religious

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Wednesday, 23 July 2025 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Matthew 13 : 1-9

At that time, that same day, Jesus left the house and sat down by the lakeside. Many people gathered around Him. So He got into a boat, and sat down, while the crowds stood on the shore; and He spoke to them in parables about many things.

Jesus said, “The sower went out to sow; and, as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path; and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil, and the seeds sprouted quickly, because the soil was not deep. But as soon as the sun rose, the plants were scorched; and they withered, because they had no roots.”

“Again, other seeds fell among thistles; and the thistles grew and choked the plants. Still, other seeds fell on good soil and produced a crop : some a hundredfold, others sixty, and others thirty. If you have ears, then hear!”

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Wednesday, 23 July 2025 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Psalm 77 : 18-19, 23-24, 25-26, 27-28

The people of God tested Him, demanding the food they craved. They blasphemed against God, saying : “Can God spread a table in the desert?”

Yet, He commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven; He rained down manna upon them, and fed them with the heavenly grain.

They ate and had more than their fill of the bread of Angels. Then, from heaven He stirred the east wind, and, by His power, let loose the south wind.

To rain down meat on them like dust. Birds as thick as the sand on the seashore fell inside their camp, lying all around their tents.

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Wednesday, 23 July 2025 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bridget of Sweden, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Exodus 16 : 1-5, 9-15

The Israelites left Elim and the entire community reached the desert of Sin, between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving Egypt. In the desert the whole community of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron and said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of YHVH in Egypt when we sat down to caldrons of meat and ate all the bread we wanted, whereas you have brought us to this desert to let the whole assembly die of starvation!”

YHVH then said to Moses, “Now I am going to rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to gather what is needed for that day. In this way I will test them to see if they will follow My Teaching or not. On the sixth day when they prepare what they have brought in, they will find that there is twice as much as they gather each day.”

Then Moses directed Aaron to say to the whole community of Israel, “Draw near to YHVH for He has heard your complaints.” It happened that as Aaron was speaking to the full assembly of Israel, they turned towards the desert and saw the Glory of YHVH in the midst of the cloud.

Then YHVH spoke to Moses, “I have heard the complaints of Israel. Speak to them and say : Between the two evenings you will eat meat, and in the morning you will have bread to your heart’s content; then you shall know that I am YHVH, your God!”

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp. And in the morning, dew had fallen around the camp. When the dew lifted, there was on the surface of the desert a thin crust like hoarfrost. The people of Israel upon seeing it said to one another, “What is it?” for they did not know what it was. Moses told them, “It is the bread that YHVH has given you to eat.”

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

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that as Christians, all of us have to trust and be faithful to the Lord and believe that He can do everything for us, and not to distance ourselves from Him because of the preoccupation which we have with other distractions and things that can prevent us from truly committing ourselves to His cause in each and every moments of our lives. As Christians we must always lead lives that are truly holy and worthy of the Lord so that we will be great examples for our brothers and sisters around us and that we may live each and every moments with great trust and faith in the Lord as we have always done.

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 Corinth where the Apostle continued on with his discourse regarding the matter of humility before God, and how if one ought to boast of something, then it should be to boast of God, His greatness and wonders, and everything that He had done for us, rather than to boast of our own glory, power and greatness. That is because to boast of one’s own glory and power is vainglory and pride, while boasting of God’s greatness and power, when done in the right manner and with the right intentions, is truly a great expression of one’s unshakeable faith and trust in God, in His Providence and help.

That was why St. Paul decided to share his own experiences and speak of everything which God had done for his sake, in helping him throughout all of his ordeals and all the things that he had done, to proclaim His greatness and wonders, just as he has been told to do by the Lord. He did not want to boast of his own greatness because he himself was aware that despite being an Apostle of the Lord, one of those chosen to be the pillars of the Church and the bearers of God’s Good News, ultimately, he was still a man, a sinner who was in need of God’s love, compassionate mercy and help. Without the Lord, he was nothing and he could not do anything on his own, but with God, everything is truly possible, and he could indeed do all things through the guidance and help of the Lord that strengthened him.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord Jesus telling His disciples and followers that they all should not worry and be doubtful of what God can provide to all of them in their hour and time of need. They should not be afraid because God will always provide for them, for all that they need, and they should be rest assured knowing that there is nothing that can truly separate us from the love and kindness of God. That is why each and every one of us should always hold on to that faith that we have in Him, and not be easily tempted to seek an easier path out, or to follow a tempting distraction from the worldly attachments, ambitions and desires that we may have.

In our world today, so filled with fear, doubts, ambitions and desires of all kind, in a world so full of materialism, of all sorts of hedonism and cravings for pleasures of the flesh, where we are used to the need for instant gratification and happiness, it is unusual for us all to be patient or to wait for the true happiness and joy that truly lasts. Instead, we often seek for instant satisfaction, seeking for good things without considering carefully what the Lord truly wants us to do in our lives. We worry about our lives and what we are to have, and in that meantime, we may end up doing things that hurt those who are around us, especially our loved ones in our pursuit to seek gratification and satisfaction for ourselves, and when we worry about things that we should not be worrying about, and lacking genuine and true faith in the Lord.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, a great and renowned servant of God whose life of devoted service to God and great piety and commitment to God should serve as a great inspiration for all of us to follow. He was born into a wealthy and powerful cadet branch of the noble Gonzaga family in Italy at that time, and as the firstborn son he was expected to inherit his father’s and family’s titles and inheritance, but despite his family’s efforts in preparing him down that expected path, God had a different plan for the young St. Aloysius Gonzaga, who was particularly shocked at the lack of virtue and obedience to God as well as the wicked and corrupt behaviour of all those who lived at that time, particularly among the powerful, even among the members of the clergy themselves.

That was why and how St. Aloysius Gonzaga felt the calling from God to be His follower and disciple, in testifying before everyone through his desire to commit himself as a priest and member of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits. St. Aloysius Gonzaga was firm in his decision to do so despite the opposition from his family, especially that of his father, and despite the attempts to tempt him with secular clergy and even a bishopric instead fitting for his family and status, St. Aloysius Gonzaga was committed to follow the path of full commitment to the Lord, eventually relinquishing all of his inheritance and rights, and becoming a member of the Jesuits at last. During his studies and preparation, he faced a lot of difficulties especially health issues, but it did not dampen his determination.

It was during a plague in Rome when St. Aloysius Gonzaga was stricken after he volunteered to help care for the patients of the plague at the hospital that the Jesuits opened to provide care and help for the plague victims. St. Aloysius Gonzaga kept on doing his best to care for the sick and the dying when he himself had been weakened and was eventually stricken by the same plague as well. He was committed to the very end, and died at a relatively young age while still in his preparations for priesthood in the Jesuit order. Nonetheless, his great faith and dedication to God, everything that he had done in the care of the less fortunate around him and the love he has shown to God and to his fellow brothers and sisters are truly inspirational for all of us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the great examples which St. Aloysius Gonzaga has shown us all, and be ever stronger and firmer in our desire to follow the Lord and to do what we can in our daily lives so that the Lord may truly do wonderful and great things in whatever we do and in all of our labours and daily struggles in whichever communities and places that we had been sent to by the Lord. Let us all continue to put our trust in Him and not to worry about anything in life, but committing ourselves ever more wholeheartedly to His cause, now and always. Amen.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.