1st Sunday of Christmas

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Wednesday, 25 December 2024 : Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Midnight Mass (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 9 : 1-7

The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. A light has dawned on those who live in the land of the shadow of death. You have enlarged the nation; You have increased their joy. They rejoice before You, as people rejoice at harvest time as they rejoice in dividing the spoil.

For the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressors, You have broken it as on the day of Midian. Every warrior’s boot that tramped in war, every cloak rolled in blood, will be thrown out for burning, will serve as fuel for the fire.

For a Child is born to us, a Son is given us; the royal ornament is laid upon His shoulder, and His Name is proclaimed : “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

To the increase of His powerful rule in peace, there will be no end. Vast will be His dominion, He will reign on David’s throne and over all his kingdom, to establish and uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forever. The zealous love of YHVH Sabaoth will do this.

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Tuesday, 24 December 2024 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Eve (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 1 : 1-25

This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon.

Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah’s wife. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Then came the kings : Abijah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah.

Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. After the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob.

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus Who is called the Christ – the Messiah. There were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, and fourteen generations from David to the deportation to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the deportation to Babylon to the birth of Christ.

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do, and he took his wife to his home.

So she gave birth to a Son and he had not had marital relations with her. Joseph gave Him the Name Jesus.

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Matthew 1 : 18-25

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The Virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us. When Joseph woke up, he did what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do, and he took his wife to his home.

So she gave birth to a Son and he had not had marital relations with her. Joseph gave Him the Name Jesus.

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Tuesday, 24 December 2024 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Eve (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 16-17, 22-25

So Paul arose, motioned to them for silence and began, “Fellow Israelites and also all you who fear God, listen. The God of our people Israel chose our ancestors, and after He had made them increase during their stay in Egypt, He led them out by powerful deeds.

After that time, God removed Saul and raised up David as king, to whom He bore witness saying : I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all I want him to do.

It is from the descendants of David that God has now raised up the promised Saviour of Israel, Jesus. Before He appeared, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. As John was ending his life’s work, he said : ‘I am not what you think I am, for after me another One is coming Whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.'”

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Tuesday, 24 December 2024 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Eve (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 88 : 4-5, 16-17, 27 and 29

You said, “I have made a covenant with David, My chosen one; I have made a pledge to My servant. I establish his descendants forever; I build his throne for all generations.”

Blessed is the people who know Your praise. They walk in the light of Your face. They celebrate all day Your Name and Your protection lifts them up.

He will call on Me, “You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.” I will keep My covenant firm forever, and My love for him will endure.

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Tuesday, 24 December 2024 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Eve (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 62 : 1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, for Jerusalem I will not keep silent, until her holiness shines like the dawn and her salvation flames like a burning torch. The nations will see your holiness and all the kings your glory. You will be called by a new name which the mouth of YHVH will reveal.

You will be a crown of glory in the hand of YHVH, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will you be named Forsaken; no longer will your land be called Abandoned; but you will be called My Delight and your land Espoused. For YHVH delights in you and will make your land His spouse.

As a young man marries a virgin, so will your Builder marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.

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Saturday, 30 December 2023 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to celebrate this joyous season of Christmas and as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded to focus our lives and our attention on the Lord our God alone, through the salvation which He has shown and promised all of us, in His beloved Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Whom He has sent into our midst so that by His incarnation and coming into this world, He might show unto us the sure path to eternal life and grace, which He has brought unto us through His coming, making it clear to us that God has always loved us, all these while, and each and every one of us have been blessed by His coming, His Presence in our midst, and His ever enduring love.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. John the Apostle in which the Apostle exhorted all the faithful, especially the young ones among them that they all should be ever resolute and faithful in following the Lord, in obeying all that He has taught and shown to them, so that they would all remain strong in faith, and not be easily swayed by the many temptations present all around them, all of which might lead them astray and fall further away from the path towards the Lord, and into the path towards eternal damnation. This is because while the faithful people of God have received the truth from the Church and the Lord’s servants, and received the Sacraments of Initiation, but this does not mean that they are immune or cannot be affected by the temptations of the world and sin.

On the contrary, the devil and all of his allies and forces are even more likely to try to strike at all of us the faithful people of God, trying desperately to lead us away from the Lord and from His salvation, so that we will share their fate of destruction and damnation in hell. This is why Satan and all of his forces are always arrayed all the time against the faithful and the Church of God, and time does not pass without the faithful experiencing some form of spiritual attacks and hardships, definitely orchestrated by all those seeking to mislead and destroy us all. This had happened even as early as the earliest moments in the Church, and hence leading to St. John to write this exhortation to the faithful and the Church, and all these still happen even up to this very day.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the continuation of yesterday’s passage on the Presentation of the Lord at the Temple of Jerusalem, in which the Lord Jesus was welcomed by the prophet Simeon, who praised God to have allowed him to see and behold the Saviour of the world before his own eyes. And today therefore we heard of the prophetess Anna, who was also there at the Temple, and to whom the Lord had also revealed that she would witness the Saviour of the world. The prophetess Anna spoke of everything that the Lord would do through this Child, and also predicted with Simeon, what He would become, a Sign to the nations, and also the sufferings that He and His Mother would have to endure, a premonition of the Passion of the Lord.

This is why we are all again reminded today through all these readings from the Scriptures that all of us, the Church, all should always be focused and centred on Christ our Lord, the One Whom we celebrate during this time of Christmas. The joy and celebrations which we have during this time of Christmas should not be focused merely on ourselves and our desire for pleasures and happiness, and definitely should not be inward looking. Instead, the joy that we all have during this time and season should always be outward bound, radiating from us all, and shared to everyone around us. We should always be centred on Christ, His Good News and truth, His love and joy, in all that we celebrate this Christmas and in also how we live our lives each day.

As Christians, it is important that we should always strive to be good and faithful to God in all things. We must always be filled with righteousness and good deeds in all things, all aligned with the Lord and everything that He has shown and taught us through His Church. In our every actions and interactions with one another, we should always be led and guided by the Christian truth, and all that we have been inspired by our holy predecessors. It is important that we all should always be genuine and committed in how we live up to our faith as Christians, or else we are no better than hypocrites and all those who merely have an empty and meaningless faith. We are reminded that we should refocus our attention and lives on the Lord, in case we have lost our path and way amidst the many temptations of this world.

Let us all hence do our best to be good and committed, holy and exemplary Christians at all times. Let us inspire one another and keep each other strong in our commitments to the Lord amidst the many challenges and trials found in this world today. This is why we are constantly being reminded that our lives are greater than just our own desires and ambitions. Our lives and existence in this world are all about serving and following the Lord, and walking in His path, and we should always keep this in mind lest we end up being distracted and swayed away from the path towards righteousness and salvation in God. This Christmas, we are exhorted and reminded to stay on our course and path towards the Lord, and not to lose our path and focus in life.

May the Lord continue to help and guide us in our way, and may He empower each and every one of us to live ever more worthily and allow us to commit ourselves ever more to His path. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, all for His greater glory, now and always, through this Christmas season and beyond. Amen.

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Saturday, 30 December 2023 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 36-40

There was also a prophetess named Anna, daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. After leaving her father’s home, she had been seven years with her husband, and since then she had been continually about the Temple, serving God as a widow night and day in fasting and prayer. She was now eighty-four. Coming up at that time, she gave praise to God, and spoke of the Child to all who looked forward to the deliverance of Jerusalem.

When the parents had fulfilled all that was required by the law of the Lord, they returned to their town, Nazareth in Galilee. There the Child grew in stature and strength, and was filled with wisdom: the grace of God was upon Him.

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Saturday, 30 December 2023 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 95 : 7-8a, 8b-9, 10

Give to YHVH, you families of nations, give to YHVH glory and strength. Give to YHVH the glory due His Name.

Bring gifts and enter His courts. Worship YHVH with holy celebrations; stand in awe of Him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, “YHVH reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.

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Saturday, 30 December 2023 : Sixth Day within the Octave of Christmas (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 12-17

My dear children, I write this to you : you have already received the forgiveness of your sins, through the Name of Jesus. Fathers, I write this to you : you know Him, Who is from the beginning. Young men, I write this to you : you have overcome the evil one. My dear children, I write to you, because you already know the Father.

Fathers, I write to you, because you know Him, Who is from the beginning. Young men, I write to you, because you are strong, and the Word of God lives in you, who have, indeed, overcome the evil one. Do not love the world, or what is in it. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the craving of the flesh, the greed of eyes and people boasting of their superiority – all this, belongs to the world, not to the Father.

The world passes away, with all its craving, but those who do the will of God remain for ever.

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Friday, 29 December 2023 : Fifth Day within the Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through this joyful season of Christmas, we are all reminded through the Scripture passages we have heard today that we must always be true to our faith, fulfilling all the Law and commandments that God had told us to do, the teachings and the path which He has revealed to us through His Church. This means that we should not be merely paying lip service to the Lord, but we must be truly committed to the Lord in all things, doing whatever we can so that we may always be good examples and inspirations to our fellow brothers and sisters, in showing what it truly means for us to be good and devoted Christians, the followers of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. John the Apostle, the Apostle reminded the faithful of the commandments of the Lord which He has brought into our midst, and which all of us should always follow and embody in our every actions and parts of life. We cannot profess to be Christians and yet, in our way of life, we act in ways that are contrary to the teachings of Christ. The Lord Himself has revealed His commandments to us, showing us that the Law which He has given us, is all about Love, the love which He Himself has shown us mankind, and which we are therefore expected to show to Him as well, and then, the love which we all should show our fellow brothers and sisters all around us, a true, genuine and selfless Christian love.

This is why St. John reminded all the faithful that they cannot still behave in a manner that is still not attuned to the path of Christ. The love of God has indeed been generously poured down on us, and in this season and time of Christmas, we commemorate the incarnation of the Love of God, Who has become Man, appearing before all of us in the Person of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Saviour of all. Therefore, if we all believe in Christ, it is imperative that we must really show our faith in Him and not merely just treating our faith as just a formality. In our every actions, words and deeds, in all of our whole lives, we must always radiate and show the genuine and authentic Christian living so that by our lives, God may indeed be glorified.

In the Gospel passage today, this is reiterated for us, as we heard of the account of the moment when the Lord Jesus was presented at the Temple of Jerusalem as per the Law and its requirements, and how this led miraculously to the Lord Jesus being welcomed by two elderly figures who had both long awaited the coming of the Messiah, and whom the Lord had told that they would not pass on from this world before they saw and behold the Messiah Who was coming into the world, with their very own eyes and hands. Thus, the prophet and man of God Simeon, as well as the prophetess Anna, in the related passage, both thanked the Lord for having shown the Salvation of the world to them, and foretold everything that this Child was to do for all of us, the Love and Word of God Incarnate in the flesh.

Again, this means that all of us really have to commit ourselves anew to the Lord and we have to centre and focus our attention and lives on Him, reminding ourselves that Christ is our Lord and Master, our Saviour and King. All of us should always strive to live our lives worthily, doing whatever we can so that we may ever always walk in the path of Christ, and be the bearers of the light of Christ to everyone. Each and every one of us should always strive to be the great and inspirational role models in all things, and we should always be like our holy predecessors, the many saints and martyrs, all the holy men and women who have gone before us, and whose lives are great examples for us all to follow in our own lives.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Thomas Becket, who was remembered for his actions as the Archbishop of Canterbury and hence as the leader and primate of the Church in all of medieval England then, as well as for his resistance and opposition against the irreverent and worldly actions of the then king of England, Henry II. St. Thomas Becket was actually a good friend of the king, whom the king appointed first as his Chancellor, to assist him in the governance of his realm. He was the right hand man of the king, and in the king’s effort to tighten his control over the often independent and troublesome English Church hierarchy and clergy, he thus appointed St. Thomas Becket as the Archbishop of Canterbury, who in that position became the most senior figure amongst all of the Church hierarchy. St. Thomas Becket became the Archbishop of Canterbury and then resigned his chancellorship soon after.

However, if the king’s intention was to subjugate the English church and its members, this backfired greatly as St. Thomas Becket had a moment of conversion and change as he took up the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and when he was ordained as priest and bishop before he was officially installed as the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was as if St. Thomas Becket received a calling from the Lord, which made him to refuse to obey the king’s orders regarding the English Church anymore. St. Thomas Becket stood firm his ground against the king and his nobles in all of their efforts to encroach into the domains of the Church, and he even excommunicated a nobleman close to the king who had caused trouble in the Church.

All these struggles and conflicts eventually led to the exile of St. Thomas Becket, who continued to resist and champion the rights of the Church even during his time away from his See and from England. He persisted in doing what he could to glorify God and to defend the faith from those who sought to corrupt it, and eventually, when he returned back to England and his See, the matter came to a point that the king, furious and frustrated at all the inconveniences and troubles that St. Thomas Becket had caused him, in a drunken stupor, asked of anyone who could help him to rid this troublesome man of God. This was responded by four of the nobles and knights of the king, who went to seek St. Thomas Becket as he was celebrating Mass, and in his own Cathedral, those four men murdered the holy Archbishop and shed his blood.

As we all heard, St. Thomas Becket was faithful right to the very end, committing his whole life to the Lord, not minding even sufferings and hardships, and he led by example in living his life worthily of the Lord. Therefore, all of us as Christians should always remember that the centre and focus of our lives should not be all the various sorts of worldly desires, ambitions and attachments, but rather to be truly worthy of God in all things, and to put Him, not our own ego and pride, desires and greed, at the centre of our whole lives and existence. May God be with us all and may He grant us the courage to remain always faithful to Him. Amen.