14th Week of Ordinary Time

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Saturday, 12 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 10 : 24-33

A student is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. A student should be glad to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If the head of the family has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of the family! So, do not be afraid of them.

There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, and 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 only 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 no less worthy 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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Saturday, 12 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 92 : 1ab, 1c-2, 5

The Lord reigns, robed in majesty; the Lord is girded with strength.

The world now is firm, it cannot be moved. Your throne stands from long ago, o Lord, from all eternity You are.

Your decrees can be trusted; holiness dwells in Your house day after day without end, o Lord.

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Saturday, 12 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

Isaiah 6 : 1-8

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; the train of His robe filled the Temple. Above Him were seraphs, each with six wings : two to cover the face, two to cover the feet, and two to fly with.

They were calling to one another : “Holy, Holy, Holy is YHVH Sabaoth. All the earth is filled with His Glory!” At the sound of their voices the foundations of the threshold shook and the Temple was filled with smoke.

I said, “Poor me! I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips living among a people of unclean lips, and yet I have seen the King, YHVH Sabaoth.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me; in his hands was a live coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” I answered, “Here I am. Send me!”

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Friday, 11 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listen about how God cares for us, and indeed, how He takes very good care of us, even after we have sinned and rebelled against Him. And even though this life we have in this world may be difficult and filled with challenges, He will not abandon us or let us walk alone in the darkness.

And today we celebrate the feast of St. Benedict, a well-known saint and monk, who was also known by the name of St. Benedict of Nursia, who founded the Benedictine religious order, and was well-known for his strict rule for his religious order, which entails a strict regimen of prayerful life and life lived in perfect harmony with one another and with God.

But this rule also shows the great values of love, faith, and hope that is instilled in generations of monks and religious, not only in St. Benedict’s religious order, but also many other orders who drew their inspiration from St. Benedict and his works. From this we can see, how this saint was truly a great saint, and how his works had laid a strong foundation of faith for many throughout history.

St. Benedict and many other holy men and women, and many religious and workers of the Lord were truly as what Jesus mentioned in the Gospel today, that is to be like sheep among the wolves, to walk in the path of God amid a worldful worth of sin, temptation and difficulties which Satan placed in our way, to prevent us from reaching salvation in God.

St. Benedict and the many others who came before and after him were all truly faithful and good disciples of the Lord. Not only that they remained faithful amidst all the cunning tricks and lies of the devil in order to subvert all mankind into his cause, but they also worked hard, for the good of all God’s people, and spreading the Good News to the whole world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must follow in the examples of St. Benedict of Nursia, that in our faith we must be truly dedicated to Christ our Lord. We cannot be half-hearted in our faith. Instead, we must ensure that every actions and deeds that we do is in tune with the Lord and His will. We must have a good prayer life and time dedicated for the Lord in our lives. We cannot excuse ourselves of having no time for God.

For if we do not open ourselves to the Lord and allow Him to work His wonders in us, then we risk endangering ourselves by bringing ourselves closer to the corruptions of this world, and yet without God as our anchor for us to hold onto, so that we may not be lost in the torrents and streams of this world. Many of mankind had failed and had fallen on their way to the Lord, all trapped and fell along the way as they got distracted from their true goal in life, that is God.

In this life, mankind are always tempted, every day of their lives. We cannot escape from the allures of the world, and all the good things that Satan used in order to detract us and pull us away from our way towards the Lord, and therefore into damnation. It is easy for us to follow our desires and our needs, and therefore forget about what our Lord had taught us. And this is truly dangerous, brothers and sisters, for we have to remember that, we have just this one chance, and only this chance in life to be freed from the ensnarement of sin.

We need to have a discipline in this life, to control our actions and deeds, so that we may temper our desires, so that we may not be enslaved by them, and therefore will not easily succumb to the temptations of Satan. Therefore, let us follow the example set by St. Benedict and many other holy men who followed after him, and also many those who came before him. We must have a heart shaped and dedicated for love, one that will not bend in the face of evil and its temptations.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all commit ourselves to a new life in Christ, one that is founded on light and not on darkness, one that is founded on love and not hatred, and one that is founded on life and not death. Let us all work together, so that we may begin anew in Christ, and live worthily from now on, if we have not done so. May Almighty God guide us and bless us on our way. St. Benedict of Nursia, pray for us as well, that we may be more like you in faith. Amen.

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Friday, 11 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 10 : 16-23

Look, I send you out like sheep among wolves. You must be as clever as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard with people, for they will hand you over to their courts, and they will flog you in their synagogues. You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of Me, so you may witness to them and the pagans.

But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say, or how you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. For it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father in you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of Me, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved.

When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next. I assure you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

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Friday, 11 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 8-9, 12-13, 14 and 17

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

I know You desire truth in the heart, teach me wisdom in my inmost being. Cleanse me with hyssop and I shall be clean, wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me again the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. O Lord, open my lips, and I will declare Your praise.

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Friday, 11 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Hosea 14 : 2-10

Return to your God YHVH, o Israel! Your sins have caused your downfall. Return to YHVH with humble words. Say to Him, “Oh You who show compassion to the fatherless, forgive our debt, be appeased. Instead of bulls and sacrifices, accept the praise from our lips.”

“Assyria will not save us : No longer shall we look for horses nor ever again shall we say, ‘Our Gods’ to the work of our hands.” I will heal their wavering and love them with all my heart, for My anger has turned from them.

I shall be like dew to Israel, like the lily will he blossom. Like a cedar he will send down his roots; the young shoots will grow and spread. His splendour will be like an olive tree, His fragrance, like a Lebanon cedar. They will dwell in My shade again, they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like a vine, and their fame will be like Lebanon wine.

What would Ephraim do with idols, when it is I who hear and make him prosper? I am like an ever-green cypress tree; all your fruitfulness comes from Me. Who is wise enough to grasp all this? Who is discerning and will understand? Straight are the ways of YHVH : the just walk in them, but the sinners stumble.

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Thursday, 10 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the words of the Lord in the Holy Scriptures today, both in the reading from the Old Testament and from the Holy Gospels are the true revelation that God is concerned with us, and He is truly not angry with us, or despise us in any way. On the contrary, He was concerned so much that He gave us none other than Jesus, to be our Hope and to be our Saviour from our certain destruction.

Yet in a way, it was also a lamentation by our God, on how mankind turned away and did not listen to the words of God, and spurned the love He had shown them, and did not care about the attention He had given them so much over the ages past. The words of Jesus in the Gospel also highlighted this fact. He taught His disciples to expect rejection, just as much as they should expect to be accepted by those whom they preach the word of God to.

Yes, brethren, our Lord seeks for us and He wants to be with us, accompany us, and talk with us, all the days of our lives. So much and so great is His love, that He truly does not want to be separated from us. But, what did we do to Him then? We often shut the door in front of Him, and we like to cast Him out of our lives. We rejected Him in favour of following the ways of the world.

Therefore, we cannot think that those who rejected the words of the Lord as mentioned in the Gospel, as well as the errant children of God in Israel, in the time of the Old Testament, are people separate from us, or that we are immune to the same errors and possibilities of falling into sin. As long as we remain in this world, we are always susceptible to the works of Satan and evil in corrupting our hearts to his purpose. We are always susceptible to sin, and we may also end up like those who were mentioned, unless if we take active steps to prevent it.

Let us today reflect on our lives, on the actions, words and everything we do, and see and think if all of them had been done in accordance to what the Lord taught us, and what He wanted us to do. Have we walked faithfully in His path, or do we prefer to follow our own path in life, following everything as we desired and as we wanted?

This is important for us, and indeed, it is crucial that we maintain a very healthy and active reflective lifestyle, thinking through our life actions, on whether they reflect ourselves as children of God, or as the children of this world, of Satan. It is easier for us to walk in the path of darkness compared to the path of light, and it is indeed tempting for us to be lax in our actions and deeds, so that we end up being like the people of Israel who disobeyed the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we seek the Lord anew? Shall we truly renew our efforts in finding Him, and following Him in our lives? It is indeed not an easy path, but it is truly manageable. Shall we continue our rejection of the Lord’s free offer of love, which He extended to all of us? Or shall we rather ignore Him and close the doors of our hearts to Him? The choice is ours, and we have been given free will to choose our path.

Let us therefore discern well, and use this opportunity to think well, of our actions and deeds. Let us no longer follow the rebelliousness of Satan and his fellow fallen accomplices, but let us all show and profess our undying and eternal devotion to our Lord. Remember always, brethren, that He died for us, so that we may live. There is no greater love than this, and there is no care greater than the care shown by God to us.

May Almighty God be with us all, keep us safe, and bless us with His grace forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 10 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 10 : 7-15

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. You received this as a gift, so give it as a gift. Do not carry any gold, silver or copper in your purses. Do not take a traveller’s bag, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or a staff : workers deserve their living.

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 in the house deserve it, your peace will be on them; if they do not deserve it, your blessing will come back to you.

And if you are not welcomed, and your words are not listened to, leave that house or that town, and shake the dust off your feet. I assure you, it will go easier for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment, than it will for the people of that town.

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Thursday, 10 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 79 : 2ac and 3b, 15-16

Listen, o Shepherd of Israel, You who sit enthroned between the cherubim. Stir up Your might and come to save us.

Turn again, o Lord of hosts, look down from heaven and see; care for this vine, and protect the stock Your hand has planted.