18th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Saturday, 9 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that as God’s holy and beloved people, all of us should always believe in the Lord and put our trust in Him, and not be easily swayed by the many temptations and distractions found all around us in this world. We also need a strong and vibrant relationship with the Lord, and develop a strong commitment in following Him at all times, in our prayerful and faithful living, in doing what God had taught and shown us all to do in being good and dedicated disciples and followers of our God. If only our faith in God is stronger, then we should have remained firm in our conviction to walk in His path, and we will not easily fall into the wrong paths in our lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard of the continuation of the exhortation which Moses, the leader of the Israelites made to the people of God, calling on all of them to keep the Law and commandments of God, and to live their lives faithfully and worthily of the Lord, so that the Lord will continue to bless them and their descendants, for their faith, love and devotion to Him, as part of the Covenant which God had made with each and every one of them. Moses reminded the people that even after they had reached the land which had been promised and assured to them, they and their descendants should continue to worship the Lord and obey Him as they had always done, and not instead be swayed by worldly desires and forgetting what God had done for them.

That was why Moses spent the time and effort to remind the people of Israel, who have already begun to abandon the Lord even as the Lord had continued to show His signs and wonders in their midst. They had shown how stubborn and wicked they could be, in hardening their hearts and refusing the great grace and blessings which God had blessed them with, complaining about their lives and conditions when God had constantly taken care of them, protected them from their enemies, and reassured them that He would fulfil all of His promises and words, without exception. Hence, Moses reminded the people again and again of the great love and faithfulness of God to His Covenant, which He has constantly renewed and reassured us with from time to time.

And since God had made His Covenant with His people, that is why it is imperative that we should remember our part of the Covenant since we ourselves like the Israelites in the past have also been partakers of God’s Covenant, ours being the New and Eternal Covenant which He has made and sealed with each and every one of us through none other than His own Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. God has always loved us, and He has always been patient in caring for us, even to the point of providing for us the ultimate gift of His love, His own Son, manifested in the flesh, so that by the ultimate sacrifice that He undertook on the Cross at Calvary, He might liberate us all from our sufferings and troubles, from our bondage to sin that had separated us all from Him. He has always wanted us to be reconciled to Him.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist in which a man who had an epileptic son asked the Lord why His disciples could not drive out the evil spirits from his son, and the Lord chided the lack of faith of the people and that of His disciples, and showing forth His power and authority, He healed the man’s son and cast those evil spirits that had made that son to suffer such hardships. And He told His disciples afterwards when they asked Him privately why they could not cast the evil spirits out, that the kind of evil spirits whom they encountered required prayer and indeed, faith in God for grace and power to flow from God and cast out those evil spirits.

It may indeed be a bit difficult to understand the intentions and nuances of the Lord from what we have heard in those words and from the events depicted in the Gospel, but it is quite evident and implied strongly that the disciples did not have genuine or strong faith in the Lord. They had indeed been given the power and authority by the Lord to heal and perform miracles, and to cast out evil spirits and heal the possessed. However, it is important that we realise how this power came from God and it is God Who exercised His power and authority through those disciples. It was likely that the disciples who attempted the healing thought that it was their own power and greatness that allowed them to perform such actions and exercise those powers, and hence, their tenuous connection to the Lord allowed the evil spirits to resist and even attack them back.

This is why it is again very important for us to remember to deepen our faith and relationship with God, in following His Law and commandments sincerely and faithfully at all times, and by spending good and quality time with Him each day through prayer and spiritual connection with Him, and even in whatever we do in each and every days of our lives, because in whatever we do with faith, even in the smallest things, done in obedience and faith in God, that is where we have grown in our connection and relationship with God. As Christians, we should indeed always embody our faith in all of our every words, actions and deeds, so that by our lives and examples we may be good inspiration to everyone around us.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also more famously known by her birth name of Edith Stein. She was a convert to the Catholic faith and was born into a German Jewish family in the early twentieth century. After encountering the works of St. Teresa of Avila during his education in her doctoral studies and afterwards, she was attracted to the Catholic faith and eventually became a follower of Christ. She wanted to join the Discalced Carmelite nuns, and despite some setbacks, she eventually managed to do so, during the difficult years at that time because the NAZI regime was rising to power in Germany and began to make many anti-Jewish laws and regulations which also impacted her as well. Nonetheless, she continued to dedicate herself to the Lord through her community of nuns, and despite being sent to a monastery in the Netherlands for her safety, she was eventually arrested by the NAZI secret police, the Gestapo and was martyred in a concentration camp with many others.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the life and examples of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, her courage and faith in the Lord, in standing up to the face of evil and sin in this world, and inspired by the great lvoe that God has always had for each and every one of us, let us all therefore strive to be ever more faithful and dedicated to the Lord at all times. Let us continue to walk faithfully with the Lord, doing our very best to glorify Him and to proclaim His Good News and truth, show His love and compassion to everyone through our own actions, words and deeds. May the Lord be with us all and all of our good works and deeds, in all things and at all times. May God bless our every efforts and bless His Church. Amen.

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Saturday, 9 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 17 : 14-20

At that time, when Jesus and His disciples came to the crowd, a man approached Him, knelt before Him and said, “Sir, have pity on my son, who is an epileptic and suffers terribly. He has often fallen into the fire, and at other times into the water. I brought him to Your disciples but they could not heal him.”

Jesus replied, “O you people, faithless and misled! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus commanded the evil spirit to leave the boy, and the boy was immediately healed. Later, the disciples approached Jesus and asked Him privately, “Why could we not drive out the spirit?”

Jesus said to them, “Because you have little faith. I say to you : if only you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could tell that mountain to move from here to there, and the mountain would obey. Nothing would be impossible for you.”

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Saturday, 9 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

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

Psalm 17 : 2-3a, 3bc-4, 47 and 51ab

I love You, o YHVH, my strength. YHVH is my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer and my God.

He is the Rock in Whom I take refuge. He is my Shield, my powerful Saviour, my Stronghold. I call on YHVH, Who is worthy of praise : He saves me from my enemies!

YHVH lives! Praised be my Rock! Exalted be my Saviour God. He has given victories to His king; He has shown His love to His anointed ones.

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Saturday, 9 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

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

Deuteronomy 6 : 4-13

Listen, Israel : YHVH, our God, is One YHVH. And you shall love YHVH, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength. Engrave on your heart the commandments that I pass on to you today.

Repeat them over and over to your children, speak to them when you are at home and when you travel, when you lie down and when you rise. Brand them on your hand as a sign and keep them always before your eyes. Engrave them on your doorposts and on your city gates.

Do not forget YHVH when He has led you into the land which He promised to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; for He will give you great and prosperous cities which you did not build, houses filled with everything good which you did not provide, wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.

So when you have eaten and have been satisfied, do not forget YHVH Who brought you out from Egypt where you were enslaved. Fear YHVH, your God, serve Him and call on His Name when you have to swear an oath.

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Friday, 8 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that we are truly fortunate as those whom God has loved, has called and chosen to be His own beloved people, much as He has shown His faithfulness to the Covenant and promises that He gave to His first-called ones, the people of Israel, who have been taken care of, protected and provided for throughout all of their time in their journey from the land of Egypt, through the desert and towards the Promised Land. All of us have received the great grace from God, manifested in perfection through Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, through Whom we have been assured of God’s loving grace and blessings, His boundless and most compassionate love.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Deuteronomy of the words that Moses, the leader of the Israelites to the people, exhorting all of them and their descendants to continue to keep faithfully all the Law and commandments that God had presented, taught and revealed to them. This was likely taking place when Moses was already old and it had been many years since the time of the Exodus from Egypt, as the Israelites were forced to wander off in the desert for a whole forty years period due to their own lack of faith and trust in the Lord. But God did not abandon or forsake His people, as He still cared for them, fed them daily with manna and food, and also gave them all water to drink, and other provisions for them to thrive and survive.

And Moses highlighted to the people of Israel how blessed they had been to be loved so by the Lord, because there is no other people and nation which had been taken care of and blessed in such a manner, from how God brought them out with great might and miracles from the land of Egypt, crushing and smiting their oppressors and slavers, and how He had brought them to triumph against their enemies like the Amalekites and the Midianites, throughout their time and sojourn in the desert. God had done so much for His beloved people, and He has always been patient in loving and caring for them, and that is why they should continue to be faithful and committed to God, and not to take His love, patience and kindness for granted.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples and first presenting to them all the reality of becoming one of His disciples and followers, that challenges and hardships are likely to be part of their lives and journey, and therefore, unless one is ready to take up their crosses and follow Him, then one cannot truly be a good and faithful disciple and follower of Our Lord. If we want to seek the Lord and His salvation, true joy and eternal life then it is necessary for us to endure the crosses that we may have to carry throughout our lives, in their different forms and kinds. But we must not lose hope because in the end, God will reward all those who have been faithful to Him.

The Lord reassured us all that if we continue to be faithful and committed to Him and to His path, He will be with us throughout our journey, just as He has guided and helped the Israelites in the past throughout their way, despite them having often disobeyed and disregarded the Lord and His reminders to them. He still loved them all nonetheless and continued to help and guide them, patiently chastising and leading them to the right path. That is what we shall experience as well, as we continue to walk down the path that the Lord our God has shown us. We must not lose sight on what is important and we must always keep steady in our faith and focus on the Lord, doing our very best so that we do not give in to the temptations all around us.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of the renowned St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican Order or the Order of Preachers. St. Dominic, also known as St. Dominic de Guzman, was exposed to monastic and religious life early on in his life, as he was sent to a Premonstratensian monastery when he was just fourteen years old, and having studied arts and theology, he eventually embraced the calling to the priesthood and became a priest. As a priest, St. Dominic would be involved in various ministries and missions, and even in diplomatic mission such as one that he did for the King of Castile in Spain. St. Dominic was also then heavily involved in the evangelising mission in the then hotbed of the Cathar heresy in southern region, during the time of what is known as the Albigensian Crusade.

St. Dominic was also remembered for his popularisation of the rosary devotion, based on a vision which that he received of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where she appeared to St. Dominic, presenting a rosary to him, and thereafter beginning that very popular prayer and devotion of the rosary in all of its forms. He founded the Order of Preachers, the Dominicans, to minister to more of the faithful and of the needs of the society at the time, balancing the monastic seclusion of several monastic orders with the need to minister to the community, with particular focus and emphasis on preaching, which is why the religious order he founded is named as the Order of Preachers. Through his preaching and other efforts, St. Dominic had touched so many people, and many of them were the Cathar heretics, who were convinced to return once again to the Holy Mother Church. He devoted his whole life to the service of God, and we should be inspired by this.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we recalled the words of the Sacred Scriptures that we have just heard and discussed earlier on, and strengthened by the great examples and inspiration from St. Dominic, his faith and zeal in spreading the Good News and in his patience in guiding all those who have strayed from the true faith back to the Lord, let us all therefore strive to live our own lives with faith and dedication to God, remembering how blessed we truly are to have been loved so greatly by Him. Let us all therefore commit ourselves anew to Him, dedicating our time and efforts to continue to do His good works in our respective communities. May the Lord be with us always and may He strengthen us all in love and courage, in faith and hope so that we may continue to be good and worthy bearers of His light and truth, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 8 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 16 : 24-28

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If you want to follow Me, deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow Me. For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life, for My sake, will find it. What will one gain by winning the whole world, if he destroys his soul? Or what can a person give, in exchange for his life?”

“Know, that the Son of Man will come, in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels, and He will reward each one according to his deeds. Truly, I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death, before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

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Friday, 8 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 76 : 12-13, 14-15, 16 and 21

I remember the deeds of YHVH; I recall His marvels of old. I meditate on all Your work, and consider Your mighty deeds.

Your way, o God, is most holy. Is there any god greater than You, our God? You alone, are the God Who works wonders, Who has made known His power to the nations.

With power, You have redeemed Your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. You led Your people, as a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

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Friday, 8 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Dominic, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Deuteronomy 4 : 32-40

Ask of the times past. Inquire from the day when God created man on earth. Ask from one end of the world to the other : Has there ever been anything as extraordinary as this? Has anything like this been heard of before? Has there ever been a people who remained alive after hearing as you did the voice of the living God from the midst of the fire?

Never has there been a God Who went out to look for a people and take them out from among the other nations by the strength of trials and signs, by wonders and by war, with a firm hand and an outstretched arm. Never has there been any deed as tremendous as those done for you by YHVH in Egypt, which you saw with your own eyes.

You saw this that you might know that YHVH is God and that there is no other besides Him. He let you hear His voice from heaven that you might fear Him; on earth He let you see His blazing fire and from the midst of the fire you heard His word. Because of the love He had for our fathers, He chose their descendants after them, and He Himself made you leave Egypt with His great power.

He expelled before you peoples more numerous and stronger than you, and He has made you occupy their land : today He has given this to you as an inheritance. Therefore, try to be convinced that YHVH is the only God of heaven and earth, and that there is no other. Observe the laws and the commandments that I command you today, and everything will be well with you and your children after you. So you will live long in the land which YHVH, your God, gives you forever.

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Thursday, 7 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to put our faith and trust constantly in the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God, remembering that it is by His love and providence that all of us have managed to survive and thrive even amidst the hardest challenges and trials in life. There will likely indeed be trials, difficulties, obstacles and hardships that we may have to enconocunter in our paths in life, but we must not lose faith and hope in the Lord, believing that with the Lord our God, all of us can overcome all things, together as one united flock of the Lord, God’s holy and beloved people, His Holy Church which He has established in this world in our midst.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Numbers, we heard of the time when the whole congregation of the people of God, the Israelites grumbled, complained and rebelled against the Lord at the site known as Massah and Meribah. This was one of the worst occasions of the rebelliousness of the Israelites because it affected Moses so much with their lack of gratitude, their constant complaints and refusal to listen to him and in refusing to obey the Law and precepts that Moses had spent so much time explaining and enforcing among them, that even Moses himself was fed up, and when the Lord asked him and Aaron to gather together the Israelites to show His Providence and power, Moses himself disobeyed the Lord by striking the rock with his staff instead of commanding the rock to bring forth water for the people to drink.

From what we have heard in that occasion, we can see clearly the intention for us all to remember that we should not allow ourselves to be swayed and distracted by our desires and emotions, all the things that can keep us away from the Lord and leading us down the same path that the Israelites had once walked through. We have to be vigilant and careful lest our actions and preoccupations with ourselves, our desires and emotions, our fears and uncertainties, our doubts and other things cause us to stumble and lose our way. We have to keep in mind that the Lord is always by our side, guiding and providing us all with what we need, and we should not lose faith in Him. No matter how tough or difficult the conditions may be, ultimately, with God by our side, we will be triumphant in the end, if not in this world, then in the world that is to come. 

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the account of the time when the Lord asked His disciples about Himself, about His identity and what people said about Him. And the disciples spoke of what they had heard and believed about the Lord Jesus, with only St. Peter courageously speaking up the truth, stating that he believed that Jesus is none other than the Son of God Himself, the Holy One of God, the Messiah sent into our midst to save us all, and not merely just like any other prophets or teachers of the faith. The Lord praised St. Peter for this answer, and He told everyone that He would establish His Church in the firm foundation of the Rock of faith that is St. Peter, with the name Peter meaning ‘Rock’.

Through this, we are reminded that it is indeed important for us all to trust in the Lord and have faith in His plans, in all that He has shown and given to us through Christ, His Son, Our Lord and Saviour. And at the same time, right after that event, when the Lord Jesus told the disciples that He would face sufferings and persecutions from His enemies, St. Peter immediately pulled Him aside and complained against Him saying such words, and the Lord rebuked Satan who was speaking thrugh St. Peter. This is a reminder that if our faith in the Lord is not strong, and if we allow ourselves to be swayed by worldly considerations, attachments, and desires, by our fears and doubts, as the Israelites and even Moses and St. Peter experienced, then we may end up allowing Satan to strike against us and bring us to our downfall. We have to be truly careful and vigilant in how we live our faith then.a

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of Pope St. Sixtus II, a holy martyr of the Church, and his companions in martyrdom, as well as St. Cajetan, a holy and devout priest and servant of God. Pope St. Sixtus II reigned as Pope during a difficult time in the Church as the faithful were facing many persecutions from the Roman state at that time while also facing divisions over several heresies and disagreements among the clergy, such as what had happened earlier due to the supporters of one Novatian, which divided the Church in the Western part of the Roman Empire, in the area of northern Africa and the Eastern churches. Pope St. Sixtus II played an important role in bridging the divisions and mending the relations between the churches. He helped to unite the Church and lead the faithful through difficult times in their lives. He was martyred together with several others who shared his martyrdom during the intense persecution under Emperor Valerian in the year 258.

Meanwhile, St. Cajetan was the renowned founder of the Theatines, the religious order also known as the Congregation of the Clerics Regular. He was born in the region of northern Italy, in the area of Thiene, where the Theatines eventually got their name from, and he grew up being educated in both civil and canon law, and as a diplomat working for the Pope. He only became a priest later in his life, once he reached his mid-thirties. He ministered to the faithful in his home region, caring for the needs of the sick and those who suffered from maladies by helping to build a hospital there. But her longed to cater to the needs of the people’s spiritual troubles and healing more than their physical ones, and that was how he gathered together a group dedicated to a prayerful life modelled by the monasteries, and yet remaining in active life and ministry in the world, which inspired the foundation of the Theatines, that he founded together with another saint, St. Jerome Emiliani.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, recalling what we have heard and discussed from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures, and being inspired by the examples, courage and efforts shown by Pope St. Sixtus II and his companions in martyrdom, and by the faith of St. Cajetan, let us all thus continue to do our best to live our lives worthily in the Lord, doing whatever we can to glorify the Lord by our lives, and to carry out God’s will and trusting in Him at all times. Let us all continue to be good role models for our fellow brothers and sisters around us and do whatever we can to proclaim God’s truth and Good News, now and always. May God be with us all and may He strengthen us in our resolve to live truly worthy and faithful lives, in accordance with God’s will. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 August 2025 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Matthew 16 : 13-23

At that time, Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They said, “For some of them, You are John the Baptist; for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Barjona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven.”

“And now I say to you : You are Peter; and on this Rock I will build My Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven : whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.”

Then He ordered His disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Christ. From that day, Jesus began to make it clear to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem; that He would suffer many things from the Jewish authorities, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law; and that He would be killed and be raised on the third day.

Then Peter took Him aside and began to reproach Him, “Never, Lord! No, this must never happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an obstacle in My path. You are thinking not as God does, but as people do.”