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Friday, 31 October 2025 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that we should be truly sincere and genuine in our faith in the Lord, and not merely paying lip service for Him. In all the things that we say and do, we should continue to do our best to be fully attuned to God in everything that we say, do and act, so that by our every words, actions and deeds we will always showcase our Christian faith in all sincerity and all those whom we encounter can realise and know what we truly believe in, through what they had experienced and witnessed in our actions, way of life and attitudes, in how we interact with them and in even the smallest things we carry out in life.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Romans in which the Apostle spoke about the anguish and the struggles that he had been facing because of the issues that he had faced from the Jewish people, the members of the Jewish diaspora in the various places that he visited and ministered at, as well as the Jewish authorities, the Sanhedrin, the members of the Jewish High Council that were often at odds and in opposition towards him and the other missionaries. And that was why he felt conflicted and anguished because it was to the Jewish people that the word of God and His salvation was first announced and shown, and yet, many of them were the ones who refused to listen and believe in what they have heard and received.

And worse still, the persecutions that they had faced made it difficult for the Apostles and the missionaries to continue with their works and efforts to proclaim the Good News. Nonetheless, all those things did not discourage St. Paul and his fellow missionaries, and being confident of the strength, guidance and providence from God, Who has never left them in their hour of greatest need and distress. God has always strengthened them and encouraged them to continue doing good works for His sake, and He always provided them help through various means, causing them and their works to be ultimately successful even through the many challenges that they had to face in their path. That was how despite those difficulties, the Church kept on growing and flourishing over the years.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist in which we heard of how the Lord was watched carefully as He was having a meal at the house of one of the leading Pharisees, with a person suffering from the disease of dropsy being there on the Day of the Sabbath, a day when any kind of work was forbidden according to the Law, no doubt and quite likely was put there to test the Lord and to see how He would respond, knowing from His past history how He had been facing lots of difficulties and obstacles by the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and all those who questioned and doubted His teaching authority and all of His miraculous works. And yet, He still patiently engaged them and tried His best to show and teach them the truth that God wanted them all to know and realise.

The Lord highlighted the fact as He healed the man who was suffering from dropsy on the Sabbath, that the overly strict and rigid interpretation of the Law of God by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law completely missed the point and purpose of the Law of God and why God had given those Law and commandments to His people in the first place. He used the comparison to how when harm came to the sheep and ox belonging to any one of them, they would go and rescue those if they truly understood the Law, to show that forbidding anyone from doing any actions on the Sabbath, even good, lawful and worthy actions is in truth failing to understand the spirit and the true purpose and meaning of the Law that God has given to each one of us.

The Law of God was never meant to restrict us or to make us suffer or our lives to be difficult and troubled. And as the Lord Himself mentioned in another occasion in the Gospels, the Law of the Sabbath is made for the sake of mankind, and not the other way round, that the Son of Man is ultimately the Lord of the Sabbath, and not the Sabbath and the extraordinarily rigid laws and practices as enforced by the Pharisees which lorded over the people, restricting them and made them to have difficulties in living their lives with faith. The Law of God was given by Him to all of us, His beloved people so that He may teach us all how to love Him and how to live our lives according to what He has revealed to us, and He wants us all to learn how to focus our attention on HIm and be truly righteous and worthy in all things.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to be faithful to God in all things and not be like those Pharisees and those who were proud and haughty in their way of living their faith such that they ended up hardening their hearts and minds against the Lord and His truth. Instead, we should always ever be humble and be willing to listen to the Lord, by being open-minded and considerate at all times, knowing that the Lord can speak to us through various means and methods, and even through the people we encounter in our daily lives, and sometimes even through the people we least expect. We must not harden our hearts and think that we know it better than others or that we are more worthy or holy than those whom we may disagree with in the matter of the faith.

Instead, we should be more humble in our attitudes and in our outlook in life. We should embrace what the Lord has shown and taught us, and be more exemplary in our lives and actions, in doing what God has truly wanted us to do, and not merely observing the Law of God for appearances and external piety only, but truly embodying our faith with great vigour and sincerity, in living our every days and every moments in life with genuine faith and obedience to God. We should not think that we are better than others around us, or worse still by acting judgmental and in being arrogant and haughty in our attitudes, all of which are not what the Lord had taught us to do. As genuine Christians, as beloved people of God, we should always be centred on God and not be self-centred and self righteous in all things.

May the Lord continue to strengthen us all and provide us with the courage and the determination to continue living our faith genuinely and confidently at all times. May He give us all the wisdom and the strength to carry on through the various challenges and opportunities that we encounter in our path so that hopefully through His strength and empowerment, we may truly be able to show forth the sincerity and truth of our faith to all those we encounter in life, becoming the faithful bearers of our Christian faith in all things. May God bless our every efforts and endeavours, our good works and efforts, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 31 October 2025 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 14 : 1-6

At that time, on one Sabbath Jesus had gone to eat a meal in the house of a leading Pharisee, and He was carefully watched.

In front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy; so Jesus asked the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

But no one answered. Jesus then took the man, healed him, and sent him away. And He said to them, “If your lamb or your ox falls into a well on a Sabbath day, who among you does not hurry to pull it out?” And they could not answer.

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Friday, 31 October 2025 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 147 : 12-13, 14-15, 19-20

Exalt YHVH, o Jerusalem; praise your God, o Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your children within you.

He grants peace on your borders and feeds you with the finest grain. He sends His command to the earth and swiftly runs His word.

It is He, Who tells Jacob His words; His laws and decrees, to Israel. This, He has not done for other nations, so His laws remain unknown to them. Alleluia!

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Friday, 31 October 2025 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 9 : 1-5

I tell you, sincerely, in Christ, and my conscience assures me in the Holy Spirit, that I am not lying : I have great sadness and constant anguish for the Jews. I would even desire, that, I myself, suffer the curse of being cut off from Christ, instead of my brethren : I mean, my own people, my kin.

They are Israelites, whom God adopted, and on them, rests His glory. Theirs, are the Covenants, the Law, the worship and the promises of God. They are descendants of the patriarchs, and from their race, Christ was born, He, Who, as God, is above all distinctions. Blessed be He forever and ever. Amen!

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Thursday, 30 October 2025 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scripture, we are reminded that God’s Love for us is so mighty and powerful that we should always trust in this Love that He has shown and manifested before all of us in His own Beloved Son, Our Saviour, Jesus Christ our Lord, by Whom God has made tangible and real the love which He has generously granted and given to all of us mankind. By this great and wonderful love all of us have indeed been saved and liberated from the tyranny and domination of sin and evil. He has done everything for us all out of His endless and patient love, and hence, we are reminded that we ourselves should continue to love Him wholeheartedly and do our best to carry out this love towards everyone around us as well.

In our first reading today, we heard from the continuation of the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Rome in which the Apostle continued to remind the faithful of the power of God’s Love which conquers and overcomes everything, and there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. For God has done everything that He could do, in sending us the best of all gifts in giving to us all His own Beloved Son, His own Begotten Son manifesting His perfect Love to all of us. He has provided us all the sure path through which He led us directly to Himself, by His willing embrace of our own imperfections, faults and problems, all of which He had put upon His own shoulders, as He bore that heaviest and most painful cross for our salvation.

The Lord did not easily give up on us, and He has crafted the perfect remedy for sin, by sending us His own Beloved Son Who took up our own existence in the flesh, our own human nature and existence so that by His ultimate sacrifice on the Cross, His most selfless and loving offering of Himself on our behalf, to be persecuted, tortured and slain for us and our salvation, all of us may receive the guarantee of life everlasting and the complete freedom from the domination by sin, which had plagued us all throughout time and history. No one, nothing and no powers in Heaven, on Earth or in the underworld are capable of separating us from the love of God, and to undo what He had done for our sake, not even the mightiest of the evil ones, Satan himself.

That is why we are reminded that we should continue to hold on firmly to our faith in God, and we should not be easily tempted to abandon the Lord especially when things were tough and challenging for us. We should instead continue to hold on to that faith which we have had in Him, and learn to trust in God even when we may not immediately see His providence and help in our midst. We must remember that each and every one of us are truly precious to God and we are never far from His mind and from His Most loving Heart. We have to trust in everything that He has planned for our own good, resisting the pressures and other demands for us to conform to the path of worldliness and evil. We should continue to show our good faith in God in all the things we say and do, at all times.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard of the passage from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist in which it was highlighted that some of the Pharisees were warning Jesus that King Herod, the ruler of Galilee wanted to persecute and kill Him. And to this warning the Lord replied with a prophecy referring to His upcoming moments of suffering and persecution, and what He would continue to do up to that moment, continuing to do whatever that His Heavenly Father has entrusted to Him, to heal the sick and to encourage the downtrodden and those who were facing difficulties and challenges in life. He would not be deterred simply by those threats and persecutions which the authorities, like King Herod or even some of the Pharisees themselves had shown Him.

At the same time, we also heard how the Lord then lamented on Jerusalem, on the state of affairs of the people and how the reality was indeed sad such that they would persecute the One Whom God had sent into their midst to bring them all the revelation of His salvation and the eternal life that He has assured to them all. He has always been patient in showing His love and compassion on the people, and yet, they and their ancestors had persecuted Him and all those whom He had sent earlier on, the prophets and messengers, to remind them of this great love and wonders of God. Instead of obeying and listening to God, they had hardened their hearts and minds, closing them even further against the Lord and His constant efforts to reach out to them with love.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence continue to remind ourselves to appreciate the great and ever enduring love of God which has always been shown and lavished upon us all. Let us not take this great love for granted anymore, and instead, we should show gratitude for everything that God had done for our sake, and follow His examples in loving us all, by showing Him the same love that He has shown us, by our wholehearted devotion to Him and His cause, and also by showing the same love towards our fellow brothers and sisters around us, as He has shown us by His own selfless offering of Himself on the Cross. Let us all be truly genuine in loving and caring for each other, and in showing our faith in God in all the things we do in life in each and every moments.

May the Lord continue to strengthen each and every one of us in our faith in Him, and may He continue to encourage us all so that in our every actions and works in life, in each and every one of our good endeavours and efforts, through our daily living and actions, our interactions and encounters with those we meet in our daily events and activities, and even more so towards our closest and most beloved ones. Let us all continue to show God’s love through our own loving actions, truly being genuine in loving and caring for those whom we have been called to share this love, at all times. Amen.

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Thursday, 30 October 2025 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 13 : 31-35

At that time, some Pharisees came to Jesus and gave Him this warning, “Leave this place and go on Your way, for Herod wants to kill You.”

Jesus said to them, “Go and give that fox My answer : ‘I drive out demons, and I heal today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish My course!’ Nevertheless, I must go on My way today, and tomorrow, and for a little longer; for it would not be fitting for a Prophet to be killed outside Jerusalem.”

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you slay the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I tried to bring together your children, as a bird gathers her young under her wings, but you refused! From now on, you will be left with your Temple, and you will no longer see Me, until the time when you will say, ‘Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord.'”

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Thursday, 30 October 2025 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 108 : 21-22, 26-27, 30-31

But as for me, o God my YHVH, for Your Name’s sake, act on my behalf; deliver me, in the goodness of Your love. For I am poor and needy; my heart is stricken within me.

Help me, o YHVH my God; and save me, for the sake of Your love. Let them know that this is Your hand; that it is You, YHVH, Who do this.

To YHVH, I will give my thanks; I will praise Him in the great assembly. He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save them from those who condemn them.

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Thursday, 30 October 2025 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 8 : 31b-39

If God is with us, who shall be against us? If He did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not give us all things with Him? Who shall accuse those chosen by God : He takes away their guilt. Who will dare to condemn them? Christ, Who died, and better still, rose, and is seated at the right hand of God, interceding for us?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Will it be trials, or anguish, persecution or hunger, lack of clothing, or dangers or sword? As the Scripture says : For your sake, we are being killed all day long; they treat us like sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all of this, we are more than conquerors, thanks to Him, Who has loved us. I am certain, that neither death nor life, neither Angels nor spiritual powers, neither the present nor the future, nor cosmic powers, were they from heaven, or from the deep world below, nor any creature whatsoever, will separate us from the love of God, which we have, in Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

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Wednesday, 29 October 2025 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that as Christians, that is as those whom the Lord Himself has called and chosen to be His own, we have to trust in the Lord and allow His Holy Spirit within us to guide us all in our paths and journeys in life, so that in everything that we do, in our every actions, words and deeds, in our choices that we made, and in how we all interact with our fellow brethren around us, we will always be guided to the right path, in the manner that is truly pleasing to God. Each and every one of us must remember that all of us are examples for everyone around us, be it fellow Christians or not, in the manner how we live up to our faith.

In our first reading today, we heard from the continuation of the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Rome, in which the Apostle spoke of what I had just mentioned to the people of God in Rome, to both the converts from among the Jewish diaspora and the Gentiles alike, that each and every one of them ought to live out their lives courageously and faithfully at all times and in all circumstances as Christians, in doing God’s will, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, so that they might indeed walk the path of virtue and righteousness, and not to succumb to the temptations of sin and evil being present all around them. And the Lord will make righteous all those whom He had called, and He will bless them and gather them all to Himself.

And this is also an important reminder therefore for each and every one of us as Christians, as if we truly seek to be genuine and faithful Christians, then it is important that our lives must indeed show this faith being manifested in each and every parts of our lives, in everything that we say, in all that we do, in all of the manner in how we interact with those we encounter daily in life. This means that if we truly obey the Lord, then we must always put our trust in Him and allow Him to subtly and gently lead us all in the path towards righteousness and virtues, in doing what is right, good and just in our daily actions, in everything that we do even to the smallest actions. It means that we should also continue to show genuine love and care to those around us, especially to those whom we love and those God had entrusted to us.

Then, from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord to someone who asked Him of whether there would only be few people that would be saved. First of all, before we misunderstand the context of what the Lord answered and presented to the man afterwards, we must understand first of all the context in which this question was made, because to the ancient Jews and their ancestors, the Israelites, there was no clear concept of punishment and damnation, and quite a number of them actually believed that since they were the chosen people of God, they were then guaranteed salvation and eternal life with God. This was why in one other occasion, some of the people who opposed the Lord made the claim of righteousness simply by stating that they were ‘descended from Abraham’.

But the Lord Jesus told him and all those who were assembled there that, while the Lord their God indeed loved them all and showed them His compassion and love, but this does not mean that being chosen people of God means that we are immediately guaranteed salvation and eternal life. Instead, our lives and works have to be truly representative of this faith which we have in God, this attitude and predisposition by which we are truly seen and known as Christians, as those whom the Lord has called and chosen to be His own. We should always strive to follow what the Lord has taught us and in fact shown us to do, in every aspects of our lives, and not merely paying lip service to our faith. We need to be truly authentic and genuine in our faith at all times.

We must not think that we deserve salvation and eternal life from God more than others around us, or that we are better or superior than others, because it is precisely this hubris and arrogant attitude which cause us to face difficulties in our paths as Christians, in our journey towards God. That was what led many of the Pharisees to their downfall, in their inability to listen to the Lord speaking to them, trying to convince them of the reality and truth, and instead, they preferred to trust in their own often flawed judgment, ideals and perfection, thinking that others who do not share their insights, beliefs and ways of practicing the Law and the faith, were unworthy of God and were inferior to them, when they themselves were equally sinners before God.

 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to walk ever more faithfully in God’s Presence, and strive to do our best at all times, to be really appreciative and understanding of what our Christian faith is truly all about. We are all called to be authentic witnesses of the Lord in all of our respective communities and among all those whom we encounter in life. We must always be full of God’s love that we ought to share with one another, especially to those whom God has placed in our lives, those whom we love dearly and also to all those whose lives we are capable of changing and influencing for the better, through our own inspirational actions, words and deeds. Each one of us have been given unique talents, abilities and opportunities for this purpose, and we should indeed make good use of them.

May the Lord continue to encourage and strengthen us all in all that we say and do, and may He continue to empower each and every one of us daily, in all that we do, so that by our every actions, words and deeds, we will always bring glory to Him, and be steady and committed in proclaiming God’s truth and Good News to all those whom we encounter daily in life. May He bless our every good efforts and deeds, our every good works and endeavours so that in all things, we will always be good role models and examples of our Christian faith, and be the genuine witnesses of the Lord and His teachings, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 29 October 2025 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 13 : 22-30

At that time, Jesus went through towns and villages teaching, and making His way to Jerusalem. Someone asked Him, “Lord, is it true that few people will be saved?”

And Jesus answered, “Do your best to enter by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has gone inside and locked the door, you will stand outside. Then you will knock at the door, calling, ‘Lord, open to us!’ But He will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.'”

“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets!’ But He will reply, ‘I do not know where you come from. Away from Me, all you workers of evil.’ You will weep and grind your teeth, when you see Abraham and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves left outside.”

“Others will sit at table in the kingdom of God, people coming from east and west, from north and south. Some who are among the last, will be first; and some who are among the first, will be last!”