Solemnities

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(Usus Antiquior) Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Double I Classis) – Tuesday, 15 August 2023 : Holy Gospel

Liturgical Colour : White

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Luke 1 : 41-50

In illo tempore : Repleta est Spiritu Sancto Elisabeth et exclamavit voce magna, et dixit : Benedicta tu inter mulieres, et benedictus fructus ventris tui. Et unde hoc mihi ut veniat mater Domini mei ad me? Ecce enim ut facta est vox salutionis tuae in auribus meis, exsultavit in gaudio infans in utero meo. Et beata, quae credidisti, quoniam perficientur ea, quae dicta sunt tibi a Domino.

Et ait Maria : Magnificat anima mea Dominum; et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo; quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae, ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes. Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est, et sanctum Nomen Ejus, et misericordia Ejus a progenie in progenies timentibus eum.

English translation

At that time, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, as soon as the voice of your salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed are you who have believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to you by the Lord.”

And Mary said, “My soul had magnified the Lord, and my spirit had rejoiced in God my Saviour, because He had regarded the humility of His handmaid, for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Because He who is mighty had done great things to me, and holy is His Name, and His mercy is from generation unto generations, to those who fear Him.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Double I Classis) – Tuesday, 15 August 2023 : Gradual and Alleluia

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 44 : 11-12, 14 and Tradition of the Faith

Audi, filia, et vide, et inclina aurem tuam, et concupiscit Rex decorum tuum.

Response : Omnis gloria ejus filiae Regis ab intus, in fimbriis aureis circumamicta varietatibus.

Alleluja, Alleluja.

Response : Assumpta est Maria in caelum : gaudet exercitus Angelorum. Alleluja.

English translation

Hearken, o daughter, and see. Incline your ear, and the King shall greatly desire your beauty.

Response : The daughter of the King comes in, all beautiful. Her robes are of golden cloth.

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Response : Mary has been taken up into heaven, the choirs of angels rejoice. Alleluia.

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(Usus Antiquior) Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Double I Classis) – Tuesday, 15 August 2023 : Epistle

Liturgical Colour : White

Lectio libri Judith – Lesson from the Book of Judith

Judith 13 : 22-25 and Judith 15 : 10

Benedixit te Dominus in virtute Sua, quia per te ad nihilum redegit inimicos nostros. Benedicta es tu, filia, a Domino Deo excelso, prae omnibus mulieribus super terram. Benedictus Dominus, qui creavit caelum et terram, qui te direxit in vulnera capitis principis inimicorum nostrorum; quia hodie nomen tuum ita magnificavit, ut non recedat laus tua de ore hominum, qui memores fuerint virtutis Domini in aeternum, pro quibus non pepercisti animae tuae propter angustias et tribulationem generis tui, sed subvenisti ruinae ante conspectum Dei nostri.

Tu gloria Jerusalem, tu laetitia Israel, tu honorificentia populi nostri.

English translation

The Lord had blessed you with His power, because by you He had brought our enemies to nought. Blessed are you, o daughter, by the Lord the Most High God, above all women upon the earth. Blessed be the Lord, who made heaven and earth, who had directed you to the cutting off the head of the prince of our enemies, because He had so magnified your name this day, that your praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord, forever. For that you have not spared your life, by reason of the distress and tribulation of your people, but have prevented our ruin in the presence of our God.

You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel, you are the honour of our people.

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(Usus Antiquior) Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Double I Classis) – Tuesday, 15 August 2023 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : White

Introit

Apocalypse 12 : 1 and Psalm 97 : 1

Signum magnum apparuit in caelo : mulier amicta sole, et luna sub pedibus ejus, et in capite ejus corona stellarum duodecim.

Cantate Domino canticum novum : quia mirabilia fecit.

Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

A great sign appeared in heaven : A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

Sing all of you to the Lord a new canticle, because He had done wonderful things.

Response : Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Collect

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui Immaculatam Virginem Mariam, Filii Tui genetricem, corpore et anima ad caelestem gloriam assumpsisti : concede, quaesumus; ut, ad superna semper intenti, ipsius gloriae mereamur esse consortes. Per eumdem Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Almighty, everlasting God, You Who have taken up the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of Your Son, with body and soul into heavenly glory, grant we beseech You, that we may always, intent on higher things, deserve to be partakers of her glory. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

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Monday, 14 August 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this evening we celebrate the Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as we prepare for the celebration of the great moment when Mary, the Mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, was assumed body and soul, in her whole being into the glory of Heaven. This event marked the end of Mary’s presence in this world, and is a truly significant one because it reminds us, just as the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord had reminded us of the future that all of us ought to look forward to, in our own transfiguration when we shall exist with the Lord in glory, in our own transfigured bodies, thus, Mary’s Assumption into Heaven affirmed this hope we have, in the promises of salvation and eternal life which the Lord had given to all of us.

Mary’s Assumption is often confused with the Ascension of the Lord because both seems to involve the same events, but in reality, if we look deeper and more carefully into it, we will realise that both are different from each other because Mary’s Assumption into Heaven was done by the power of God, Who raised His mother Mary, body and soul from this world and lifted her up to assume her place in Heaven, while the Lord Ascended by His own power and will, to assume His rightful place in Heaven. There we can see a very clear distinction, of how Mary, while she is indeed the Mother of God and the greatest of all saints, but fundamentally she is still a human being, unlike her Son, Jesus Christ, Who is both fully Man and fully Divine, the Divine Son of God Incarnate.

Nonetheless, Mary is honoured above all other beings because she is truly the greatest among all those that God had created. The Lord created Mary and prepared her specially for the purpose of bearing the Messiah, or the Saviour of the world in her, which in this case would be His own begotten Son, the Divine Son of God Who was clad in the flesh and nature of Man that He might come and dwell in our midst. Mary was to be the one to bear this Man-Divine being in her, bearing her Son for nine months of pregnancy just like any other mothers, but with the exception that she had no one but the Holy Spirit through Whom, the Lord was Incarnate in the flesh, and becoming existent, conceived within her holy womb. This is why Mary is also known as the Ark of the Covenant, the New Covenant that God has established with us, His beloved people.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Chronicles of Israel and Judah, we heard of how the famous King David of Israel brought the great Ark of the Covenant from its place in the Holy Tent of Meeting into the city of Jerusalem, to enter into the city where God would dwell among His chosen people. This original Ark of the Covenant refers to the Ark and container built by Moses during the time of the Exodus to bear the Law of God in the Ten Commandments, the Staff of Aaron representing the authority and power of God, and the manna, the miraculous bread from Heaven by which God fed His people during their time in the desert. This Ark of the Covenant was where God’s Presence would come down periodically to speak and reveal His will to Moses, and to the High Priests that He had appointed.

Now, in the case of Mary, her participation in bearing the Messiah Himself, the Son of God within her, is the reason why she is called the Ark of the New Covenant, hallowed, sanctified and made perfect by God, as we all believe that Mary was conceived without the taint and corruption of sin, in the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of the key tenets of the Church teachings. Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because like the original Ark, which was made from the most precious materials available to mankind, hallowed and sanctified by God, and which was so holy that no one could touch the original Ark, and one who touched the Ark by accident was struck dead, hence, the Ark of the New Covenant of God, Mary herself, was also made special, holy and immaculate for this purpose.

This is because God is all perfect and good, and sin, imperfections and evil have no place before Him. Therefore, Mary as the New Ark prepared for the New Covenant of God, was made perfect and all good by the Lord, and according to our core beliefs and Church teachings, Mary was also full of grace, as the Archangel Gabriel himself said when he greeted Mary at the Annunciation, which means that not only Mary was free from the taint of original sin, but throughout her life, she remained fully attuned to the Lord and is full of His grace, meaning that she has not done things that were in disobedience of God and His Law and commandments, and consequently, remained pure and immaculate, without sin and evil, unlike the rest of us. If we wonder if such thing is possible, then let us remind ourselves that God is all powerful, Almighty, and everything is possible for Him, even in things that we may think is impossible to happen.

Therefore, if Mary has been conceived without the taint of sin, and remains free from sin throughout her whole life, to the moment when she met the end of her earthly existence, how can sin and death then claim her just like any one of us? First of all, we must realise that death is a consequence of sin, which itself is due to our disobedience against God’s will, in doing what is against His ways and against His Law. Hence, that is why every man and woman since Adam and Eve had encountered death at the end of their earthly lives, because they all have sinned against God. And until the time when Christ came into our world and release us from the bondage to this original sin, the sin of Adam and Eve, all of our predecessors before the time of Christ were bound by that original sin, and by their own sins borne out of their disobedience.

Then, for all of us here today, even though Christ has already come and given us all His salvation and freed us from the bondage to sin and death, but we are still vulnerable to sin, because there are times again and again when we are tempted and drawn towards the path of sin and evil, and at least on few if not more occasions, we succumbed to those temptations and sinned against God. It is for these sins that we encounter death. However, death is not our final fate, because God has assured all of us that there is life and existence beyond death, which He showed us through His Resurrection, and His own Mother’s Assumption into Heaven is a proof of that. And this Assumption again, was what happened to Mary rightly because of her special circumstances.

Therefore, there are two main schools of thought in which some believed that Mary was assumed or taken up body and soul into Heaven without experiencing any death at all, and hence, entered into the glory of Heaven directly because if she had not been corrupted at all by sin, and remained free of sin and is full of God’s grace, then death itself has no power at all over her, and death should not have claimed her at all. The other school of thought teaches that Mary did encounter death, not because that death is a punishment for sin, as she was free from sin and is full of God’s grace, but because of her intense love for her Son, and in her death, she shared in her Son’s own death and Resurrection. However, Mary did not remain in that state of death, which according to the Apostolic tradition, in what is known as the Dormition, came like that of deep sleep for her, and the Lord then assumed her into Heaven, to enter into the glory that had been prepared for her by her own Son.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, regardless in whatever circumstances and what really happened to Mary, the Mother of God, and our loving Mother, on whether she actually experienced death or not, what we all know now for sure is that, Mary is now in Heaven, by the side of her beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And through her, we see a glimpse of what we will ourselves experience in the end. While we may not immediately experience the glory of Heaven, unlike Mary and the other saints whose lives were worthy enough to enter immediately into the glory prepared for them, but all of us who have been faithful to the Lord and kept ourselves away from mortal sins, we are all assured of salvation and eternal life in God. In the end of days, we shall be reunited completely with God, as our bodies and souls shall be reunited with God, together in our new, transfigured bodies, just as the Lord’s Transfiguration also assured us earlier on this month.

And in Mary, we also have a great and most powerful ally and helper, as she is our most dedicated intercessor, together with that of the other saints, in constantly praying for our sake, for us sinners who are still toiling and labouring in this world. Mary has been entrusted by Christ Himself to be our own Mother, and we have been entrusted to her to be like her own children. Naturally, she will always look out for us and pray for us, no? That also explains why she has made so many Apparitions, many of which had been officially approved by the Church, in trying to reach out to us and to remind us to be faithful to the Lord, so that we may not continue to live in the state of sin, and will strive to reject sin and its evils, and return once again to God with all of our heart.

Let us also look upon Mary as our role model in life, as the Lord Himself said in our Gospel passage today, that ‘Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.’ which is in fact the Lord praising His own Mother as Mary had always followed the Lord and dedicated her whole life to God, keeping herself in state of perfect harmony with God. We are all reminded as Christians, as God’s people, as His disciples and chosen ones, that each and every one of us should do our very best to live lives that are truly virtuous and good, in accordance to the Law and the commandments that the Lord Himself has shown us. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed by the temptations of worldly pleasures and the allures of sin, and we should inspire one another to remain truly faithful and obedient to God in all things.

Mary, our most beloved Mother, assumed in glory into Heaven, intercede for us all sinners, your children, who always look up to you with hope, seeing that in you, we can see the reflection of your Son, Our Lord and Saviour, in Whom we put our full trust and faith, hoping that we will one day enter into the glory of Heaven together with you, and all the glorious saints and holy martyrs. Pray for us sinners, o Holy Mother of God, and may your Son continue to show us His mercy, compassion and love. Amen.

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Monday, 14 August 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

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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Monday, 14 August 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 15 : 54b-57

When our mortal being puts on immortality, the word of Scripture will be fulfilled : Death has been swallowed up by victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting?

Sin is the sting of death, to kill, and the Law is what gives force to sin. But give thanks to God, Who gives us the victory, through Christ Jesus, our Lord.

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Monday, 14 August 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 131 : 6-7, 9-10, 13-14

Then came the news, “The Ark is in Ephrata, we found it in the fields of Jaar.” Let us go to where He dwells and worship at His footstool!

May Your priests be arrayed in glorious mantle; may Your faithful ones shout in gladness. For the sake of Your servant, David, do not turn away the face of Your Anointed.

For YHVH has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling : “This is My resting place forever; this I prefer; here, will I dwell.”

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Monday, 14 August 2023 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Chronicles 15 : 3-4, 15-16 and 1 Chronicles 16 : 1-2

Then David gathered all Israel together in Jerusalem to bring the Ark of God up to the place he had prepared for it. David called together the sons of Aaron and the sons of Levi. And the Levites carried the Ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had ordered according to the command of YHVH.

David then told the leaders of the Levites to assign duties for some Levites to sing and play a joyful tune with their various musical instruments : harps and lyres and cymbals. They brought the Ark of God in and put it inside the tent that David had prepared for it; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to God.

And when David had finished offering the sacrifices, he blessed the people in the Name of YHVH.

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Sunday, 6 August 2023 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we celebrate the occasion of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, celebrating and rejoicing at the occasion when Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the whole entire world, Son of Man and Son of God, was transfigured, that is transformed in His being and appearance, to reveal to the three of His closest disciples at Mount Tabor, His true nature and His intentions to all of us. When the Lord revealed Himself in all of His glory that day, accompanied by Moses and Elijah, two very well renowned figures from the Old Testament, He laid bare everything that He had planned from the very beginning, the plan to save all of us mankind, His beloved ones, from the certain destruction and hardships, the sufferings due for us due to our wickedness, disobedience and sins.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Daniel, we heard of the account of the heavenly vision that Daniel received regarding two figures, One was named as the One of Great Age, while the other One was named as the Son of Man. This vision of Heaven and all of God’s glory clearly indicated and revealed to all of us of the true nature of the Messiah or the Saviour that had been long awaited by the people of God. Why is that so? That is because in the heavenly vision of Daniel, he saw not just God in all of His majesty, glory and power, but he also witnessed and saw the Son of God, the One Who would be sent into the world to be the One through Whom God would fulfil and exercise His plan to save all of His beloved ones, in Jesus Christ, His Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

Daniel saw how the One of Great Age, Who is the Father, granting dominion, power and authority to the Son of Man, His beloved and begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Son of God, to be the One to establish anew the Eternal and New Covenant with each and every one of us, and to bring forth unto us the long-awaited salvation and liberation from all the tyranny and dominion of sin and evil. Kingship and dominion have been granted to Him, the One to be born as the Son and Heir of David, so that God might indeed fulfil the promises He made to David, how the House of David and his throne would last forever. This is because Christ Himself, Who has embraced our humanity and being born into this world, is to become its King and Master, the Lord over all universe and Creation, to reign over us all forevermore.

In our second reading, we then heard from St. Peter the Apostle in his Epistle, who wrote about the experience of the Transfiguration, in which he himself and the other two of the Apostles, St. James and St. John, personally experienced at Mount Tabor. He spoke of the experiences that they had, when their Lord and Master was transformed before their very own eyes, revealing His divinity and power, that He was not just mere man like any others, or like any other prophets and servants of God in the past, but that He is a Being far greater than any others, even as compared to Moses and Elijah who had also made an appearance at the moment of the Transfiguration. Jesus Christ, the Transfigured Lord and Messiah, was indeed not just a mere Man, but also God Himself in the flesh.

This is exactly what our Christian faith truly believes in, in the central tenet of belief in the person of Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Saviour, He Who is both Son of God and Son of Man, having two distinct, unique and yet inseparable natures united in His one Person, with two Natures, both Divine and Human, being distinct and yet inseparably united in a perfect union of love in the Person of Jesus, the Transfigured Lord and Messiah. The Transfiguration of the Lord is therefore a revelation of Who the Lord Jesus truly is, and what His agenda and will is for us, what His ministry and works entailed for us, in all that He would do for the sake of our salvation and liberation from the tyranny of sin and death. And at the same time, His glorious Transfiguration is also a premonition and prefigurement of what will happen to us at the end of days, if we remain truly faithful to Him and stay on His path.

In our Gospel passage, detailing for us the events of the Transfiguration at Mount Tabor, we are brought to focus our attention on the moment when the Lord appeared in all of His Divine glory with Moses and Elijah, who as mentioned were very famous and important figures of the Old Testament. First of all, Moses was the leader of the Israelites during the time of the Exodus from Egypt and also the journey of the Israelites towards the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. Moses was the one who received the Ten Commandments and the Law of God, and hence he represented the Law of God, which God revealed and passed down to all of us, His people, to help lead and guide us all to the right path. His appearance before the Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of His glorious Transfiguration served to highlight that the Lord Jesus came to fulfil and perfect the Law which God has given us, to explain and to reveal the true meaning and intentions behind the Law that God has so generously provided for us.

Not only that, but Moses also represented the role that Christ Himself would do, in the former’s foreshadowing of the Latter by his leadership in bringing the whole people of Israel out of the land of their slavery in Egypt, and by whose works and hands, God led His people out of the land of their suffering and misery, and even brought them through the Red Sea, opening the very sea itself before them and crushing the forces of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians sent to chase after them. In the same manner, the Lord Jesus as the Saviour of all and as our Eternal High Priest has led us all mankind, God’s beloved ones, to go out from and leave behind the state of our enslavement and domination by sin. Through His Son, Whom He has sent into the world, God led us all by hand, to go out from the darkness and enter into the new Light of His Presence and truth.

He led us all by His suffering, death and Resurrection, and through the water of baptism, that just like the Israelites who have crossed the Red Sea from slavery in Egypt into their freedom, we may all pass from the darkness and slavery of sin and death, into the Light of God and His salvation and grace, to be reunited with Him and to be wholly reconciled through the forgiveness of our many sins, which Christ Himself had atoned for us through the outpouring and perfect offering of His Most Precious Body and Blood. Thus, God is leading all of us, His beloved ones, out of the darkness of sin, to enter once again into the great light and purity of heart, mind and soul which we have always been intended to be, and one that is represented and shown to us by our Lord’s own Transfiguration. That Transfiguration shows us what each and all of us mankind are always meant to be, to be glorified and worthy of God, full of God’s grace and light, and free from the darkness of sin and evil.

Then, the appearance of Elijah before the Lord highlighted the fact that Elijah was often considered both by his contemporaries and others in the later eras as the greatest and the most prominent of all of God’s prophets and messengers. Just as Moses represented the Law of God, thus Elijah represented the words of the prophets, all the prophecies and truths which God had revealed to His people through them. And therefore, the Lord Jesus is first of all the fulfilment of all those prophecies, affirmed by Elijah’s appearance at Mount Tabor, while at the same time, He is also the One to bring forth into this world the Good News, the news of God’s truth and salvation, revealing the true intentions and meanings of God’s Law and commandments, His plans for all of us, revealing all of these to us with the greatest clarity, through His teachings and words, and through the Holy Spirit and Wisdom that He imparted upon us and His Church.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard and understood the significance and the symbolic importance of the events and things surrounding the Lord’s glorious Transfiguration, let us all realise that this Feast that we are celebrating and are rejoicing in this Sunday is a reminder and call for us to embrace once again the true nature of our beings, that is of the Light, as God’s beloved children and people. Each and every one of us have been created by God with the intention of the sharing of His everlasting love and grace, and we were meant to live in perfect bliss, harmony and joy with Him. However, all of these had been denied to us thanks to us and our own ancestors and predecessors own disobedience and rebellions against God, through which sin had defiled and corrupted us, and gained its dominion over us. This is something that our Lord’s Transfiguration is calling us to reflect, that we must remember our true nature, undefiled and uncorrupted by sin.

The Transfigured Lord is showing all of us, of what and who we all can be, if we truly embrace the Lord’s path and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him. The Lord is showing us what we should be, if we want to walk down the path that He has shown us and called us to walk in together with Him. And through His Transfiguration, He also showed us all that His love, His light and Holy Presence is no longer unreachable and unapproachable by us, because by His Incarnation, He has made us to be within reach of salvation and eternal life, through Him and with Him, as He restored us and our connection with God. By His indwelling in the flesh of man, His full Divine glory and majesty are now made accessible to us, as compared to how in the days of the Old Testament, when Moses and Elijah alone could have seen the glory of God to their faces and lived, as everyone else would have been struck dead and be destroyed on the account of their sins and wickedness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore remind ourselves and one another this day, that as we rejoice and celebrate the glorious memory of the Transfiguration of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, let us all commit ourselves once again anew in the path that the Lord has shown us, and obey Him, in all that He has told us and taught us to do in our lives. Let us all turn away from the wickedness of the world and from all the allures of sin and evil, and obey the Lord ever more wholeheartedly from now on. Let us all walk down this path of faith from now on, together with Christ, Who is journeying and walking with us, leading us down this path of faith, calling upon us to trust in Him. There will be hardships, challenges and trials likely facing us in our journey forward, but we must always remain firm in faith, reminding ourselves ever always, of the glory and true joy of our future Transfigured selves, in the hope and light of the Resurrection.

One day, with the Lord, we shall no longer suffer anymore, and everything will be all good and right again just as the Lord has always intended for us. In the meantime, let us all be exemplary, inspirational and great role models of our Christian faith and living in all of our words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions and efforts, good works and endeavours for the greater glory of God. May the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Who has been Transfigured in glory at Mount Tabor, continue to shine His light upon us and help us in our journey and dedication towards Him, now and always, that we too may be the shining beacons of His light and truth, in every occasions and opportunities. Amen.