Saints

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Tuesday, 27 June 2023 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, all of us are called and reminded to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and not to allow ourselves to be tempted by worldly vices, desires and ambitions. All of us as Christians are God’s beloved people, and naturally all of us should also reflect His love and truth in our lives. That is why all of us have been reminded today of our obligations and callings as Christians, to walk ever more faithfully in God’s presence and to follow Him at all times, so that by our every actions and deeds, we may truly be the great role models and inspirations as Christians to everyone, at all times and occurrences, in every opportunities and places. All of us are the bearers of God’s light and truth, and we should do well to do as God has told and taught us to do.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Genesis, we heard of the story of Abraham and Lot, Abraham’s nephew, who came along with Abraham and his family from their ancestral lands in distant Ur of the Chaldeans to the Promised Land of Canaan. As mentioned, both Abraham and Lot were very wealthy and had a lot of possessions, including large number of flocks. Hence, there were disputes between the servants of Abraham and the servants of Lot, which then led to Abraham and Lot to agree to part ways and to separate themselves, staying at different parts of the land of Canaan so that they and their workers would not continue to bicker over the land and their territories. Abraham entrusted himself in the Lord and did as the Lord has told and commanded him to do.

That was why the Lord repeated again His promises to Abraham, that He would establish His Covenant with him, and all of his descendants after him. Abraham followed the Lord and committed himself thoroughly to His cause, following His path and abandoning even the gods and idols of his ancestors and family, leaving everything to seek the Lord, Whom he has embraced as his own Lord and Master. God made His Covenant with the one whom He was pleased with, and the one whose heart and mind had been set and focused in God. Abraham had a lot of money, material wealth and possessions, but he did not let all those things to distract him from following the Lord, and committing himself to His cause completely, and truly, he is our exemplary and great role model.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard from the Lord Himself telling His disciples that they should not give what is holy to the dogs and the treasures to the pigs, lest they be trampled and crushed, which symbolised the comparison between choosing the treasures and the riches of the world, against choosing to follow the Lord and His truth. This was then added on with the Lord saying that the path towards salvation is through a narrow gate, reminding His disciples and all of us that following Him is not something that is very easily done, requiring commitment and effort, and often along the way many might end up faltering and failing, not being able to reach the Lord and His salvation, because they are not able to resist the pull of worldly temptations and vices, all the things that had often kept us separated from God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today through these readings from the Scriptures therefore, we are all reminded that each and every one of us have to our part as Christians, in obeying the Law and commandments of God, and in doing God’s will. The Lord has taught us and shown us what it means for us to live our lives in accordance to His ways, and it is now up to us to do what He has revealed to us. We also have the examples of our holy predecessors like that of Abraham, our father in faith, as well as many others who had lived their lives most nobly and excellently in accordance to God’s ways. They are all the great role models, inspirations and wonderful examples that we should follow in our own lives, so that we may walk the right path and not end up falling into the path of evil and darkness, the path of disobedience and sin against God.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Cyril of Alexandria, a great and holy bishop, and a renowned Church father, honoured as one of the venerable Doctors of the Church for his great contributions to the Church and the Christian faithful. St. Cyril of Alexandria has dedicated himself to the service of the Church and his flock, and was remembered for his staunch defence of the faith and truth of God, amidst the many challenges he had to face, and the great heresy propagated by the heretic Nestorius and his followers. St. Cyril did not let the power and influence of the heretical party to dissuade him from his works and efforts, and he did not allow himself to be swayed by the persuasions and the struggles which he had to endure. Instead, he committed himself all the more to do God’s will and to help his flock to remain firmly faithful to God.

St. Cyril as the Patriarch of Alexandria was one of the most influential leaders of the Church of his time, and he was committed in caring for the need of his flock, their spiritual well-being and also in continuing to expand the Church’s influence and teachings among the people. He was particularly influential in convoking the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in which the teachings of the heretic Nestorius and his supporters were deemed as heretical and unlawful, and where the Church fathers affirmed their support to the unity of the dual nature of Our Lord and Saviour, Who is both Man and Divine in nature, when the supporters of Nestorius argued that the Lord Jesus was separate in His Human and Divine nature, which the Council of Ephesus repudiated and opposed with the declaration of the Motherhood of God, Mary as the Theotokos, confirming that the One born of Mary was truly both Man and Divine, inseparable though distinct in His two natures. St. Cyril had to endure arrest and persecution for this, but he continued to labour in faith to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by the faith and the commitment showed by St. Cyril of Alexandria, our holy predecessor, just as we are inspired by Abraham, and our many other holy men and women, all our fellow brothers and sisters who had lived their lives with so great a faith, that they become for us a source of inspiration, hope and encouragement. Let us all therefore also live our lives most faithfully and commit ourselves anew to the Lord, from now on, in all of our actions and works, and may all of us continue to live our lives worthily, in the way that the Lord had taught and shown us. May God be with us always, and may He strengthen us and empower us, to live our lives as great and most dedicated Christians, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 27 June 2023 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Matthew 7 : 6, 12-14

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not give what is holy to the dogs, or throw your pearls before pigs. They might trample on them, and then turn on you and tear you to pieces.”

“So, do to others whatever you would that others do to you : there, you have the law and the prophets. Enter through the narrow gate : for wide is the gate, and broad is the road, that leads to destruction, and many go that way. How narrow is the gate that leads to life; and how rough, the road; few there are, who find it.”

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Tuesday, 27 June 2023 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Psalm 14 : 2-3ab, 3cd-4ab, 5

Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right, who speak truth from their heart and control their words, who do no harm to their neighbours.

Those who cast no discredit on their companions, who look down on evildoers but highly esteem God’s servants.

Those who do not lend money at interest and refuse a bribe against the innocent. Do this, and you will not be shaken.

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Tuesday, 27 June 2023 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Genesis 13 : 2, 5-18

Now Abram was very rich in flocks, silver and gold. Lot who went with Abram also had flocks, cattle and tents. The land was not sufficient to allow them to stay together, for their possessions were too great for them to live together.

A quarrel arose between the herdsmen of Abram’s flock and those of Lot. (The Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at the time.) Abram said to Lot, “Do not let there be a dispute between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and yours, since we are brothers! Is not the whole land before you? Let us part company. If you go to the left, I will go to the right; if you go to the right, I will go to the left.”

Lot looked up and saw the whole valley of the Jordan : how well it was watered! Before YHVH destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, this was like one of YHVH’s gardens, like the country of Egypt, on coming to Zoar. Lot chose for himself all the Jordan valley and journeyed eastward. In this way they separated from each other.

Abram settled in the country of Canaan while Lot lived among the towns of the plain and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the people of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against YHVH. YHVH said to Abram after Lot had left him, “Raise your eyes and look from where you are, towards the north, the south, the east and the west; all the land you see I will give to you and your descendants forever.”

“I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; if the grains of the dust can be counted, then your descendants may be counted. Come, travel through the length and breadth of the land, for it is to you that I am giving it.” So Abram moved his tent and came to live by the oaks of Mamre at Hebron. There he built an altar to YHVH.

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Saturday, 24 June 2023 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Saturday all of us come together to celebrate the occasion of the great Solemnity in honour of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, the one whom the Lord had sent to be His own Herald, in proclaiming His coming into this world, and to prepare the path and everything for His entry and appearance in our midst. On this day, we truly give thanks to God for His gift of St. John the Baptist, the holy servant whom He had sent to be in our midst, to call us from our slumber in the darkness so that by his efforts and works, many would be stirred and come to seek the Lord and His forgiveness, that more and more might be saved, and be prepared to welcome the Lord Himself, coming into our midst.

St. John the Baptist was born not long before the Lord Himself, as there was a short period of time when both him and our Lord and Saviour were both in their mothers’ wombs. At the time when Mary, the Mother of God visited Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist, not long before the latter’s birth, both of them were still in the womb, and it was then that St. John the Baptist recognised the coming of his Lord and Master, Who was in the womb of Mary, Elizabeth’s own relative and cousin. And like that of our Lord Himself, the pregnancy that gave rise to the birth and coming of St. John the Baptist was also miraculous, in that his mother Elizabeth was already very old and way past child-bearing age.

Yet, the Lord chose Elizabeth to bear the child who would become the Herald of the Messiah, revealing the news to Zechariah, his father, at the Temple through His Archangel, which according to the Church and Apostolic traditions, was the Archangel Gabriel, the same one who would then go on to visit Mary to tell her of the even greater Good News of the coming of the Saviour of the world. Through these two good news delivered by the Archangel to both Elizabeth and Mary therefore, the world has finally come to see the Light of God’s salvation, which He has long promised to us all, to His beloved ones, who have long been suffering under the dominion and the tyranny of sin.

St. John the Baptist was born into his family and into this world as an occasion of great joy, both for his family who had not been able to have any children at all, and then for the world because through St. John the Baptist, the Lord would finally reveal the last parts of His long prepared plan of salvation for each and every one of us. St. John the Baptist, as we all should know, would go on to do great deeds among God’s people, becoming known as the Baptist or the Baptiser because he called a great throng of countless thousands or more, to come to the Lord and to commit themselves once again to His cause, with the baptism at the River Jordan as the symbolic and tangible commitment of the people’s desire to return to God with repentance.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what is the significance of this Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist is to us? This Solemnity is a reminder for all of us of everything that God had done for us, and in how He has always fulfilled everything that he has promised us, in showing us His ever tender mercy, love and compassion. That He sent us all His servants, repeatedly from time to time, and gave us guidance through His messengers and through His Church, and by giving us all His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, the Divine Word Incarnate and Son of God, to be our Saviour, by suffering and dying for our sake, God wants us all to know that He truly loves us all, and He wants us to embrace the salvation that He has so freely offered to us.

In our first reading this day, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God revealed to His people, to all of us through Isaiah, of everything that He had done for us, in sending us His servants, whom He had called and chosen, like Isaiah himself, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Elijah, Elisha, and earlier on still, Moses, and other leaders and elders of the people, and like St. John the Baptist himself, all of whom had been entrusted with the particular missions and vocations, with purpose and commitments for them to help lead the people of God, us mankind, back to the Lord, our most loving God and Saviour. The Lord had prepared St. John the Baptist to be His servant, from before he was even born, telling that to his parents, revealing to them just how important his role would be. That is what we have also heard in our Gospel passage today, as God foretold the great deeds that St. John the Baptist would do.

As Christians, all of us should be inspired by the great examples set by St. John the Baptist, whose contributions are not limited only just by what he had done in baptising the countless thousands and more at the River Jordan. It was his faithfulness and his dedication to the Lord which should inspire us all to follow his good examples and faith as well. Not only that, but St. John the Baptist also showed us great courage and steadfastness in faith, in courageously opposing even the powerful ones at his time, the teachers of the Law and the chief priests, whom he scolded and criticised as the band of vipers for their lack of faith, hypocrisy and mismanagement of the people, and also King Herod, whom St. John the Baptist criticised for his immoral and adulterous behaviour with his brother’s wife, Herodias.

St. John the Baptist, who did not fear persecution and oppression, and who gave his whole life and efforts to the service of God, is a paragon of virtue and Christian discipleship, and all of us as Christians should be inspired to walk in the same path that St. John the Baptist had traversed, and be inspired by his great courage and commitment to God. He is a great role model for us all, in how each and every one of us should be living our lives as well, with great virtue and commitment to God, and in doing whatever it is that we have been entrusted by God to do with our lives, in our respective areas of responsibilities, and in our various vocations in the Church and in this world, in doing our best to glorify God by our lives.

In addition, there is also one more great virtue that St. John the Baptist had, which all of us should very well emulate as well in our own lives, and that is one of obedience and humility. In his commitment to God, St. John the Baptist was thoroughly committed to his mission and he did not do anything for himself or for his own selfish purposes and desires. Like what St. Paul said in the second reading today in his Epistle, in which the Apostle directly quoted St. John the Baptist himself saying that he himself was not the Messiah, and he was not even worthy to untie the straps of His sandals. This was the response that St. John the Baptist gave to all those who asked him and wondered if he was the Messiah long awaited by the people of God. Given how popular St. John the Baptist had been, he could have claimed that he was the Messiah that the people awaited for, but he did not do that, and he was even also glad when he heard that the Lord was gaining more and more followers, saying that it was just right that while He increased, that he decreased. Such was the virtue and the humility that St. John the Baptist has shown, and which we all should emulate in our own lives.

May St. John the Baptist, Holy Herald of the Lord and His faithful servant, continue to pray and intercede for us all, that God may continue to guide and strengthen each and every one of us in our lives and in our works, so that we may truly be worthy of Him, and be committed in living our lives most worthily and faithfully in all things, in our every words, actions and deeds, at all times. May God bless us all, in our every efforts and endeavours, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 24 June 2023 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 57-66, 80

When the time came for Elizabeth, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the merciful Lord had done a wonderful thing for her, and they rejoiced with her. When, on the eighth day, they came to attend the circumcision of the child, they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father.

But his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.” They said to her, “But no one in your family has that name!” and they made signs to his father for the name he wanted to give him. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and wrote on it, “His name is John;” and they were very surprised. Immediately, Zechariah could speak again, and his first words were in praise of God.

A holy fear came on all in the neighbourhood, and throughout the hill country of Judea and the people talked about these events. All who heard of it, pondered in their minds, and wondered, “What will this child be?” For they understood that the hand of the Lord was with him.

As the child grew up, he was seen to be strong in the Spirit; and he lived in the desert, until the day when he appeared openly in Israel.

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Saturday, 24 June 2023 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 22-26

After that time, God removed Saul and raised up David as king, to whom He bore witness saying : I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all I want him to do.

It is from the descendants of David that God has now raised up the promised Saviour of Israel, Jesus. Before He appeared, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. As John was ending his life’s work, he said : ‘I am not what you think I am, for, after me, another One is coming, Whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’

Brothers, children and descendants of Abraham, and you, also, who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent.

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Saturday, 24 June 2023 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 138 : 1-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

O YHVH, You know me : You have scrutinised me. You know when I sit and when I rise; beforehand, You discern my thoughts. You observe my activities and times of rest; You are familiar with all my ways.

It was You Who formed my inmost part and knit me together in my mother’s womb. I thank You for these wonders You have done, and my heart praises You.

For Your marvellous deeds. Even my bones were known to You when I was being formed in secret, fashioned in the depths of the earth.

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Saturday, 24 June 2023 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 49 : 1-6

Listen to me, o islands, pay attention, peoples from distant lands. YHVH called me from my mother’s womb; He pronounced my name before I was born. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword. He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me into a polished arrow set apart in His quiver.

He said to me, “You are Israel, my servant, through you I will be known.” “I have laboured in vain,” I thought, “and spent my strength for nothing.” Yet what is due me was in the hand of YHVH, and my reward was with my God. I am important in the sight of YHVH, and my God is my Strength.

And now YHVH has spoken, He Who formed me in the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, to gather Israel to Him. He said : “It is not enough that you be My servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the remnant of Israel. I will make you the light of the nations, that My salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Nativity of St. John the Baptist (I Classis) – Saturday, 24 June 2023 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Liturgical Colour : White

Offertory

Psalm 91 : 13

Justus ut palma florebit : sicut cedrus, quae in Libano est, multiplicabitur.

English translation

The just man shall flourish like the palm tree, he shall grow up like the cedar of Lebanon.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Tua, Domine, muneribus altaria cumulamus : illius nativitatem honore debito celebrantes, qui Salvatorem mundi et cecinit adfuturum et adesse monstravit, Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Filium Tuum : Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

We heap Your altars with gifts, o Lord, celebrating with fitting honour the nativity of he who heralded the coming of the Saviour, and pointed Him out when He had come, our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who with You lives and reigns, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

Communion

Luke 1 : 76

Tu, puer Propheta Altissimi vocaberis : praeibis enim ante faciem Domini parare vias ejus.

English translation

You, child, shall be called the Prophet of the Highest, for you shall go before the face of the Lord, to prepare His ways.

Post-Communion Prayer

Sumat Ecclesia Tua, Deus, beati Joannis Baptistae generatione laetitiam : per quem suae regenerationis cognovit auctorem, Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, Filium Tuum : Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

May the Church, o God, be joyful at the birth of the Blessed John the Baptist, through whom she knew the Author of her regeneration, our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.