Saints

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Tuesday, 7 March 2023 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are reminded yet again in the duration of this penitential season of Lent, not to be sinful or to disobey the Lord and His commandments. All of us are reminded to seek the Lord to be forgiven from our many sins and wickedness, to be healed by God from the affliction of sin that has been corrupting and affecting us all these while. Each one of us are called to turn away from the path of sin and to do what God has told and commanded us to do, to be holy just as He is Holy. This is our calling as Christians especially during this time and season of Lent, and hopefully, more and more of us, holy people of God can truly live our lives in the manner and way that God has shown and taught us to do.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, the call from the prophet in which he called on the people of God to turn away from their wicked and sinful ways. He purposefully referred to them all as the rulers of Sodom and Gomorrah, as a reminder of what had happened to those two cities in the ancient past. Sodom and Gomorrah were infamous for their great wickedness and sins, their immoral and evil behaviours, and were crushed and destroyed by God by a rain of brimstone and fire from Heaven. God gave them a chance when He sent His Angel to them to save Lot, the nephew of His servant Abraham, our father in faith, and as Abraham had also earlier on pleaded with Him to spare the two cities if just a few of the righteous could be found there. Unfortunately, only Lot and his immediate family alone were righteous among all of the people dwelling in Sodom and Gomorrah, and all were destroyed.

God wants us to know once again that He truly loves each one of us most generously and tenderly, but He does not condone our sins and wickedness. He despises those sins and chastised us for all those wicked deeds and things that are unbecoming of us being His followers and disciples. Disobedience and sin are our greatest downfall, as it was through those that we have been sundered and separated from the fullness of God’s love and grace, cast out from the bliss and joy of Eden, and having to suffer the consequences of our sins in this world. Yet, He gave us all help and guidance along the way at the same time, in order to help us to find our way to Him, to seek for His forgiveness and mercy. But many people still resisted God’s mercy and love, especially because their hearts and minds were still full of wickedness, evil, pride, greed and many other things that prevented us from finding our path to the Lord and His saving grace.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord told His disciples not to be like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who often liked to make a show of their faith, by parading their piety and prayers in the public, in the Temple and the marketplaces so that they could be seen by everyone and be praised for their actions. They wore the widest of prayer bands and made a show of their faith, and yet, as the Lord often mentioned, they had little faith in their hearts, and little love for God. They were so full of their own pride and arrogance that they could not bring it to humble themselves and realise that their way of practicing their faith had been wrong, and their way of life had been wicked and sinful, perhaps without them even realising it. They imposed harsh standards on others and persecuted those who disagreed with them and those whom they deemed to be inferior to them simply because they did not do what they themselves had done.

They had actually been entrusted with the responsibilities and calling to help lead and guide others from their sinful paths, by their faithful observance and preservation of the Law of God as it had been revealed and passed down to them through the generations. But, instead of faithfully carrying out their obligations and works, they fell into the temptation of pride, ego and human ambition. They chose to indulge in praise and adulations, seeking for fame and glory instead of true obedience to God. They sought for popularity and power, and as a result, they lost sight of the true destination and aim of their lives, substituting the true joy and glory that they can find and gain in the Lord alone, with temporary and fleeting gains in this world, which do not last and are superficial in nature.

That is why the Lord reminded all of His people to be careful and to guard themselves against the temptations of worldly glory, fame and the threats from our own pride, ego, ambition and desires. All these things are truly great obstacles in the path of our reconciliation with God, and unless we do our best to resist them, we may find it difficult for us to resist the temptations to sin, just as how many of our predecessors had fallen into sin. This is why during this season of Lent, the Lord continually reminded us that there is a need for us to have the genuine conversion of heart, so that we may truly change our way of life and our actions, that we do not live in ways that are against the Lord and His path anymore, but instead, following Him with greater zeal and sincerity from now on, and do our best to be great role models and sources of inspiration to others all around us.

Today, we all can also be inspired and strengthened by the good examples set by our holy predecessors, the holy martyrs and saints, St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, who were renowned martyrs of the Church, honoured and venerated for their righteousness, holiness and dedication to God, even in the face of suffering and martyrdom. According to the Church traditions and hagiography, St. Perpetua was a young noblewoman who was recently married and was a mother to a young infant son, while St. Felicity was a slave who were arrested with St. Perpetua for their Christian faith during the reign of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus. It was told that this happened because St. Perpetua had a conflict with her father because he wanted her to abandon her Christian faith, and St. Perpetua refused to do so. It was likely that St. Perpetua met with St. Felicity and other fellow martyrs in prison, and they all endured the trials and hardships, resisting the temptations and pressures to abandon their faith in God.

The courage and dedication that those martyrs showed us all ought to remind us of the love and commitment that we ourselves ought to have for the Lord, and we are all reminded of how many of our predecessors have given their lives for the sake of the Lord. God has been calling on us to follow on their examples and He has shown us the path towards eternal life and true joy through Him. Now what matters is for us to make the conscious choice and decision to follow the Lord and to commit ourselves to Him, doing whatever we can to glorify the Lord and to live our lives worthily to the best of our abilities, as those who follow the Lord and believe in Him. This season of Lent should be a time for us to recalibrate our lives and to redirect our focus and attention back towards the Lord, so that we may grow ever closer to Him, and we may find our path towards His love and grace. Let us all remember His great love and compassion which He has always given to us, all these while.

May the Lord continue to bless and guide us in our journey that we may live our lives in the most Christ-like way, and in obeying His Law, commandments and precepts, at all times. May God be with us always and may He empower each one of us that we may continue to persevere in faith and dedicate our lives for His greater glory, much like the glorious saints and martyrs, like St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 7 March 2023 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 23 : 1-12

At that time, then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees have sat down on the chair of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say, but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even raise a finger to move them.”

“They do everything in order to be seen by people : they wear very wide bands of the Law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first places at feasts and reserved seats in the synagogues, and they like being greeted in the marketplace, and being called ‘Master’ by the people.”

“But you, do not let yourselves be called Master, because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father because you have only one Father, He Who is in heaven. Nor should you be called Leader, because Christ is the only Leader for you.”

“Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great.”

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Tuesday, 7 March 2023 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 49 : 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23

Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before Me. I need no bull from your stalls, nor he-goat from your pens.

What right have you to mouth My laws, or to talk about My covenant? You hate My commands and cast My words behind you.

Because I was silent while you did these things, you thought I was like you. But now I rebuke you and make this charge against you. Those who give with thanks offerings honour Me, but the one who walks blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God.

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Tuesday, 7 March 2023 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 1 : 10, 16-20

Hear the warning of YHVH, rulers of Sodom. Listen to the word of God, people of Gomorrah. Wash and make yourselves clean. Remove from My sight the evil of your deeds. Put an end to your wickedness and learn to do good.

Seek justice and keep in line the abusers; give the fatherless their rights and defend the widow. “Come,” says the Lord, “let us reason together. Though your sins be like scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they be as crimson red, they will be white as wool.”

“If you will obey Me, you will eat the goods of the earth; but if you resist and rebel, the sword will eat you instead.” Truly the Lord has spoken.

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Saturday, 4 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Scriptures, we are all reminded that as God’s people, each and every one of us are called to be genuine in our Christian way of life and devotion to God. All of us must live our lives in the manner that the Lord has taught us all, or else we are truly no better than hypocrites and unbelievers, and unworthy of calling ourselves as Christians, or God’s children and holy people. He wants each and every one of us to rediscover this faith and zeal that we all ought to have within us, especially through the faithful and dedicated observance of this holy and blessed season and time of Lent, a time of reflection, discernment and reconciliation between us and God.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard the Lord telling His people through Moses and His servants, that the people of Israel had been called and chosen from among the nations to be His own people, as the first of those whom He had called, to walk in His path and to devote themselves to Him. That was why He gave them all His Law and commandments, His precepts and taught them His ways and the truth. Unfortunately, the people of God were stubborn and often gave in to their desires and worldly attachments, and ended up causing them to sin many times in many occasions, unable to resist those temptations and get rid from themselves their stubbornness and attachments to worldly things. The Lord reminded all of His people that just as much as He has blessed and loved them, they also have the obligation and the requirement to obey the Law and the commandments that God has given them.

This means that they ought to do what the Lord had taught them to do, distancing themselves from sinful practices and ways. The Lord has given them His Law and the Ten Commandments to guide them in their path so that they would have something to hold onto in their lives, amidst the many trials, challenges, temptations and many different pressures for them to conform to the worldly ways and paths, and abandoning God’s path and truth. Indeed, to live our lives in the manner acceptable and appropriate for the Lord is not something that is easily done, and more often than not we will realise, just as our ancestors and predecessors had discovered before us, that to be a faithful Christian is something that is easier said than done, and that there are a lot of challenges and difficulties that await in our path, in obeying and observing God’s Law and commandments in our lives.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples, which also serves as a reminder for us all, that as the followers and disciples of the Lord, we must always remember to love one another and to be full of compassion and love even to those who did not love us back, and those who despise us. That is the challenge which the Lord has also given us all as Christians, to be different from the world, which is definitely more used to us loving those who love us, those who benefit us and those who care for us, and also putting ourselves ahead of others. As Christians, on the contrary, the Lord taught us all to put others before ourselves, and to do whatever we can to reach out to others with genuine and pure love, and He Himself has shown us this by His own example, which we remember particularly during this time of Lent.

I am referring to the suffering and the trials that the Lord Himself would willingly endure and suffer for our sake during His Passion, as He picked up His Cross and brought it up all the way to the Hill of Golgotha, or Calvary, where He endured all the pain, humiliation and the worst of sufferings so that by His sufferings, in His Passion, He might lead us all into freedom, by bearing upon His own shoulders, all the multitudes of our sins and the punishments for them, to die on our behalf and becoming for us the perfect offering of pure love, to atone for all the sins of the whole world. He endured all of that out of His ever present and patient love for each and every one of us, desiring to see us forgiven and reconciled with His heavenly Father, that none of us hopefully will be lost to the damnation of hell due to our many and innumerable sins.

That is why during this time and season of Lent, all of us are called to remember God’s ever generous love for us, and His rich and compassionate mercy, remembering how He has always provided for all of His beloved ones, and even for those who have betrayed and abandoned Him. The Lord chose to willingly suffer and die for everyone, and not only for those who have already loved Him. He went out of His way, seeking all those who have been lost to Him, those who indulged in sin and wickedness of life, and refused to listen to Him, reaching out to them patiently, each time, so that hopefully they might listen to reason and His truth, and be converted, and be reconciled with Him. This is what He has done to each and every one of us as well. No one is truly beyond God’s mercy, forgiveness and love, unless we ourselves choose to reject Him to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to progress through this season of Lent, let us all continue to discern our way of life and see in what way we can be better and more committed disciples and followers of His, and we can do this by following the good examples set by our holy predecessors, one of which, whose feast we are celebrating today, is St. Casimir of Poland. St. Casimir was a Royal Prince of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, who was known for his great piety and devotion to God, as well as charity and care for the needy and the poor in the kingdom from his early age. He was remembered for his exemplary faith and actions, his chaste and holy lifestyle at a time when it was common for someone in his status to embrace a debauched and hedonistic way of life. St. Casimir dedicated his life to the end to the glory of God, and despite dying in a relatively early age due to tuberculosis, the example of his holiness and dedication to God continue to inspire many people right up to this day.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, can we follow the good examples of St. Casimir and many other of our holy predecessors in how we ought to live our lives? In this season and time of Lent, let us all reorientate our lives and redirect our focus in life back towards the Lord, Whom we should put right at the very centre of our lives. Let us all turn towards Him with faith, and do whatever we can to serve Him faithfully each day and at every moments given to us. May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us all and may He empower each and every one of us to be ever better and stronger in our desire to serve Him, and to do His will, at all times. May God bless us always, in our every actions, deeds and efforts, to glorify Him by our lives, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 4 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 5 : 43-48

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “You have heard that it was said : Love your neighbour and do not do good to your enemy. But this I tell you : love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For He makes His sun rise on both the wicked and the good, and He gives rain to both the just and the unjust.”

“If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much? And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much? As for you, be righteous and perfect in the way your heavenly Father is righteous and perfect.”

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Saturday, 4 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 118 : 1-2, 4-5, 7-8

Blessed are they whose ways are upright, who follow the Law of the Lord. Blessed are they who treasure His word and seek Him with all their heart.

You have laid down precepts to be obeyed. O, that my ways were steadfast in observing Your statutes!

I will praise You with an upright spirit when I learn Your just precepts by heart. I mean to observe Your commandments. O, never abandon me.

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Saturday, 4 March 2023 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Deuteronomy 26 : 16-19

On this day, YHVH, your God, commands you to fulfil these norms and these commandments. Obey them now and put them into practice with all your heart and with all your soul.

Today YHVH has declared to you that He will be your God, and so you shall follow His ways, observing His norms, His commandments and His laws, and listening to His voice. Today YHVH has declared that you will be His very own people even as He had promised you, and you must obey all His commandments.

He, for His part, will give you honour, renown and glory, and set you high above all the nations He has made, and you will become a nation consecrated to YHVH, your God, as He has declared.

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Monday, 27 February 2023 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each one of us are reminded of our calling as Christians to be truly obedient of the Law, the commandments and thoroughly the ways of the Lord, in all the things we say and do, in our every actions and deeds so that we may truly be worthy of the Lord, and not just Christians in name and outward appearance only. We must be true disciples of the Lord in all things, and do whatever we can to proclaim Him, His truth and Good News through every moments that had been granted to us in this life on Earth. The Lord has called on us all to follow Him wholeheartedly, dedicating our time and efforts to glorify God in our every opportunities, and this season and time of Lent is the perfect opportunity for us to begin if we have not begun or embarked on a path towards true holiness in God.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Leviticus, we heard of the Lord speaking to His people, the people of Israel during the time of their sojourn and time in the desert, as they made their way from the land of Egypt, the land where they were enslaved for many decades by the Egyptians to the land promised to them and their ancestors by God. In that period of the Exodus, the Lord guided His people lovingly and patiently, even as they rebelled and refused to believe in Him, and they truly hardened their hearts and minds against the Lord, continuing to make complaints after complaints, one after another, refusing to listen to Him and the patient words of His guidance, showing just how shallow their faith and trust in Him was, and which therefore led them down the path towards their downfall, and many perished during that journey, when the Israelites spent an entire period of forty years in atonement of their rebellion and sins.

That is why, we heard the Lord speaking to His people, that if they continued to live in the way they had been living, they would end up in the path towards destruction, and hence, He reminded them of the Law, commandments and precepts that He had delivered to them, placed among them and taught them so that they might indeed live their lives full of faith in the Lord, with no more things and actions that kept them in their selfish and wicked ways which prevented them from truly being His followers and beloved people. He essentially called on all of them to be filled with love for Him and for their fellow men and women, and not to be selfish in their actions and interactions with one another. The actions of the people in rebelling against God and in being stubborn and obstinate were all due to their selfish love for themselves, and in rejecting God’s love for their own unbridled desires and attachments to worldly matters and temptations.

In the same way therefore, each and every one of us must not allow ourselves to be swayed by the temptations of this world, and of selfish love that will lead us nowhere but to the downfall that had been faced by those people who had hardened their hearts and minds against God, and allowed worldly vices, evils and temptations to sway them and to lead them down the path towards destruction. In this season of Lent, each and every one of us are reminded that as long as we ignore the plight of all those who are around us, and continue to focus only on ourselves, and our own benefits and happiness, while others suffer either by our ignorance or even worse still, by our own actions, then, just as we heard it in our Gospel passage today, we have to know that, our every actions and deeds, as well as our inactions and lack of effort, all do matter in the eyes of the Lord.

In the Gospel, we heard the well-known passage in which the Lord Jesus told His disciples about the end of times, the time of the Final and Last Judgment of all the people, past, present and future. We heard from the Lord how He Himself will come at the end of time, to be the Judge of all, to judge everyone for their deeds and actions, for everything that we had done, and also even those things that we failed to do in our lives. We shall be judged by the great and just Judge, Who will reward and punish each one by their deeds, and all of us will have to face this at the end. Unless we have done things that truly make us worthy of the Lord, all of us will likely be cast out into the eternal darkness and damnation, reserved for all those who have rebelled against God, against Satan and all the other forces of evil, and all those who have rejected God’s love and compassionate mercy.

The Lord made it clear to us what all of us as the faithful people of God had to do in order to gain the justification and entry into the eternal glory and happiness with Him. Essentially, it is to love God and others more than we love ourselves, especially to those who are lacking in love, those who are the last, the lost and the least in our communities. It is also not just what good things we can do for them, but also what things that we have done for them even without us realising that those had benefitted them. Whenever we can do it, we should do what we can to care for those who have been placed in our path and even in our care, so that all of us may show them the most generous and wonderful love of God. This is our calling as Christians, and one that we should take heed of, as we continue to progress through our lives, distancing ourselves from sinful ways and from worldly temptations that had led to the downfall of so many people before us.

This Lent, all of us are called to deepen our relationship with God and come closer to Him. All of us should spend more time in prayer and in contemplation, discerning carefully what we should and what we can do for our less fortunate brethren all around us. And we can also look upon the good examples set by our holy predecessor, the great saint, St. Gregory of Narek, a holy Abbot and Doctor of the Church. St. Gregory of Narek was a great monk, theologian and servant of God, whose life truly embodied great Christian faith and charity. He dedicated much of his life in service to God, following Him wholeheartedly and spending a lot of time writing many great works that inspired many throughout the Armenian Church that he was a part of. He lived a holy and devout life, giving his time and efforts solely for the greater glory of God and for the good of other people, and not indulging in his own desires and wants, unlike many others of his time.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the examples set by St. Gregory of Narek and also many of the other great saints of God should inspire each and every one of us as we enter into this holy and blessed season of Lent, so that we may come ever closer to the Lord, seeking Him and His path, and doing whatever we can to make our lives truly worthy of the Lord, as good and devout Christians. Let us all no longer be ignorant of our Christian calling and mission, and let us all do whatever we can to reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters around us, especially those who are in need of our help and our love. May God bless us all, now and always, in our every good works and efforts, and help us to become ever closer to Him, especially during this time of Lent. Amen.

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Monday, 27 February 2023 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Gregory of Narek, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 25 : 31-46

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory with all His Angels, He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be brought before Him; and, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so will He do with them, placing the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left.”

“The King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, blessed of My Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed Me into your home. I was naked, and you clothed Me. I was sick, and you visited Me. I was in prison, and you came to see Me.’”

“Then the righteous will ask Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and give You food; thirsty, and give You something to drink; or a stranger, and welcome You; or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and go to see You?’ The King will answer, ‘Truly I say to you : just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it to Me.’”

“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Go, cursed people, out of My sight, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry, and you did not give Me anything to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not welcome Me into your house; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’”

“They, too, will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, thirsty, naked or a stranger, sick or in prison, and did not help You?’ The King will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you : just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me.’ And these will go into eternal punishments; but the just, to eternal life.”