12th Week of Ordinary Time

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Sunday, 21 June 2026 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we gathered together and listened to the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded that we have to remain firmly rooted in our faith in God, so that each one of us will not easily fall to the temptations present all around us, which can lead us astray in our path, and bring us down the path of ruin and sin. All of us as Christians are God’s beloved sons and daughters, His own beloved ones, whom He truly cares about, and we should have no need to be afraid or to fear that we will have nothing as the Lord will always guide us and He will always be by our side, helping us and empowering us. The Lord wants us all to always be faithful to Him, and be vigilant lest we may be tempted and swayed to the path of sin and evil.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, in which the prophet Jeremiah spoke of the predicaments and struggles that he was facing in the midst of his ministry, in all the opposition and the hardships that he had to endure. Jeremiah had been sent to the people of God, the people of the southern kingdom of Judah, at a time of great turmoil and misfortune, during the last days of Judah, when they were facing a lot of struggles and attacks from their enemies. All these came about ultimately because of their own sins and wickedness, in how they had refused to obey the Lord and His Law, in their waywardness and unfaithful way of life. They had spurnt the Lord and His commandments, persecuted and even killed His prophets and messengers.

The prophet Jeremiah endured many of the same hardships, persecuted and oppressed for speaking the truth, as he revealed the Lord’s intentions to His people, telling them all of the upcoming disasters and destruction that would happen because of their continued and stubborn refusal to believe in God and in obeying His ways. He was persecuted by the powerful members of the aristocracy and the influential ones, who colluded with the false prophets that spoke lies and falsehoods, in saying that God would bless and reward the king and the people of Judah, not speaking what the Lord truly has delivered to them through Jeremiah. Jeremiah dared to go against the majority and all those false prophets and all the powerful nobles, and almost lost his life in the process. Yet, he remained firm in his faith and commitment, and did not let all those things to dissuade him from his mission.

Jeremiah said that it was because God was with him, a mighty Warrior, standing by his side. It means that no matter what hardships that he would have to go through and endure, the Lord would always support him and be with him, even in the darkest and most difficult moments. Jeremiah reminded us all therefore that we are never alone in our sufferings, and we will always have God by our side, journeying with us and fighting with us, and He will lead us all to the ultimate triumph with Him while those who rejected Him and refused to obey Him, will eventually meet their defeat and downfall. Those who hold strongly to their faith in God will be raised and glorified, like Jeremiah and many other prophets who had suffered and been persecuted for their faith, and now glorified as great servants of God.

In our second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans, we heard St. Paul the Apostle speaking to the Church and the faithful in Rome regarding the matter how the Lord has brought mankind, all of His beloved people out of the darkness of sin and death, by the sending of His own most beloved Son, by His grace, made through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, through Whom, the salvation of God has entered into this world. Through Christ, all of us have been shown the path out of the darkness and into the light of God. All of us have been led out of the darkness due to our own disobedience and wickedness, in our refusal to obey God’s will, His Law and commandments, by the perfect obedience shown by Jesus Christ Himself, which just like Jeremiah and the other prophets and servants of God of old, dedicated Himself thoroughly to the mission that God, His heavenly Father had entrusted to Him.

And this mission is for Him to bear all the burdens and sufferings, all the punishments and the hardships due to us because of our sins and wickedness. He bore His Cross, full of the punishments and consequences due for our sins because He truly loves each and every one of us, and He made Himself into the most worthy offering, because He truly cared for us, and wanted us all to be reconciled with Him, forgiven and cleansed from our many sins, so that through Him, all of us will not perish and be damned into the eternity in hell, but instead, be affirmed and assured of the path of salvation and eternal life. Christ has done all of these because He did not want to be separated from us, and each one of us are truly precious and important to Him.

In our Gospel passage today, that is what the Lord Jesus Himself reiterated to His disciples and therefore to all of us, stating clearly that each one of us are truly precious and beloved by God, and God knows everything in our hearts, our minds and our whole lives. If we worry about following God and do things that are against His path simply because we want to preserve ourselves and avoid hardships and difficulties in life, then we have to know that the consequences for us will not be a nice one. Many of our predecessors themselves were faced with these difficult choices, on whether they ought to remain faithful to God, or to continue to practice their faith with sincerity and commitment, or whether they ought to give in to the many pressures, temptations, coercions and other things that forced, encouraged and coerced them to abandon their faith in God in exchange for worldly satisfaction and acceptance.

What about us then, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we going to surrender our faith in God simply because we do not want to be inconvenienced and to suffer hardships because of our faith in Him? Are we going to abandon the Lord simply because what we believe in supposedly are no longer in tandem with what the world today prefers to believe, or because our faith in the Lord is no longer fashionable and cool for us to keep faithfully in our lives? Are we also going to continue to be lukewarm in our faith and to be ignorant of our calling in life to be faithful and committed Christians, to be filled with true and genuine faith at all times, and not merely just paying lip service or fulfil external obligations of our faith, but inside we do not have true love for the Lord and faith in Him?

Let us ask ourselves these questions and discern carefully if we have truly devoted ourselves to the Lord in the manner that we should do as Christians, or whether we have chosen to conform to the ways of the world. Let us discern our path forward in life and ask ourselves if we have placed the Lord at the centre and as the focus of our lives and existences. If we have lacked faith and trust in the Lord, then this is the time for us to remember the guidance, help and strength that God had lent and given to all of His servants and faithful ones, and in everything He had done for us, in not sparing for us even His own most beloved Son, not just to dwell among us, but even to suffer for us on our behalf, bearing the burdens and punishments due for our sins and wickedness, and offering Himself as the perfect and most worthy sacrifice, so that through Him all of us may be saved and have eternal life.

Let us then turn over a new leaf in our lives, and abandon our past lives of sin and evil, and return to the Lord with contrite and broken hearts, asking Him to heal us from our many sins, from our brokenness, our disobedience and rebellions. Let us all be exemplary in our lives from now on, no longer being bound by sin and evil in our path, and walking once again in the path that God has shown and taught us to go through, so that we will get ever closer to Him and find our way to His salvation and eternal life. May the Lord continue to guide each one of us and empower us in our lives so that we may be ever more worthy of Him, in all the things we say and do, in our every interactions and actions throughout our lives, becoming great role models and inspirations for one another, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 21 June 2026 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 10 : 26-33

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered. There is nothing hidden that will not be made known. What I am telling you in the dark, you must speak in the light. What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops.”

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but have no power to kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of Him Who can destroy both body and soul in hell. For a few cents you can buy two sparrows. Yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father knowing. As for you, every hair of your head has been counted. Do not be afraid : you are worthy more than many sparrows!”

“Whoever acknowledges Me before others, I will acknowledge before My Father in heaven. Whoever rejects Me before others, I will reject before My Father in heaven.”

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Sunday, 21 June 2026 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 5 : 12-15

Therefore, sin entered the world through one man; and through sin, death; and later on, death spread to all humankind, because all sinned. As long as there was no law, they could not speak of disobedience, but sin was already in the world. This is why, from Adam to Moses, death reigned among them, although their sin was not disobedience, as in Adam’s case – this was not the true Adam, but foretold the Other, Who was to come.

Such has been the fall, but God’s gift goes far beyond. All died, because of the fault of one man, but how much more does the grace of God spread, when the gift He granted, reaches all, from this unique Man, Jesus Christ.

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Sunday, 21 June 2026 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 68 : 8-10, 14 and 17, 33-35

Since I am held in contempt for Your sake, and shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my kindred, an alien to my mother’s sons. Zeal for Your house consumes me, as fire, and those who insult You, insult me as well.

But I pray to You, o YHVH. At a time most favourable to You, in Your great love, o God, answer me, with Your unfailing help. In Your mercy, o YHVH, give me a good answer; in Your great compassion, turn to me.

Let the lowly witness this, and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts be revived. For YHVH hears the needy; and does not despise those in captivity. Let the heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and whatever moves in them.

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Sunday, 21 June 2026 : Twelfth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Jeremiah 20 : 10-13

I hear many people whispering, “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Yes, denounce him!” All my friends watch me to see if I will slip : “Perhaps he can be deceived,” they say; “then we can get the better of him and have our revenge.”

But YHVH, a mighty Warrior, is with me. My persecutors will stumble and not prevail; that failure will be their shame and their disgrace will never be forgotten. YHVH, God of Hosts, You test the just and probe the heart and mind. Let me see Your revenge on them, for to You I have entrusted my cause.

Sing to YHVH! Praise YHVH and say : He has rescued the poor from the clutches of the wicked!

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Saturday, 28 June 2025 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, on the day after the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of His most loving Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. On this day we remember the loving and most Immaculate Heart of Mary who has always been filled with love for God, for her Son, the One entrusted to her to care, and also for all of us, all of whom had also been entrusted to her as her own children, that she may truly love us all as much as she has loved Jesus, her Son, Our Lord and Saviour. On this day we remember the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our loving Mother, which has been pierced by the sword of pain of seeing her own Son, Jesus, being made to suffer, to be crucified and to die on the Cross for faults that were not His own.

First of all, let us all look upon our Scripture readings today, beginning with our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Isaiah. In that passage from the prophet Isaiah we heard the words of the Lord speaking to His people reassuring them that He will bless them and give them all His grace and kindness, restoring them to honour and happiness, allowing them to rejoice once again after they had suffered indignity and difficulties earlier on in their experiences and those faced by their ancestors. Contextually, we must understand the events that happened during the time of the ministry of the prophet Isaiah and what happened beforehand in order to appreciate the full significance of what the Lord had been telling His people with this message of hope and reassurance.

The prophet Isaiah ministered to the people of the southern kingdom of Judah, the southern half of the divided kingdom of Israel, during the reign of King Ahaz and King Hezekiah, during which time and reign the northern kingdom of Israel, the northern half of the divided kingdom with most of the twelve tribes of Israel, was destroyed by the mighty forces of the Assyrian Empire which brought destruction upon the kingdom of Israel and its capital, Samaria, and many of the people living in that kingdom had been uprooted and exiled in distant, far-off lands of Assyria and beyond, with foreigners being brought in to dwell in the lands that used to belong to the people of God. The same misfortune and hardship would in time also happen to the kingdom of Judah as well, and the threat of the Assyrians also happened against the people of Judah.

Therefore, amidst all these hardships, the Lord promised His people of restoration and hope, of renewed trust and assurance that if they were all to have faith and trust in Him, He would deliver them all from their troubles and difficulties. If the people of God trusted in Him and followed His path, and sinned no more against Him, eventually they would be liberated from all those troubles and be led into the right path through His patient and ever consistent guidance and help. God does not want any of us to be lost to Him, and that is why He has always done everything He could to find us and to help us to return to Him, giving us hope and help, and one of the ways that He has done this, is through entrusting to us His own Blessed Mother to be our own Mother and intercessor.

Then, from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the events that happened during the time when the Lord Jesus was still only twelve years old, when He was left behind in the Temple of Jerusalem while His family was already on their way back to their hometown in Nazareth. We heard how Mary and Joseph realised that the young Jesus were not with them in the entourage, and therefore went back all the way to Jerusalem in order to find Him. And once there, they found Jesus in deep discussion with the priests and the educated men there, and the latter were all astonished at His great wisdom and eloquence. Mary in particular was mentioned as having heard and kept all the things that she witnessed in her heart.

This is a reminder for all of us of the loving heart of a Mother, who has been entrusted with the love of her Son, the One that was told to her as the Son of God Most High, and yet, through her also the Son of Man. And through His great love for us all mankind, from His Most Sacred Heart, therefore Mary also share the same love that her Son has for us, in how she has constantly loved all of us, her own beloved children, entrusted to her by her own Son from His Cross. And from her Immaculate Heart, immaculate because as we all believe that Mary was conceived without any taint or corruption of original sin, and remained full of grace throughout her life, Mary has shown the love of God manifested to us, the beautiful love of a Mother all these while.

That is why as we may have noticed, how often Mary, our loving Mother has appeared to us in various occasions, particularly during times of great upheavals and distress, most famously in the sites of Guadalupe, which happened after the Spanish conquests of the Americas and also during the time of the Protestant reformation, and also Lourdes, which happened during time of great upheavals in Europe and traditional Christendom regarding the relationship between the Church and the state, and at Fatima in Portugal, which happened during the height of the First World War. These famous apparitions, together with other apparations of Mary serve to remind us all of just how much love that Mary our loving Mother has for all of us, and how much she wants to show this love, care and attention in order to help us to find our way to her Son, our Lord and Saviour.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence entrust ourselves to our Blessed Mother, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, ever full of love for us and for her Son. Through her, let us all come ever closer to the path to salvation, knowing that through Mary is indeed the most direct path to her Son, Our Saviour and King. Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, our Mother and intercessor, pray for all of us always, and may your constant love for us, from your Immaculate Heart continue to inspire us all to love one another in the same manner as well. Amen.

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Saturday, 28 June 2025 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 41-51

Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, as was customary. And when Jesus was twelve years old, He went up with them, according to the custom of this feast. After the festival was over, they returned, but the Boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents did not know it.

They thought He was in the company, and after walking the whole day they looked for Him among their relatives and friends. As they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem searching for Him, and on the third day they found Him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. And all the people were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

His parents were very surprised when they saw Him, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Your father and I were very worried while searching for You.” Then He said to them, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?” But they did not understand this answer.

Jesus went down with them, returning to Nazareth, and He continued to be subject to them. As for His mother, she kept all these things in her heart.

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Saturday, 28 June 2025 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Samuel 2 : 1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd

My heart exults in YHVH, I feel strong in my God. I rejoice and laugh at my enemies for You came with power to save me.

The bow of the mighty is broken, but the weak are girded with strength. The well-fed must labour for bread, but the hungry need work no more. The childless wife has borne seven children, but the proud mother is left alone.

YHVH is Lord of life and death. He brings down to the grave and raises up. YHVH makes poor and makes rich, He brings low and He exalts.

He lifts up the lowly from the dust, and raises the poor from the ash heap; they will be called to the company of princes, and inherit a seat of honour.

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Saturday, 28 June 2025 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 61 : 9-11

Their descendants shall be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a race YHVH has blessed.

I rejoice greatly in YHVH, my soul exults for joy in my God, for He has clothed me in the garments of His salvation, He has covered me with the robe of His righteousness, like a bridegroom wearing a garland, like a bride adorned with jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden makes seeds spring up, so will the Lord YHVH make justice and praise spring up in the sight of all nations.

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Friday, 27 June 2025 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today on the Friday after the Sunday after the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, we celebrate this great Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, celebrating the great love of God which had been manifested in the flesh in the person of the Son of God, the Divine Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of all the whole world. On this day we remember the most loving and Sacred Heart of our Lord, the same Heart which has loved us all from the very beginning of our Creation and which had also bled and pained by our rebellions and disobedience, by our sins and wickedness, all of which had wounded Him in His Most Sacred Heart greatly.

And yet, at the same time, we are reminded of the infinite and boundless love of God manifesting and presenting itself so generously from His Most Sacred Heart, which has become visible, tangible and approachable to us through Christ, Our Lord. The Lord has always been so patient, kind and generous in loving us, never giving up on us, even the greatest of sinners amongst us. He has always extended His loving hands and patient care on everyone, and He has always shown us all His love without limit, without boundaries, ever being kind and compassionate whenever we erred against Him and disobeyed Him. While He is indeed angry and displeased against our sins and wickedness, but His love for us, His compassion and mercy are greater than the former.

In our first reading this day, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard of the great love and ever patient and enduring compassion which He has always had for His people, the people of Israel, the people whom He had called and chosen from the world to be His own. And through these words He had spoken through Ezekiel, He wanted to show His beloved ones, to the ones whom He was speaking to, that His love for them was truly boundless and great, surpassing even His anger and annoyance at them for having constantly disobeyed Him, His Law and commandments, all of which had led them to be exiled in distant off lands, away from their homeland and suffering the consequences of their disobedience.

The Lord told His people in the land of exile in Babylon and elsewhere through the prophet Ezekiel that He would gather them all back once again to His loving Presence, as the Shepherd of all the flock of His people, all of whom had been scattered because of their own stubbornness in sin and disobedience, and yet, the Lord, the Good and most loving Shepherd of His people, wanted all of them to be found once again, to enjoy once again the fullness of His grace and love, His blessings and His generosity, all the things that He had intended for them. God reassured His people that He Himself would find them all, gather them and call them all back to His loving Presence, tending to their wounds and restoring them once again in grace and blessings.

And all of those words were indeed a prophecy of what the Lord would do through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who manifested this love in a most tangible way just as St. Paul the Apostle elaborated it to all of us through his Epistle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Rome just as we have heard it from our second reading passage today. St. Paul reminded the faithful in Rome and hence all of us that God has indeed given us such great love through His giving to us of His Holy Spirit which we have all received at baptism and affirmed further for those of us who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Holy Spirit has dwelled in us and giving us the rich love and grace from God, which we have all enjoyed and experienced, and which we are therefore expected to share with everyone around us.

Then, from the manifestation of His love in the flesh in the Son of Man, in Jesus Christ, the intentions and love flowing from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, manifesting God’s perfect love has been presented and shown to us, in the clearest manner, and we have seen this love being given to us so generously, so wonderfully through no clearer way than what the Lord Jesus Himself had done so selflessly and so lovingly from His Cross at Calvary, when He willingly took upon Himself the weight of His Cross so that by bearing upon the burdens of our many sins and wickedness, our faults and the punishments meant for them, His love may truly be manifested in full for us, a most selfless and unconditional love which He has given to us, in caring for us and wanting us all to be truly beloved and full of grace as He has always intended.

Finally, as we heard from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, the Lord Jesus Himself told the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law listening to Him using the parable of the lost sheep, telling all of them that if they were to put themselves into the shoes of the shepherds, which among them would not leave behind the ninety-nine sheep that were already safe and gathered in the barn to look out for the one lost sheep that had been separated from the flock. The Lord also highlighted the great effort that the shepherd would have done for the sake of finding that lost one, so that the lost one could be reunited with him and the other sheep, and how a great celebration and rejoicing would come when the lost sheep had been discovered.

And that was exactly what the Lord Himself, Our most loving and generous Good Shepherd had done for us all, all of us who are the sheep of His flock. He did everything to seek us out, sending us all His Son, Jesus Himself, to be the One to hold us all by hand, and to bring us all back to Him, reuniting us with Him with His love and mercy. God has never given up on any of us, no matter what circumstances we may be in, and how difficult we may have behaved. Our loving Good Shepherd has always been patient with us, and from His Most Sacred Heart we can see this ever enduring love and compassion being constantly poured out for us, given to us so that we may be full of His love ourselves, and that we may also learn to love one another just as He has always loved us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all continue to love the Lord most wholeheartedly just as He has loved us all from the very beginning, doing our very best so that by our love everyone may truly know that we belong to the Lord, our most loving Shepherd and Master, the One Who has loved us so dearly and Who has shown us His most generous mercy and kindness. Let us all do our very best to love Him and to love one another in the manner that He Himself has shown us so that by our love, we may truly bring joy and warmth to everyone’s hearts, restoring hope and light in the hearts of those who have been afflicted by sufferings in life and by the darkness of despair. May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, continue to help and strengthen us in our efforts, and help us in our every good efforts and endeavours.

O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we trust in You, and we trust in the love that You have constantly given to us. Help us all to love in the manner that You have loved us, and help us to remain faithful to You and Your ever generous love, now and always. Amen.