Saints

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Saturday, 8 August 2026 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 17 : 14-20

At that time, when Jesus and His disciples came to the crowd, a man approached Him, knelt before Him and said, “Sir, have pity on my son, who is an epileptic and suffers terribly. He has often fallen into the fire, and at other times into the water. I brought him to Your disciples but they could not heal him.”

Jesus replied, “O you people, faithless and misled! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus commanded the evil spirit to leave the boy, and the boy was immediately healed. Later, the disciples approached Jesus and asked Him privately, “Why could we not drive out the spirit?”

Jesus said to them, “Because you have little faith. I say to you : if only you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move from here to there, and the mountain would obey. Nothing would be impossible for you.”

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Saturday, 8 August 2026 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

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

But YHVH reigns forever, having set up His throne for judgment. He will judge the nations with justice and govern the peoples in righteousness.

YHVH is a rampart for the oppressed, a refuge in times of distress. Those who cherish Your Name, o YHVH, can rely on You, for You have never forsaken those who look to You.

Sing praises to YHVH, enthroned in Zion; proclaim His deeds among the nations. For He Who avenges blood remembers, He does not ignore the cry of the lowly.

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Saturday, 8 August 2026 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Habakkuk 1 : 12 – Habakkuk 2 : 4

But You, are You not YHVH from past ages? You, my holy God, You cannot die. You have set these people to serve Your justice and You have made them firm as a rock, to fulfil Your punishment. YHVH, Your eyes are too pure to tolerate wickedness and You cannot look on oppression. Why, then, do You look on treacherous people and watch in silence while the evildoer swallows up one better than himself?

You treat human beings like the fish in the sea, like reptiles who are nobody’s concern. This nation catches all on its hook, pulls them out with its net and piles them up in its dragnet. Pleased and delighted at their catch, they offer sacrifices to their net and burn incense to their dragnets, since these supplied them with fish in plenty and provided them with food in abundance. Will they continue, then, to constantly empty their nets, slaughtering nations without mercy?

I will stand in my watchtower and take up position on my battlements; I will see what He replies, if there is an answer to my question. Then YHVH answered me and said, “Write down the vision, inscribe it on tablets so it can be easily read, since this is a vision for an appointed time; it will not fail but will be fulfilled in due time. If it delays, wait for it, for it will come, and will not be deferred. Look : I do not look with favour on the one who gives way; the upright, on the other hand, will live by his faithfulness.”

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Friday, 7 August 2026 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded that we have all been called to follow the Lord and to focus our attention on Him, as those whom He had called and chosen to be His people. And at the same time we are also reminded that to follow God and to be faithful to Him will often require from us dedication and commitment that may lead us down the path filled with obstacles and challenges. That is why the Lord said to His disciples as described in our Gospel passage today, that for all those who want to follow Him must take up their crosses and follow Him. This means that we ought to share in the Cross and the sufferings that He had borne for our sake, and strive to seek the Lord and His righteousness above all other things, and to look beyond the false glory, pleasures and satisfactions of the world, resist the temptations and remaining faithful to God.

Indeed, this will not be an easy task, as just the Lord encountered plenty of opposition and challenges from those who disagreed with Him and refused to believe in Him, was persecuted and forced to endure humiliation, punished for the punishment that He was innocent from, and bore the cross of condemnation, and we heard how these enemies also acted against His disciples, that is why as followers of Christ, we too are likely to suffer the same fate as the Lord, hated and despised by the world. That is why, we are presented with the choice, whether we want to follow the Lord, taking up our crosses in life and walking with Him, or whether we want to follow the path of the world, to embrace the path of disobedience and sins against God. These are the paths and choices presented to us, and unless we have strong faith in God, it is very easy for us to fall into the temptation to walk away from God.

In our first reading today taken from the Book of the prophet Nahum, we heard of the Lord’s promise to His people that He shall crush the wicked and all those who have oppressed His people. It is the promise that the Lord will be faithful and will stand by His people in the midst of persecution and suffering. He will not abandon them to the darkness, and while for a while they might suffer, in the end, those who have kept their faith in Him will be triumphant while those who opposed Him and rejected Him will be crushed and destroyed. That was why He promised His people with a message of hope and deliverance, that even the great might of those like the Assyrians and their capital Nineveh could not stand against Him, and those would be humbled, crushed and destroyed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is therefore a kind reminder for us not to easily give in to the temptation to sin and disobey God, although the path of faith may seem to be challenging and daunting. In the end, as the Lord said, “What worth is it for man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” This shows us that it is better for man to lose the whole world and yet remain in God’s grace. For the pleasures and glory of this world is all but temporary, while the soul is eternal. What worth is it therefore for us to gain the comforts and pleasures of this world if we end up losing in the battle for our souls? When the souls of the wicked and those who were unrepentant are judged and condemned, they will all suffer for eternity from which there is no recourse or any way out at all.

All these for the temporary taste of worldly goodness and joy, and in the end, eternal suffering awaits us all. And the devil and his forces are always active out there trying to pull us away from God’s path, by tempting us to follow the temptations of our desires, by presenting to us many forms of worldly pleasures and false leads, into which if we succumb to them, it will be difficult for us to get out and escape, unless we make the conscious effort to resist those temptations. What shall we do then? This is where we should thus look on the examples set by our predecessors in faith so that we too may also follow them in these good examples in our own lives and actions.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of great saints, holy servants of the Lord whose lives and actions hopefully can inspire us in our own lives and actions, that we may always do our best to live our lives worthily of the Lord, and to thank Him and be grateful to Him for everything that He has always done for us. Today, we honour the glorious memories of Pope St. Sixtus II and his companions in martyrdom, who suffered during the trials and hardships, the martyrdom at the time of the persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Valerian, when many suffered and die died for their faith in God, and then as well as St. Cajetan, a holy priest and man of God, who was remembered for his dedication and love for the Lord, and for inspiring many others to follow in his path and examples, in living lives that are truly worthy of the Lord, good and righteous in all things.

Pope St. Sixtus II was the leader of the Universal Church during the difficult time of the middle third century when there were tumultuous events, conflicts in the world and also divisions among the faithful, due to various disagreements and heresies that were widespread during that time. According to Apostolic traditions, Pope St. Sixtus II devoted his life and efforts to reunite the Church, and led the faithful through those difficult and turbulent years, and brought back many of the wayward to the Holy Mother Church. He and many others, including another great saint, St. Lawrence of Rome, was martyred during the persecution of Christians during the reign of the Roman Emperor Valerian, faithful to the very end. Meanwhile, St. Cajetan was a lawyer and diplomat by profession in his earlier years, and then became a priest, dedicating himself to healing the sick, particularly focusing on the spiritual healing of those who have been separated from God and His love.

St. Cajetan laid the foundations for and established the Theatines, also known by its official name of the Congregation of the Clerics Regular, together with Archbishop Giovanni Petro Carafa, who would eventually elected as the Pope and leader of the Church as Pope Paul IV. He also interacted well with his contemporaries like St. Jerome Emiliani, another famous priest dedicated to the well-being of the faithful and those who were suffering, assisting the latter with the foundation of the Congregation of the Clerks Regular, or the Somaschan Fathers. Through all of his work and dedication, St. Cajetan, like that of Pope St. Sixtus II and his companions, they all showed us how we all should respond to God’s call and love, which He has always shown and lavished upon us. Each and every one of us should do whatever we can so that we may truly be faithful and worthy of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore commit ourselves with renewed zeal and faith to the Lord, following the great examples set by Pope St. Sixtus II and his companions in martyrdom, St. Cajetan and many other holy men and women of God who had devoted their lives and works for the greater glory of God. May the Lord be with us all, and may He empower each and every one of us so that we may draw ever closer to Him and His love, to obey Him and His commandments, His will and teachings that He Himself has shown to us especially through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour. May God bless us all and our every good efforts and endeavours in doing His will. Amen.

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Friday, 7 August 2026 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Matthew 16 : 24-28

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If you want to follow Me, deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow Me. For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life, for My sake, will find it. What will one gain by winning the whole world, if he destroys his soul? Or what can a person give, in exchange for his life?”

“Know, that the Son of Man will come, in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels, and He will reward each one according to his deeds. Truly, I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death, before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

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Friday, 7 August 2026 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Deuteronomy 32 : 35cd-36ab, 39abcd, 41

Their day of calamity is at hand, and swiftly their doom will come. The Lord will give justice to His people and have mercy on His servants.

Learn this now – that I alone am He; there is no god besides Me. It is I Who give both death and life; it is I Who wound and heal as well and out of My hand no one can deliver.

When I sharpen My glittering sword and My hand takes hold of judgment, I will deal out vengeance upon My foes and retribution upon those who hate Me.

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Friday, 7 August 2026 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Nahum 2 : 1, 3 and Nahum 3 : 1-3, 6-7

See, there on the mountains, the feet of one who brings Good News, one who proclaims peace. Judah, celebrate your feasts and carry out your vows. For the wicked have been destroyed, they will not attack you any more. YHVH will now restore Jacob’s magnificence, like Israel’s splendour. For they had been plundered, laid waste as a ravaged vineyard.

Woe to the bloody city, city of lies and booty, o city of unending plunder! But what! Crack of whips, rumble of wheels and clatter of hoofs! See the frenzied chargers, the flashing swords and glittering spears, the heaps of the wounded, the dead and dying – we trip over corpses!

I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make of you a shameful show, so that all who look on you will turn their backs in disgust and say : Nineveh – a city of lust – is in ruins. Who will mourn for her? Where can we find one to comfort her?

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Wednesday, 5 August 2026 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the feast of the Dedication of one of the four greatest churches in the whole Christendom, namely one of the four Papal Major Basilicas in Rome. This Basilica that we are celebrating today is the greatest of all the churches and edifices dedicated to the Blessed Mother of God, Mary most Holy. Hence, we celebrate today the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, also known as Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore. In that great Basilica was displayed the very popular Icon of the Blessed Mother of God, known as ‘Salus Populi Romani’, or the Protectress of the Roman People, which is a very old and ancient Byzantine icon dating to the early days of the Church, which became an important and integral part of the devotions in this great Basilica.

The story of how the Basilica of St. Mary Major was founded cannot be separated from the miraculous occasion of Our Lady of Snows, which was a miracle that happened when snow fell in Rome, at the exact site of the Basilica of St. Mary Major at Rome’s Esquiline Hill, during the Pontificate of Pope St. Celestine I, about a hundred years or so after the ending of official persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire by the Edict of Milan. At that time, it was told by Church traditions that an elderly and devout Christian couple prayed to the Lord and through His Mother, to show them how they ought to best give their whole assets and properties for the good of the Church and the faithful, and thereafter, as mentioned, miraculously snow appeared and fell upon the Esquiline Hill in Rome at the height of summer, on this date, the fifth day of the month of August, which was also the date when the Basilica dedicated to Our Lady of Snows, named such after the miracle, was dedicated to God and to His blessed Mother, as gifts from the aforementioned devout couple, who dedicated their wealth for the good of the Church and the faithful.

Ever since, this great Basilica had seen endless streams of the faithful, many pilgrims and others who sought for the help and intercession of the Blessed Mary, Mother of God. Countless Popes have also entrusted themselves, the Roman people and all Christians to the protection of the Blessed Mother of God, whose love for the Lord, her Son, our Saviour, is an inspiration for all of us, and is also the means by which all of us can love the Lord with ever greater commitment and devotion. Pope Francis, our current Pope and Vicar of Christ for example, has always visited this Basilica of St. Mary Major, to the blessed and miraculous Icon of Salus Populi Romani at every occasions before and after his Apostolic Journeys outside of Italy, entrusting to the Lord through Mary, His blessed Mother, the missions and works that would be carried out and accomplished in all those trips and journeys.

On this blessed day, when we mark the anniversary of the dedication of this great Basilica dedicated to the Mother of our Lord and God, we remind ourselves once again that as Christians, all of us should be exemplary in our way of life and in our faith in God, because we are all ourselves the Temples of the Lord’s Holy Presence, where the Lord Himself dwells, in our hearts and minds, in our whole bodies and in our whole beings. Just as the Basilica of St. Mary Major and other consecrated and dedicated churches and chapels are great Houses, consecrated and dedicated for the divine worship of God and God alone, thus, all of us who are the ‘Living Stones’ and the ‘Living Church’, the public manifestation of the Lord’s kingdom in His visible Church, all of us are the Holy Temples of the Lord’s Holy Presence, through His own Precious Body and Blood which He has given to us, and which we have partaken in, and also through the Holy Spirit that God has given to us and dwelled within us.

That is why, just as the great Basilica of St. Mary Major and other holy edifices and Houses of God had been set aside, purified and made worthy of the Lord, thus, it is very important that all of us realise just how much more precious it is for us all, as the Living Houses of God’s Holy Presence, to be truly worthy of Him and to consecrate ourselves to the Lord, to dedicate and commit ourselves to His cause and path. Each and every one of us are called to holiness and greatness, set aside and taken from the darkness of this world. The light and love of God, His truth and glory have been given to us, the seeds of faith and love, hope and truth have all been sown in us, awaiting for us to provide them the best and most appropriate conditions such that they may truly bear fruits of faith and love in us, and that our faith in God may be truly genuine and living, not just merely a formality or empty faith.

That is why, as we rejoice together in the memory of the dedication of this great House of God dedicated to His blessed Mother, all of us should remind ourselves to renew our own dedication to God, and to commit ourselves anew to the path that the Lord has shown us. And there is no better way to do this than to look upon the very examples and good model that Mary herself has shown us with her exemplary and most wonderful life. Mary, in her total commitment to the Lord, and in her wholehearted dedication to her Son, to all that she has been entrusted with, we may be inspired to follow her good examples and be strengthened with the same love and devotion to the Lord, in all the things that we say and do, in our every actions and works, in our every deeds and interactions at every moments, in our lives, in every opportunities and time provided to us.

Let us all be the shining and great examples of faith and dedication to all those around us, by our commitment to a life of virtue and faith, righteousness and justice so that in all the things we say, act and do, we will always ever be truly devoted to the Lord. Let us all distance ourselves from the darkness and wickedness of sins and evils all around us, and let us all turn towards the Lord with renewed conviction and desire to love the Lord our God with ever more zeal and faith, and to be the missionary and evangelising disciples that can be the means through which more and more people all around us may come to know of the Lord and His salvation and grace. Let us all be the great inspiration and examples to others, and help one another in the conduct of our faith so that hopefully in all and everything that we say and do, we will always be filled with heartfelt dedication to God.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Master, be with us always, and may His blessed Mother Mary, our patroness and protectress, our blessed mother and gentle guide, continue to help us and intercede for us sinners. May the Lord be with us all His Church and faithful ones, and may He bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, in following Him and in doing His will, at every opportunity and occasions, in all the places we are at, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 5 August 2026 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Matthew 15 : 21-28

At that time, leaving that area, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from the area, came and cried out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is tormented by a demon.”

But Jesus did not answer her, not even a word. So His disciples approached Him and said, “Send her away! See how she is shouting after us.” Then Jesus said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”

But the woman was already kneeling before Jesus, and said, “Sir, help me!” Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it to puppies.”

The woman replied, “That is true, Sir, but even puppies eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said, “Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

Alternative reading (Mass of Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Luke 11 : 27-28

At that time, as Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, “Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!”

Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”

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Wednesday, 5 August 2026 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Jeremiah 31 : 10, 11-12ab, 13

Hear the word of YHVH, o nations, proclaim it on distant coastlands : He Who scattered Israel will gather them and guard them as a shepherd guard his flock.

For YHVH has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand of his conqueror. They shall come shouting for joy, while ascending Zion; they will come streaming to YHVH’s blessings.

Maidens will make merry and dance, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness, I will give them comfort and joy for sorrow.

Alternative reading (Mass of Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Judith 13 : 18bcde, 19

My daughter, may the Most High God bless you more than all women on earth. And blessed be the Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, Who has led you to behead the leader of our enemies.

Never will people forget the confidence you have shown; they will always remember the power of God.