Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 131 : 1-3
O YHVH, my heart is not proud nor do I have arrogant eyes. I am not engrossed in ambitious matters, nor in things too great for me.
I have quieted and stilled my soul, like a weaned child, on its mother’s lap; like a contented child is my soul.
Hope in YHVH, o Israel, now and forever.
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 : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the futility of worldly glory, pleasures, ambitions, desires and all the things which often distracted us in our path towards God and His salvation and grace. Each and every one of us are constantly being reminded this day so that we may continue to live our lives worthily in the manner that God has wanted us all to live our lives, in lives that are truly centred and focused on Him, and not on the many distractions and temptations present all around us in this world, all those things which can keep us away from the Lord and His salvation.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Job of the servant of God named Job, who according to Scripture experts might have not existed or might be a metaphor for a suffering and yet obedient servant of God, while some others said that he truly existed. But regardless, the story of Job should serve as inspiration for all of us on how to remain faithful to the Lord despite the challenges and difficulties that we have to encounter and face in life. As we all heard how the life of Job was truly blessed before his misfortune, as a rich man with great family and many possessions, and then, through Satan’s attack and efforts, all of those things were taken from him, while not even his body and health was also spared, in Satan’s effort to tempt him and see if he would abandon God.
If we were to continue reading through the Book of Job, we would then hear how Job remained firm in his faith despite all of his predicaments, and despite everything that he had to endure throughout the ordeals, including being attacked and criticised by his own friends and peers, he did not give up faith and hope in the Lord. And while he did encounter moments of despair and hardships, desolation and difficulties on the way, Job continued to remain strong in his beliefs and remained faithful to the end, and God rewarded him greatly, restoring everything that he had lost and in fact blessed him double than what he had before. Job’s perseverance in faith and devotion to God was known to God and He blessed him greatly for that.
It is a reminder for us all that first, our lives as Christians may not always be smooth sailing and we may encounter trials, hardships and challenges in our ways, and we may have to endure sufferings and challenges in our paths in life. However, if we remain firm in our faith and trust in the Lord, we will then be strengthened and empowered by God Who is always with us and by our side, as He has constantly reassured and shown Job all throughout, and also showed to all of us throughout the whole journey, that He is with us, leading us patiently by our side, ever always guiding and strengthening us through all the challenges and tribulations that we may have to go through. God has not left us all alone and He always provided for our needs, supporting us and encouraging us in this path.
Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke in which the Lord Jesus were speaking to some of His disciples who were arguing and bickering among themselves, who among them were the most important and prominent, and likely who deserved more favour and honour from the Lord. The Lord rebuked them for all of those attitudes and behaviours, for their pettiness with worldly things, with all the glory and ambitions of the world. Each and every one of them as His followers should not be doing all those things and sought for all the temporary and illusory ambitions, all the false leads and temptations present all around them and all of us. His path, the Christian truth and journey, is all about focusing oneself on God and Him alone, distancing and detaching oneself from the worldly ambitions and pursuits.
As the example of Job, his suffering and the aftermath reminded us all, that all worldly pursuits and ambitions are ultimately meaningless and pointless, and we should not put our trust and focus on all those things but rather on the Lord and His Providence instead. We are all God’s beloved ones and as long as we continue to walk in His path and continue to be committed to His cause, we will surely be rewarded in the end of our journey, receiving the fullness of God’s inheritance and graces, the promise of life everlasting and true happiness and glory, everything that He has promised and assured us all from the very beginning of time, from the moment of Creation to this very day and to everlasting. We must always keep in mind of God’s ever enduring and patient love for each one of us.
This day, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Jerome, the renowned saint whose contributions to the Church and the faithful people of God were truly enormous, but particularly was renowned for his role in translating the Scriptures from the Greek Septuagint version, which itself came from the original Hebrew and Aramaic texts, into Latin language, compiling what would come to be known as the Latin Vulgate Bible, from which the various translations and the Scriptural basis of the Western Christianity was derived from, which remains to this very day, in all the Bibles that we have today, which can trace their roots to the works of St. Jerome, who has dedicated himself most wonderfully and faithfully to the Lord.
St. Jerome was born and lived during the fourth century, about the time when the Christian faith began to be tolerated and accepted by large parts of the Roman Empire. He converted to the Christian faith in his middle twenties and went for a while to the desert to live the life of a hermit, which is something that he is also often associated with. Later on, due to his connection and patronage by Pope St. Damasus, he was called to Rome to help the Pope in managing the Church there, as some sort of early predecessor of the office of Cardinals, as there was not yet any well-established system of the Cardinalate at that time. He helped the Pope with the reforms of the Church, rooting out worldliness and corruption from the Church and the clergy, and most importantly, as mentioned, he helped to compile the Latin translation of the Bible for those in Western Christendom.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Jerome has shown us all how we should live in great faith and commitment to God, in living our lives with focus on the Lord and to be holy just as He is holy. There may be difficulties and challenges, as St. Jerome himself encountered throughout his life and missions, but we must not be disheartened or discouraged by all the challenges and trials that we have to face in this journey. Instead, like Job and St. Jerome before us, as well as the innumerable saints and martyrs, holy men and women of God, let us all continue to be faithful to the Lord, trust in His love and providence, and do our best so that our lives may truly be great inspiration to others and glorify the Lord at all times. May the Lord, our ever loving and generous God, be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 9 : 46-50
At that time, one day, the disciples were arguing about which of them was the most important. But Jesus knew their thoughts, so He took a little child and stood him by His side. Then He said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in My Name, welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes the One Who sent Me. And listen : the one who is found to be the least among you all, is the one who is the greatest.”
Then John spoke up, “Master, we saw someone who drives out demons by calling upon Your Name, and we tried to forbid him, because he does not follow You with us.” But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him. He who is not against you is for you.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 16 : 1, 2-3, 6-7
Hear a just cause, o YHVH, listen to my complaint. Give heed to my prayer, for there is no deceit on my lips.
Let my defence come forth from You; Your eyes see what is right. You have probed my heart, searched me at night, tested me by fire, and You have seen no wickedness in me.
I call on You, You will answer me, o God; incline Your ear and hear my word. For You do wonders for Your faithful, You save those fleeing from the enemy as they seek refuge at Your right hand.
Liturgical Colour : White
Job 1 : 6-22
One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before YHVH, and Satan came with them. YHVH asked Satan, “Where have you been?” Satan answered, “Going up and down the earth, roaming about.”
YHVH asked again, “Have you noticed My servant Job? No one on earth is as blameless and upright as he, a man who fears God and avoids evil.” But Satan returned the question, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not built a protective wall around him and his family and all his possessions? You have blessed and prospered him, with his livestock all over the land. But stretch out Your hand and strike where his riches are, and I bet he will curse You to Your face.”
YHVH said to Satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power. But do not lay a finger upon the man himself.” So Satan left the presence of YHVH. One day, while his sons and daughters were feasting in the house of their eldest brother, a messenger came to Job and said, “Your oxen were plowing, and your donkeys were grazing nearby when the Sabaeans came and carried them off. They killed the herdsmen. I alone escaped to tell you.”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came, “God’s fire fell from the sky and burnt all your sheep and the shepherds as well. I alone have escaped to tell you.” He had hardly finished speaking when another messenger arrived, “Three raiding teams of Chaldeans have killed your servants and carried off your camels. I alone have escaped to tell you.”
He was still speaking when another messenger came and said to Job, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking in the house of their eldest brother when suddenly a great wind blew across the desert and struck the house. It collapsed on the young people and they all died. I alone have escaped to tell you.”
In grief Job tore his clothes and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshipped, saying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked shall I return. YHVH gave, YHVH has taken away. Blessed be His Name!”
In spite of this calamity, Job did not sin by blaspheming God.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are yet reminded again today of the futility of seeking and being ambitious for the matters of the world, in seeking pleasures and satisfaction from all the various kinds of worldly desires, achievements, glory, fame and more. All those things are ultimately impermanent and illusory, and as I have mentioned earlier in the week through similar discourses, and we are constantly being reminded that what we truly should seek in this life is not comforts and pleasures of this world, not the glory and fame, the greatness and ambitions of this world. We must instead be humble and realise that our purpose in this life is to live our lives in accordance with God’s will and to serve Him wholeheartedly.
In our first reading today, we continue to listen to the passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes, also known as Book of Qoheleth, in which the author had highlighted in the past few days the futility of worldly pursuits and glory, all the ambitions and desires of this world and all the false pleasures and joys around us. All those things can lead us down the slippery slope towards sin and destruction because of those sins, and if we are not careful, we will end up losing sight and direction towards the Lord and fall ever deeper into the path of wickedness and evil. That is why we must always resist the never-ending pursuits for power and worldly ambitions, all of which are likely going to bring us into our doom, as they lead us ever further away from the path towards God.
Many of our predecessors and ancestors, those who had come before us had faced this same problem, and many among them had faltered in their faith as they were unable to resist the temptations of worldly ambitions and all the things which had brought them down the path of sin and temptations to sin. Many of them had been swayed by the various temptations of this world, which are also present all around us as well. That many among them failed to resist those temptations spoke volumes about how challenging it may be for us to overcome those things if we do not put the conscious efforts and do whatever we can to keep our lives focused and centred on the Lord and not on our own personal ambitions.
Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke in which the Lord continued to tell His disciples about how He would face oppressions, rejection and betrayal, and how He would eventually face the worst persecutions and pain, made to suffer and endure humiliation and shame in the midst of Him completing and accomplishing everything that had been entrusted to Him. The Lord wanted all of His disciples to know and realise that to be His followers and disciples, one must not seek what is commonly sought in the world, such as all the pleasures and ambitions of our personal desires that many among the disciples might have had in them too. After all, they did bicker and argue before among them regarding who among them were the ones who were more worthy and better.
Instead, the Lord wanted to highlight to the disciples and hence to all of us as well that being His followers and disciples would often mean that we may have to face and endure challenges and hardships, all of which could dissuade and tempt us away from following the path towards the Lord and His salvation. But if we continue to hold fast to our faith in God and in the assurance which He has always provided to us, all these while, then we may be preserved and strengthened amidst all those challenges and temptations, that we do not end up falling into those wrong and wicked paths. We have to be strong and faithful always in devoting ourselves, our time and efforts to walk in the path that the Lord has shown us, and not to allow anything to separate us from His love and grace.
Today the Church also celebrates the Feast of several saints whose lives and courage in standing up to their faith and love for God ought to be good inspiration and examples for each and every one of us all to follow in our own lives. First of all we have St. Wenceslaus, the patron saint of Bohemia, which is now the Czech Republic. St. Wenceslaus was the Duke of Bohemia during the early decades of Christianity in that region. Previously Bohemia and its surrounding regions had been pagans and by the time of the reign of St. Wenceslaus, there were still quite a number of pagans living in that area. There were still conflicts between Christians and pagans in Bohemia and early on in his reign, his powerful and influential mother who favoured the pagans tried to persecute Christians, but was foiled and she was exiled by the Christian nobles and lords.
St. Wenceslaus as Duke of Bohemia carried out his duties and responsibilities most nobly and most wonderfully, establishing many important institutions for the benefit of the people under his dominion and care, while also supporting the many good works and efforts of the Church and its missionaries. However, the efforts and works of St. Wenceslaus did not win universal accord and support, as there were those nobles who were disgruntled against him and plotted against him with the support of his own brother, Boleslav. It was at a feast when these plots came to fruition, as St. Wenceslaus was attacked and struck by three of Boleslav’s own companions, and his brother also struck him with his lance. St. Wenceslaus therefore died a martyr defending his virtue and righteousness, and his faith in God against the corrupt forces of the world.
Then we have St. Lawrence Ruiz, also known as St. Lorenzo Ruiz and his companions in martyrdom. St. Lawrence Ruiz himself was born in the Philippines to a mixed Chinese-Filipino background, and had a relatively normal life as a married man, husband and father, working as a clerk in the employ of the then Spanish colonial government in the Philippines. However, one day, he was framed for a murder which he did not do at all, and he had to flee to avoid being persecuted and condemned falsely. He eventually sought refuge with several priests who happened to be on their way to Japan. Together they made it to Japan where they landed, at the time when Japan had become increasingly hostile against Christians under the early years of the Tokugawa Shoguns.
It was then that St. Lawrence Ruiz and his companions were arrested by the authorities, who persecuted and oppressed them for their Christian faith, and for the works of the missionaries in trying to spread the words of the Lord and His Good News to the people of Japan. Then, after a period of two years in suffering and incarceration in prison, St. Lawrence Ruiz and his companions were brought to Nagasaki where their final journey would be, and it was there that they were persecuted and eventually martyred through a most painful and gruesome method by being hung upside-down over a pit, a method known as tsurushi in Japanese. Despite the sufferings and hardships, St. Lawrence Ruiz and his companions remained firm in their faith in God, and they stayed true to their obedience to God to the very end of their lives.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all have heard from the Sacred Scriptures today and as we have all been reminded of the courageous examples of the great saints and martyrs, St. Wenceslaus of Bohemia, as well as St. Lawrence Ruiz and his companions in martyrdom in Japan, let us all continue to seek the Lord in all things, to do what He has called and entrusted to do, to be truly faithful to Him in all things. Let us all not be swayed by all sorts of worldly temptations and pleasures, by all the things that can easily distract us into the wrong paths in life. May the Lord continue to strengthen us all in faith and help us in our journey towards Him, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Luke 9 : 43b-45
At that time, while all were amazed at everything Jesus did, He said to His disciples, “Listen, and remember what I tell you now : The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men.” But the disciples did not understand this saying; something prevented them from grasping what He meant, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Psalm 89 : 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17
You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, o mortals!” A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night.
You sow them in their time, a dawn they peep out. In the morning they blossom, but the flower fades and withers in the evening.
So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart. How long will You be angry, o YHVH? Have mercy on Your servant.
Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. May the sweetness of YHVH be upon us; may He prosper the work of our hands.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) 11 : 9 – Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth) 12 : 8
Rejoice, young man, in your youth and direct well your heart when you are young; follow your desires and achieve your ambitions but recall that God will take account of all you do.
Drive sorrow from your heart and pain from your flesh, for youth and dark hair will not last. Be mindful of your Creator when you are young, before the time of sorrow comes when you have to say, “This gives me no pleasure,” and before the sun, moon and stars withdraw their light, before the clouds gather again after the rain.
On the day when the guardians of the house tremble, when sturdy men are bowed and those at the mill stop working because they are too few, when it grows dim for those looking through the windows, and the doors are shut and the noise of the mill grows faint, the sparrow stops chirping and the bird-song is silenced, when one fears the slopes and to walk is frightening;
Yet the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is fat and the caperberry bears fruit that serves no purpose, because man goes forward to his eternal home and mourners gather in the street, even before the silver chain is snapped or the golden globe is shattered, before the pitcher is broken at the fountain or the wheel at the mill, before the dust returns to the earth from which it came and the spirit returns to God Who gave it.
Meaningless! Meaningless! The teacher says; all is meaningless!
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 