1st Week of Lent

by

Saturday, 24 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded yet again of the fundamental expectations and what it truly means for us all to be Christians. To be Christians means for us all to be filled with God’s love and kindness, His mercy and compassion for everyone. Without love, we cannot truly call or consider ourselves as Christians, as without love, our faith is dead and empty, meaningless and without purpose. God Himself is Love, and He has always shown us all this great love, at all times. That is why, as His beloved and holy people, it is only apt and proper that each and every one of us follow Him in this same path of love and compassion, and show love and kindness in each and every parts of our lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard the words of the Lord spoken to His first chosen people, the Israelites, during their Exodus from Egypt. The Lord spoke to them through their leader, His servant Moses, in which He reminded them all to stay true and obedient to the Law and the commandments which He had revealed and passed to them, namely the Ten Commandments, as well as the many other rules, precepts and practices which He has given to them, for them all to follow and inculcate in each and every moments of their lives. Those laws and commandments were meant to show them and to teach them how they should behave and act as a people that God has chosen and blessed.

This is because how the people of God lived their lives and carried out their actions and works, in their obedience to the Law and commandments of God, all these would be measured up by others around them against what they believed in. If they had not been sincere in their faith and did not obey the Law of God as they should have, then it would have made them all to be no better than hypocrites who only paid lip service to their obligations and commitments to God. This reminder was made to them because although the Lord has revealed His Law and commandments to the Israelites, but they often disobeyed them and chose to follow pagan and false idols rather than remaining faithful to the Lord.

This is then elaborated further in our Gospel passage today, in which the Lord Jesus highlighted to His disciples and all the people that the commandments of God are all ultimately and essentially about Love, first of all, loving God their Lord and Master with all of their strength, might and capacity, and then showing the same kind of love towards all of our fellow brothers and sisters around us. Without these kinds of love, then we cannot truly consider ourselves as being obedient to the Law and commandments of God.

Contextually, at that time, when the Lord was performing His ministry, the Law of God was preserved, kept and enforced by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who were particularly strict and rigid in their observances and interpretations of the Law of God. Therefore, as the Lord came into the midst of His people, He showed and taught them the true meaning and purpose of the Law, which was meant to help teach and show the way for the people of God to follow in their lives, by teaching them about God’s Love, and how to show the same love to Him, our Lord and Creator, as well as to our fellow brothers and sisters.

Unfortunately, for many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, they had become swayed by their sense of superiority and pride, which led to them refusing to listen to the Lord and persisting in their misguided and wrong understanding of the meaning and purpose of the Law of God. They were too concerned about the manner how the Law and its precepts ought to be practiced and carried out, that they usually paid too much attention to the details of the Law and the commandments, that they forgot about the reason and the purpose why the Law had been given by God to us in the first place.

They also looked down on the others around them who did not manage to carry out the commandments and the precepts of the Law as strictly as they had done, and many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law also had that sense of superiority amongst them, that they considered others to be less worthy than they were, or that they alone were the sole guardians and the ones whom everyone else ought to be following. However, they failed to realise that in their pride and ego, their ambitions and desires, and attachments to worldly glory, they became blinded and misguided in their path.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded today that we should always strive to follow the Lord and His examples in loving us, in how we should always focus ourselves and our whole lives on God, on His love, compassion and mercy. We should also restrain and resist all those temptations of the world, the temptations of worldly glory, pleasures, and also of our pride, ego, greed, ambition and desires, so that we do not end up falling into the trap of sin and evil. Let us all be humble before the Lord, and listen to Him speaking to us, and ask Him to help and guide us in our journey of faith and life, that we do not falter and end up falling into the wrong paths.

May the Lord continue to bless and guide us all, and may He empower each and every one of us to live ever more worthily in His Presence from now on. May God bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, particularly during this time and season of Lent, in rejecting the temptations of worldly evils and false pleasures, all around us. May our lives and good examples be good inspiration to others, now and always. Amen.

by

Saturday, 24 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 5 : 43-48

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “You have heard that it was said : Love your neighbour and do not do good to your enemy. But this I tell you : love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. For He makes His sun rise on both the wicked and the good, and He gives rain to both the just and the unjust.”

“If you love those who love you, what is special about that? Do not even tax collectors do as much? And if you are friendly only to your friends, what is so exceptional about that? Do not even the pagans do as much? As for you, be righteous and perfect in the way your heavenly Father is righteous and perfect.”

by

Saturday, 24 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 118 : 1-2, 4-5, 7-8

Blessed are they whose ways are upright, who follow the Law of the Lord. Blessed are they who treasure His word and seek Him with all their heart.

You have laid down precepts to be obeyed. O, that my ways were steadfast in observing Your statutes!

I will praise You with an upright spirit when I learn Your just precepts by heart. I mean to observe Your commandments. O, never abandon me.

by

Saturday, 24 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Deuteronomy 26 : 16-19

On this day, YHVH, your God, commands you to fulfil these norms and these commandments. Obey them now and put them into practice with all your heart and with all your soul.

Today YHVH has declared to you that He will be your God, and so you shall follow His ways, observing His norms, His commandments and His laws, and listening to His voice. Today YHVH has declared that you will be His very own people even as He had promised you, and you must obey all His commandments.

He, for His part, will give you honour, renown and glory, and set you high above all the nations He has made, and you will become a nation consecrated to YHVH, your God, as He has declared.

by

Friday, 23 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called to live our lives righteously and in accordance with the teachings and the ways which the Lord Himself has presented to us, that we should be good, righteous, just and worthy in all of our actions, words and deeds, in each and every moments of our lives, and therefore, we must always strive to do what we have been taught and shown to do through the Church. Each and every one of us must remind ourselves that righteousness and virtues, all these will be rewarded by the Lord, while sins and wickedness in our lives will be counted against us in the end, at the time of the Final and Last Judgment. We must keep this in mind so that we will continue to live virtuously and strive to do God’s will in all things and at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard the Lord speaking to His people through Ezekiel reminding all of them that the righteous and the just will be judged by the sins that they all committed, and should in the end, they are found wanting and lacking in faith overall, they shall be condemned and cast down by those sins and wickedness. In the meantime, the wicked and those who are considered as sinners, shall be saved and brought out of the darkness, saved and brought into the Holy Presence of God, filled with His grace and love, and receive from Him the assurance of eternal life and glory, by the righteous deeds and repentance through which they had done and embraced.

This means that first of all, no one is truly beyond God’s redemption and forgiveness, as even the worst of sinners can have the opportunity to turn away from their many sins and be forgiven from all of them, should they consciously choose to abandon those sinful ways and turn back once again towards the Lord. At the same time, it is also an important reminder for us that ultimately sin is still dangerous and harmful to us, as God despises sin and evil, and while He does not despise us, but as long as we continue to commit sins against the Lord and refuse to repent from those sins, then those sins and wickedness shall become our obstacles and shall be counted against us. This is a reminder for all of us to remain ever faithful and committed to the Lord, to His path at all times.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Matthew in which the Lord Jesus Himself reminded His disciples and all of us once again to be truly full of faith and love for God, and to be sincere in how we live our Christian lives, our dedication to God in all things. We should always do our best in all of our actions and words, in every moments to follow God’s path, to do His will and to love one another, as we should always do. We should not hold grudges and hate each other, and we must learn how to forgive and to let go of our anger and emotions, forgiving each other just as the Lord Himself has been so merciful and forgiving towards us. We must keep in mind this love and kindness shown to us, and we must do the same in our own lives as well, that we ourselves may be good examples and inspirations to others.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Polycarp, holy bishop and martyr, whose life and dedication to God should serve as good inspiration and examples for all of us as well, in how we ought to live out our lives. St. Polycarp was one of the earliest Church fathers who were the contemporaries of the successors of the Apostles like St. Ignatius of Antioch and others, and was a possible disciple of St. John the Apostle. According to the Apostolic traditions, he was converted by the Apostles, was made a priest and later on a bishop of the Church, and he was involved in many discussions about the works and proceedings of the Church, including the differences in practices such as the computation of the dates of Easter between the churches in Asia Minor and Rome.

Then, when persecutions came upon the Church and the faithful as it was common at that time in the early Church, St. Polycarp was persecuted and tortured, as he, like the many other Christians at the time, were forced to burn incense offerings and worship the Roman Emperors, which were considered as divine at the time. St. Polycarp refused to do so and proclaimed his faith before his persecutors, that he cannot betray and abandon his Lord and God, because in all his many years of life, God has always been with him and had done him no wrong. He also spoke bravely and firmly about the eternal flame of punishment that would punish all sinners, and whatever flames or torture he would have to endure, none of those could be compared to the eternal flames of hell. Thus, St. Polycarp was martyred by being burnt at the stake and pierced with a spear.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the great courage and faith which St. Polycarp had in the Lord should inspire all of us to have that kind of strong and unwavering faith in God as well. We should have that strong desire to love and serve the Lord faithfully to the best of our abilities so that in all that we say and do, we will always strive to glorify the Lord by our lives, distancing ourselves from sin and evil, and like St. Polycarp before us, to be inspirations and good role models in faith for our fellow brothers and sisters. We must do our part in every moments of our lives, to proclaim the Lord’s path and His ways to everyone all around us. We must lead by example, and show that our faith is not merely just superficial, but instead, we are truly full of genuine and real faith in God.

Let us all therefore do our best, especially in this blessed time and moment of Lent which we have been presented with, so that in all the things we do, we will continue to walk ever more courageously and faithfully in the path of the Lord, as we continue to draw ever closer to Him. Let us all continue to be the worthy and shining beacons of God’s light, truth, Good News and love in our world today, filled with sin, darkness and evil. May the Lord be with us always, and may He bless us in our every good endeavours and efforts. Amen.

by

Friday, 23 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 5 : 20-26

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I tell you then, if you are not righteous in a much broader way than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to our people in the past : Do not commit murder; anyone who does kill will have to face trial. But now I tell you : whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial.”

“Whoever insults a brother or sister deserves to be brought before the council. Whoever calls a brother or a sister, ‘Fool!’ deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell. So, if you are about to offer your gift at the altar, and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with him, and then come back and offer your gift to God.”

“Do not forget this : be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court. Otherwise he will turn you over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, who will put you in jail. There you will stay, until you have paid the last penny.”

by

Friday, 23 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 129 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7bc-8

Out of the depths I cry to You, o Lord, o Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears pay attention to the voice of my supplication.

If You should mark our evil, o Lord, who could stand? But with You is forgiveness.

For that You are revered. I waited for the Lord, my soul waits, and I put my hope in His word. My soul expects the Lord more than watchmen the dawn.

O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with Him is unfailing love and with Him full deliverance. He will deliver Israel from all its sins.

by

Friday, 23 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Ezekiel 18 : 21-28

If the sinner turns from his sin, observes My decrees and practices what is right and just, he will live, he will not die. None of the sins he committed will be charged against him, he will live as a consequence of his righteous deeds. Do I want the death of the sinner? – word of YHVH. Do I not rather want him to turn from his ways and live?

But if the righteous man turns away from what is good and commits sins as the wicked do, will he live? His righteous deeds will no longer be credited to him, but he will die because of his infidelity and his sins. But you say : YHVH’s way is not just! Why, Israel! Is My position wrong? Is it not rather that yours is wrong?”

“If the righteous man dies after turning from his righteous deeds and sinning, he dies because of his sins. And if the wicked man does what is good and right, after turning from the sins he committed, he will save his life. He will live and not die, because he has opened his eyes and turned from the sins he had committed.”

by

Thursday, 22 February 2024 : Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this day we celebrate the glorious Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle, which commemorates the Chair of St. Peter, the seat of authority which is traditionally ascribed to St. Peter, the Prince and Chief of all the Apostles, the one whom the Lord had entrusted His Church to, as His Vicar in this world. In the Papal Basilica of St. Peter, where the tomb of St. Peter and the largest and one of the most important churches of all Christendom now stands, there is a wooden chair, gilded and covered partly in gold, which according to Church and Apostolic traditions had been used by St. Peter the Apostle himself while he was in Rome, as the seat of his authority as the first Pope and Bishop of Rome. This chair is now enshrined above the Altar of the Chair at one end of the Basilica of St. Peter.

We may then be wondering why we put so much important and matter to a mere chair? Is it not just like any other chairs out there that we also use? Now, brothers and sisters, this Chair of St. Peter is not merely just a chair like any other chair out there. As mentioned earlier, there is indeed a historic relic of the actual chair used by St. Peter the Apostle. However, regardless whether the chair has been authentic or complete, or been modified throughout all these years of the past two millennia since the time of St. Peter and the other Apostles, it does not matter, as this Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle is more than just celebrating the actual chair upon which our first Pope and Vicar of Christ had exercised his solemn God-given authority over the Church.

First of all, the chair of the bishop of a diocese, which is a structural and administrative division in the Church, is also known as a Cathedra, and this seat represents the Divine-granted authority, power and teaching of the bishop, his leadership, guidance and shepherdhood over the people of God entrusted under his care. This Cathedra is located in the church which is then considered as the Mother Church of the whole diocese, and this church is thus also known as a Cathedral. Just as the Cathedra is the seat and the symbol of the bishop’s authority and power, thus the Cathedral is the central hub and focus of the spiritual life and a symbol of unity of the whole diocese, and all the faithful there.

Now, Cathedrals all around the world have undergone a lot of changes over the years and throughout the history of the Church, with old Cathedrals have been destroyed and rebuilt, and many new churches were built and made to be the new Cathedrals of the dioceses all around the world. Thus, a particular chair or seat is not what determines the ‘Chair of the Bishop’ akin to today’s celebration of the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle, but rather, that authority and power have been granted to each bishops through the Holy Spirit, from God, and by the power granted and authorised to the Church and its leadership, chief of which is the Pope, the Vicar of Christ and Successor of St. Peter, this power and authority have been passed down from the Apostles to the bishops of the Church today, in what is known as the Apostolic Succession.

Thus, the Cathedra is just symbolic of the Bishop’s authority and power to rule over the flock of the faithful people of God in his respective diocese, and usually when a new bishop is consecrated and ordained, during or soon after his ordination, he is led to take his place on this Cathedra or any other equivalent chairs, in the case of auxiliary bishops, to represent this Apostolic Succession of the episcopal duty and authority entrusted to them by the Lord. And above all the bishops of the whole world, the Bishop of Rome as the Successor of St. Peter the Apostle in his unique role as the Supreme Pontiff and Vicar of Christ, as the one whom the Lord had entrusted His Church to, from St. Peter to his successors, right down to Pope Francis, our current Pope, they all have been given the duty and responsibility over the whole entire Universal Church.

Thus, as we celebrate this great Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle today, we are all reminded of the nature of our faith and membership in this same One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, united under the same Head of the Church, Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, through His Vicar, our Pope, the Successor of St. Peter the Apostle. The successive Popes throughout history sits upon the Chair of St. Peter, not necessarily the actual chair that St. Peter had sat upon, but like that of many of the other rulers and monarchs in the world, and like all the other bishops, this Chair of St. Peter the Apostle represents the governing and leadership, the authority and power that God had bestowed upon the Pope as the leader of the whole Church.

To St. Peter, the Lord has entrusted His Church as we heard in our Gospel passage today, as He replied to the great testimony of faith which St. Peter had declared before all the other disciples, that he truly believed in the fact that Christ is the Son of God and Saviour sent into this world for our salvation. The Lord entrusted the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven to St. Peter, and established His Church upon the ‘Rock’ of St. Peter, which is symbolic not just because of the name Peter or Petros, or Cephas in the original Aramaic, which means ‘Rock’, but it is the establishment of the office of the Supreme Pontiff, the Pope and hence the Vicar of Christ, the one to whom the guardianship of the whole entire Church, in unity with the other bishops, the successors of the Apostles of the Lord, that all the faithful remain part of this One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

This is why today, as we celebrate this Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle, it is important that we all reaffirm our unity, obedience and adherence to the teachings and the rules and ways of the Church as contained within its laws and precepts, and as governed and guided by the Pope, united with all of his brother bishops all throughout the world, who as the successors of the Apostles, had been tasked with keeping faithfully the teachings of the Lord, His Good News and truth, and this important deposit of faith, all of our Christian beliefs and practices, through which, many of us can come ever closer to the Lord, to His grace and love. We must always support the good works of the Church, and pray for our Pope in particular, as well as for the other bishops who help to guide and steer the Church in often turbulent and difficult times.

Let us all continue to support the Church, especially to all those who have been entrusted with the leadership of the Church, like the Pope and the many bishops, our own diocesan bishops and others entrusted with the guidance of the flock of the faithful people of God. Let us all strive to do our part as the Christian faithful, holy people of God so that we may continue to glorify God by our lives, and contribute in whichever areas we have been called and entrusted to by the Lord. Let us all do our best that our every words, actions and deeds will continue to proclaim God’s truth and Good News, in all things. May the Lord continue to bless and guide us in our path, strengthening and encouraging us in our journey of faith and life, as part of the Universal Church, and may He continue to bless our Pope, the Successor of St. Peter. Amen.

by

Thursday, 22 February 2024 : Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 16 : 13-19

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 Bar-Jona, 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.”