religious

by

Saturday, 21 June 2025 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 6 : 24-34

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “No one can serve two masters, for he will either hate one and love the other; or he will be loyal to the first and look down on the second. You cannot, at the same time, serve God and money.”

Therefore, I tell you, not to be worried about food and drink for yourself, or about clothes for your body. Is not life more important than food; and is not the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow, they do not harvest, and do not store food in barns; and yet, your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more worthy than they are?”

“Can any of you add a day to your life by worrying about it? Why are you so worried about your clothes? Look at how the flowers in the fields grow. They do not toil or spin. But I tell you, that not even Solomon, in all his glory, was clothed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass in the field, which blooms today and is to be burnt in an oven tomorrow, how much more will He clothe you? What little faith you have!”

“Do not worry, and say : What are we going to eat? What are we going to drink? or : What shall we wear? The pagans busy themselves with such things; but your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Set your heart, first, on the kingdom and righteousness of God; and all these things will also be given to you. Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

by

Saturday, 21 June 2025 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 33 : 8-9, 10-11, 12-13

YHVH’s Angel encamps and patrols, to keep safe those who fear Him. Oh, see and taste the goodness of YHVH! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!

Revere YHVH, all you, His saints, for those who fear Him do not live in want. The mighty may be hungry and in need; but those who seek YHVH lack nothing.

Come, listen to Me, My children; I will show you how to fear YHVH. If you desire long life; if you want to enjoy prosperity.

by

Saturday, 21 June 2025 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

2 Corinthians 12 : 1-10

It is useless to boast; but if I have to, I will go on, to some visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a certain Christian : fourteen years ago he was taken up to the third heaven. Whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, God knows. But I know that this man, whether in the body or out of the body – I do not know, God knows – was taken up to Paradise, where he heard words that cannot be told : things which humans cannot express.

Of that man I can indeed boast, but of myself I will not boast except of my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, it would not be foolish of me, for I would speak the truth. However, I better give up, lest somebody think more of me than what is seen in me, or heard from me. Lest I become proud, after so many and extraordinary revelations; I was given a thorn in my flesh, a true messenger of Satan, to slap me in the face. Three times, I prayed to the Lord, that it leave me, but He answered, “My grace is enough for you; My great strength is revealed in weakness.”

Gladly, then, will I boast of my weakness, that the strength of Christ may be mine. So I rejoice, when I suffer infirmities, humiliations, want, persecutions : all for Christ! For when I am weak, then I am strong.

by

Saturday, 8 March 2025 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. John of God, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained in the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the need for us to live a holy and worthy life in God, one that is truly in accordance with the ways of the Lord, in tune with what He has revealed and taught to us through His Son and His Church. We must keep ourselves away from the corruptions and snares of sin, striving to seek the Lord and His forgiveness, His mercy and love, allowing Him to forgive us and heal us from this corruption of sin that had afflicted us all these while. We must not be discouraged from a truly holy life that is in harmony with God and His righteous path, and as we continue to progress through this season of Lent, we are constantly being reminded to stay true to this path of the Lord.

In our first reading today, we are called to heed the words from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the Lord spoke to His people through Isaiah, calling upon them all to remove from themselves the yoke of sin and disobedience, for them all to turn away from their rebelliousness and disobedience against Him, all which they had done for the many years of their existence and lives in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. God has always been patient in helping and guiding all of them back to Himself, pointing out the path for them all to follow, sending to His people countless prophets, messengers and others to help and lead them all to the right path. Many of those people had lost the direction in their lives, being swayed by the temptations of worldly pleasures and glory, that they disobeying the Lord and His Law, and even persecuting His prophets.

God wanted to remind all of His beloved people that while He chastised them all for their sins and wickedness, but ultimately, He loved them very much and wanted all of them to find their path to Him, to be reconciled and fully reunited with Him, no longer separated from Him because of their sins and wickedness. He told them that if they were to change their ways and abandon their sins, they would be blessed by Him again, and they shall all be His people once more. God’s love is truly great, and He wants all of His people, that is all of us to be united to Him, but sin and the temptations to sin have always been great obstacles barring our path towards Him. As long as we are corrupted and afflicted by sin, then we will always be separated from God. But God has always been patient in helping us and showing us the path to return to Him, and we should not take this for granted.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist the account of the Lord Jesus speaking to Levi, one of the tax collectors that He encountered in His ministry, and called on this same Levi to follow Him and become His disciple. Levi listened to the Lord and followed Him, leaving behind everything that he had, all of his possessions, money and profession. Not only that, but he also invited the Lord to his place, to have dinner with him and many other tax collectors who sought to know Him and listen to Him as well. This brought about immediate outcry and protest from the Pharisees who were often following the Lord, as those people regarded the tax collectors as being sinners and wicked, and would have nothing to do with them because this was considered as making them ritually unclean.

But the Lord rebuked those Pharisees for their wrong ideas and ways, and told them that it was exactly for this purpose that He had been sent into this world. The Lord came into this world to save us all, His beloved people, and He has reached out to us with His generous compassion and love, calling upon each one of us to follow Him and to repent from our sins. As He told those Pharisees that He came into this world to heal those who were broken and sick, and to gather all of us from the precipice of darkness, preventing us from falling into the darkness. That is why, He reached out to the least and the lost, and to those whom others would have rejected and ostracised, like those tax collectors, prostitutes and others marginalised by the society, and this is an example for all of us as Christians to follow in our own lives.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. John of God, a holy man of God and renowned founder of the religious order and institute, the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, which is an institute dedicated to the care of those who are poor, sick and suffering from mental disorders. St. John of God was born in Portugal in the late fifteenth century to an impoverished but pious family of prominent heritage, but met an unfortunate incident early in his life as he was lost from his family at the age of eight, and eventually became an orphan in Spain. He was raised by a farmer who gave the young St. John of God a job as a shepherd. Then he escaped the farmer’s place after he consistently tried to make St. John of God marry his daughter and become his heir, becoming a member of the military.

St. John of God spent some time in the military until he was wrongly suspected of theft of what he had been entrusted to guard, and for the next twenty years, this and many other challenges, uncertainties and difficulties that he encountered in his involvement as a soldier fighting various wars and conflicts, and after periods of internal struggles and spiritual barrenness, and some period of soul-searching, it was told that after receiving an apparition of the Holy Child, the Infant Jesus, St. John of God, whose name of John of God was apparently bestowed on him by the Lord Himself, eventually St. John of God decided to leave behind his past life and work in the military and other fields, and decided to devote himself thoroughly to God.

St. John of God had a profound moment of conversion then, and he began to live his life with the intention to reach out to the less fortunate, the sick and suffering in the midst of the community, gathering like-minded individuals to establish the aforementioned Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God. This community of devout men spent their time and effort to reach out to those who are suffering, those who are sick from various illnesses and maladies, and St. John of God devoted himself and the rest of his life to this ministry for the sake of God’s people. His great faith and dedication to the Lord, while only lasted for about ten years before he passed away, inspired many other people both during his lifetime and afterwards, in putting themselves to make the lives of their fellow brethren to be a better one.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have reflected from the words of the Sacred Scriptures, and also as we have discussed from the life and good examples shown to us by St. John of God, we should be inspired to follow the Lord faithfully in the manner that he and our many other holy predecessors had done. Each and every one of us as Christians ought to be good role models and examples, the ones to show everyone what it truly means for us to live as Christians, as the disciples and followers of the Lord. And in particular during this time of Lent, we are reminded to attune ourselves well to the path of the Lord, reorientating our lives as per necessary if we have strayed away from the path of the Lord, that we may spend more time and effort to benefit all those around us who are in need, those who are poor, sick and marginalised, among others who are in need of our love and care.

Let us all therefore continue to strive to live worthily in the Lord’s Presence, to do His will and to live in accordance with His Law and commandments at all times. Let us no longer remain idle or procrastinate in our efforts to seek the Lord, but do our best to expedite our journey towards the Lord, doing our very best to come to Him with contrite and repentant hearts, seeking His forgiveness and mercy for our many sins, for our most loving and forgiving God will surely forgive us if we are truly sincere in looking for Him and His mercy. May the Lord be with us always, and may He show us all His loving mercy, now and always. Amen.

by

Saturday, 8 March 2025 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. John of God, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 5 : 27-32

At that time, after Jesus healed a paralytic man, He went out, and noticing a tax collector named Levi, sitting in the tax office, He said to him, “Follow Me!” So Levi, leaving everything, got up and followed Jesus.

Levi gave a great feast for Jesus, and many tax collectors came to his house, and took their places at the table with the other people. Then the Pharisees and their followers complained to Jesus’ disciples, “How is it, that you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

But Jesus spoke up, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. I have not come to call the just, but sinners, to a change of heart.”

by

Saturday, 8 March 2025 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. John of God, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 85 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Listen, o YHVH, and answer me, for I am afflicted and needy. Preserve my life, for I am God-fearing; save Your servant who trusts in You.

Have mercy on me, o YHVH, for I cry to You all day. Bring joy to the soul of Your servant; for You, o YHVH, I lift up my soul.

You are good and forgiving, o YHVH, caring for those who call on You. Listen, o YHVH, to my prayer, hear the voice of my pleading.

by

Saturday, 8 March 2025 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. John of God, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 58 : 9b-14

If you remove from your midst the yoke, the clenched fist and the wicked word. If you share your food with the hungry and give relief to the oppressed, then your light will rise in the dark, your night will be like noon.

YHVH will guide you always and give you relief in desert places. He will strengthen your bones; He will make you as a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fall. Your ancient ruins will be rebuilt, the age-old foundations will be raised. You will be called the Breach-mender, and the Restorer of ruined houses.

If you stop profaning the Sabbath and doing as you please on the holy day, if you call the Sabbath a day of delight and keep sacred YHVH’s holy day, if you honour it by not going your own way, not doing as you please and not speaking with malice, then you will find happiness in YHVH, over the heights you will ride triumphantly, and feast joyfully on the inheritance of your father Jacob. The mouth of YHVH has spoken.

by

Wednesday, 16 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hedwig, Religious, and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious or Holy Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we continue to be reminded as we have been in previous days of the need for us to truly follow the Lord wholeheartedly and faithfully, distancing ourselves from all the worldliness and all the temptations and wickedness which had been present all around us in this world. We have to embrace the Lord’s path faithfully, doing whatever we can so that we truly embody our faith in Him fully and not just merely practicing all the external applications and practices but inside, there is no space for the Lord in our hearts and minds, which can indeed happen to us, as how it had happened to many among our predecessors as mentioned in our Scripture passages today.

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 Galatia in which the Apostle continue to speak to the people about the matter of true obedience to the Law of God, referring to the Law in this instance as a reference to the way how the Law of God that was revealed through Moses had been interpreted and practiced by the Jewish authorities, such as by the Pharisees and the other members of the Jewish High Council, and which some of them were also influential among the members of the Jewish diaspora in Galatia. At that time, St. Paul, who had embarked on several missionary journeys and travels all throughout the Mediterranean region, proclaiming the Good News of God in all of those occasions, including the region and people of Galatia.

There in Galatia, there were quite a few Jewish people in diaspora away from their homeland who embraced the Lord as their Saviour and Master together with the non-Jewish people like the Greeks, Romans and other local populations who also believed in the Lord and chose to become Christians. And there were those among the Jewish converts who claimed and even forced the non-Jewish converts to follow the ways and customs of the Jews, claiming that they are necessary for salvation. This also happened in the many other places that St. Paul had ministered in, and it was one of the main issues that St. Paul consistently wanted to settle by reminding all the faithful that the obedience and the ways of the old Jewish customs and laws are no longer binding on the people of God, because they have received the fullness of truth through Christ, and they should instead obey what the Lord has taught them.

He reminded them all of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, of love and all the other good fruits which are distinct from the ones offered by the world, from all the corruptions of evil and sin, and highlighting the difference between following the Law that is mostly human made and which had been flawed and wrongly applied by the religious leaders of the time with the true obedience to God’s Law which all the faithful ought to have, not in the superficial and external faith, piety and obedience to the rules and rituals which those religious leaders had practiced and enforced to the people of God, but rather, a true commitment and love for the Lord, which are often lacking, is what God had wanted. As mentioned in the Scriptures, that what the Lord wanted is love and not sacrifice. Without true love and commitment to God, no amount of piety and sacrifice can be meaningful.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist in which we continue to listen to the words of the Lord Jesus as He rebuked and criticised many of the members of the Pharisees and those who have opposed Him constantly and fervently because of the disagreements that they had with Him, and how they stubbornly refused to listen to His words and teachings, or dialogue with Him despite the efforts that He had made, and the outreach He had shown them, and still insisting on living the lives and in the manner that they had always done, in glorifying themselves and indulging in self-gratification over their supposedly superior status among the community of the people of God.

At that time, the Pharisees together with the Sadducees, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law formed the bulk of the religious and intellectual elite of the community of the Jewish people, the descendants of the people of God living in Judea, Galilee and Jerusalem, where many of them were members of the Sanhedrin, or the Jewish High Council governing over the religious matters, customs and practices of the people of God. Those people enjoyed being praised and honoured for their piety and obedience to the Law, and they also liked to get the attention and fame that they enjoyed from all of their external piety, and all those things distract them from truly following the Lord wholeheartedly and genuinely.

Just as discussed earlier in the matter from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians, we are reminded that we must not be swayed by all these external glory and all the worldly temptations that may distract us from the Lord and His path, and from whatever He has taught and revealed to us. In their moment of pride and ego, blinded by their ambition and desires, those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had failed to understand that the Law of God was meant to lead everyone to God, and to teach everyone to love Him, and not to become tools to be misused for the benefit and selfish intentions of a select few, which was why the Lord rebuked those who had done so. We are also reminded that as Christians we should not do the same as well.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of two great saints whose life and devotion to God can truly become a great example for each and every one of us as Christians. They are St. Hedwig, also known as St. Hedwig of Silesia and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. First of all St. Hedwig of Silesia was the Duchess of Silesia, in what is today part of western Poland, where she was remembered well for her great piety, generosity and upright living, as a truly great and holy woman, whose faith and love for God and also love for her fellow men and women were truly exemplary and inspirational. She was born in a noble German family and was married at a young age to the Duke of Silesia. She lived a good and holy life, and with her husband, both of them were renowned for their great piety and dedication to God, for their generosity to the poor and the less privileged.

And after she was widowed, St. Hedwig went to a monastery and took up the habit of a religious sister although she did not take the religious vows. She continued to show care and compassionate love, concern and mercy for the needy all around her as she had done when she was still the Duchess of Silesia. She was known to even go barefoot during her ministry and works, during the height of the cold winter. She was truly a great and humble woman, dedicated to the Lord and she showed us all the meaning and application of the Law of God, that true piety and faith came through one’s passionate and strong love for the Lord that is also inculcated and embodied in the same strong and genuine love for one’s fellow men and women, particularly to those who were less fortunate and poor.

Then, St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was a renowned mystic and saint, whose life was also a great inspiration to many of the faithful throughout history. She was most well-known for her visions related to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and who was behind the now very popular Devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. All these experienced eventually led her to take up the religious vows and vocation, becoming a member of the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary congregation. In the monastery, she continued to receive more and more message and revelation from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, through which the Lord showed His infinite love and mercy for His beloved people, ever outpouring from His wounded and bleeding Heart. She recorded all these revelations and words of the Lord, and which became eventually the basis for the popular Devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard from the great examples of St. Hedwig of Silesia and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and having discern the words and message from the Sacred Scriptures earlier on, let us all therefore continue to do our best to live our lives worthily of the Lord at all times, and to show true love and devotion to Him, as St. Hedwig of Silesia and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and the innumerable other saints had done in their lives. We should not be paying mere lip service and obedience to the Law of God like those Pharisees and teachers of the Law, but truly embody the Law and love of God in every parts and moments of our lives, from now on and always, evermore. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 16 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hedwig, Religious, and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious or Holy Virgins)

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.”

by

Wednesday, 16 October 2024 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hedwig, Religious, and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious or Holy Virgins)

Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the one who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the law of the Lord and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.