Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Isaiah 55 : 10-11
As the rain and snow come down from the heavens and do not return till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food for others to eat, so is My Word that goes forth out of My mouth : It will not return to Me idle, but It shall accomplish My will, the purpose for which It has been sent.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are called to remember that as Christians, we are all bound by God’s Law and Covenant, through which we are all expected to live in accordance with the path that He has shown to us all, through His Church, His Law and commandments. And everything that we have done, or fail to do, will be judged upon us at the moment of the Last Judgment as we have been reminded of today.
In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Leviticus, we heard of the words that God spoke to His people through Moses, as He instructed them all to be faithful and obedient to Him, to follow His Law and commandments, to be truly devoted to His path and be genuinely faithful in all things and not merely paying lip service to Him. They are all called to be righteous and full of virtues in life, not to be selfish and instead be loving and selfless in all of their ways, caring for others who are in need and be committed to be good brothers and sisters in the same Lord.
The Lord reminded His people not to be oppressive, manipulative and exploitative to others, to enrich and make oneself feel good on the sufferings of others. That was what we mankind have often done, and many of us have acted in ways that strive to preserve our own selfish needs and wants, ignoring the needs of others, and actually abusing the freedom given to us to cause others to suffer for our own benefits. God was saying that if we are all to be His people and His followers, then this cannot be the path that we are walking on, as His disciples, followers and people are those who are just and loving, lacking in hatred, anger and vengeance.
In our Gospel passage today, this sentiment is echoed and emphasised again to us as we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples and the people gathered to listen to Him, regarding the time of the final or the Last Judgment, when the Lord Himself, as the great Judge of all the living and the dead, from all time and existence, will judge all of them, all by their deeds and merits, by their actions and virtues, as well as by their wickedness and evils, and by their failures to do what is good and virtuous whenever they could have done so.
That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are called to do what our Lord Himself had taught us to do, to be good Christians in all things, and to do whatever we can to help our fellow brothers and sisters, to be kind and loving to them, showing them compassion and care, attention and the genuine affection that we should show our fellow brethren. The Lord has called on all of us to reach out to others and to show them our love and concern. For it is not only by our wickedness and evil acts that we will be judged against, but also by our failures to do what is right and just, good and worthy for us as Christians.
We are reminded today that just as there are sins of action, there are also sins of omission. These sins are caused by our deliberate and conscious refusal to do what is right, in showing love, compassion and care, or help to others when one is perfectly able to do so. And all these shall be judged against us on the Day of Judgment. To be Christians means that we have to be active in living our lives with faith, and to be dedicated in loving God and in loving our fellow men and women, our brethren, and to do what we can to help one another whenever we can. We cannot be idle in living our lives and faith.
Today, we should also be inspired by St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, whose feasts we are celebrating. Both St. Perpetua and St. Felicity were great and faithful servants of God who according to the Church traditions were catechumens who held onto their faith in God despite the threats and the sufferings that they had to endure for being faithful to God. St. Perpetua was a noblewoman while St. Felicity was a pregnant slave at that time, and both were imprisoned at the order of the Roman Emperor, who endured great physical sufferings before they were eventually martyred for their faith. Through their actions, both saints had shown their great faith in God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard today from the Scriptures and from inspiring lives of St. Perpetua and St. Felicity, all of us are called to be more faithful to God and to dedicate ourselves to Him and to our fellow men. This season of Lent is the perfect time and opportunity for us to do so, as this is the time and moment for us to deepen our relationship with God, to rid ourselves off the excesses of worldly corruptions and the sins that have weighed us down all these while. We are all called to remember the Lord and our faith in Him, to turn back to Him with contrite hearts and sincere desire to be reconciled with Him.
Let us all therefore, through our Lenten observances, continue to draw ever closer to God and His presence. Let us all through our Lenten practices, through our fast and abstinence, resist the temptations of sin and evil, and through our charity and almsgiving, be ever more generous in giving and sharing not only material goods and help to others in need, but even our love, care, time and attention to those who lack them. Let us walk ever more faithfully in the Lord’s presence, now and always, forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Matthew 25 : 31-46
At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory with all His Angels, He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be brought before Him; and, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, so will He do with them, placing the sheep on His right hand and the goats on His left.”
“The King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, blessed of My Father! Take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed Me into your home. I was naked, and you clothed Me. I was sick, and you visited Me. I was in prison, and you came to see Me.’”
“Then the righteous will ask Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and give You food; thirsty, and give You something to drink; or a stranger, and welcome You; or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and go to see You?’ The King will answer, ‘Truly I say to you : just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it to Me.’”
“Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Go, cursed people, out of My sight, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels! For I was hungry, and you did not give Me anything to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not welcome Me into your house; I was naked, and you did not clothe Me; I was sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’”
“They, too, will ask, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, thirsty, naked or a stranger, sick or in prison, and did not help You?’ The King will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you : just as you did not do it for one of the least of these, you did not do it for Me.’ And these will go into eternal punishments; but the just, to eternal life.”
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 18 : 8, 9, 10, 15
The Law of YHVH is perfect : it gives life to the soul. The word of YHVH is trustworthy : it gives wisdom to the simple.
The precepts of YHVH are right : they give joy to the heart. The commandments of YHVH are clear : they enlighten the eyes.
The fear of YHVH is pure, it endures forever; the judgments of YHVH are true, all of them just and right.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart find favour in Your sight, o YHVH – my Redeemer, my Rock!
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Leviticus 19 : 1-2, 11-18
YHVH spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to the entire assembly of the people of Israel and say to them : Be holy for I, YHVH, your God, am holy. Do not steal or lie or deceive one another. Do not swear falsely by My Name so as to profane the Name of your God; I am YHVH.”
“Do not oppress your neighbour or rob him. The wages of a hired man are not to remain with you all night until morning. You shall not curse a deaf man nor put a stumbling block in the way of the blind; but you shall fear your God; I am YHVH.”
“Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor nor bow to the great; you are to judge your neighbour fairly so as not to share in his guilt. Do not go about as a slanderer of your people and do not seek the death of your neighbour; I am YHVH.”
“Do not hate your brother in your heart; rebuke your neighbour frankly so as not to share in his guilt. Do not seek revenge or nurture a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself; I am YHVH.”
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we celebrate the first Sunday in the season of Lent, as we enter more deeply into this time of reconciliation and call to repentance that is characteristic of this season of Lent. On this Sunday, we are all reminded that God is our refuge, our salvation, our hope and the light amidst the darkness that surround us in this world. In Him alone lies our true happiness and freedom, and it is for this purpose that we observe this blessed season of Lent. All of our fasting, abstinence, almsgiving and other actions during this Lent are meant to lead us ever closer to God.
In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard of the words of Moses, the leader of the Israelites, who at that time in the later part of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, exhorted all the people of God to remember everything that God had done to them and to their ancestors. He reminded them all how God had loved and taken good care of their forefathers from the time of Abraham, his descendants and all who went to Egypt and where they prospered greatly as a nation, and where they were later persecuted and oppressed, enslaved and maltreated.
Yet the Lord showed His continued love for them, rescuing them all from their predicament and leading them out from the land of Egypt, as He led them by the might of His hands, crushing the Egyptians with ten great plagues and many other deeds, opening the sea itself to allow the people to walk through them without harm. These were all that the Lord had done for the sake of His people, and Moses was therefore reminding the people that they have to remain faithful to the Lord and renew their commitments to Him, rejecting the path of sin and evil.
The Psalm today echoed this sentiment as we heard its opening part, that those who come to rest in the shelter of the Lord, who entrusted themselves to Him shall always be provided for and will not be disappointed. For God has indeed shown us again and again His boundless love and compassion, and He has reassured us that no one who trusted in Him and placed their faith in Him would be lost to Him in the end. Sufferings and trials may come for the people of God, but they will triumph in the end with God.
Then in our second reading we heard the words of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Rome, through his Epistle to the Romans. In that passage we heard the affirmation of the salvation that has been given to us freely through Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. As long as we believe in Him, trust in Him, and focus our attention on Him, our true and living faith will bring us towards God, regardless of our background, our history and our differences. We are all God’s one flock and people, all called to return to Him and be reconciled with Him.
In our Gospel passage then we heard the famous encounter between the Lord Jesus and Satan, His great enemy, as the latter tried to prevent the Lord from doing His mission in this world. At that time, just right after the Lord was baptised by St. John the Baptist at the River Jordan, He fasted for forty days in the wilderness, and Satan came to Him in order to tempt Him. Satan had dominion over the world through sin, because sin has held onto the hearts and souls of the children of man, enslaving them and keeping them chained just as how the Israelites was once enslaved by the Egyptians.
We may be wondering if Satan actually knew what the Lord was about to do and what His mission was. As the evil spirits in the occasions when the Lord performed exorcisms on the possessed testified, that they recognised Him as the Holy One of God, it was unlikely that Satan did not know Who the Lord Jesus truly was. Although He was in the form of Man, the flesh of the descendants of Adam and Eve that he once tempted and corrupted, but the devil must have recognised the Lord’s true Divine nature that was concealed within His person.
But the devil clearly knew that whatever the Lord had intended to do for mankind, it would not be a good one for him, for the Lord loved all mankind, all of His children and people, and He would surely not let the devil and all of his fellow demons, the fallen angels and wicked spirits from having their way and dominion over His beloved ones any longer. Thus, Satan must have attempted to tempt the Lord through His human nature and flesh, to manipulate the usual human weaknesses and desires in the manner that he had done towards Eve and countless other sons and daughters of man.
In the first temptation, we heard the devil tempting the Lord with food to eat, as He has been fasting for forty days without food or any sustenance. He must have been really hungry, for He is truly Man just as He is Divine. Hunger is a part of our human existence, one of the things that we can feel whenever we have not consumed any food. The devil told the Lord that He could just turn the stones there into bread and food for Him to eat, testing Him by saying that if He was indeed the Son of God, He could have done so easily. However, the Lord refused to listen to the devil and pointed out that one’s true sustenance came from the Lord and His words, and obedience to those words.
In the second temptation, we heard how the devil brought the Lord to a very high mountain and showed Him all the glory and wonders of the world, and told Him that He could have everything if only He bowed down in worship, worshipping Satan, for all the glory and wealth of the world. This was immediately rebuked by the Lord, Who told Satan off and clearly spoke that the Lord alone is worthy of worship, nothing and no one else is worthy of that, clearly not Satan or any other beings. This was the temptation of desire and greed, for worldly wealth and material goods.
Then finally, the last temptation is often the most dangerous of all, as the devil brought the Lord to the peak of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, telling Him that if He were to fall down from that height, according to the Scriptures, the Lord would not let Him to be hurt, and He would send His Angels to save and protect His Son. But in doing so, one would then test the Lord, testing Him whether He would really say what He had said He would do, and also, most crucially, in doing so, that would have revealed His great wonders and majesty before the many people gathered there, and would have therefore suited someone’s ego and pride in doing so. He rebuked Satan, and the latter, knowing that he had been defeated, went away.
Essentially, the devil was trying to tempt the Lord to be selfish, to be filled with greed and ultimately to succumb to pride, all of which would lead anyone to sin against God, disobeying His will, His Law and commandments for one’s own personal ambitions, desires and ego. Satan knew it all too well, for he himself had fallen into that state because of his pride and ambition, as Lucifer, the most brilliant and mighty among God’s Angels, who fell into the sin of pride, in desiring to rule over the Angels of God and in desiring the Throne of God for himself. He was defeated and cast out from Heaven, and then he tried to bring down man, God’s most beloved creation.
Satan himself fell, the many other fallen angels followed Satan to his rebellion, and he also tempted Eve and through her, Adam, and many other people, all the sons and daughters of man, who had fallen into sin. But the Lord showed us all, that we must not let sin to have any more hold on us. Unfortunately, as long as we allow ourselves to be swayed by pride, by our desire and greed, by our attachments to the world, we will fall again and again into sin. And the Lord then showed us that we do not have to remain bound by those things, as He resisted and rejected Satan’s temptations one by one.
What is important, as the Lord had said and mentioned, is that we must put the Lord at the centre and as the clear focus of our lives. He must exist at the centre of our lives and be the reason and emphasis of our every actions, words and deeds. We have to put our trust in Him and strive to walk in the path that He has shown to us all. And in doing so, we have to be more humble, rejecting pride, and to temper our desires and ambitions, rejecting the temptations of greed and desires, and to train ourselves to resist those temptations, and this season of Lent, we are given the perfect opportunity to do so if we have not yet done that.
That is why, during this season of Lent, all of us are called to practice our Lenten observances and actions with great and genuine faith, with clear understanding of whatever it is that we are doing, so that in all the things we do, we will always do it for the sake of the Lord, and not for our own selfish ambitions, our pride, ego and desires. Through fasting and abstinence, done right and focused on the Lord, let us restrain our human and worldly desires, for glory, power, fame and other material wealth and goods, resisting the excesses of worldly attachments and pleasures, and instead, learn to grow more in our faith and trust, in our love for God.
Then, we are also called to be more generous in loving one another, as Lent is the time for us to show God’s love even more to others around us. We are encouraged to be more generous in almsgiving and in caring for the less fortunate, not necessarily just in material terms only, but also in caring for those who are unloved and uncared for, those who have been ostracised and rejected by others. Let us extend our caring hands and hearts to them, and let us show each other what God’s love for us truly means, through our own genuine Christian love.
Let us all make the best use of this time that we have been given in this season of Lent, so that each and every one of us can draw ever closer to the Lord, and that we may grow ever more in our faith and dedication to God. May He continue to watch over us and strengthen us all in faith, and may He empower each and every one of us so that we may remain ever more deeply attuned to Him, and be ever more courageous to say no to Satan and all of his temptations and all the falsehoods he presented to us. Let us help one another to walk ever more faithfully in God’s presence, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Luke 4 : 1-13
At that time, Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. As He returned from the Jordan, the Spirit led Him into the desert, where He was tempted by the devil for forty days. He did not eat anything during that time, and at the end He was hungry. The devil then said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to turn into bread.” But Jesus answered, “Scripture says : People cannot live on bread alone.”
Then the devil took Him up to a high place, and showed Him, in a flash, all the nations of the world. And he said to Jesus, “I can give You power over all the nations; and their wealth will be Yours; for power and wealth have been delivered to me; and I give them to whom I wish. All this will be Yours, provided You worship me.” But Jesus replied, “Scripture says : You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone.”
Then the devil took Him up to Jerusalem, and set Him on the highest wall of the Temple; and he said, “If You are God’s Son, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written : God will order His Angels to take care of you; and again : They will hold you in their hands, lest you hurt your foot on the stones.” But Jesus replied, “It is written : You shall not challenge the Lord your God.”
When the devil had exhausted every way of tempting Jesus, he left Him, to return another time.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Romans 10 : 8-13
You are saved, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord, and, in your heart, you believe that God raised Him from the dead. By believing from the heart, you obtain true righteousness; by confessing the faith with your lips, you are saved.
For Scripture says : No one who believes in Him will be ashamed. Here, there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; all have the same Lord, Who is very generous with whoever calls on Him. Truly, all who call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 90 : 1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15
You, who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who rest in the shadow of the Almighty, say to YHVH, “My Stronghold, my Refuge, my God in Whom I trust!”
No harm will come upon you; no disaster will draw near your home. For He will command His Angels to guard you in all your ways.
They will lift you up with their hands, so that your foot will not hit a stone. You will tread on wildcats and snakes, and trample the lion and the dragon.
“Because they cling to Me, I will rescue them,” says YHVH. “I will protect those who know My Name. When they call to Me, I will answer; in time of trouble, I will be with them; I will deliver and honour them.”
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Deuteronomy 26 : 4-10
Then the priest shall take the large basket from your hands and place it before the altar of YHVH, your God, and you shall say these words before YHVH, “My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt to find refuge there, while still few in number; but in that country, he became a great and powerful nation.”
“The Egyptians maltreated us, oppressed us and subjected us to harsh slavery. So we called to YHVH, the God of our ancestors, and YHVH listened to us. He saw our humiliation, our hard labour and the oppression to which we were subjected. He brought us out of Egypt with a firm hand, manifesting His power with signs and awesome wonders. And He brought us here to give us this land flowing with milk and honey.”
“So now I bring and offer the first fruits of the land which You, YHVH, have given me.”
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 