to do what we should do as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people to be the courageous and ever devoted missionaries and servants of God and His cause in our world today. Let us all no longer be hesitant but be more committed than ever to walk ever more faithfully in God’s Holy Presence, now and always. May God be with us all and may He continue to bless our every good works and efforts, all for His greater glory. Amen.

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Monday, 13 January 2025 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the beginning of the Ordinary Time, the first of the two seasons of the Ordinary Time of the liturgical year, with this first season lasting from now until the beginning of the season of Lent. This Ordinary time and season is however by no means ‘ordinary’ lest we misunderstood the meaning of this period and time. The word Ordinary here comes from the word ‘Ordinal’ which means numbered, from the fact that the Sundays of this season are numbered in sequence.

That is why this period of time after the time of Christmas and before the beginning of the Lenten season should not be a period of inactivity and passivity, or a time when we ignore our obligations and calling to do what is right and appropriate for us to do as God’s holy and beloved people, as His disciples and followers, to whom God had entrusted His Church and His missions in our world today. All of us should instead be active in embracing the many opportunities that God has granted to us, the chances we have been given so that we may touch the lives of others in a good way.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle to the Hebrews in which the author of this Epistle spoke about the coming of the salvation of God which has been fulfilled and completely revealed through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the One Who had been sent into this world to be the Redeemer of all mankind, restoring all of us back to the state of grace, and the author also revealed to us that this Saviour was truly the Son of God, Who has been incarnate into the flesh, assuming our humanity, human nature and existence, becoming the Son of Man, appearing in our midst to lead us all into salvation in God.

And as the title of this Epistle suggests to us, the words of the author of this Epistle, commonly attributed to St. Luke the Evangelist, they are directed to the Jewish people, to whom the Lord was first sent to, to fulfil everything which the Lord has promised to all of His people throughout history. The author spoke of the One Whom the Jewish people has encountered, Jesus Christ Himself, Who has come, showing the great Wisdom of God in His various words and teachings among them with authority, and the power which God has exercised through Him, in His various miracles and wonders.

Therefore, the author of this Epistle to the Hebrews proclaimed to the Jewish community, both to strengthen the faith of those who have believed in Christ, and also to convince and persuade those who have not yet believed in Him, that the Lord Jesus Christ, was indeed the Holy One Whom God had sent into this world to lead everyone into salvation and eternal life. It is also a reminder for all of us Who it is that we have served, and the One through Whom our salvation has come from, what we have celebrated earlier on in Christmas, and which we now need to proclaim courageously in our world today.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist in which the account about the time when the Lord Jesus called His first disciples, the four fishermen of the lake of Galilee, namely St. Peter and his brother St. Andrew, and also the two sons of Zebedee, St. James and St. John, were told to us, and we heard how God called them all to be the ones to lead mankind to Him and His salvation, to become the fishers of men. And that was what they would be doing henceforth, committing themselves to the good cause of the Lord.

Hence, all of us are reminded through what we have heard in that passage today that we are all called to the service of God, to do what the Lord has entrusted to us, His gifts, talents, abilities and all the opportunities that He has provided to each one of us. All of us as Christians have been tasked to proclaim the Lord and His truth in our communities today, and to live in a truly Christian manner, putting the Lord our God ever at the centre and heart of our whole lives and existence, so that we will always do our best in glorifying Him by our lives, and showing Him to many others around us.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Hilary, also known as St. Hilary of Poitiers, who was the Bishop of Poitiers during the late era of the Roman Empire. He was born from a pagan family who embraced Christianity, and was raised with good and comprehensive education in the classics and philosophy. At that time, the Church was bitterly divided by those who supported the then very popular and powerful Arian heresy which denied the equality of Christ the Son of God with the Father, and those who upheld the true, orthodox teaching of the faith.

St. Hilary of Poitiers was elected to be the new bishop of Poitiers during that time of division and confusion among the faithful, and immediately the new bishop committed himself to oppose the false teachings of Arianism, and he worked hard to restore order and unity to the faithful under his care in Poitiers, while also doing a lot of work in the wider Church to oppose the influence of Arianism and other heresies, as well as ministering to his flock to the best of his abilities. He faced a lot of hardships and difficulties, opposition from those who did not agree with him, and even exile by the authorities, but he remained firm in his courageous efforts and works for the good of the Church and the faithful.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore follow in the footsteps of St. Hilary and many other holy saints, holy men and women of God, all of whom had devoted themselves, their time and effort to proclaim the truth and Good News of God to others around them, like the Apostles before them. And all of us as Christians are entrusted with the same mission to evangelise and to spread the Good News of God to more and more people all around the world. May the Lord be with us always and may He continue to empower us all in our efforts and good works for His greater glory, and may all of us continue to inspire everyone around us in faith. Amen.

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Sunday, 12 January 2025 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday the Church celebrates the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and this day marks the last day of the entire Christmas season and celebrations, although traditionally, it is still celebrated in some form until the fortieth day after Christmas, which is on the second day of February, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord or Candlemas. On this day, the Lord’s baptism at the River Jordan by St. John the Baptist is the focus of what we commemorate today, reminding ourselves that the Holy Child born in Bethlehem over two millennia ago eventually grew up in Body, Wisdom and Spirit, and became the Man ready to embark on the ministry which He had been sent into this world for, to save us all mankind and to reveal the love of God manifested perfectly through Him.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the Lord reassured His people living in the southern kingdom of Judah with the words of comfort reminding them of the salvation that He would give to them through the Saviour that He promised to all of them. The Lord told His people that salvation shall come to Zion, Jerusalem, representing the people of God, and this would be heralded by the ‘voice crying out in the wilderness’ which was fulfilled by St. John the Baptist, who lived in the wilderness and called on all the people to return towards the Lord their God, to repent from their many sins, evils and wickedness, turning back to the righteous paths and ways of the Lord.

The Lord revealed that in the coming of His salvation, His intentions and desire to be reunited with His people, His love and compassion towards all of them would be made known to them, and the Lord Himself would come to the people He loves very much in order to gather them all and to bring them all into His Presence, as their Good and loving Shepherd. He did all these through His Son, Who has embraced our human nature and existence, coming into our midst in the form of Man, to gather all of us back into the one flock of those whom God had called and chosen. Through His baptism, the Lord is sharing with us this journey that we shall all walk together with Him, towards the true happiness and eternal life in God.

This is what we have also heard from the second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to St. Titus, his protege and godson, in which the Apostle spoke of the salvation which God had brought into our midst through His Son, and how by the grace of His love and mercy, all of us who believe in Him has shared the gift of the waters of baptism, hearkening back to our own baptism, the moment when we become parts and members of the One Church of God, brought together into this family of God’s Kingdom, giving us the new hope through the Sacrament of Baptism, that by sharing in His death and Resurrection, all of us share die to our past sins and wickedness, our faults and corrupt nature, and enter into a new grace-filled life with Christ.

St. Paul essentially reminded each and every one of us that through our baptism, we have received the sanctifying grace from God, and through the Holy Spirit that He has given us by this baptism, we have all been made the children of God, the adopted sons and daughters of the Lord, and through grace that we have received, the path towards eternal life and true happiness have been opened to us, and salvation itself, our reunion with God our loving Father and Creator is no longer just merely a dream or inspiration, but rather has become a reality for us all. He has given us all the grace of salvation and has redeemed us all through what He has done in His Son, by His loving sacrifice on the Cross, manifesting perfectly the great and ever enduring love that God has always had for us all.

In our Gospel passage this Sunday, all of us heard of the account of the moment the Lord’s Baptism took place, as recounted by St. John the Baptist himself, who told his own disciples about the One Who has just come into their midst, the Messiah that has been long awaited for by everyone, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. St. John the Baptist recognised the Lord when he saw Him just as much earlier on when both of them were still in their mothers’ wombs, at the time when Mary, the Mother of God visited Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist. St. John the Baptist recounted to his disciples how great signs happened when Jesus was baptised, that the voice of God the Father Himself was heard, affirming that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit, completing the Presence of the Holy Trinity, descended on Him like a Dove.

All of these evidence first showed us all that our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the salvation that He has brought into our midst is one that we should truly treasure and hold firm amidst all the challenges and temptations that we may be facing in our lives, and we should not easily allow anything to dissuade us from our faith and trust in Him. We must continue to uphold our faith courageously and proclaim Him at all times in each and every moments of our lives. And reminded of our own baptism, we should also continue to live our lives worthily of the Lord henceforth, and do our best to show what we believe in within our every actions, words and deeds in life. Just as the Lord’s Baptism marked the beginning of His ministry in this world, we are also therefore reminded that our own baptism is not the end of the journey or the goal, but rather the beginning of our new mission and ministry entrusted to us by God.

Let us all therefore strive to carry out our missions entrusted to us by God faithfully in our lives, doing whatever we can so that we may truly embrace our calling in life as Christians, and to truly embody our faith in God which we have professed at our own baptism. Let us all remember that we have been made children and the holy people of God’s own flock, family and kingdom, and thus, we should do our part in ensuring that we resist whatever temptations we may have encountered in our path, that we may be free from the corruptions of sin, all the things that have become obstacles and barriers in our journey towards the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to guide us in each and every moments of our lives, so that we will always be exemplary and good inspiration to one another in faith. Amen. 

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Saturday, 11 January 2025 : Saturday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, and as we approach the end of this current joyful season of Christmas, and as we are soon about to enter into the new season of the Ordinary Time, we are all reminded of our calling and mission in life as Christians, as all those whom the Lord had called and chosen to be His people, that we have the mission and obligation to help one another to reach the Lord and His salvation, to encourage everyone to walk ever more faithfully in the path that He has shown to all of us. As God’s children and His holy people, all of us should always strive to obey the commandments of God and to love one another just as He has always loved us, as His Law and commandments are all about love.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. John the Apostle in which St. John spoke clearly about the salvation which all of us have received from God, and which He has revealed and made clear to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, the One Who has come into our midst and brought us all the promise of eternal life and redemption. And because all of us as Christians have received the revelation, truth and knowledge about God’s salvation and grace, hence, all of us ought to live our lives worthily and embrace the salvation which our Lord has provided most generously for us, being ever mindful of the dangers of sin and evils all around us and in all of our actions, words and deeds so that we do not end up falling again and again into the trap of sin and darkness.

The Lord our Saviour has shown us the path out of the darkness and into the light of His salvation. However, it requires our cooperation and commitment that we may resist the temptations of sin and evil, temptations of worldly pleasures, ambitions and other desires of the world, the desire for the pleasure of the flesh, for fame and renown, for riches and worldly glory, among many other things, all of which may corrupt us and lead us astray in the path towards God and His grace. St. John the Apostle spoke clearly about how sin can lead us to damnation and death, but at the same time, we must have hope with us because the Lord Jesus, our Saviour has brought the forgiveness of sins and the perfect manifestation of God’s love into our midst.

We must not take this great love and generosity which we have received for granted, as if we are not careful then the allures of sin can lead us astray once again into the path towards damnation and Hell. But the Lord has given us all His providence and protection, the great love which He has shown us through His Son. And since all of us are the beloved children of God, we shall be protected and guided in our paths in life, and God will always be with us, by our side, with His Spirit and Wisdom lighting our path forward. However, we still have to cooperate with what the Lord has given to us, His love and providence so that we will be able to move forward ever closer towards His Light and salvation, towards the eternal joy and true happiness that we can find in Him alone, and not be distracted by the pursuit of false pleasures all around us.

In our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the works of the Lord Jesus and His Herald, St. John the Baptist, who were both working on the people, baptising them and calling them to repent from their sins and return to the Lord. And we heard of how the Lord Jesus at that time was becoming more and more popular, while less and less people were coming to St. John the Baptist. Prior to this, thousands upon thousands of people came flocking to St. John the Baptist, wanting to listen to him and to be baptised by him, and some even thought of him as the Messiah. But he told them all clearly that he was not the Messiah and was merely just the one sent ahead of the Lord to prepare the way for him.

Hence, when some of the disciples of St. John the Baptist told him of the issue, St. John the Baptist humbly said that it was how things were meant to be, that he should decrease and decline in importance and popularity while the Lord became more and more renowned and popular among the people. He had done what he was tasked to do, preparing the path for the Lord’s coming. It was indeed easy for one like St. John the Baptist to seek popularity and support from the people, as some other false Messiahs at that time had tried to do, gaining the support of many people and rising up in rebellion against the Romans, claiming to be the Messiah, only to have their rebellions failed and themselves killed and destroyed, because they did not represent the truth of God.

But St. John the Baptist remained obedient and committed to the mission which he has been entrusted with, resisting the temptations of worldly glory and ambitions, and did what he was tasked to do, to proclaim the Saviour of the world to everyone. And as he did so, he reminded all of us as Christians that we are also tasked and entrusted with the responsibility to proclaim the salvation of God and His truth, His love and hope to everyone whom we encounter daily in our lives. Each and every one of us have been given the opportunities and the grace to reach out to others whom we meet and encounter, interact and work with in our respective lives so that we may show to them the love of God, His truth and Good News through our own exemplary lives and actions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we are all about to enter the Ordinary Time after tomorrow’s Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, let us all therefore remember always that as Christians we are expected to centre our lives, existence and all of our works on the Lord, and we should always proclaim His truth and love in our community and among all those whom we encounter each day in our lives. Let us all continue to be exemplary and be good inspiration to our fellow brothers and sisters around us, doing our best to live a most Christian living, full of faith and commitment to God, and be the shining beacons of His Good News, light and hope, and show His love manifested through His Son, by our own love for Him and our love for our brethren around us. Amen.

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Friday, 10 January 2025 : Friday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all reminded of the love of God which has been made evident, real, tangible and approachable to all of us through His Son, which has been testified by many testimonies and proofs, that the love of God had indeed manifested itself in our midst, dwelling among us, He Who is known as Emmanuel, God Who is with us, living in our presence and walking in our world with us. He has brought us His healing, salvation and liberation so that each and every one of us may have the sure path out of the darkness and into the light of His salvation and grace, as He has promised to us from the very beginning, and which He has indeed fulfilled perfectly through His Son.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. John about the testimony of God’s salvation, which He had mare known and revealed to all of us through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world. And by the coming of His Son into this world, God has opened the path to Himself and extended for us all the sure path to eternal life. And St. John mentioned not just one but three testimonies of the truth about the Lord’s coming, in water, in Blood and in Spirit. All these three testimonies affirm the truth about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Whose appearance in our midst have restored the hope that had once been lost to Him, and brought us back to see the light of God and His ever generous love.

Those testimonies of water, Blood and Spirit are the truths presented to us about the Messiah, with the first testimony of water referring to the moment when the Lord was baptised in the River Jordan by St. John the Baptist just as it has been prophesied. The Herald of the Messiah, St. John the Baptist himself recognised the One Whose coming He has been preparing the world for, and as He entered into the water, the Heavens itself opened and the voice of God the Father was heard, revealing that the Son of Man Who was baptised that day was indeed the Son of God as well, further affirmed by the Holy Spirit in the form of a Dove descending down from Heaven to rest upon Him. Truly this testimony showed us all that Jesus Christ is indeed the Divine Word of God incarnate in the flesh.

Then, the testimony of Blood is a reminder for us all of the redemptive mission of Our Lord, as He came into this world ultimately to be the One Who would offer the perfect and only worthy sacrifice and offering for our behalf, as our One True and Eternal High Priest, offering the Body and Blood of the Lamb of God, that is His own Most Precious Body and Blood, which had been broken and outpoured for us from His Cross at Calvary. There is no other Blood worthy enough to save us all from our predicaments and from the power of sin and darkness. That He willingly embraced us all and offered Himself and His life for us, is truly testimony and proof enough of what the Lord has done for us, the reality of what He had given to us, the perfect gift of His love.

Then lastly, the testimony of the Spirit referred not just to the descent of the Holy Spirit at the moment when the Lord Jesus was baptised at the River Jordan, but also referring to the moment when the Holy Spirit came down upon the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord, at the occasion of Pentecost, fifty days after the Lord has risen from the dead and ten days after He has ascended in glory to Heaven. This coming of the Holy Spirit and the guidance that the Lord has given us all His Church ever since is a fulfilment of everything that the Lord Himself has spoken about sending His Advocate, the Helper, the Holy Spirit upon His Church and all of His disciples and followers, to strengthen and guide us all in our path, showing that whatever He had said, all would indeed come true.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the story of the time when the Lord Jesus encountered a leper who came to Him and asked Him to heal him of his condition which had certainly made his life very difficult. We must understand that at the time of the Lord Jesus, those who have contracted leprosy were considered as unclean and impure, and they had to remain outside the community as outcasts, wandering off in the wilderness until their leprosy had been healed. In fact, what is known leprosy in this case might not have been the same as what is known today as leprosy, but might have been a kind of infection of the skin and the body, which can be easily passed on from one person to another, and can be cured, unlike the leprosy that we are familiar with today.

But regardless of the detail, or which leprosy the man was truly suffering from, the Lord healed him and told him to go to see the priests so that he could be welcomed back to the community. The Lord did not boast about what He had done, and in fact, He wanted those who have been healed by Him to keep quiet about the matter. Yet as we heard from the Gospel passage today, what the Lord had done for His people continued to grow in knowledge and popularity among the people, and many more would come towards Him, seeking His love, healing and forgiveness. And we are all therefore reminded today to remain focused on the Lord and His saving power, and all the love that He has shown us all these while.

Therefore, as we have been reminded through the Scripture passages today, we are all called as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people to continue to proclaim our Lord and Saviour in our world today, reminding everyone whom we encounter of Who it is that we truly serve and believe in, reiterating our fullness of faith and trust in Him and in the salvation and eternal life that He has promised to each and every one of us. Let us all therefore strive to do our best in each and every moments to glorify the Lord by our every actions, words and deeds, in everything that we say and do, in our every interactions with one another so that we may show the truth of God to all the people around us.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He empower each one of us so that we will continue to live worthily in His Holy Presence, and be the worthy bearers and the good and shining beacons of His light and salvation, His truth and love, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 9 January 2025 : Thursday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded again during the remaining time of this joyful season of Christmas that we truly are celebrating the love of God manifested in this world through the coming of His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all mankind and the whole world, by Whose arrival, presence and ministry, in all that He has done in our midst, in His teachings and outreach, all of us have seen and witnessed, experienced and learnt about what God truly wants from each and every one of us. And we are also reminded on how God is truly faithful and ever committed to the Covenant which He had made with us and all the promises He had given us.

In our first reading today, from the continuation of the Epistle of St. John the Apostle, we heard the exhortation from St. John to all the faithful reminding all of them to love one another, to show love to everyone without exception, and to show care and concern for each other, following the example and the teachings which the Lord Himself has shown to us by His words and actions amongst us. The Lord’s commandments and all of His Law, all of them are truly about love, on how we ought to love God with all of our strength and might, and then how we should love in the same manner as well to our fellow brothers and sisters around us, all those who need our love, care and attention.

It is also important that we all should embrace God’s love wholeheartedly and be appreciative and thankful that God has shown us all so much love, even when we have often disobeyed Him and disregarded His Law and commandments. Our loving God and Father has often been patient in loving us and caring for us, and because He has taught us all how to love and to show His love in our actions, words and deeds, therefore, it is important that we are truly filled with love in everything that we do, or else, we cannot truly call ourselves as God’s children or people. St. John himself said it plainly that if we do not show love to our brothers and sisters, then we are not truly loving God, and we are in fact ‘liars’ in our proclamation of love for God.

St. John made it clear that all those who love the Father, also loves the Son, and vice versa, and in order to be able to truly love God as we should, then we must be truly loving in all things, and we cannot be full of hatred or lacking in love towards anyone. If we ourselves are not showing love towards our fellow brothers and sisters, then how can we truly be genuinely loving towards God as well? And God Who loves everyone certainly will not find our lack of love and even hatred against our fellow brethren as something that is favourable. As Christians it is imperative that we follow the examples of Christ our Lord Himself, loving everyone around us generously and sincerely, to the best of our abilities. Indeed, this is something easier said than done, but we should at least make the effort to do so.

In our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus, early in His ministry returned to His hometown of Nazareth, and when He went to the local synagogue, at the appointed time, He proclaimed what the prophets like Isaiah and the ones before him had prophesied about the coming of the Messiah or the Saviour from God. And as Jesus proclaimed those words of the Scriptures, He proclaimed the fulfilment of everything that had been prophesied, how everything had indeed come true as it was meant to be, and everything that He had done, His teachings and great Wisdom, all the miracles and signs He had performed, all were the evidence that He was the Messiah that had been promised.

Yet, many of those people in Nazareth failed to recognise this and they refused to believe in Him, and instead they preferred to be swayed by their own prejudices and biases against the Lord just because they thought that they knew better about Him, that they knew about His family and His background, being merely the supposed Son of the town carpenter, from a lowly background and origin, unlike what many of the people of that time expected, that the Saviour would come as a great, mighty and conquering King, as the One to restore the Kingdom of Israel and lead the people of God to triumph and victory against their enemies. But the Lord Jesus revealed to them that God’s plan is far greater than their limited desires for worldly glory and liberation, for the Lord desired for no less than the salvation of the whole entire world, and the healing of those who have been hurt and afflicted by sin.

That is why, as Christians, all of us are challenged to be the ones to show the love of God as revealed to us through His Son to those whom we encounter in our lives in each and every interactions we have with them. We should show this through even the smallest parts of our lives, we can be the ones to show the love of God to everyone around us, in how we love our neighbours, all those whom we encounter in life, in our willingness to forgive those who have hurt us and to pray for them and their conversion of heart, among other things. This is why as we still continue to celebrate this joyful Christmas season, we are constantly being reminded to be always putting Christ, the manifestation of God’s love, at the centre of our lives.

Let us all therefore truly become worthy children and followers of the Lord, to be truly worthy to call God our ‘Father’ because we are truly like Him in all things, especially in how we love generously from our hearts and continue to do so just as how the Lord Himself has loved us all so generously. Let us all no longer be idle in our lives, in not realising that our every actions can be very important in showing the love of God to all the people, and let us all be proactive from now on in being evangelising and missionary in all of our actions, words and deeds, in our every interactions with our fellow brethren, even in the smallest things, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 8 January 2025 : Wednesday after the Epiphany (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded again of the love of God, His Presence in our midst and His faithfulness to the Covenant which He had made with all of us, and how we all should not be afraid or hesitant to follow Him because if we put our faith and trust in Him then rest assured that we will be well taken care of and provided for, and even though we may encounter challenges, difficulties, obstacles and trials in our path, but as long as we remain firmly faithful in Him, then we shall not falter and shall continue to sail through the storms and troubles of life with God by our side, as He leads us to the right path and true happiness with Him.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. John the Apostle in which St. John spoke to the faithful regarding the matter of love and how each and every one of them ought to show their love to one another, their compassion and care for those who are around them, because that was exactly what the Lord had done for us all, out of His endless compassion for us, His ever generous love and care, His patience in showing us His loving kindness, in His desire to see us all saved from our predicament and certain destruction because of our many sins. While it is true that because of our disobedience we have fallen into sin and been corrupted by those sins, but God never condemned us or desired our destruction. Instead, it is by those sins, unrepented and unforgiven that we have fallen into damnation.

That is why as St. John mentioned very clearly in his Epistle that the salvation of God has come into our midst through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Divine Word Incarnate, the Divine Son of God Who assumed our human nature and existence so that by His entry and arrival into this world, He might manifest before us all, the love of God in all of its perfection, and showed it all to us. And that was exactly what the Lord had done. He has given us all His only begotten Son so that by His suffering and death, all of us may be saved and redeemed from our sins, and have the sure path towards Him and the eternal life and true joy that can be found in Him alone. Through His perfect and ever enduring love, God has opened for us the path to salvation.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist in which the famous encounter between the Lord and His disciples in a storm was told to us. At that time, as we heard, the Lord was going by Himself to pray while the disciples of the Lord were together in a boat sailing in the middle of the lake, likely the Lake of Galilee where they often travelled around during the Lord’s ministry. And we heard how the Lord then appeared to those disciples while great storm, wind and waves were battering against their ship, so much so that it would have sunk them. This was one of the few occasions that this had happened to the disciples, but each and every time it happened, the Lord was with them, came to them and helped them.

In this particular occasion, the Lord came to those disciples who were frightened by the waves and the wind, and His appearance, walking on the water made them to be frightened more, as they thought that He was a ghost or spirit. Yet, the Lord reassured them all immediately, telling them all that it was indeed Him Who was there, reaching out to them, and He went to them, miraculously walking on the water, and then calmed the storm and the waves, taming those wind and waves, as He came into their midst. All of these showed those disciples and also all of us that we are truly blessed to have the Lord and Saviour of the whole world to have come into our midst, in the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

That story of the Lord saving His disciples and being with them in the middle of the storm in the lake is a representation and reminder for us all that the Lord never abandons us, and He is always ever by our side, even in our deepest moments of struggle and despair. The boat that the disciples were travelling in is a symbol of the Church, and the disciples themselves represent each and every one of us, God’s beloved people. The storm, the waves and the wind are all representations of the danger, struggles and difficulties, all the trials that we may have to face in the midst of all these journey we have, and yet, we must not give in to fear and despair, for the Lord is and will always be by our side, protecting and providing for us.

Now, are we all going to put our trust and faith in the Lord, believing in Him, His love and providence, or are we going to let our fears, uncertainties and doubts to cloud our judgment and path in life? The choice is ours to make, and we must do our very best to remain firm in our dedication and commitment to God, opposing the temptations to abandon the Lord and instead embracing the many other alternatives and false assurances of the world. We must not give in to our fears, but instead trust in the Lord, just as those disciples remained in the boat, and believed in the Lord, and did not abandon the ship to save themselves.

Therefore, let us all remember our faith in God and also our obligation to take good care of one another, to help guide each other in our journey towards the Lord. We are all called to be good role models, inspirations and help for one another, to help lead and guide everyone towards the Lord and His salvation. As Christians, let us all be the bearers of the Good News of God, to be the shining beacons of His truth and love, to be His witnesses and courageous servants in our world today, so that by our exemplary living and actions, we may proclaim Him and His light, His love and truth to many more people around us, now and always. May God be with us all, and may He bless our every good works and endeavours, for His greater glory. Amen.

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Tuesday, 7 January 2025 : Tuesday after the Epiphany, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, while we still continue celebrating the joyful time and season of Christmas, focusing our attention on the birth and coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ, bearing the salvation for everyone, we now begin to focus more on the works and actions of Christ during His ministry as we are about to come to the end of this season and begin the first round of the Ordinary Time. Through what we have heard in our Scripture passages today, we are reminded of God’s love which He has manifested before us through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all. We are reminded that by His coming into our world, the love of God and all has become real, tangible and approachable to us, which is what we celebrate in Christmas, that is the Love of God made Man.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. John the Apostle in which St. John reiterated the great and most generous love which God has for all of us mankind, and this love is shown to us through the giving of His Son, and He gave us this Son so that He might be able to bring us all from the brink of destruction, and through His suffering and death, which He obeyed perfectly and carried out willingly, all of us have received the assurance of salvation and eternal life, because He offered for us all, on our behalf, the one and only perfect offering and sacrifice for the atonement of our innumerable sins, as the Lamb of God, the Sacrificial Lamb offering His own Most Precious Body and Blood, the perfect unblemished sacrifice that can heal us from all of our sins.

That is why today as we continue to celebrate this joyous occasion of Christmas, at the same time we are also reminded that ultimately Christmas will not have its meaning, importance and relevance without what we will celebrate soon in Holy Week and Easter. For if Christmas is a celebration of the Lord’s coming into this world as a little Child, to be God Who dwells with His people, then it is in the Holy Week and Easter that everything He was about to do came into perfect fulfilment and completion. If Christ did not suffer and die on the Cross, and then rose in glory and triumph, conquering sin and death, then this birthday is just a celebration of the birthday of an ordinary person, not unlike any other person. But this is certainly not the case.

It is precisely because Christ has become Man at Christmas and then went on to fulfil all that the Lord has planned perfectly at Holy Week and Easter, that we rejoice even all the more because we know that by becoming a Man like us all, He has united our humanity to Himself and gathered us all as one united people and flock of the Lord, and made us all to share in His death and Resurrection. He became the Mediator of the New Covenant between God and all mankind, an everlasting Covenant sealed with the Precious Blood of the Son of God, the Paschal Lamb of sacrifice. Truly, as the Lord Himself had said in the Gospel according to St. John, that ‘God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, so that all who believe in Him may have eternal life.’ And these are the concrete proofs of this love.

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark, we heard the moment when the Lord Jesus performed a wonderful and well-known miracle of the feeding of the five thousand men and many others who were gathered to listen to the Lord and who were hungry after many days without having any food. The Lord showed His genuine and powerful love for His beloved ones, that He provided for them what they needed, not just the spiritual nourishment through His words and teachings, but also even in terms of physical needs and the fulfilment of the flesh and the body through food. He miraculously multiplied five loaves of bread and two fishes, that all those thousands of people had more than enough to eat, with plenty of leftovers.

Through what the Lord had done and shown us, again we are all reminded that truly Jesus Christ is Our Lord and Saviour, the One Whom God had sent into this world to be our Saviour and the Hope for all of us who have long awaited His salvation in the darkness of sin. His Light and Hope had dispelled this darkness and overcome the power of sin, and broke free the chains that had kept us down and dominated by the forces of darkness, bringing us all through the reconciliation with God, and by His direct contact with us, showing us that the Lord truly cares for us, and wants us all to be sharing in His love, and to be the ones enjoying the fullness of our inheritance as He has always intended for us all.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Raymond of Penyafort, also known as St. Raymond of Penafort, a famous Dominican preacher and missionary who was well-known for his great piety and charisma, his many great works and efforts for the sake of the Church, all the theological works he created and prepared, as well as his miracles and signs. He was known for his efforts to codify the Canon Law as well as outreach towards sinners, including his efforts to bring King James I of Aragon into the right path, as St. Raymond was the king’s confessor. At that time, the king was living in sin with a mistress, and when the king kept on refusing to change his ways, St. Raymond told the king that he would leave him behind for having not listened to his advice so many times.

And when the king forbade St. Raymond of Penyafort from leaving the island where he was living in, the island of Majorca, according to tradition St. Raymond and a Dominican companion went to the seashore and taking off his long black Dominican cloak, spreading it on the water, and then rode on it on the water, sailing towards Barcelona at the court of the king, witnessed by many people who thereafter became proof of this amazing occasion. Having heard of this and witnessed the great sanctity of the man of God, the king eventually repented and changed his ways. There are many other great deeds that the Lord had done through St. Raymond of Penyafort, and we ought to be inspired by his exemplary faith and life in how we ought to live our own lives in faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have discussed from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures and inspired by the life of St. Raymond of Penyafort, let us all therefore strive to love the Lord our God with all our heart and strength, and to be truly devoted to Him above all other things, doing whatever we can to glorify Him by our lives. Each and every one of us should be good examples and inspiration in how we live our lives with faith, much as how St. Raymond of Penyafort had done for us. May the Lord our loving God and Saviour continue to guide and strengthen us in our faith and path, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 6 January 2025 : Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the joyful occasion of the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, marking the occasion when the Lord revealed and made Himself known to all the people of all the nations as represented by the Three Magi or the Three Wise Men or Three Kings, a story which we all are certainly familiar with, in how they came from their distant lands to seek the Saviour of the world, the Light of His salvation and grace, and found it in the Holy Child born in Bethlehem over two millennia ago. On this day we all rejoice in the great Christmas joy celebrating the salvation and hope which we have all received from God’s most generous love and compassionate Heart, manifested in real and tangible form in His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour.

In our first reading today, we heard about the premonition and prediction of this event which the Lord had made through His prophet Isaiah many centuries before everything came true. The prophet Isaiah had been sent to the people of God who have suffered difficulties, challenges and trials, as those in the southern kingdom of Judah had witnessed their northern neighbours and fellow Israelites in the kingdom of Israel conquered and having their cities destroyed by the Assyrians recently, and how many of those people had been brought into distant and far-off lands by those same Assyrians, bereft of their homeland and their dwelling, forced to live as exiles among the foreigners, all because of their lack of faith and virtue, their disobedience against God.

And similarly, those in Judah itself had not been spared from all those difficult moments, as in the context of the time when this prophecy was revealed through the prophet Isaiah, it was likely that the people of God in Judah had faced and survived the event when the King of Assyria, Sennacherib brought with him a mighty force numbering in the hundreds of thousands with the intent of conquering and destroying Judah and Jerusalem, just as they had done with their northern brethren earlier on. And as the Assyrians besieged Jerusalem, their king even mocked the Lord and made blasphemous comments about Him, trying to make the Israelites to give in to fear and despair, saying how the other gods of the other people the Assyrians had conquered were powerless to stop them.

But God showed His might and crushed all the forces of those Assyrians, and sent their king back home in great shame. And through this and many other events, the Lord proved His love and providence for His people, reassuring them of His constant presence and help, and as what we have heard in today’s first reading, the Lord promised the coming of His Salvation and Light which will be revealed and shared to all the nations, which will all come to Him, seeking His love and compassion, His kindness and grace. God does not desire the destruction or damnation of any one of His children and He loves all of us mankind without exception. That is why He gave us all His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, and revealed Him to everyone, and showed that His salvation is given freely to all and not just to a select group of people.

In our second reading today, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Ephesus spoke of this same revelation, that God reveals the desire He has to save each and every one of us mankind, without exception, His love and kindness, His generous mercy, that all those who seek Him, regardless whether they are Jewish or non-Jewish, they will all be saved and become part of the one holy people of God, those whom God has called and chosen. This is the response to those whom at the time of the Lord’s ministry and the early Church who claimed that only the Jewish people deserved salvation from God, or that everyone who sought to be saved must adopt all the customs, practices and beliefs of the Jews to the extent that they themselves became Jewish.

Thus, St. Paul refuted such a claim, and the fact that it was he who did so is significant because St. Paul was a Pharisee who adhered to such beliefs in the superiority and exclusivity of salvation to only the Jewish people. But God revealed the truth to St. Paul, and upon whose conversion received the reality and true intention of God in calling all of His people to Himself, regardless of their background, race, origin or by any other worldly parameters we often differentiated ourselves by. To the Lord, everyone is truly equal, equal in stature, equal in opportunity and equally beloved by Him without prejudice or discrimination. And He has given us all the ultimate means to achieve this salvation, and that is through His Son and His coming into this world.

In our Gospel passage this day we then heard of the story of the moment that we are celebrating about this Epiphany of the Lord, when the Lord Jesus had been born in Bethlehem, the Saviour of the world and the Son of God Most High, the Divine Word of God Himself incarnate in the flesh. At that time, a great and bright sign has appeared in the sky, the Great Star of Bethlehem, clearly heralding the coming of the Saviour. And three wise men from the East, from distant places and renowned for their great wisdom and knowledge of astronomy, which were studied for signs from God and they all saw the great Star heralding the coming and arrival of the Messiah, the Saviour from God. The three of them went on a long journey towards the land of Judea, coming to seek the salvation of God, which has come into our midst, and the Lord showed Himself to everyone, symbolically presented through the Three Magi.

We heard how the Three Magi eventually found their way to Bethlehem to the presence of the Lord, the Holy Child after enquiring about Him at the court of King Herod the Great. The Three Magi came to the Lord to pay homage to Him, bearing the three unique gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold represents the kingship and the glory of Christ, while the frankincense represents both His Divinity and also His role as our Eternal High Priest, and lastly the myrrh represents the way how the Lord would accomplish His mission, through the suffering and death that He would have to endure during His Passion, for our sake and our salvation. Through all these three gifts therefore, we all come to know the full extent of Who the Lord our God is, and what He has done for us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This is the essence of what the Epiphany celebration is all about.

First of all, the gift of gold is a very symbolic sign of the kingship of Christ, as gold has always been a very valuable commodity and noble metal used in coinage and in collection of wealth, and they are often associated with power and worldly glory, and they also have associations with the Divine, as gold is often used on the ornaments and the worship of gods and idols in various cultures and traditions. Gold in this case symbolised that Christ is truly our Lord and King, the King of Kings, Lord and Master of all, all of creation and the whole of the Universe. It also showed the glory and divinity that our Lord and God has, and how each and every one of us are expected to give Him honour, glory and homage, as the King over all of us. He is the only One truly worthy of our worship and obedience.

Then, the gift of frankincense is a representation as earlier mentioned, of the divinity of Christ, as incense is often used in religious festivities and worship, and incense is used until this day in the Church to indicate the prayers of the faithful people of God rising towards God. At the same time, incense was also usually used by the priests in offering the sacrifices and offerings to God. Hence, this frankincense, which is among the finest type of incense available, is a representation that Christ our Lord is truly Divine, the Almighty God Who manifested Himself in the flesh, to be in our midst. Then, at the same time, it also highlighted Christ’s role as our one and true Eternal High Priest, the One Who would offer on our behalf the perfect and worthy offering, for the absolution and forgiveness of all of our sins.

Lastly, the gift of myrrh is the representation of what the Lord would do for our salvation, as myrrh is a precious spice used for the embalming of the bodies of the dead. It may indeed be a rather strange and curious gift for a newborn Child, but in this case, it is a representation of how Christ would suffer and die from the Cross that He Himself would bear, and through His death He would redeem all of us, by making us all free from sin, and then by His glorious Resurrection, He would lead us all into a new life, no longer subjected to sin and death, to evil and destruction. This is what the gift of myrrh had revealed to us, and we are all reminded that we are all truly so fortunate that God has done all of these for our sake. We must be thankful for all that He has done, and we must return to seek the Lord and His salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we celebrate wonderfully during this time of the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, we are reminded through the three gifts of the Magi of the true nature of that Child Who has been born in Bethlehem two millennia ago, He Who revealed Himself to all of us through the symbolic representation of the Three Magi. In Christ our Lord, we have the Divine Lord Himself, Almighty and all-powerful coming down into our midst, to dwell among us and to be with us, and ultimately, to offer Himself for our sake, to suffer and die for us, so that all of us can receive the sure promise of eternal life and fullness of grace from Him. Let us all keep this in mind as we go forth to this world, to our communities around us, to proclaim the Lord our God and Saviour, He Who has come into this world and revealed His love, to everyone, calling them to His Presence and mercy.

May the Lord, Who has been manifested, ‘Epiphaneia’ in the flesh, revealed in His love and kindness through the Holy Child of Bethlehem, continue to be with us and bless our every endeavours and deeds, and may He continue to bless our every works, efforts and endeavours to glorify Him by our lives, our every actions, works and deeds. Holy God, Mighty God, Holy Immortal God, revealed to us all through the Wisdom and love You have shown us, have mercy on us and give us Your love and grace, now and forevermore. Amen.