17th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 25 July 2022 : Feast of St. James, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Corinthians 4 : 7-15

However, we carry this treasure in vessels of clay, so that this all-surpassing power may not be seen as ours, but as God’s. Trials of every sort come to us, but we are not discouraged. We are left without answer, but do not despair; persecuted but not abandoned, knocked down but not crushed.

At any moment, we carry, in our person, the death of Jesus, so, that, the life of Jesus may also be manifested in us. For we, the living, are given up continually to death, for the sake of Jesus, so, that, the life of Jesus may appear in our mortal existence. And as death is at work in us, life comes to you.

We have received the same Spirit of faith referred to in Scripture, that says : I believed and so I spoke. We also believed, and so we speak. We know that He, Who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us, with Jesus, and bring us, with you, into His presence. Finally, everything is for your good, so that grace will come more abundantly upon you, and great will be the thanksgiving for the glory of God.

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Sunday, 24 July 2022 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us heard the words of the Lord calling on us to come to Him and to put our faith and trust in Him, because He as our loving God and Father will always listen to us and show His love for us, at every opportunities. Today’s Scripture readings remind us of just how beloved we are by God and how precious we are all to Him, that He has always been willing to communicate with us and to accommodate us, as we heard from those Scripture passages. Hence, as we spend the time to reflect on those passages let us constantly remind ourselves of God’s ever present love for each one of us.

In our first reading today, we heard of the story of the encounter between God and Abraham in the Book of Genesis during the time when God visited Abraham in human disguise to announce to him the coming of his long awaited promised son, Isaac, of which God told Abraham that Isaac would be born within the year. At that time, the Lord also spent time with Abraham to discuss regarding Sodom and Gomorrah, and told him of what He planned to do with the cities and their people who had committed grievous sins and wickedness against God. God would destroy and erase the memory of Sodom and Gomorrah as a punishment for their sins.

Abraham was immediately reminded of his nephew Lot, who had parted ways with him earlier on and was dwelling in Sodom with his family. Therefore, Abraham tried to ask the Lord for clemency and patience, and begged Him to reconsider on behalf of any of the righteous who could have been there in Sodom and Gomorrah, which would have included Lot and his family as well. Hence, we heard how Abraham negotiated with God, and continued to ask Him if God would destroy the cities should there be some of the faithful there in those cities, in cumulatively decreasing number of five.

God listened to Abraham and reassured him that if He could find the number of the faithful that he mentioned, He would reconsider and not bring harm to the two cities and the people in them. Unfortunately, based on what happened, Lot and his family alone were considered righteous among all the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, and there was not even ten people who could be considered righteous, and hence God did not spare the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. But God did send His Angels to help Lot and his family to get out of Sodom to safety, and He brought them all out safely, save for Lot’s wife who hesitated, looked back against God’s warnings and was turned into a salt pillar.

Nonetheless, Abraham tried and asked the Lord, and the Lord heard him. The Lord rescued Lot and his family from harm, and He also provided for them afterwards, just as He has also provided for Abraham, giving him the promised son, the inheritance and more blessings. The Lord has always ever been faithful, to the Covenant which He had made with us, His people, all that He had done for our sake, in all the promises He made and then fulfilled to us, among others that He had done, again and again throughout time and history. All these are because God truly loves each and every one of us.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the words of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples regarding the matter of prayer, how to pray to God and also on the matter of asking God, for help and attention. In that passage, we heard the Lord teaching the disciples how to pray, with the prayer that He Himself had composed, directed to God, Who is our Heavenly Father, the prayer we now know well as the Lord’s Prayer or the Pater Noster. The Lord’s Prayer is a model and exemplary prayer which embodies all of what a prayer is all about, as it combines thanksgiving, supplication and petition, praising and glorification, as well as seeking for forgiveness and mercy from God.

How this is significant is that, because God is our Father and like any fathers, as the Lord Himself mentioned, He would not purposely let us down, reject us or harm us. He loves each and every one of us because we are all like His children, and as both our Father and Shepherd, He listens to all of us just like how He listened to the petitions and prayers of Abraham, as well as those of many of our other predecessors. He did not turn His ears or heart away from us when we ask, plead or beg Him. Instead, He listens to us patiently, even when we make a lot of often outrageous demands and wishes on Him, or when we expected Him to do something for us, or to fulfil our desires among other things.

However, many of us often do not even seek the Lord in the first place when we are in need of help. We instead turn to other sources of comfort and possible solutions, turning to money, worldly means and others, to the idols of our world instead of entrusting ourselves in the Lord’s care and love. That was precisely how and why so many of our predecessors had fallen into the wrong paths, as they did not have strong faith and relationship with God. They were easily shaken and tempted to abandon the Lord for the other worldly refuge that brought us further and deeper into troubles in various ways.

Too many of us are also easily disappointed whenever we feel that the Lord is not listening to us or that He does not fulfil our wishes and wants, our demands and desires. But this is exactly where we must realise and remember that God as our Lord and Master, and our Father and Creator, has no obligation whatsoever to fulfil our needs and wants. But God knows us well, and He knows what we truly needs, and everything will happen according to His will, rather than our will and desire. We must not forget that we cannot and should not impose our will and desire on the Lord, as that is not how prayer and our relationship with God work. That is why, the Lord in His prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, has these words, ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven’.

And those of us who do not dare to ask the Lord, we did not realise that often we just have to speak to Him and ask Him. God knows what we want and what we need, but at the same time, He also wants to engage us in a conversation much as how we also want to engage in active conversation with our family and friends. It is by building up that genuine and strong, living relationship with God that we may come to know more of our path in life and what we need to do for us to achieve a more wholesome and faithful life as the disciples and servants of our Lord. We have to knock on the Lord’s door, and call on Him, ask for His help and kindness.

To do this, we often require the humility to do so. Often times, our pride and ego may come between us and God, as we become reluctant to lower ourselves and humble ourselves so that we may be the listener in our communication and relationship with God. That is why, for us to develop a truly genuine and vibrant relationship with God, we will need to be open-minded, humble and be willing to listen to God speaking to us. He has always been patient like that of a father patiently guiding his children, sometimes disciplining and punishing at times, rewarding at others, but with the intention for our own good and true happiness. But we as children, we often acted naughtily by being stubborn and not listening to our Father’s words.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all called to be grateful to God and to open ourselves to Him, with us having received so much favour and blessings from God, our loving Father Himself, so much so that as St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Colossians in our second reading today, that He has given us the ultimate gift of love through Jesus Christ, His Son, by which He has provided us with the sure path to return and to be reconciled with Him. That is because through Christ, all of us have been made sharers in the new Covenant that He established with us, by His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross.

God has given us so wonderful a gift, even before we asked Him, and without us even asking for it. Through Him and all that He had done, He opened for us the path to eternal life and everlasting joy. God has not spared for us even His most beloved and only Son, so that through Him, we may receive the sure guarantee of salvation. Therefore, all of us are reminded and called to turn our hearts and minds fully towards the Lord, entrusting ourselves to Him. Let us all not harden our hearts anymore, but open them to allow God to come knocking at us and enter into our lives, just as we come to Him, knocking on His doors seeking for His grace, love, compassion and mercy.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Father be with us always, and may He continue to guide us in our lives and journeys of faith, and may He continue to encourage us and strengthen us that we may persevere through even the worst of challenges and trials in life. May God bless us always, in all of our deeds and efforts, in all of our good endeavours, for His greater glory. Amen.

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Sunday, 24 July 2022 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 11 : 1-13

At that time, Jesus was praying in a certain place; and when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught His disciples.”

And Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this : Father, may Your Name be held holy, may Your kingdom come; give us, each day, the kind of bread we need, and forgive us our sins; for we also forgive all who do us wrong; and do not bring us to the test.”

Jesus said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to his house in the middle of the night and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine who is travelling has just arrived, and I have nothing to offer him.’ Maybe your friend will answer from inside, ‘Do not bother me now; the door is locked, and my children and I are in bed, so I cannot get up and give you anything.'”

“But I tell you, even though he will not get up and attend to you because you are a friend, yet he will get up because you are a bother to him, and he will give you all you need. And so I say to you, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For the one who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened.”

“If your child asks for a fish, will you give him a snake instead? And if your child asks for an egg, will you give him a scorpion? If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.”

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Sunday, 24 July 2022 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Colossians 2 : 12-14

I refer to baptism. On receiving it, you were buried with Christ; and you also rose with Him, for having believed in the power of God, Who raised Him from the dead.

You were dead. You were in sin and uncircumcised at the same time. But God gave you life with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He cancelled the record of our debts, those regulations which accused us. He did away with all that, and nailed it to the cross.

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Sunday, 24 July 2022 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 137 : 1-2a, 2bcd-3, 6-7ab, 7c-8

I thank You, o Lord, with all my heart, for You have heard the word of my lips. I sing Your praise in the presence of the gods. I bow down towards Your holy Temple and give thanks to Your Name.

For Your love and faithfulness, for Your word which exceeds everything. You answered me when I called; You restored my soul and made me strong.

From above, YHVH watches over the lowly; from afar, He marks down the haughty. If I walk in the midst of trouble, You give me life. With outstretched arm, You save me from the wrath of my foes.

With Your right hand You deliver me. How the Lord cares for me! Your kindness, o Lord, endures forever. Forsake not the work of Your hands.

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Sunday, 24 July 2022 : Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Genesis 18 : 20-32

Then YHVH said, “How great is the cry for justice against Sodom and Gomorrah! And how grievous is their sin! I am going down to see if they have done all that they are charged with in the outcry that has reached Me. If it is not so, I will know.” The men with Him turned away and went towards Sodom, but YHVH remained standing before Abraham.

Abraham went forward and said, “Will You really let the just perish with the wicked? Perhaps there are fifty good people in the town. Are You really going to let them perish? Would You not spare the place for the sake of these fifty righteous people? It would not be at all like You to do such a thing and You cannot let the good perish with the wicked, nor treat the good and the wicked alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth be just?” YHVH said, “If I find fifty good people in Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

Abraham spoke up again, “I know that I am very bold to speak like this to my Lord, I who am only dust and ashes! But perhaps the number of the good is five less than fifty. Will You destroy the town because of the five?” YHVH replied, “I will not destroy the town if I find forty-five good people there.” Again Abraham said to him, “Perhaps there will be only forty.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.”

Abraham went on, saying, “May my Lord not be angry, but let me speak. Maybe only thirty good people will be found in the town.” YHVH answered, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty there.” Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to my Lord, what if only twenty can be found?” He said, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy the place.”

But Abraham insisted, “May my Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found?” And YHVH answered, “For the sake of ten good people, I will not destroy Sodom.”

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Saturday, 31 July 2021 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Scriptures reminding us to be faithful to the Lord, in our every day living moments and in all things. We are all called to remember the Lord’s commandments and Law, and the need for all of us as Christians to love God first and foremost, and then to show that same love to our fellow brothers and sisters, to everyone without exception.

In our first reading today we heard of the Lord’s commands to His people as recorded in the Book of Leviticus, detailing the celebration of the fiftieth year or the year of the Jubilee, which was marked as a year of celebration and healing, of reconciliation and love, where people forgave their enemies and those who had been indebted to them from their debts. It is a year set aside to remind the people of God that they ought to give thanks to God and at the same time also show care and love for one another.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the story of the martyrdom or the death of St. John the Baptist in prison, at the hands of king Herod, and at the instigation of his wife, Herodias, who held deep grudge against St. John the Baptist as the saint did not hesitate to rebuke and criticise both king Herod and her due to the adultery they had committed by their marriage when Herod’s brother, Philip, the legal husband of Herodias was still alive.

We all know how Herodias tricked Herod through her beautiful daughter, tricking Herod into ordering the execution of faithful servant of God as likely under the influence of alcohol during a party, and overcome by his lust and desire for pleasure and human beauty, he made a commitment before all the assembled guests that he could not deny or retract. Hence, through that act, he had condemned himself to an act of great sin in murdering a faithful servant of God, even if he did not intend for it to happen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through all these we are reminded that it is not easy for us to be faithful as Christians, to live our lives as those who follow the path of the Lord and obey His Law and commandments. Those who have been faithful may encounter the fate of St. John the Baptist, who was imprisoned and killed for his steadfast defence of his faith, and we may be persecuted and face difficulties for all that we have done for the Lord’s sake. Yet, we should not give up just because of the obstacles we may encounter in our journey.

That is why we should follow the examples of our predecessors, one of whom today can show us what it means to be truly devout Christians, in all things, for the greater glory of God. Today we celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, a faithful servant of God and the famous founder of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, which is now the largest of all religious orders and congregations. St. Ignatius of Loyola was once a soldier and nobleman, who had a life-changing experience and decided to follow the Lord wholeheartedly.

Early in his life, St. Ignatius of Loyola sought worldly glory, fame and achievements in life, enrolling as a soldier to get that much sought fame and glory, only to get himself seriously injured during one of the siege battles, where his legs were severely injured in the heat of the battle. During his recuperation period, he had a spiritual encounter with God and a period of discernment, in which he came to realise that the true purpose of his life and true glory came not in the pursuit of worldly glory, fame and ambition.

Instead, from then on, as what would be famously known as his motto and the motto of the Jesuits, St. Ignatius of Loyola would seek nothing else but the greater glory of God, ‘Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam’ or ‘For the Greater Glory of God’. It is with this spirit that St. Ignatius of Loyola gathered like-minded men and sought the Pope’s permission to establish a congregation dedicated to the mission of the Church, to proclaim the greater glory of God in various opportunities, from missionary efforts to involvement in proper Catholic education.

To this end, St. Ignatius of Loyola and his many fellow Jesuits such as St. Peter Canisius and St. Peter Faber were involved deeply in the Counter-Reformation efforts, establishing schools and seminaries, and other faculties involved in the dissemination of the true essence of the Christian faith. Others like St. Francis Xavier and many others involved themselves in missionary work, travelling far all over the world to spread the Good News of God’s salvation and truth, bringing many more people to the Lord. Many Christian communities today could trace their faith to the efforts of those courageous Jesuit missionaries back then.

This year we mark the five hundredth anniversary of the conversion of St. Ignatius of Loyola, marking the moment when St. Ignatius of Loyola left behind his former dream of worldly glory and fame, and embracing fully the Lord’s calling to seek for His greater glory, through which countless graces and wonderful things had come about, not least through St. Ignatius’ foundation of the Jesuits, as well as his hard works and efforts all throughout his life for the betterment of the Church and the faithful.

Let us all be inspired therefore by his examples and learn to commit ourselves to the Lord ever more wholeheartedly, resisting the temptations of worldly vices and ambitions, and instead, learning to love the Lord ever more and commit ourselves with ever greater conviction and commitment from now on. May the Lord be with us all and continue to guide us and bless us in all of our every endeavours and good works. May God bless our every good efforts and remain with us always, that we will always strive to do our best for His greater glory, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 31 July 2021 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 14 : 1-12

At that time, the reports about Jesus reached king Herod. And he said to his servants, “This Man is John the Baptist. John has risen from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in John.”

Herod had, in fact, ordered that John be arrested, bound in chains and put in prison, because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. For John had said to Herod, “It is not right for you to have her as your wife.” Herod wanted to kill him but he did not dare, because he feared the people, who regarded John as a prophet.

On Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced among the guests; she so delighted Herod that he promised under oath to give her anything she asked for. The girl, following the advice of her mother, said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist, here, on a dish.”

The king was very displeased, but because he had made his promise under oath, in the presence of his guests, he ordered it to be given to her. So he had John beheaded in prison, and his head brought on a dish and given to the girl. The girl then took it to her mother.

Then John’s disciple came, took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.

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Saturday, 31 July 2021 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 66 : 2-3, 5, 7-8

May God be gracious and bless us; may He let His face shine upon us; that Your way be known on earth and Your salvation, among the nations.

May the countries be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with justice; and guide the nations of the world.

The land has given its harvest; God, our God, has blessed us. May God bless us and be revered, to the very ends of the earth.

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Saturday, 31 July 2021 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Leviticus 25 : 1, 8-17

YHVH spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai : “When seven Sabbaths of years have passed, that is, seven times seven years, there shall be the time of the seven weeks of years, that is forty-nine years. Then on the tenth day of the seventh month sound the trumpet loudly. On this Day of Atonement sound the trumpet all through the land.”

“Keep holy the fiftieth year and proclaim freedom for all the inhabitants of the land. It shall be a jubilation year for you when each one shall recover his property and go back to his family. In this fiftieth year, your year of Jubilee, you shall neither sow nor reap the aftergrowth, nor gather the grapes from the uncultivated vines. This Jubilee year shall be holy for you, and you shall eat what the field yields of itself without cultivation.”

“In this year of Jubilee each of you shall recover his own property. When you sell something to your neighbour or buy something from him, do not wrong one another. According to the number of years after the Jubilee, you shall buy it from your neighbour and according to the number of years left for harvesting crops he shall sell to you.”

“When the years are many the price shall be greater and when the years are few the price shall be less, for it is the number of crops that he is selling to you. So you shall not wrong one another but you shall fear your God, for I am YHVH, your God.”