1st Week of Lent

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Monday, 6 March 2017 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that as those whom God had chosen to be His own people, much as the Israelites had been, each and every one of us had been bound by His laws and precepts, as first of all God revealed to His people in the desert, which we heard today in the Book of Leviticus, our first reading.

God charged them to be righteous, just and upright in all of their deeds, to be holy just as God Himself is holy, for they are the people of God, and to exercise love, mercy and compassion in all the things that they say and do, and not to cause harm, pain, suffering and anguish for others around them, as what mankind normally always liked to do.

God had called His people from the world, and He sanctified them and made them holy, and He placed His laws before them, so that they would continue to be different from the ways of the world around them. And therefore, all of us have also been called to do the same, to be different from what the world has deemed to be acceptable to it, to be a true and devoted Christian, in all of our deeds.

And indeed, in this season of Lent, it is the perfect time for us to do so, as it is the time for us to take a step back and reflect on our own lives. It is a time for change and conversion, for us to reevaluate our lives and reorientate them so that while once we may have lived in a state of sin, now we may be able to walk righteously and justly in the way of the Lord.

Therefore, during this season of Lent all of us are called to be generous with our love and mercy, to forgive all those who have wronged us and those who have caused us pain and suffering. We are called to share our love and blessings with all those who have little or none of these, that they too may experience the love of God, and enjoy what we all enjoy in this life.

It is a reality that there are many people who suffer in this world today, because of the greed of man, because of jealousy and hatred, because of all the negativities and evil that are present in our hearts. All of them had brought about all the injustice, the evil and the sufferings we know. As Christians, there are many things which we are able to do in order to help others who have no one else to help them.

However, it is also important that we also take note of what our Lord Jesus had told His disciples in our Gospel passage today. In that passage we heard about the famous Last Judgment sermon by the Lord Jesus, Who foretold before all at that time, what would transpire at the moment of the Last Judgment, which we at present are also looking forward to.

In the Last Judgment, those who have been found to be righteous and just in all of their deeds, caring and loving for the poor and for the less fortunate, those who have shown compassion and mercy upon others will receive their reward from God, as those whom God had found to be worthy to be the recipients of His everlasting and glorious inheritance, the blessed eternal life in fullness of bliss with Him.

However, all those whom God had rejected and cast aside because of their sins had been made such, not just because they had committed acts and deeds that were wicked and evil before God, but also when they have the capacity of doing something that is right and good, and then did nothing and remained idle, while others around them were seeking for help and succour from their troubles.

That’s right, brothers and sisters in Christ, sin before God is not just that of the sin of action, but also the sin of omission. What does this mean? It means that if we are perfectly capable of doing something that is right and good, something that will help others around us, and yet we consciously refused to do so, because of various reasons, but all of which are selfish reasons, because we are lazy, because we are doubtful and unwilling to step beyond our comfort zone, then we will be condemned precisely because of our failure to do what is required of us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, in this season of Lent, let us make best use of the time given to us, so that we may exercise prudence in our actions, and be moved to do what God had asked us to do. Let us turn our back from our past ways of sin, and embrace God’s forgiveness and mercy, while at the same time being loving and merciful ourselves, extending our helping hands upon others who need our help.

Let us be generous to give of ourselves to the poor, to the lonely, to all those who have been rejected by others, and to all those who are still living in the darkness of sin. Let us help one another, and be the bearers of God’s light in our world today, so that our light may dispel the darkness of sin, and purified from our sins, may we all be worthy to enter into the heavenly kingdom of God, and receive from Him, the crown of everlasting glory. May God be with us all, bless us all in our actions, and help us to have a fulfilling and blessed time of Lent. Amen.

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Monday, 6 March 2017 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

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 house. 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 good people 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 : whenever you did this to these little ones who are My brothers and sisters, 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 : whatever you did not do for one of these little ones, you did not do it for Me.’ And these will go into eternal punishment, but the just to eternal life.”

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Monday, 6 March 2017 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 18 : 8, 9, 10, 15

The Law of the Lord is perfect : it gives life to the soul. The word of the Lord is trustworthy : it gives wisdom to the simple.

The precepts of the Lord are right : they give joy to the heart. The commandments of the Lord are clear : they enlighten the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is pure, it endures forever; the judgements of the Lord 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 Lord – my Redeemer, my Rock!

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Monday, 6 March 2017 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

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.”

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Sunday, 5 March 2017 : First Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the occasion of the First Sunday of Lent, when we heard the customary readings from the Scripture about the fall of mankind, our first ancestors Adam and Eve, and also the reading from the Holy Gospels on the temptation of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who was tempted by the devil during His forty days of fasting and preparation in the desert after He was baptised and before He began His earthly ministry.

In today’s readings, we heard about how frail we mankind are, beginning since the time of our very first ancestors, whom God had created out of love and placed in the Gardens of Eden. We were not intended for a life of suffering and pain, and we were not intended to suffer death at the end of our lives. Indeed, everything was created good and perfect then, and mankind were supposed to live out their days in perfect bliss and harmony with God forevermore.

God has blessed us mankind with many things, and He has put us in charge over all the things that He has created in this world. And yet, as we have heard, seen and witnessed, they were not satisfied with what they had received. That is why we fell prey easily to the temptations of Satan, our great enemy who despised us and wanted to see us destroyed and crushed because of our own folly.

Satan was once known as Lucifer, a great and mighty Archangel of God, who was told to be the greatest and most brilliant of all the Angels of God, but he became proud and filled with greed and desire, thinking of going beyond what was his due, and claimed to be greater than God His Creator, desiring nothing less than the throne of Heaven itself, and led many Angels in rebellion against God. He was defeated and cast down out of Heaven, and became what we know as Satan, the devil, the evil one.

So much had he resented his downfall and defeat, that he resolved to bring ruin upon those whom God had loved most of all the things He had created, that is us all mankind. He played upon our human desires and vulnerabilities, and tempted us with the same vices that he himself had. He tempted us with the knowledge of good and evil, lying that by eating the fruits of the forbidden tree, we will gain power and knowledge much like that of God’s, and therefore became like God Himself.

It is in our disobedience and in our inability to restrain ourselves that we have sinned, not just Adam and Eve with their original sins, but also down throughout time and ages, when mankind frequently and constantly acted waywardly and committed wickedness before God and men alike. We have fallen into sin, which corrupted our hearts and minds and defiled our bodies and souls, preventing us from attaining true grace in God.

It is therefore in this holy season of Lent, the forty days of preparation we have before the celebration of Easter that we are all called to reflect on the state of our sinfulness and wickedness. We have been called to conversion by God, a conversion from our past sinfulness and waywardness, so that we may turn our back against all the disgraceful and selfish acts we had done, which had brought about our separation from God.

What we heard in the Gospel today, on the temptations of the devil upon Jesus our Lord in the desert is a clear reminder for each one of us as we proceed through this season of Lent. Among what we have heard in the temptations, it is a reminder for us to keep our guard up against the sin of gluttony, the sin of greed and desire, and finally the sin of pride.

First of all, Jesus was tempted by the devil who tried to manipulate His hunger and desire for food. He has fasted for a whole forty days and nights without any food or drink, and certainly then, as human as He was, He must have been really hungry. Just imagine for ourselves, that if we just skip one meal in a day, it would have been intolerable for us, not less still missing the meal for the entire day, and even more so for forty days and nights.

And that was what brought down many of the Israelites as they journeyed through the desert. They complained against Moses and against God, because they were hungry and then became angry against Moses and God for having led them out of Egypt, as they would rather live in slavery and had their bellies filled with food, the food of the Egyptians, rather than living in freedom and obeying the will of God their Lord and Master.

Let us all reflect on this, brothers and sisters in Christ. Is it not the same with us? Is it not like just what we mankind often do in our world, both past and present? Many of us are unable to resist the temptations of our flesh, the pangs of hunger and desire of our stomachs. Many of us live lavishly and eat food and drink as if there is no tomorrow. We feast and party among ourselves, while there are many people in this world who cannot even make ends meet, and who hunger for food and are starving to death.

Many of us worry about what we are to eat and drink daily, and we worry about our well-being, but how many of us realise just how much we have been blessed by God day after day? And yet, we are not satisfied and always desire for more things for ourselves. Jesus rebuked Satan and castigated him, saying that food is not all that we need in order to live, but really to obey the Word of God and to listen to His will.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters? It means that we must not allow ourselves to be controlled by the whim of our desire. This is linked to the sin of greed and desire I mentioned earlier on. Gluttony is a result of our desire, and so is lust and greed. We must overcome the temptations of our flesh, and learn to control ourselves. Jesus was tempted by Satan in his third temptation, with the offer of the whole kingdom and wealth of the whole earth, if only that He would worship him as a god.

But Jesus rebuked him once again, saying that God alone is worthy of worship, and He alone is God. It is our desire that had led us astray from God, and instead of obeying the will of God, we end up listening to the will of our own flesh, the will of our own desires, which lead us into committing acts that are abhorrent and wicked in the sight of God and mankind alike.

After all, that is what happened when we mankind fight against each other over prestige, over honour, over wealth and possessions, even over food and basic necessities of life. Wars had been fought and conflicts had raged over something as trivial as human pride and ego, over human desire for more wealth and commodities. The greed and desire of mankind had indeed led to the rich, mighty and powerful to oppress those who are poorer and weak.
But let us not be mistaken, brothers and sisters in Christ. For God is not against the rich and the powerful just because they are so. Do we realise that even the poor often oppress others who are poor like them, just because they have more power, more strength and advantage against those who are weaker from them? Indeed, in this season of Lent, we are all called to restrain our human desires, our greed, the desire of lust, for forbidden pleasures of the flesh, and also to be charitable.

Those who have been given more need to share their blessings with those who have less. And this is what God had commanded His people to do. In this season of Lent, besides fasting and abstinence, through which we restrain ourselves and our desires, we are also asked to do the works of mercy as our penance, loving our brethren and give generously through almsgiving, helping those who have little or even nothing to support themselves and their families.

And finally, it is a moment for us to resist the sin of pride, the most dangerous of it all. As I have mentioned at the beginning of this discourse, it is pride that had brought down even the mighty Angel Lucifer, whose pride overcome him and made him to desire the power and glory of God for himself. Pride and ego is indeed the source of all vices. For it is the ‘I’, the ego we have in us, that led us to selfishness, to desire and to all other things, among which had led our ancestors to sin against God.

When we are so focused on ourselves, and when we are so full of ego and arrogance, it is when we end up selfishly thinking about ourselves, desiring more and more for ourselves, even if these would mean that others may not get a share in what we desire, and if these lead others to suffer just so that we may enjoy what we want.

Satan himself tempted Jesus to jump from the top of the Temple, alleging that the Angels would not let Him to hit the ground and would lift Him up. It is a great temptation for Jesus to show Himself and His might to others, as God and Master of all. But Jesus did not succumb to the temptation of pride, just as He did not succumb to desire, greed, gluttony and others. He rebuked Satan and cast him away from His presence.

All of these are important lessons for us to take note of during this season of Lent. It is an example for us all to follow, that during this penitential season, and indeed from now on, even beyond the end of this season of Lent, that we ought to throw away our ego, far far away from us. We must not be arrogant, be egoistic and selfish, but instead, we must be humble in all of our ways.

Let us all pray to the Lord, that He will give us the grace to be humble, especially as we progress through this season of Lent. Let us pray that He will open our hearts to His love, that we may love generously and share our blessings generously and kindly upon others, giving alms and help to those who need it, and restrain our desires, our selfishness, and instead learn to be selfless and loving to all our fellow brethren. Let us indeed follow the examples of Christ, our Lord, Who was humble and obedient to the will of His Father, and Whose obedience had brought about our salvation, reversing the sin of the disobedience of Adam and Eve.

May the Lord help us all as we progress through this season of Lent, that we may grow ever closer to Him, and grow ever more righteous, just and worthy of Him through all that we have said and done in our lives. May God bless us all and our families, and may He strengthen in us our faith and our desire to love Him above all else, and love His people, our brethren just as we love Him. God be with us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 5 March 2017 : First Sunday of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Matthew 4 : 1-11

At that time, the Spirit led Jesus into the desert that He might be put to the test by the devil. After spending forty days and nights without food, Jesus was hungry. Then the devil came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, order these stones to turn into bread.” But Jesus answered, “Scripture says : One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took Jesus to the holy city, set Him on the highest wall of the Temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down, for Scripture says : God has given orders to His Angels about You. Their hands will hold You up lest You hurt Your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered, “But Scripture also says : You shall not put to the test the Lord your God.”

Then the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the nations of the world in all their greatness and splendour. And he said, “All this I will give You, if You kneel down and worship me.” Then Jesus answered, “Be off, Satan! Scripture says : Worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone!”

Then the devil left Him, and Angels came to serve Him.

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Sunday, 5 March 2017 : First Sunday of Lent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Romans 5 : 12-19

Therefore, sin entered the world through one man and through sin, death, and later on death spread to all mankind, because all sinned. As long as there was no law, they could not speak of disobedience, but sin was already in the world. This is why from Adam to Moses death reigned among them, although their sin was not disobedience as in Adam’s case – this was not the true Adam, but foretold the Other Who was to come.

Such has been the fall, but God’s gift goes far beyond. All died because of the fault of one man, but how much more does the grace of God spread when the gift He granted reaches all, from this unique Man Jesus Christ. Again, there is no comparison between the gift and the offence of one man. The disobedience that brought condemnation was of one sinner, whereas the grace of God brings forgiveness to a world of sinners.

If death reigned through the disobedience of one and only one person, how much more will there be a reign of life for those who receive the grace and gift of true righteousness through the One person, Jesus Christ. Just as one transgression brought sentence of death to all, so, too, one Man’s good act has brought justification and light to all; and as the disobedience of only one made all sinners, so the obedience of one Person allowed all to be made just and holy.

Alternative reading
Romans 12 : 17-19

Do not return evil for evil, but let everyone see your good will. Do your best to live in peace with everybody. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but let God be the One Who punishes, as Scripture says : Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

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Sunday, 5 March 2017 : First Sunday of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 50 : 3-4, 5-6a, 12-13, 14 and 17

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

For I acknowledge my wrongdoings and have my sins ever in mind. Against You alone have I sinned; what is evil in Your sight I have done.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me again the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. O Lord, open my lips, and I will declare Your praise.

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Sunday, 5 March 2017 : First Sunday of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Genesis 2 : 7-9 and Genesis 3 : 1-7

Then YHVH God formed Man, dust drawn from the clay, and breathed into his nostrils a breath of life and Man became alive with breath. God planted a garden in Eden in the east and there He placed Man whom He had created. YHVH God caused to grow from the ground every kind of tree that is pleasing to see and good to eat, also the tree of life on the middle of the garden and the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Now the serpent was the most crafty of all the wild creatures that YHVH God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say : You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden, but of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden God said : You must not eat, and you must not touch it or you will die.”

The serpent said to the woman, “You will not die, but God knows that the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.” The woman saw that the fruit was good to eat, and pleasant to the eyes, and ideal for gaining knowledge. She took its fruit and ate it and gave some to her husband who was with her. He ate it.

Then their eyes were opened and both of them knew they were naked. So they sewed leaves of a fig tree together and made themselves loincloths.

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Saturday, 4 March 2017 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. Casimir (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the healing which God is offering to all of us His people, which He had made by offer through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who came into this world in order to become the salvation for all the people, and become healing for all those who have fallen into the sickness of sin, the disease of our souls.

The message which the Lord our God had announced to all in today’s readings is that all of us ought to change our lives, and reorientate them towards the Lord, so that if we have once committed sins and wicked acts, we must stop them immediately, no longer disobeying the Lord and His laws, and instead, beginning to follow Him and obey His ways, in all the things we do in this life.

God is merciful and loving, and He wants each and every one of us to be saved and freed from the torment of our sufferings because of our sins. He wants all of us to receive grace, peace and blessings because we have found our way to Him, and no longer are lost in the darkness of this world. That is why He had given His mercy and love so freely through Christ, through Whom He gathered all of us to Himself.

However, many of us do not realise that it is we ourselves who have been stubborn and resistant to God’s mercy and love. We have not been willing to welcome God’s mercy in our hearts, and all of these is because of first of all, our human pride and ego, refusing to believe that we have erred or committed a mistake in our lives. We are not willing to allow God to come in and transform our lives, just because we have too much ego and cannot bear others to see that we have humbled ourselves.

That was exactly what happened to the Pharisees and the elders, the teachers of the Law and the chief priests. Many of them criticised Jesus for having embraced and walked among the tax collectors and prostitutes, and even calling some of His disciples from among them, one of whom was Levi, whose calling was part of the Gospel we heard today. Jesus called Levi from his tax collector post, and he willingly left behind everything in order to follow Him.

Those tax collectors had been hated and resented by the population as a whole, because especially upon the instigation of the Pharisees, they had been seen as traitors of the nations and the people, having worked with their Roman conquerors and helping them in administrative works such as the collection of taxes, resented by the people as a whole.

But many of them were aware of their status and their sins, and when God called them through Jesus His Son, they responded in kind and turned away from their sinful ways, as Levi had done, and followed Him wholeheartedly. They followed Him and were saved because of their sins, and because they humbled themselves before God, fully knowing of their sins and unworthiness, unlike that of those who have accused them.

The same mercy and love have been offered by God to all, but while those who accepted God’s mercy were forgiven, those who refused to acknowledge their sins had not received His mercy. They have haughtily thought that they were worthy of God but they have overlooked their own sins. They thought that they were without blame, but they failed to recognise their own shortcomings and sins. In this manner, those tax collectors and sinners they had ridiculed came before them in attaining God’s salvation and grace.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what we need to understand from today’s Scripture readings is that, no one is truly beyond God’s forgiveness and ability to forgive, unless they themselves reject being loved and being forgiven by God. God extended His love and grace to all, without any exceptions, and therefore all of us need to respond in kind, doing what we can in order to love Him back, and devote ourselves to Him.

This season of Lent is a very good opportunity for us to reevaluate ourselves and our lives, whether we are ready to continue moving forward in our path towards God’s grace and salvation, or whether we need time to reevaluate and rethink the direction of our lives. It is a good time for us to heed the examples of the holy saints and the holy people of God in the ages past, who had lived a righteous and worthy lives, as examples for us to emulate and follow.

St. Casimir of Poland for example, the holy saint whose feast we celebrate today, is an exceptional role model for our faith. He was a royal prince of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania, and eventually became its crown prince after the death of his elder brother. However, despite his noble and high position in life, St. Casimir was renowned to be a person filled with humility and compassion, known for his charity and love for the poor, and for his pious works and devotions to God.

He led a life wholly committed and dedicated to the Lord, and showed others by example on how they ought to be faithful to their Lord and God. He inspired many others in following his footsteps and after his early death at the age of twenty-five, many people continued to venerate him and follow on his examples in their lives, imitating the holy saint for his exemplary life and piety.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on our own lives today and henceforth, and remembering what St. Casimir had done, let us all open our hearts to the Lord, allowing Him to enter into them and thus transforming us from dirty and unclean vessels into worthy and glorious vessels of His Presence. Remember that God Himself has chosen to reside in us, and therefore, all of us need to turn away from our sins and embrace God’s mercy and love. Sin no more and follow the Lord in all that we say and do.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He strengthen us and our resolve to be ever more faithful to Him. Let us all throw far away our pride and arrogance, our human resistance and weaknesses, that we will not end up like the Pharisees who rejected God’s love and mercy, but instead be like Levi and the tax collectors, who humbly repented their sins, and were gloriously transformed by God’s love. May God bless us all always. Amen.