12th Sunday of Ordinary Time

by

Thursday, 16 June 2022 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, also known as Corpus Christi, marking the commemoration of the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist. Today we commemorate the Lord truly present in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, which we partake and consume during every celebration of the Holy Mass. As Christians, we all firmly believe that the Eucharist we partake and receive in the Holy Mass is none other than the Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Himself.

Although the appearance of the bread and wine remains, but the mystery of our faith in what is known as Transubstantiation means that the bread and wine had actually, by the power of God, through the priests, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and the authority given to them by the Lord through His Church, become the very essence, reality and matter of the Lord’s own Body and Blood. We have faith that this is the truth, and what we truly eat and drink is the Lord Himself, Whose Body has been broken for us, and Whose Blood has been shed and poured down to us, to wash us clean and to bring us to salvation and eternal life.

In our first reading today, we heard the account of the encounter between Abraham, the father of the faithful and Melchizedek, the High Priest of Salem and the High Priest of God Most High. In that occasion, Abraham gave offering to God through Melchizedek, who then offered Abraham’s offering to God, as His High Priest. Melchizedek according to Church tradition had always been a rather mysterious figure, but one who was highly respected and regarded, and there were many theories and explanations that some tried to provide with regards to Melchizedek. Some said that Melchizedek prefigured Christ Himself, in His role as the High Priest, just as Melchizedek being a High Priest of God as well.

Regardless what it was, the link between Melchizedek and Christ established Christ as the High Priest of all mankind, Who offered the sacrifice and offering on our behalf, for the absolution of our many sins. And this is where He uniquely offered on our behalf, the perfect and worthy offering, of none other than His own Precious Body and Blood, the only offering that is worthy enough for the atonement and forgiveness of our sins. Hence, Our Lord offered His sacrificial offering both as the High Priest as well as the Paschal Lamb being sacrificed.

In our second reading today, from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, we heard the Apostle recounting to the faithful what happened at the night of the Last Supper, when the Lord Instituted the Holy Eucharist, by offering the bread and wine that He had blessed, and gave them to His disciples, saying clearly that the bread was truly His Body, broken and given to them, while the wine was truly His Blood, shed and poured on all the people, to all sinners, for the salvation of souls and for the forgiveness of sins. He instituted the Holy Eucharist to give us all the means by which we can be saved from the darkness of our sins.

At the Last Supper, the Lord began His offering as the New Passover and the New Covenant that He established with all of mankind. He offered His own Precious and Holy Body and Blood because in the past, the offering and sacrifice of even unblemished lamb was not sufficient for the absolution of the whole multitude of mankind’s many sins. At the original Passover in Egypt, which the Israelites henceforth commemorated every year, the Passover lamb was slain and then its blood used to mark the houses of the Israelites, that they might be rescued and freed from the slavery and suffering they endured in Egypt. Thus, in the New Passover that the Lord had brought with Him, He Himself, as the Paschal Lamb, and the High Priest, offer on our behalf, the sacrificial offering to redeem us and free us from the suffering and slavery to our sins.

But that sacrifice and offerings did not end at the Last Supper. On the contrary, everything that happened during the Passion of the Lord, His suffering and journey, the suffering and rejection He endured, and His Way of the Cross, culminating with His death and suffering on the Cross. It was at Good Friday that His sacrifice and offering was completed and made perfect, as He offered His own Body and Blood, the Divine Word Incarnate, as the perfect and unblemished offering that cleansed all the faithful from the taints of sin. Through the gift of the Holy Eucharist, the Lord has given us the assurance and guarantee of salvation and eternal life.

That is what the Lord also meant to do as highlighted in our Gospel passage today, as we heard from that the account of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand men with unknown thousands more of women and children with merely five bread and two fishes. He fed them all, and nourished them, giving them the strength to go on, as they were all hungry after following Him and listening to Him for His words and teachings. He then later on would tell them that He is the Bread of Life, the One Who had come into this world to bring life and nourish all of us, with the food that is His Body, and the drink that is His Blood, and as He said it Himself, all of us who share and partake in His Body and Blood shall never die and will have eternal life.

That is because when we eat His Body and drink His Blood, the Lord Himself has come to dwell within us, and He has made us into the Temple of His Holy Presence. As long as He remains in us and we remain in Him, we shall not be lost from Him, and we shall forever enjoy the glorious inheritance and true joy that can come from the Lord alone. The Lord has given His Body and Blood to us freely, and through this act of ultimate love and sacrifice, He has opened for us the gates of Heaven and the path to eternal life. This is what He has promised us and provided for us, and yet, many of us still do not have the firm faith in His providence and love.

Many of us still do not show that we truly believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist. We may profess our faith in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, but from the way we behave and respond to the Eucharist more often than not showed just how little we appreciate the Lord’s Real Presence in the Eucharist, and how little the faith and love that we have in Him. We treated the Lord with indifference and even contempt, in the manner how we receive the Holy Eucharist, in our lack of respect for the Holy Mass and the important tenets of our Christian faith, and in not living our lives in accordance to what we have been expected as Christians.

Today, each and every one of us are reminded that we have been so fortunate that the Lord, our most loving Father, Creator and Master, have been so kind, patient and compassionate towards us that He has given us all His Son, to be Our Lord and Saviour, and by Whose sacrifice, both as our High Priest and Paschal Lamb, He has brought unto us the assurance and guarantee of salvation and eternal life, by giving us His own Body and His own Blood, for us to partake, that He may dwell in us, and that we may always be together with Him.

Let us remind ourselves that we are in the Holy Presence of God, that the Lord Himself has dwelled amongst us, and within us. Let us remind ourselves that we have to be worthy of Him, and strive to be better Christians for now on, in honouring and loving the most loving and perfect sacrifice that He has shown us, in bringing about our salvation. Let us all deepen our faith from now on, in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, that what we receive in the Holy Eucharist, is truly real Body and the real Blood of Our Lord, and not just merely bread and wine, or just merely a symbol.

And we have to begin that from ourselves. We have to give due reverence and honour to the Holy Eucharist, in the manner we receive it, such that we ensure that we are in a proper disposition and state of grace, just as St. Paul said that it would be harmful for Christians who are not in the state of grace to partake of the Holy Eucharist. We have to keep in mind that our every actions and deeds reflect our faith and what we believe in, and how can we expect others to believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, Transubstantiation and that the Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood of the Lord is truly present in the Eucharist, at every celebration of the Holy Mass, if we ourselves have not wholeheartedly believed in it and showed that we truly believe?

May the Lord, Who has given us His own Precious Body and Blood, for our salvation, continue to love us and may He strengthen each and every one of us by His grace and love. May all of us draw ever closer to the Lord and His saving grace, with each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us all and be with all of our works, efforts and good endeavours, now and always. Amen.

by

Thursday, 16 June 2022 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 9 : 11b-17

At that time, Jesus welcomed the people of Bethsaida, and began speaking about the kingdom of God, curing those who needed healing. The day was drawing to a close, and the Twelve drew near to tell Him, “Send the crowd away, and let them go into the villages and farms around, to find lodging and food, for we are here in a lonely place.”

But Jesus replied, “You yourselves, give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves and two fish. Do You want us to go and buy food for all this crowd?” for there were about five thousand men. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”

So they made all of them sit down. Jesus then took the five loaves and two fish, and, raising His eyes to heaven, pronounced a blessing over them; He broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. They ate and everyone had enough; and when they gathered up what was left, twelve baskets were filled with broken pieces.

by

Thursday, 16 June 2022 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 11 : 23-26

This is the tradition of the Lord that I received and that in my turn I have handed on to you; the Lord Jesus, on the night that He was delivered up, took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it, saying, “This is My Body which is broken for you; do this in memory of Me.”

In the same manner, taking the cup after the supper, He said, “This cup is the new Covenant in My Blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of Me.” So, then, whenever you eat of this bread and drink from this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord until He comes.

by

Thursday, 16 June 2022 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 109 : 1, 2, 3, 4

The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand till I make Your foes Your footstool.”

From Zion the Lord will extend Your mighty sceptre and You will rule in the midst of Your enemies.

Yours is royal dignity from the day You were born in holy majesty. Like dew from the womb of the dawn, I have begotten You.

The Lord has sworn, and He will not take back His word : “You are a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

by

Thursday, 16 June 2022 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, Corpus Christi (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Genesis 14 : 18-20

Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought bread and wine; he was a priest of God Most High, and he blessed Abram saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth! And blessed be God Most High Who has delivered your enemies into your hands!”

And Abram gave him a tenth part of everything.

by

Saturday, 26 June 2021 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are of the Lord’s steadfast love for all of us, His people, the love that He has shown us all the time, as He faithfully kept to the Covenant that He has established with each and every one of us as He made it with our forefather, Abraham. God fulfilled His promise to Abraham and all of us, to be His beloved ones, blessed and protected by His love and care.

In our first reading today we heard about Abraham and how God came by to visit him at his tent, at the moment when He was about to fulfil the promise of a son to Abraham, and Abraham immediately recognised the Lord coming towards his place, welcoming Him and listening to whatever He was about to say to him. The Lord reaffirmed His promises to Abraham and told him that Sarah, his wife would bear a son as foretold, the son through whom God’s blessings would be given, to be the progenitor of many nations.

Sarah who was hidden in the tent wondered if such a thing was possible, considering that she had been barren for so many years and had by then been quite old in age, and contextually, that had also been around more than twenty years since Abraham began to journey from his ancestral lands to Canaan. Since the day of the promised son had not yet come, Sarah perhaps began to wonder if she would ever have any son at all. But the Lord knew what was in her heart and mind, and told her through Abraham, that everything is possible for God. In the end, everything happened as intended by the Lord.

Then in our Gospel passage today we heard about the moment when an army centurion approached the Lord asking Him to heal one of his servants, a most famous encounter which is in fact immortalised within every celebration of the Holy Mass. The army centurion or captain, who was most likely a Roman given the situation at the time, believed in the Lord and had faith in Him that He could save His servant from the brink of death, and sought Him to ask Him for the grace of healing.

And not only that he personally sought the Lord, showing great humility, as being a Roman, he was considered as superior and a man of his rank should not have directly sought the Lord. It was proven that he was a man of great power when later on he himself said that all those who were under him obeyed all of his commands. And yet, he humbled himself before the Lord, and asked Him for the command of healing, effectively putting him at the subordinate position, acknowledging the Lord Jesus as his true Lord and Master.

He also humbly refused to allow the Lord to come into his house, as contextually we need to understand that at that time, to enter the house of a Gentile or non-Jew, a pagan, would be deemed as improper and taboo, and would have made one unclean before the Law. In fact, many would have even stayed away from foreigners and Gentiles altogether. But the Lord reached out to the army centurion and even wanted to go to his place to heal the servant. The army centurion must have been aware of the cultural sensitivities and the issues that would have been created by the visit of the increasingly famous Jesus at that time.

Hence, he humbly asked the Lord to command him and acknowledging His power and authority, put his whole trust in His ability to cure and make his servant whole once again. The Lord was indeed impressed by this faith and made the centurion as an example of one who was often looked down and being prejudiced against by the Jewish people, and yet, showed more faith in the Lord than the supposed children and descendants of Abraham. Contrast the faith of the army centurion with the lack of faith that Sarah had, and we can see how first of all, we need to believe in the Lord and put our faith in Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all be reminded by what we have heard in our Scripture passages, through the words of the Lord and His reassuring promises, that we all need to trust in Him and put our faith in Him. Let us not be worried or be fearful anymore. Instead, let us all seek the Lord with renewed faith and commitment, knowing that He loves each and every one of us, without exception. Just as He has reached out even to the army centurion, He shall also reach out to all of us as well, as His love is universal. But are we humble enough like the centurion to realise just how sinful and wicked we have been?

Let us all remember whenever we are about to receive the Lord in the Eucharist, of the army centurion’s words, ‘Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed’. Let these words be truly meant by our lips and our tongue, and not merely left as words alone. Instead, let us all be sincere in seeking the Lord’s love, mercy and forgiveness, and draw ever closer to Him and His grace. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

by

Saturday, 26 June 2021 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Matthew 8 : 5-17

At that time, when Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached Him, to ask His help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralysed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, He was astonished; and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown out into extreme darkness; there, they will wail and grind their teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the captain, “Go home now. As you believed, so let it be.” At that moment, his servant was healed. Jesus went to Peter’s house and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever. He took her by the hand and the fever left her; she got up and began to wait on Him.

Toward evening, they brought to Jesus many people possessed by evil spirits; and with a word, He drove out the spirits. He also healed all who were sick. In this way, what was said by the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled : He bore our infirmities and took on Himself our diseases.

by

Saturday, 26 June 2021 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Luke 1 : 46-47, 48-49, 50 and 53, 54-55

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God, my Saviour!

He has looked upon His servant, in her lowliness, and people, forever, will call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is His Name!

From age to age, His mercy extends to those who live in His presence. He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.

He held out His hand to Israel, His servant, for He remembered His mercy, even as He promised to our fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.

by

Saturday, 26 June 2021 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Genesis 18 : 1-15

YHVH appeared to Abraham near the oaks of Mamre. Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent, in the heat of the day, when he looked up and saw three Men standing nearby. When he saw Them he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet Them. He bowed to the ground and said, “My Lord, if I have found favour in Your sight, do not pass Your servant by. Let a little water be brought. Wash Your feet and then rest under the trees. I shall fetch some bread so that You can be refreshed and continue on Your way, since You have come to Your servant.”

They then said, “Do as you say.” Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said to her, “Quick, take three measures of flour, knead it and make cakes.” Abraham then ran to the herd, took a fine, tender calf, gave it to the servant who hurried to prepare it. He took butter and milk and together with the calf he had prepared laid it all before Them. And while he remained standing, They ate.

They then asked, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” Abraham answered, “She is in the tent.” And the visitor said, “At this same time next year I will return and Sarah by then will have a son.” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent. Abraham and Sarah were old, well on in years, and Sarah no longer had her monthly periods.

Sarah laughed to herself saying, “Now that I am old and worn and my husband is an old man, am I to have this pleasure?” YHVH said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Am I really going to have a child now that I am old?’ Is there anything that is impossible for God? At this same time next year I will return and Sarah by then will have a son.”

Sarah denied saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. But He said, “You did laugh.”

by

Friday, 25 June 2021 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard of the moments when God revealed to His people just how beloved they are, and how faithful He is to His Covenant with us, as we heard in the first reading today from the Book of Genesis how He reaffirmed Abraham of His promises, that He would give him the son that He has promised to be born of Sarah, his wife. Through that son, Isaac, God would make Abraham the father of many nations, just as He promised, and everything did come true eventually.

At that time, Abraham had also managed to sire a child with Sarah’s slave Hagar, upon the instruction made by Sarah herself, as any child born of the wife’s slave would and could be considered as the legal child of the wife. Sarah as well as Abraham were worried that they would not have a child in the end, and hence resorted to such a way to conceive a child, not waiting for the Lord’s promise wholeheartedly.

Yet, despite this, the child born of Abraham and Hagar, named Ishmael, while not the child promised or sanctioned by God, was still blessed by God as we heard in our reading today, still being a child of Abraham, and would eventually become a father of many nations himself. In the end, God fulfilled the promises He had made to His faithful servant, Abraham, above and beyond what He could and should have done.

In our Gospel passage today, then we heard of the Lord at the moment when a leper came to seek Him to be healed, and asked Him to cure him of his predicament. The Lord cured the man and healed him of his leprosy and told him to follow what Moses had commanded to the Israelites on the matter of leprosy and being healed from it. At that time, the Lord did not yet want to reveal Himself and yet, He has pity and love for the leper.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all realise through all that we had heard today, just how beloved we are and how fortunate we are that God wants to love us and make His Covenant with us. It is not only just that but God had also deemed us to be His own beloved children. While we fell into sin and disobeyed Him again and again, He still loved us and while punishing and chastising us, He still helped us and guided us down to the right path, and patiently helped us along the way.

Yet, many of us are still unaware of this fact and many of us still ignore the Lord and refuse to follow the Lord despite all that He had done for us. Many of us Christians ourselves despite what we profess to believe, we have not genuinely and sincerely loved Him in the way we should have. Instead, like Sarah and Abraham, we resorted to other means besides entrusting ourselves fully to the Lord, preferring to do things our own way instead of remembering His promises and reassurances.

This is not what we should be doing, brothers and sisters in Christ. As God’s chosen people, and those whom He has considered as His own people, and blessed all these while, we should begin to appreciate everything that He had done for us. God has loved us all since the very beginning and we have to remember how fortunate we are. God could have destroyed us and crushed us for our insolence, our disobedience and wicked sins, but He is still patient with us, no matter what.

Let us all therefore turn towards the Lord from now on with a renewed heart and love for Him, and let us be ever closer to Him, seeking Him wholeheartedly and dedicating ourselves ever more to Him with each and every passing moments. May the Lord be with us always, and may He bless us in our every good works and endeavours, always, now and forevermore. Amen.