10th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Thursday, 12 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 84 : 9ab and 10, 11-12, 13-14

Would, that I hear God’s proclamation, that He promise peace to His people, His saints. Yet, His salvation is near to those who fear Him, and His glory will dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.

YHVH will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.

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Thursday, 12 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Corinthians 3 : 15 – 2 Corinthians 4 : 1, 3-6

Up to this very day, whenever they read Moses, the veil remains over their understanding but, for whoever turns to the Lord, the veil shall be removed. The Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

So, with unveiled faces, we all reflect the glory of the Lord, while we are transformed into His likeness, and experience His glory, more and more by the action of the Lord, Who is Spirit.

Since this is our ministry, mercifully given to us, we do not weaken. In fact, if the Gospel we proclaim remains obscure, it is obscure only for those who go to their own destruction. The God of this world has blinded the minds of these unbelievers, lest they see the radiance of the glorious Gospel of Christ, Who is God’s Image.

It is not ourselves we preach, but Christ Jesus, as Lord; and, for Jesus’ sake, we are your servants. God, Who said, ‘Let the light shine out of darkness’, has also made the light shine in our hearts, to radiate, and to make known the glory of God, as it shines in the face of Christ.

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Wednesday, 11 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the church celebrates the Feast of St. Barnabas, one of the Apostles of the Lord, and while he was not counted among the Twelve Apostles, the twelve chief disciples of the Lord, but nonetheless, he was one of the very important people involved in the work of evangelisation and ministry in the early Church. He was one of the companions of St. Paul the Apostle in the ministry especially towards the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people, to whom they both had been sent to by the Twelve Apostles and the Church. And in their various works, St. Barnabas and St. Paul had indeed achieved great successes much as they had also encountered significant challenges and trials in their journey and works.

And yet, they trusted fully in the Lord and devoted themselves completely to Him, trusting in His Providence, guidance and help in ministering to the faithful people of God, and in glorifying God and proclaiming Him to all those whom they encountered in their journeys. As we heard in our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of how Christian community was being established in Antioch, which at that time was one of the largest cities of the Roman Empire, and the largest one in that region. Christian missionaries that went there helped to establish the Church, including that of St. Barnabas himself, who discovered the group of believers in that place, even among the Gentiles, the Greeks and others of the local populace on top of the Jewish converts to Christianity.

Antioch also historically held an important significance in the development of the Christian faith as it was there that those who believed in the Lord were first known publicly and commonly as ‘Christians’, or in the original Greek perhaps Christianos, meaning those who believed in the Christ, which was the equivalent term in Greek for the Hebrew Messiah or Meshiach, which meant Saviour. It certainly marked the believers of the Lord as a distinct group as compared to the Jewish believers, those who followed the ancient Law of Moses. Earlier on, Christianity was considered as merely just another sect of Judaism, like those Pharisees and Sadducees, as well as the Essenes among others, but gradually, the practices and ways of the early Christians began to diverge more and more from their Jewish roots.

What was especially important, was the fact that the early Christians accepted those who came from the non-Jewish background, the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and other locals who were not so receptive of the Jewish customs and practices. While earlier on in the history of the Church there had been some, especially the converts from among the Pharisees, who wanted to enforce the strict Jewish customs, practices and rites on all the Christian believers, including those from the Gentiles background, but St. Barnabas was among those, together with St. Paul who were adamantly against such an imposition and action, as that would have led to great difficulties in evangelisation and ministry among the Gentiles, which cultures often saw Jewish practices as weird, barbaric and uncultured.

Thus, it was St. Barnabas among others as mentioned in the first reading today, that were sent to evangelise among the faithful in Antioch, after the Apostles had already decided that such an imposition of Jewish customs, laws and practices were unlawful and improper. The Christian population in Antioch grew rapidly and more and more came to become believers in the Lord. The Apostles like St. Barnabas and the other missionaries were carrying out what the Lord had commanded them all to do just as we have heard in our Gospel passage today, as they all went forth as missionaries, proclaiming the Good News and truth of God faithfully and courageously, entrusting themselves to the Lord and doing their best to touch the hearts and minds of the people whom they had visited and encountered in their journey.

Eventually, St. Barnabas would continue on serving the Lord in various missions and works, and according to Apostolic traditions and history, he was martyred in Syria where he was proclaiming the Good News of God, as some Jewish people that came there, envious and jealous of his great successes in gaining many converts from among the Jews and the Gentiles alike, persecuted him when they were disputing with him in the local synagogue, dragged him out of the place and then stoned him to death, much as how St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church had also been martyred earlier on. Despite this, the many great works and efforts which St. Barnabas had done for the greater glory of God had endured, and many were converted because of his hard work.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all recall the works and life of St. Barnabas, Holy Apostle and servant of God, let us all therefore reflect on our own lives as Christians, as those whom God has called and chosen to be His own holy and beloved people. Let us all be true and genuine disciples of the Lord in doing our best to glorify the Lord by our lives, in all that we do in each and every moments, even in the smallest things we do. We do not have to do great and wonderful things as what the Apostles and the disciples had done, but more importantly, we should be always be sincere in following the Lord at all times, in doing His will and in encouraging one another to carry on living our lives each day with greater determination and courage as faithful and committed children of God.

May the Lord continue to guide and bless each and every one of us so that by our commitment and dedication to Him, following the good inspiration and examples of St. Barnabas the Apostle, we may continue to glorify Him through our actions and deeds, in everything that we say and do, for His greater glory. May the Lord continue to bless our every good works, efforts and endeavours, and may He strengthen us all with the resolve and the desire to proclaim His Good News and truth at all times, through our own exemplary lives and faith as Christians, in our own respective communities and areas of life. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 10 : 7-13

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Go, and proclaim this message : The kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, bring the dead back to life, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons. Freely have you received, freely give. Do not carry any gold or silver or money in your purses. Do not take a travelling bag, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or a walking stick : workers deserve to be compensated.”

“When you come to a town or a village, look for a worthy person, and stay there until you leave. When you enter the house, wish it peace. If the people are worthy people, your peace will rest on them; if they are not worthy people, your blessing will come back to you.”

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Wednesday, 11 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.

With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, the Lord!

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Wednesday, 11 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Acts 11 : 21b-26 and Acts 13 : 1-3

A great number believed and turned to the Lord. News of this reached the ears of the Church in Jerusalem, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw the manifest signs of God’s favour, he rejoiced and urged them all to remain firmly faithful to the Lord; for he, himself, was a good man, filled with the Holy Spirit and faith. Thus large crowds came to know the Lord.

Then Barnabas went off to Tarsus, to look for Saul; and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year, they had meetings with the Church and instructed many people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

There were at Antioch – in the Church which was there – prophets and teachers : Barnabas, Symeon known as Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod, and Saul. On one occasion, while they were celebrating the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul to do the work for which I have called them.”

So, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

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Tuesday, 10 June 2025 : 10th 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, all of us are reminded of the need for all of us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth, that is we are all called to be the ones to bring God’s light, truth and hope, His love and grace into our world today, so that in each and every moments of our lives, in our every interactions and works, in all of our commitment to Him, in our everyday life even in the smallest of things. We should always be ready to put into place our efforts and works, our contributions and all that we say and do so that they may truly bring forth the light and truth of Christ into this world, to make a difference in the lives of many of those whom we have touched and encountered.

In our first reading today, we heard from the second letter of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in Corinth, in which St. Paul told the people that they all preached and proclaimed the truth of God, the One Who has brought to them all the promises and reassurances that He has spoken and given to them, and which He would indeed faithfully fulfil and complete, and all those who have ministered to them including St. Paul himself, and all the others like St. Timothy, St. Silvanus and others, all were working for the greater glory of God and doing God’s will in all that they had done, empowered, guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. All of them had been sent so that through them they would truly do great deeds for the Lord’s sake, glorifying His Name by their actions, through the gifts and graces that they had received.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the famous parable of the light of the world and the salt of the earth that the Lord Himself had spoken to His disciples. In this parable we heard the Lord telling the disciples and all His followers that they should all be like light of the world and salt of the earth, highlighting that if light is hidden then it serves no purpose, and if salt is to lose its taste, then it shall also lose its meaning and use as well. For all of us today living in a world where light and salt are truly abundant and are commonplace everywhere we may not realise their importance in the day to day life in our communities, but in the context of how these two commodities are truly important now and even more so in the past, understanding these can give us better appreciation of what the Lord truly meant in His parable.

First of all, regarding light, we live in a world where light is truly abundant especially at night time, where lots of artificial lights powered by electricity are everywhere. Many of us live in a world full of lights from daytime to night time, and even late at night sometimes we cannot get away from light all around us. And in a world full of technology in our smartphones, computers, televisions and other digital gadgets, we are truly inundated with light such that the significance and importance of light as the Lord mentioned it can easily be misunderstood and overlooked. Why is that so? This is because back in the past, light is something that is absent for most of the night time, after the Sun had set, and except for the light of the Moon and the stars, there was usually darkness everywhere around.

Most people at that time would not have been able to afford candles and other sources of light like fire, and they preciously kept whatever sources of light and heat that they could gather and maintain, such that in the past, fire and light were seen by various civilisations and cultures as being very important and crucial for their survival, and hence, they were treasured and even worshipped, with temples of fire being kept and raised in different civilisations like the Romans and the Persians among others. Darkness is something that people feared, and with darkness usually came danger from predators and other threats, uncertainties and other problems, which light was supposed to keep at bay. Hence, for light to be hidden from view made totally no sense in the context of that time.

Then, regarding salt, we all know that salt gives flavour to the food, as otherwise, if there is no salt added at all to the food, it would be bland and tasteless. But salt is not merely just something to provide flavour to the food, and in the ancient past, its importance was even greater than it is today, as salt is essential for the preservation of many types of food in the period and time before the rise of modern refrigeration and preservation methods. With salt, food became flavourful and many kinds of food could be prevented from spoiling through the addition of salt which kept the food from turning bad. That is why salt was especially important in the past, and in some countries such as Imperial China, salt was one of the major commodities that was heavily controlled and taxed by the government.

Now, as we all have seen from these examples and insights that I have presented to all of us here, we can see how light and salt were truly very important and even crucial commodities at the time of the Lord and His ministry two millennia ago. More importantly, as the Lord used these to explain His words and using a parable to highlight His intentions, we should be reminded like those disciples back then, that each and every one of us ought to be truly ‘light of the world’ and ‘salt of the earth’, which indeed mean that we must always be full of faith, in all the things that we say and do, in every moments, doing our best to glorify the Lord by our lives, by each and every things that we do, in showing the light of Christ, His hope and love to everyone.

May the Lord continue to help, strengthen and guide us all in our journey in life henceforth, and may He continue to give us the courage and the power to do our best in each and every moments of our lives, that by our dedication and commitment to Him, we may always lead more and more people towards God, and we may always be joyful in following the Lord at all times, in doing all that He has called and commanded us to do. May God bless our every efforts and endeavours, our every good works and all, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 10 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 5 : 13-16

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt has lost its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It has become useless. It can only be thrown away and people will trample on it.”

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a mountain cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and covers it; instead it is put on a lampstand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine before others, so that they may see the good you do and praise your Father in heaven.”

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Tuesday, 10 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 118 : 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135

Wonderful are Your decrees; my soul cannot but keep them.

As Your words unfold, light is shed, and the simple-hearted understand.

I gasp in ardent yearning for Your commandments that I love.

Turn to me then and be gracious as to those who love Your Name.

You promised to direct my steps; free my path from evil.

Favour me with Your smile and teach me Your statutes.

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Tuesday, 10 June 2025 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Corinthians 1 : 18-22

God knows that our dealing with you is not Yes and No, just as the Son of God, Christ Jesus, Whom we – Silvanus, Timothy, and I – preach to you, was not Yes and No; with Him it was simply Yes. In Him all the promises of God have come to be a Yes, and we also say in His Name : Amen! giving thanks to God.

God Himself has anointed us and strengthens us with you to serve Christ; He has marked us with His own seal in a first outpouring of the Spirit in our hearts.