Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious or Holy Virgins)
Psalm 129 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-7a
Out of the depths I cry to You, o YHVH, o YHVH, hear my voice! Let Your ears pay attention to the voice of my supplication.
If You should mark our evil, o YHVH, who could stand? But with You, is forgiveness, and for that You are revered.
I waited for YHVH, my soul waits; and I put my hope in His word. My soul expects YHVH more than watchmen, the dawn. O Israel, hope in YHVH.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious or Holy Virgins)
Romans 3 : 21-30a
But, now it has been revealed, altogether apart from the Law, as it was already foretold in the Law and the prophets : God makes us righteous by means of faith in Jesus Christ, and this is applied to all who believe, without distinction of persons.
Because all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God; and all are graciously forgiven and made righteous, through the redemption effected in Christ Jesus. For God has given Him to be the Victim, Whose Blood obtains us forgiveness, through faith.
So God shows us, how He makes us righteous. Past sins are forgiven, which God overlooked till now. For, now, He wants to reveal His way of righteousness : how He is just, and how He makes us righteous, through faith in Jesus. Then, what becomes of our pride? It is excluded. How? Not through the Law and its observances, but through another Law, which is faith. For we hold, that people are in God’s grace, by faith, and not because of all the things ordered by the Law.
Otherwise, God would be the God of the Jews; but is He not God of pagan nations as well? Of course He is, for there is only one God.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that God will reward those who are faithful to Him, and He will punish all those who are wicked and who oppress and manipulate those who are around them. The Lord is never blind or ignorant of everything that we have done, or have not done, and He always knows our hearts, our minds and thoughts, everything that we say and do and how we interact with each other. God knows everything about us and He wants to lead all of us to Himself, showing us how we can be truly holy and worthy of Him, through what He has taught us and through the good inspirations that His saints, our holy predecessors that had shown us the way to be truly devoted and faithful to God in our lives.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Rome, in which the Apostle continued to speak about how one ought to live his or her life as a Christian, that is as a disciple of Christ, the Saviour of all, Whom St. Paul had reminded the faithful in Rome as being sent for all mankind, regardless whether one was a Jew or whether one was a Gentile or a non-Jew. All of them are equally beloved by God and all have the same chance at salvation and eternal life, because all of us are created by God out of love, and He loves all of us without exception, even to the greatest of sinners. He has given us all many opportunities to return to Him and to be reconciled with Him, ever ready to forgive us our sins.
It is also an important reminder for each one of us as St. Paul mentioned it in that same passage we heard today, that we do not judge and condemn others especially because we think that we are better or more deserving of God’s grace and blessings than those whom we are judgmental, biased and opposed against. All of us are sinners and we all have disobeyed God in some way or form or another, and we must be humble and willing to be open-minded and to listen to others speaking to us, lest we think that we can do no wrong or that we are in any way better or more deserving than the others. It is this attitude among other things which had caused so many divisions and problems in the Church even up to this day, pushing people away from the Lord and His Church instead of towards Him.
Then, from our Gospel passage today, from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the continuation of the rebukes and woes which the Lord Jesus pronounced against the Pharisees, who were back then one of the very influential groups within the community of the people of God, the Jewish people, together with the Sadducees. The Pharisees were the intellectual and religious elites of the community, where they took great pride in their supposed superiority in piety and way of living their faith and lives, in the manner how they observed the Law and commandments of God. The Lord Himself rebuked the Pharisees for their great pride, ego and superficial faith, as well as their desire and craving for power and worldly glory.
Not only that but through their actions and attitudes, many among those Pharisees had also pushed people away from God, just as we have discussed earlier from our first reading passage today. They made it more difficult for those that they discriminated and were biased against to come towards the Lord, and they made it more difficult for many others as well for them to come towards God because of the excessive requirements and their very stringent and rigid application and interpretation of God’s Law and rules, the regulations and other things that made it hard for many people to be faithful to God. And in doing so, they have also forgotten and overlooked the fact that God gave His Law to His people to show them how they ought to love Him and to make it easier for them to come towards Him.
Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Teresa of Jesus, also better known by her other appelation of St. Teresa of Avila, named after her birthplace in Avila in Spain today. Her life may indeed be good source of inspirations and hope, strength and encouragement for all of us in how each and every one of us ought to be living up our lives. All of us are reminded that we are all called to follow the good examples of the saints, like that of St. Teresa of Jesus, who was the founder of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites. Together with St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Jesus was credited with the very important reform within the Carmelite Order, seeking to lead a more committed and virtuous religious life and observance, as compared to the then increasingly lax standards of the Carmelites.
St. Teresa of Jesus sought to reform the Carmelite order, and was also involved in the arbitration of certain other issues facing both her order and the wider Christian communities around her convent. St. Teresa of Jesus together with her companion, St. John of the Cross, continued to labour hard and well for the sake of the glory of God and the salvation and well-being of God’s people. They faced a lot of opposition from both within the Carmelite Order itself and from the community, but they pressed on with the reforms, and their hard works and efforts eventually bore fruit, for the benefit of both the religious order and the general Christian community.
St. Teresa also wrote very extensively on many articles on the faith, and all those writings and publications, books and works were what eventually led to her canonisation, and also the declaration that she was to be made one of the Doctors of the Church. Her many contributions and good works should serve as source of inspiration for all of us, in how each and every one of us should behave in our lives, and in what we should do as Christians, in doing the will of God and in putting our efforts in every moments of our lives to glorify God by our actions, words and deeds. This is what we have been called to do, brothers and sisters in Christ, to be
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect on what we have just discussed from both the life and works of St. Teresa of Jesus and also from our Scripture passages today, particularly with regard to how we ought to live our lives faithfully and genuinely as Christians. Let our actions, words and deeds at all opportunities and circumstances truly show that we are indeed Christians, the ones whom God had called and chosen to be His own, that through us many more people may come to believe in God as well. May the Lord bless our every efforts, good works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 11 : 42-46
At that time, Jesus said to the people, “A curse is on you, Pharisees! To the Temple you give a tenth of all, including mint and rue and other herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. These ought to be practiced, without neglecting the other obligations.”
“A curse is on you, Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and to be greeted in the marketplace. A curse is on you, for you are like tombstones of the dead which can hardly be seen; people do not notice them, and make themselves unclean by stepping on them.”
Then a teacher of the Law spoke up and said, “Master, when You speak like this, You insult us, too.” And Jesus answered, “A curse is on you also, teachers of the Law. For you prepare unbearable burdens and load them on the people, while you yourselves do not move a finger to help them.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 61 : 2-3, 6-7, 9
My soul finds rest in God alone; from Him, comes my salvation. He alone, is my rock and salvation; with Him as my stronghold, I shall not be overcome.
Find rest in God alone, o my soul; from Him, comes my hope. He alone, is my rock and my salvation; with Him as my stronghold, I shall not be overcome.
Trust in Him at all times, my people; pour out your hearts before Him; God is our refuge.
Liturgical Colour : White
Romans 2 : 1-11
Therefore, you have no excuse, whoever you are, if you are able to judge others. For, in judging your neighbour, you condemn yourself, for you practice what you are judging. We know, that the condemnation of God will justly reach those who commit these things, and do you think that by condemning others, you will escape from the judgment of God, you, who are doing the same?
This would be taking advantage of God, and His infinite goodness, patience and understanding; and not to realise that, His goodness is in order to lead you to conversion. If your heart becomes hard and you refuse to change, then you are storing for yourself a great punishment on the day of judgment, when God will appear as just Judge.
He will give each one his due, according to his actions. He will give everlasting life to those who seek glory, honour and immortality, and persevere in doing good. But anger and vengeance will be the lot of those who do not serve truth, but injustice. There will be suffering and anguish, for everyone committing evil, first the Jew, then the Greek.
But God will give glory, honour and peace to whoever does good, first, the Jew, then, the Greek, because one is not different from the other before God.
Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 66 : 10-14
Rejoice for Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her. Be glad with her, rejoice with her, all you who were in grief over her, that you may suck of the milk from her comforting breasts, that you may drink deeply from the abundance of her glory.
For this is what YHVH says : I will send her peace, overflowing like a river; and the nations’ wealth, rushing like a torrent towards her. And you will be nursed and carried in her arms and fondled upon her lap. As a son comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you. At the sight of this, your heart will rejoice; like grass, your bones will flourish.
For it shall be known that YHVH’s hand is with His servant, but His fury is upon His enemy.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops and Holy Virgins)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that each and every one of us are called to live in the manner that the Lord our God Himself has shown and taught us all. As Christians, each and every one of us who have been called to follow the Lord should be good role models and inspirations for all those whom we encounter in our daily living such that through everything that we say and do, in embodying our faith through real and concrete actions in every parts of our lives. Unless we do so, we have not been truly faithful and we cannot call ourselves as true and genuine Christians, as if our actions contradict our faith, then we may even end up scandalising our Christian faith and dishonour the Holy Name of Our Lord and God.
In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to St. Timothy, in which we continue to hear the words of the Apostle exhorting his protege to continue propagating the messages of God’s truth to the faithful, encouraging the latter to be ever more committed to the Christian way of life, to conduct themselves in the manner that is suitable and pleasing to God, and to centre themselves upon the Lord, Our Saviour and King, Whose truth and Good News have been revealed to us, as shining Light of truth to illuminate our paths in this journey of faith and life, and as we move forward towards our true destination that is Heaven. Each and every one of us as Christians should always live in the manner that is worthy of our identity as Christians.
And this means that in all circumstances, our actions should always reflect that truth of God, showing His most wonderful and generous love at all times, so that by our good examples and inspirations in love, in how we show care, concern and love to those around us, we will always touch the lives of others and make them to come to know the love of God as well. This is why each and every one of us in our respective areas in life and in our various callings, missions and vocations, we will always be the shining examples of our faith to all those who witness our lives and actions. This is what we are all called to do, that even in the smallest things that we do in life, we will always be exemplary and inspirational, and help many others to come ever closer to God.
Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples and followers, of Him lamenting the fact of how the people were so fickle in their behaviour and faith in God, that they kept on changing their attitudes and actions, in their judgmental responses and attitudes against those whom the Lord had sent into their midst to help and guide them all. Those people, especially the leaders and elders of the Jewish people, the members of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, often criticised both Jesus Himself and His herald, St. John the Baptist, using different reasons to try to justify their criticism.
But in essence, everything was in fact due to their sense of superiority, in their refusal to accept and admit that they could be wrong in their ways and thinking. That was why no matter what they encountered, whether the ways and actions of St. John the Baptist, or whether the actions of the Lord Jesus Himself, none of these could satisfy or be accepted by those religious and intellectual elites of the community. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law considered their ways and teachings to be the only correct versions, and hence, nothing that is different from their teachings could be tolerated or accepted. This is something the Lord Himself wanted to remind us all that we do not walk down the same stubborn and rebellious path in our own respective lives.
We are all reminded that as Christians, all of us need to be humble in how we live our lives, in our words and actions, in our interactions with one another, in everything that we commit ourselves to, so that our faith may truly be genuine, and we may indeed be worthy of being called and considered as the people whom God had called and chosen. If we allow our pride to distract us from our true path in life, in obeying God, in listening to Him speaking to us and in leading us down the right path, then we are no better than those Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had frequently criticised and opposed the Lord and St. John the Baptist, and like how their ancestors had also opposed the works and actions of the prophets and messengers of God.
Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of two great servants of God, whose great examples and inspirations should serve as the guiding principles and inspirations for all of us to follow so that we may also live our lives worthily in the manner that the Lord Himself has shown and taught us. First is St. Robert Bellarmine and second is St. Hildegard of Bingen. St. Robert Bellarmine was an Italian Jesuit and great theologian, who was very involved in the implementations of the reforms of the Council of Trent during the time of the Counter-Reformation. He became a priest and theologian and was noted for his great talent in teaching and theology, as the first Jesuit to teach about theology in the University of Leuven in Brabant, in what is today part of Belgium.
St. Robert Bellarmine was therefore deeply involved in the works of the Church, as the Pope and other Church leaders entrusted to him the ministry of diplomacy and outreach to the different segments of the Church, and was appointed as Archbishop of Capua in Italy, in which capacity he firmly implemented the reforms of the Tridentine Council, in opposition to the wickedness and corruptions that had permeated into the local Church at that time, uprooting all those corruptions and dedicating his efforts and works to combat both the nepotism among the members of the clergy, the corrupt behaviours and attitudes, and also the bad attitudes among both the clergy and the laity alike, which brought about scandal to the Christian faith. He was eventually also appointed as a Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, and was instrumental in the many works of the reforms of the Church, which he dedicated himself towards until the end of his life.
Meanwhile, St. Hildegard of Bingen was a renowned mystic, and was also a Benedictine abbess, as one of the Doctors of the Church together with St. Robert Bellarmine for her great contributions to the faith in various areas such as theology and Church music, through the works that she had written and her faith experiences, which served as great inspirations for many people during and after her lifetime. St. Hildegard was born as the youngest child of a large noble family, and she has always been pious and faithful in her life since her early childhood. She had that spiritual awareness of herself and the understanding of her faith in God, beginning to receive visions even from her youth, which eventually led her to join the Benedictine monastery and dedicating her whole life to the service of God in prayer.
In her community, St. Hildegard of Bingen was well respected for her great piety and character, and was unanimously elected by her fellow nuns as the leader of their community, as abbess. She devoted herself into leading her fellow nuns, but encountered challenges and problems from her community, facing opposition from an Abbot who wanted to place her and her community under his leadership. Nonetheless, through her patience and perseverance, eventually St. Hildegard of Bingen prevailed in getting her community of nuns to have their own monastery, and even founded a second monastery in the region. She continued to receive visions which she recounted in her works and through her many other contributions, many people truly benefitted from her efforts and devotion.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect carefully upon the words of the Scriptures which we have heard and received, and having heard of the lives and examples shown by both St. Robert Bellarmine and St. Hildegard of Bingen. Let us all do our very best so that we may also follow their good examples in how we are to live up to our faith as well, and let us all continue to strive to glorify God by our lives and actions. Let us not be disheartened by the challenges and struggles which we may have to encounter in our paths and journeys, but instead continue to be courageous in each and every moments of our lives, glorifying God by our actions, words and deeds at all times. Let us all be the shining examples of our faith, continue to be humble and obedient to the will of God always. May God be with us all and bless us all in our every endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops and Holy Virgins)
Luke 7 : 31-35
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “What comparison can I use for the people? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their companions complain, ‘We piped you a tune and you would not dance; we sang funeral songs and you would not cry.'”
“Remember John : he did not eat bread or drink wine, and you said, ‘He has an evil spirit.’ Next, came the Son of Man, eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Look, a glutton for food and wine, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But the children of Wisdom always recognise her work.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops and Holy Virgins)
Psalm 110 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Alleluia! I thank YHVH with all my heart in the council of the just, in the assembly. The works of YHVH are great and pondered by all who delight in them.
Glorious and majestic are His deeds, His righteousness endures forever. He lets us remember His wondrous deeds; YHVH is merciful and kind.
Always mindful of His Covenant, He provides food for those who fear Him. He shows His people the power of His arm by giving them the lands of other nations.
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