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.
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.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded once again that in God alone that we can have true hope and strength, fulfilment and satisfaction, and we must not allow the desires and ambitions of the world to mislead us down the path of wickedness and ruin. We must always strive to put God at the centre and as the focus of our whole lives, or else, we may end up being swayed, coerced and pushed into the wrong path in life, the path of rebellion and sin against God. We have to be firm in faith, be strong and vigilant in each and every moments of our lives that we can remain in God’s grace, and not fall into the path of evil like what the Scriptures had highlighted to us in the story of King Jeroboam of Israel.
In our first reading today, we heard the story of Jeroboam, the King of Israel, whom God had entrusted with the rule over ten out of the twelve tribes of the Israelites, after King Solomon’s disobedience had led him to sin against God. That led to the division of the kingdom of Israel after the death of King Solomon. Ten out of the twelve tribes of Israel, except that of Judah, from where the House of David hailed from, and Benjamin, rebelled against Rehoboam, Solomon’s son and successor as king of Israel. Hence, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah were formed, led respectively by Jeroboam and Rehoboam. However, as we heard in our reading passage today, Jeroboam grew fearful of the possibility that all those under his rule might betray him and return back to their past allegiance to the House of David.
This was because at that time, the great Temple of God which King Solomon had built and established in Jerusalem as the House of God is the place where all the Israelites ought to go to worship God, and hence, despite the division of the kingdom, the people in the northern kingdom ruled by Jeroboam still went to Jerusalem regularly and periodically, which brought to the fear and jealousy of Jeroboam, who was worried that the rule of his kingdom, his power and dominion would slip from his hands because of the people being reminded of the glorious rule of King David and King Solomon whenever they went to Jerusalem and visited the City of God and the Holy Temple which Solomon had built there to worship God. Hence, as we heard, Jeroboam built his own rival temples, and set up two golden calves as idols in Bethel and Dan, at the extremities of his kingdom.
King Jeroboam promoted the worship of those golden calf idols and discouraged the people of his kingdom from going to Jerusalem to worship God there as they should have done. Not only that, but he also appointed his own priests, which according to the Scriptures and tradition, were not from among the Levites as the Law of God had dictated. These violations of the Law of God and Jeroboam’s own disobedience against God kind of mirror that of Solomon’s own disobedience and sins. And in both cases, they were all due to the inability of mankind to resist the temptations of their own desires, their ambitions and the allures of worldly glory, pleasures and power, of all the things which we have highlighted and discussed earlier on.
Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord miraculously fed a multitude of many thousands of people with merely seven pieces of bread. The Lord had pity on all the people who had come to listen to His teachings and to bring their sick ones for healing. After all the time they had spent in the wilderness with the Lord and His disciples, we heard how they all had become hungry and without food, and the Lord told His disciples to help provide them all with food. That was how then the Lord Jesus miraculously multiplied the seven loaves of bread given to Him, that were enough for everyone present to have their complete fill, and still having seven whole full baskets of leftovers. This is a reminder to each and every one of us that in God alone lies true satisfaction and happiness, which the world cannot truly provide us.
And unlike the actions of King Solomon and King Jeroboam, especially that of the latter which we have discussed just earlier, the Lord Jesus acted out of love for others, humility and obedience, in doing what His Heavenly Father had entrusted to Him to do, and in not boasting about His ability and power, unlike that of the kings mentioned. The Lord did not allow the temptations of worldly glory, ambition, fame, pride, arrogance or jealousy to mislead Him down the wrong path, and He showed us all the loving nature of Our Lord and King, and how precious each and every one of us are to Him. All of us are God’s beloved people, whom He has treasured and cared for all these while, and we should not take this for granted. We should also strive to live our lives in the manner how He has taught and shown us, and not to follow the wrong examples of our predecessors.
Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Scholastica, a holy and devoted woman whose life and examples had inspired many throughout the history of the Church. St. Scholastica was the fraternal twin sister of St. Benedict of Nursia according to Church tradition, who was another great saint of God and who was widely considered as the Father of Western Monasticism. St. Scholastica herself was renowned in her own way for her great piety and commitment to God, for her dedication and faith, which had inspired many others to follow her examples to a life of holiness and grace, resisting the many temptations of worldly glory, pleasures, fame and ambitions, and instead, seeking God wholeheartedly and turning themselves into the right path.
While the details on her early life was rather scant, but St. Scholastica eventually joined religious life much like St. Benedict, and she was credited with the foundation of the Benedictine nuns, which mirrored her brother’s role in founding the Benedictine monks and monasteries. St. Scholastica led a quiet and contemplative life in prayer, committing herself in prayer and study of the Scriptures, through which she inspired many other women of her time to follow the Lord in the same way, rejecting the excesses of wickedness and evils of the world, all the worldly temptations, pleasures and comforts, that they may all lead a holy life with the Lord, caring for one another in a holy community of the faithful consecrated ones to God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the good examples, piety and faith which St. Scholastica has shown us, in all of her life and work, dedicating herself wholly to the Lord and to His path. Let us all reject the temptations of worldly power and glory, and remind ourselves that we do not end up being swayed by all those things and fall into the path of sin and evil. Let us instead deepen our relationship with God, by spending more quality time with Him, through prayer, charity and almsgiving, and by our exemplary way of life at all times. May God be with us always, and may He bless our every good works and efforts, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Mark 8 : 1-10
At that time, soon afterward, Jesus was in the midst of another large crowd, that obviously had nothing to eat. So He called His disciples and said to them, “I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with Me for three days and now have nothing to eat. If I send them to their homes hungry, they will faint on the way; some of them have come a long way.”
His disciples replied, “Where, in a deserted place like this, could we get enough bread to feed these people?” He asked them, “How many loaves have you?” And they answered, “Seven.” Then He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, He broke them, and handed them to His disciples to distribute.
And they distributed them among the people. They also had some small fish. So Jesus said a blessing, and asked that these be shared as well. The people ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Now those who had eaten were about four thousand in number.
Jesus sent them away, and immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and went to the region of Dalmanutha.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 105 : 6-7a, 19-20, 21-22
We have sinned like our ancestors; we have done wrong and acted wickedly. When they were in Egypt, our ancestors had no regard for Your wondrous deeds.
They made a calf at Horeb and worshipped the molten image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of a bull that eats grass.
They forgot their Saviour God, Who had done great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Sea of Reeds.
Liturgical Colour : White
1 Kings 12 : 26-32 and 1 Kings 13 : 33-34
Jeroboam thought, “The kingdom could return to the house of David. Should this people go up to offer sacrifices in YHVH’s House in Jerusalem, their heart would turn again to their master, Rehoboam king of Judah. They would kill me and go back to him.”
And so the king sought advice and made two golden calves. Then he said to the people, “You have been going up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, o Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” He put one of these in Bethel, the other in Dan. This caused Israel to sin; the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves.
Jeroboam also built temples on high places, appointing priests who were not from the Levites. Jeroboam also appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in imitation of the feast in Judah, and he himself offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel; and sacrificed to the calves that he had made. There he placed priests for the high places he had made.
After this, however, Jeroboam did not abstain from doing evil. Instead he made priests for the high places from among the people. He consecrated anyone who wanted to be a priest for the high places. And this became the sin of the family of Jeroboam for which it was to be cut off and destroyed from the face of the earth.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Holy Virgins)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are reminded this day by the readings from the Sacred Scriptures of the need for all of us to have true and genuine faith in the Lord. We must always ever be vigilant in obeying the Lord and in doing His will, resisting the temptations of the world, and all the coercions and the corruptions of worldly glory and greed, of all the wickedness and evils of this world, which can mislead us down the path of ruin and damnation. We must always hold fast to this faith and trust that we should have in the Lord, and put ourselves in His hands, having that strong and enduring conviction to follow the Lord no matter what, not being easily swayed by all kinds of worldly glory and attachments that had mare so many of our predecessors to fall into sin.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Kings of the account of the downfall of King Solomon of Israel, who had not remained faithful wholeheartedly to the Lord unlike that of his father, King David. As we heard from the Scriptural account, Solomon was swayed in his old age and tempted by his many wives and concubines, by his greatness, power and glory, that he fell into the path of disobedience and sin. Solomon had been faithful in the early years of his reign and had been blessed bountifully by the Lord for his family’s trust and faith in Him, that the Kingdom of Israel reached the zenith of its might and glorious days under his reign. Unfortunately, he was eventually misled by the many worldly glory and attachments he grew to have, and he was no longer completely faithful to God.
While we did not have much details beyond what was provided to us in the Scriptures, we can guess that it was likely because of his growing attachment to all the riches, wealth and fame he has attained over the years which made him to forget how he reached that height in the first place, and he became more stubborn and refused to obey the Lord. This showed to all of us how even a faithful man and great servant of God could be swayed by the temptations of sin if we allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted by the various temptations present all around us, and most importantly if our faith in the Lord is not strong and vibrant, we may likely be tempted the way how King Solomon had been tempted by his many sources of temptations and distractions in life, be it his wives and concubines, his wealth and possessions, power and glory, and other pleasures of the world.
In our Gospel passage today, we are reminded that faith can be as powerful and even more powerful than the temptations all around us. The Syro-Phoenician woman in the story with the Lord Jesus reminded us that great faith in the Lord is what truly matters for Him, and not one’s status or background. There is that marked irony highlighted in the comparison between what happened in our first reading account of the sin and downfall of King Solomon of Israel and then what was recorded in the Gospel of the interaction between the Lord and the Syro-Phoenician woman. This is because by the time of the ministry of the Lord Jesus, the division between the Jewish people, descendants of the Israelites who inhabited the lands of Judea and Galilee, and those who are not counted among the Jews, like the Samaritans and the Gentiles, had become crystallised and hardened.
At that time, the Jewish people, particularly among the members of the Pharisees, saw themselves as being superior and more worthy than the non-Jewish people, like the Samaritans in Samaria and the other non-Jewish people known as the Gentiles. They deemed themselves as the only ones who were worthy of God, and others were inferior and undeserving of God’s love and grace. This attitude was shown in how they deemed Samaritans and Gentiles with contempt, and did not mingle with them, avoiding them and their dwelling places because by their version and interpretation of the Law of God, that would have made them to be unclean and to sin against God. Yet, in today’s Gospel, as we heard, the Syro-Phoenician woman, who was considered as a Gentile, had more faith than many if not most of the Jews and the Pharisees among them.
Initially as we heard in that same Gospel passage, it might seem that the Lord was being very rude and harsh towards the woman, as He ignored her pleas and cries for help, as she begged the Lord to help her and her afflicted daughter. Not only that, but He even told her directly that He should not give what was meant for the children of God, referring to the Israelites and their descendants, to the dogs, which was an indirect reference to the Syro-Phoenician woman and the other Gentiles. Why did the Lord utter such a despicable set of words? It is truly uncharacteristic of His loving and forgiving nature. This is where we must understand that the Lord was making a point of the folly of the Jews and the Pharisees in particular for thinking that just because they were descended from the Israelites then they had the exclusive and automatic privilege of God’s grace.
That was why the Lord highlighted the absurdity of such way of thinking, and showcasing the great faith which the Syro-Phoenician woman had in Him, that she humbled herself and did not allow herself to be deterred by whatever obstacles in her trust and faith in God. Such faith in God was indeed rare, and the Lord commended the woman for having that kind of great and enduring faith. This is contrasted with the way how many of the Jewish people, especially among the Pharisees, who refused to believe in the Lord, rejected Him and persecuted Him and His disciples simply because what He had brought upon them in this world, were not in accordance to what they all believed and held to be true. Their pride and arrogance, ego and ambitions became serious obstacles in their path towards God.
Today, the Church commemorates the feast of two great saints, whose faith, dedication and commitment to God, piety and exemplary lives have become the source of great inspirations for many people throughout the world since their time up to now. First of all, St. Jerome Emiliani was a man who lost his father early in his teenage years, and eventually joining the army and was captured, and while imprisoned, he had a conversion experience, as he attributed his escape and well-being to the intercession of the Blessed Mother of God. Later on, as a local magistrate, he showed great care for the needy people under his care and custody, establishing orphanages for the orphans, as well as hospitals and care houses for the sick and the suffering. He also established hostels and other places to care for prostitutes and others who needed shelter.
This inspired two priests named Alessandro Besuzio and Agostino Bariso, who were touched and inspired by the examples and role model shown by this great man of God, and eventually with St. Jerome Emiliani, they would all go on to establish the Congregation of Regular Clerics as a religious society, gathering together all those who share in the passion and desire of St. Jerome Emiliani in reaching out to the less fortunate, to the orphans, the prostitutes, those who are sick and troubled. They are also known as the Somaschi Fathers after their first house and centre in the Italian town of Somasca. St. Jerome Emiliani himself continued to labour for the sake of the people of God for the rest of his life, inspiring many others to follow in his footsteps.
Meanwhile, St. Josephine Bakhita was the renowned freed slavewoman who had very difficult childhood and early years, as she was born in the region now known as Sudan, and was captured, separated from her family in a very young age, enslaved and sold from master to master. Some of those experiences saw her being treated unfairly and she suffered throughout those years, until eventually she was bought by an Italian Vice Consul, who relented to her begging to him to bring him out of Sudan. She then became a nanny to the children of an Italian familu, and eventually, when she returned to Sudan with that family, she had an encounter experience with God and the Christian faith through the Canossian Sisters in Venice, with whom she would eventually associate herself with.
Finally, after some time, when her master tried to bring his family permanently back to Sudan, St. Josephine Bakhita firmly refused to follow them. Eventually, through the help of the Church and the Patriarch of Venice, the courts ruled in her favour, declaring that her enslavement had been unlawful because it had been outlawed by the British who ruled Sudan before St. Josephine Bakhita was even born, and Italian law likewise did not recognise slavery. As a free woman, St. Josephine Bakhita continued to associate herself and live among the Canossian Sisters, where she would spend the rest of her life dedicating herself to God and to her community around her, living a holy and pious life.
For about five decades, a very long period of time, St. Josephine Bakhita dedicated herself to a life of service to help the Canossian Sisters community, as their cook, their sacristan and doorkeeper, and was also involved in caring for the local community for their needs. Her great faith in God, righteousness and piety inspired many people far and wide, and she was well-respected among the Canossian Sisters and in the community, and even when she was sick in her last years, she continued to do her best for the Lord and for her community. Her forgiveness and prayers for her captors and slavers early in her life also inspired many for her kindness, love and compassion.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, from what we have heard in the Sacred Scriptures today, as well as from the lives and works of St. Jerome Emiliani and St. Josephine Bakhita, let us all therefore renew our faith and commitment to God, resisting the temptations and wickedness of this world that can coerce and tempt even the righteous into sin, as what had happened to King Solomon and many among our predecessors. Let us all turn away from sin and evil, and let us all strive to be good, worthy and pure in all things like what St. Jerome Emiliani and St. Josephine Bakhita had done. Let our lives be great examples for others, and let us all be inspiration for them, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Holy Virgins)
Mark 7 : 24-30
At that time, when Jesus went to the border of the Tyrian country. There, He entered a house, and did not want anyone to know He was there; but He could not remain hidden. A woman, whose small daughter had an evil spirit, heard of Him, and came and fell at His feet.
Now this woman was a pagan, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she begged Him to drive the demon out of her daughter. Jesus told her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
But she replied, “Sir, even the puppies under the table eat the crumbs from the children’s bread.” Then Jesus said to her, “You may go your way; because of such a response, the demon has gone out of your daughter.”
And when the woman went home, she found her child lying in bed, and the demon gone.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Holy Virgins)
Psalm 105 : 3-4, 35-36, 37 and 40
Blessed are they who always do just and right. Remember me, o YHVH, when You show favour to Your people; rescue me when You deliver them.
They mingled with these nations and learnt to do as they did. In serving the idols of the pagans, they were trapped.
Into sacrificing children to demons. The anger of YHVH grew intense and He abhorred His inheritance.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Holy Virgins)
1 Kings 11 : 4-13
In Solomon’s old age, his wives led him astray to serve other gods and, unlike his father David, his heart was no longer wholly given to YHVH his God. For he served Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites.
He did what displeased YHVH and, unlike his father David, was unfaithful to Him. Solomon even built a high place for Chemosh, the idol of Moab, on the mountain east of Jerusalem and also for Molech, the idol of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives who burnt incense and sacrificed to their gods.
YHVH became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from YHVH, the God of Israel. YHVH appeared to him twice and commanded him not to follow other gods. But he did not obey YHVH’s command. Therefore, YHVH said to Solomon, “Since this has been your choice and you have kept neither My Covenant nor the statutes I commanded you, I will take the kingdom from you and give it to your servant.”
“Nevertheless, I will not do this during your lifetime for the sake of your father David; I will take it from your son. But I will not take it all; I will reserve one tribe for your son for the sake of David My servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen.”
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 