1st Week of Ordinary Time

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Saturday, 13 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today in our Scripture readings all of us as Christians are reminded that God loves each and every one of us, and He gives His blessings unto us, consecrating us all to the truth, bringing us ever closer to His grace and love. Through Him, all of us have received the most graceful and generous bounty of forgiveness for our many sins, as well as the redemption of our souls, the promise of everlasting life, true and most wonderful happiness in each and every one of our lives, and in the world that is to come. We are all called to return to the Lord and to seek Him with faith, to love Him and follow Him at all times and all the days of our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel, in which the Lord gave His people, the Israelites, their first king, Saul, through the help of His prophet Samuel, who was also the Judge and leader over all of Israel. The context was that, the people were demanding that they have a king to rule over them just like that of their neighbours and other states around them, and not under the authority and rule of the Judges. At that time, the Judges were the leaders of the people, and guided them all through the Law and commandments of God. The people insisted that they must have a king to rule them, and hence, God gave them what they asked for, choosing Saul of the tribe of Benjamin to be the first king to rule over Israel.

Saul was chosen from the smallest tribe among the Israelites, and from among the smallest clan in the tribe of Benjamin. He was just an ordinary man whom God called to be the leader over His people, fulfilling what the people requested of Him. But God did not choose by worldly standards, prestige or power, and instead, called those whom He deemed to be worthy, and helped and guided them to be truly worthy and capable in doing what they had all been entrusted to do. God empowered and guided Saul to be the worthy leader over all of his beloved people. Saul was called to follow the Lord and to put himself in the service of God, in doing whatever was necessary to lead and guide God’s people to their one true Lord and King. This was what God had entrusted to Saul to do, by making him as the king over all of His people.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus came by the place of Levi, the tax collector and called him to follow Him. Levi listened to the Lord’s call, left everything he had behind, his job and works, his office and all, and followed the Lord. Not only that but he also brought the Lord to his fellow tax collectors, and the Lord had dinner with all of them, as many among them wanted to listen to Him, His teachings and follow Him as well. This earned the Lord the derision, disapproval and criticism from the Pharisees who thought that the Lord should not have spent time to mingle and even have dinner with those tax collectors, who were widely despised and hated, treated as sinners and people who were unworthy of God and His grace.

The tax collectors were treated badly because the people widely considered them as traitors to their nation and cause, as they likely collected the taxes on behalf of the Romans, and other rulers like King Herod, who were also equally disliked and despised. Hence, that was why they were hated and treated unfairly by those people, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the elders and the chief priests, who looked and thought highly of themselves, considering themselves superior than any other people. But the Lord immediately rebuked those Pharisees, who were being selfish and immersed in their self-righteous attitude, thinking that they could not be wrong, and that they were better than anyone else. The Lord told them that it was precisely because of the presence of those sinners that He had come, to reach out to them and to bring them all back to Him.

In fact, because Levi and his fellow tax collectors were open-minded and willing to listen to the Lord’s call, they were all closer to the salvation and grace of God than that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law themselves, who were blinded by their hypocrisy and blind insistence on obedience to the Law, that they could not see or realise that they themselves were sinners too, in need of forgiveness and mercy of God. Everyone has been called by God to follow Him, like Saul, Levi and many others, even those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law themselves, but not all of them were willing to follow Him wholeheartedly. For many different reasons, people throughout time and history have diverged away from the Lord because they trusted more in their own machinations and power rather than in God.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of a great servant and man of God, whose life and dedication to God, as well as his commitment to the flock of the faithful entrusted to him, can inspire many of us in how we all should be living up to our Christian faith and calling in life. St. Hilary, also known as St. Hilary of Poitiers, was a renowned Church father and the early Bishop of Poitiers. St. Hilary of Poitiers was born into a pagan family, and later on was baptised with his family, and was a very upright, pious and outstanding person. This was why the people of Poitiers unanimously elected him to be their bishop and shepherd, and as bishop, St. Hilary devoted himself tirelessly to work for the benefit of all the faithful people of God, working against all the heresies that were then rampant and threatening many of them.

St. Hilary committed himself to oppose all the corrupt teachings and false ways of the heretics, and through all of his contributions and works, writings and more, he was so well-known and respected that he was known by the epithet of ‘Hammer of the Arians’, referring to the widespread heresy of Arianism that was then deeply entrenched throughout many parts of Christendom. St. Hilary of Poitiers spent a lot of time in helping and guiding his flock, and he had to face even exile and sufferings for years for his opposition against the dangerous heresies threatening the people of God. After he returned back to his diocese, he would continue to do God’s will and works, leading the flock of the faithful back towards Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard in our Scripture passages today, and as we have reflected upon them and the life and works of St. Hilary of Poitiers, great man and servant of God, let us all therefore reflect upon our respective calling and vocations in life as Christians. Each and every one of us have been entrusted and given the responsibilities and missions to do what God had called us to do, and we should commit ourselves to follow Him in all the things that He has shown us. Let us all be filled with faith and strength, with the courage and the hope that we all should do our best to love and serve the Lord, at all times. May God bless us always, in our every good efforts and endeavours. Amen.

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Saturday, 13 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

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

Mark 2 : 13-17

At that time, when Jesus went out again, beside the lake, a crowd came to Him, and He taught them. As He walked along, He saw a tax collector sitting in his office. This was Levi, the son of Alpheus. Jesus said to him, “Follow Me!” And Levi got up and followed Him.

And it so happened that, when Jesus was eating in Levi’s house, tax collectors and sinners sat with Him and His disciples; there were a lot of them, and they used to follow Jesus. But Pharisees, men educated in the Law, when they saw Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, “Why does your Master eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus heard them, and answered, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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Saturday, 13 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

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

Psalm 20 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

The king rejoices in Your strength, o YHVH, and exults in Your saving help. You have granted him his desire; You have not rejected his request.

You have come to him with rich blessings; You have placed a golden crown upon his head. When he asked, You gave him life – length of days forever and ever.

He glories in the victory You gave him; You shall bestow on him splendour and majesty. You have given him eternal blessings, and gladdened him with the joy of Your presence.

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Saturday, 13 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

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

1 Samuel 9 : 1-4, 17-19 and 1 Samuel 10 : 1a

There was a man from the tribe of Benjamin whose name was Kish. He was the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a valiant Benjaminite. Kish had a son named Saul, a handsome young man who had no equal among the Israelites, for he was a head taller than any of them.

It happened that the asses of Kish were lost. So he said to his son Saul, “Take one of the boys with you and go look for the asses.” They went all over the hill country of Ephraim and the land of Shalishah but did not find them. They passed through the land of Shaalim and the land of Benjamin, but the asses were nowhere to be found.

So, when Samuel saw Saul, YHVH told him, “Here is the man I spoke to you about! He shall rule over My people.” Saul approached Samuel in the gateway and said, “Tell me, where is the house of the seer?” Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me. In the morning, before you leave, I will tell you all that is in your heart.”

Then Samuel took a vial of oil and poured it on Saul’s head.

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Friday, 12 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Scripture passages are reminding us that we must always be centred on God and be faithful to Him, and not to allow the temptations of worldly desires, attachments, or our pursuits of worldly glory to detract and mislead us all down the wrong path in life. This is why we must always remind ourselves that above all else, it is the Lord our God Who is the true centre and focus of our lives, and in whatever capacity and area of life, we must not allow ourselves to be swayed by those temptations that we end up causing hardships to others because of our selfish ways and actions.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Samuel, we heard of the moment when the people of Israel were very indignant and insistent before the prophet Samuel, who was also the Leader and Judge over the whole people of Israel, demanding that a king should rule over them just like those of the other nations and states around them. Why did the people make such a demand from Samuel and God? At that time, God was the One Who was King and Ruler over the Israelites, and even after the days of the kings, the Lord was indeed still the one and only true King over them. He exercised His power and authority through the Judges whom He had called and chosen, in a line of Judges up to the prophet Samuel. But, the people insisted that they must have a king over them, likely because to have a king to rule them brought the people much prestige and power.

Despite the prophet Samuel trying to persuade them otherwise by stating how the people might be exploited, oppressed and unjustly treated by their kings, especially if those kings were corrupt and selfish, with all the details that we have heard in our first reading passage today, the people of Israel were still very adamant and insisted that a king be appointed to rule over all of them. The Lord listened to those demands and told Samuel that He would choose a king to rule over His people, ending the days and time of the rule and guidance of the Judges. But eventually, what Samuel had predicted and told the people of Israel would come to reality as some of those kings who would rule over them were tyrannical and selfish, exploitative and harsh in their rule and the exercise of their power.

That is what they got for putting their faith and trust in man instead of in God as they should have done. They refused to listen to the Lord and decided to take things into their own hands, choosing to follow the whim of their desires and ambitions, the temptation of worldly glory and fame all around them rather than to listen to the words of the Lord and His Wisdom speaking in their hearts and minds. As such, this was why many of the people of God fell into the path of sin, which has also been highlighted in our Gospel passage today as well, when the Lord Jesus healed a paralysed man that was brought to Him by his friends through the roof of the place where He has been preaching and teaching to the people, facing disapproval and criticism from the Pharisees who happened to be there with Him.

In that occasion, the Lord was teaching to the people assembled to listen to Him when the paralytic man was brought to Him through the roof since there were so many people that were assembled to listen to the teachings of the Lord, that those people were likely unable to enter into the house. The Lord had pity of the paralysed man and was touched by the faith which he and his friends had, in putting so much effort to bring him to His side, even climbing up the house to the roof in order to do so. And that was when the Lord proclaimed that he was healed from his afflictions and he has also been forgiven from his sins, to the criticism and disapproval from the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were there because those people argued that only God alone can forgive sins.

Yet, they failed to understand the words of the Scriptures and the prophets, all of whom had pointed out everything that the Lord Jesus would do, and they hardened their hearts and minds against God and His truth. Like their ancestors, they chose to follow their own judgments and ways, thinking that they, being knowledgeable about the Law and the Prophets, knew it better than the Lord Himself, and thinking that their ways and thoughts could not have been wrong. Hence, that is why they failed to understand the significance of the Lord’s actions in forgiving the paralysed man his sins and healing him from his afflictions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in our Scripture passages today, we are all reminded that we must not allow pride, ego and worldly ambitions, temptations and all those things from distracting us and keeping us away from the path of the Lord and His righteousness. As Christians, we must always keep in mind that we have to remain focused on the Lord, and keep ourselves open-minded, and be humble in our ways and thoughts, in our actions and interactions with one another. Otherwise, our pride and ego, our greed and desires will easily lead us down the same path of ruin which the people of Israel and those Pharisees had treaded upon, in failing to follow and obey God’s will.

Let us all therefore lead by our own examples in life, in striving to live our lives with humility and faith from now on. Let us all seek the Lord with contrite hearts and open minds, like that of the paralysed man and his friends, who went through the trouble and efforts to bring him close to the Lord, that he might be healed from his afflictions. Each and every one of us are also afflicted with the afflictions of sin and other forms of troubles we have in life, and we should seek the Lord, our most loving God and Father, and entrust ourselves to Him, rather than to trust in worldly means and attachments we have. May the Lord be with us all, at all times, and may He continue to empower each and every one of us, in living our lives worthily and full of God’s grace and love, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 12 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 2 : 1-12

At that time, after some days, Jesus returned to Capernaum. As the news spread that He was in the house, so many people gathered, that there was no longer room even outside the door. While Jesus was preaching the word to them, some people brought to Him a paralysed man.

The four men who carried him could not get near Jesus because of the crowd, so they opened the roof above the room where Jesus was and, through the hole, lowered the man on his mat. When Jesus saw the faith of these people, He said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now, some teachers of the Law, who were sitting there, wondered within themselves, “How can He speak like this, insulting God? Who can forgive sins except God?” At once, Jesus knew in His Spirit what they were thinking, and asked, “Why do you wonder? Is it easier to say to this paralysed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your mat and walk?’ But now you shall know, that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

And He said to the paralytic, “Stand up, take up your mat and go home.” The man rose and, in the sight of all those people, he took up his mat and went out. All of them were astonished and praised God, saying, “Never have we seen anything like this!”

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Friday, 12 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 88 : 16-17, 18-19

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.

You give us glory and power; and Your favour gives us victory. Our king is in the hands of YHVH; the God of Israel is our shield.

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Friday, 12 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Samuel 8 : 4-7, 10-22a

Because of this, all the chiefs of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel in Ramah. They said to him, “You are already old and your sons are not following your ways. Give us a king to rule over us as in all the other nations.”

Samuel was very displeased with what they said, “Give us a king to rule us,” and he prayed to YHVH. And YHVH told him, “Give to this people all that they ask for.” So Samuel answered those who were asking him for a king. He told them all that YHVH said to him, “Look, these will be the demands of your king : he will take your sons and assign them to his chariot and his horses and have them run before his chariot.”

“Some he will assign as commanders over a thousand men and commanders over fifty. Others will till his ground and reap his harvest, make his implements of war and the equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters as well to prepare perfumes, to cook and to bake for him. He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards and your olive orchards and give them to his officials.”

“He will take a tenth portion of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your menservants and maidservants, the best of your cattle and your asses for his own work. He will take the tenth of your flocks and you yourselves will become his slaves. When these things happen, you will cry out because of the king whom you have chosen for yourselves. But by then, YHVH will not answer you.”

The people paid no attention to all that Samuel said. They insisted, “No! We want a king to govern us as in all the other nations. Our king shall govern us, lead us and go ahead of us in our battles.” Upon hearing all that his people said, Samuel repeated it to YHVH. But YHVH said to him, “Listen to them and give them a king.”

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Thursday, 11 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in our Scripture passages today, we heard of the reminders for all of us to be obedient to God, and to listen to His words, and to know His will, so that in each and every one of our actions, we will always do what is right and just, virtuous and worthy of the Lord. We should not allow ourselves to be so easily swayed and tempted by the various worldly temptations, desires, and allow the sins and corruptions all around us to cloud our judgments and thoughts. That is why we must always keep ourselves focused all the time on the Lord, and we must not follow the whim of our own selfish thoughts and designs, which may not be in accordance with the plans and ways that the Lord has shown us all.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel in which the story of the struggles between the Israelites and the Philistines. At that time, the Philistines were ravaging through the lands of the Israelites, raiding and attacking through the towns and villages of Israel, and putting the Israelites under their dominion. But under the Judge Samson, the Israelites had struggled and thrown the yoke of the Philistines, although as shown here, the Israelites and the Philistines are still struggling for dominance, which led to this account on what happened at the Battle of Aphek. At that great battle between the Israelites and the Philistines, the Israelites were beaten after a fierce fighting, and the elders of the Israelites argued that if they were to bring the Ark of the Covenant with them into the battle, then God would fight by their side, and win the battle for them.

However, this decision backfired as not only that the Israelites were defeated and crushed a second time after their first defeat, but the Ark of the Covenant itself was taken and seized by the Philistines. It was truly a great disaster for the Israelites, who were not just humiliated, but had their most important possession and relic, the very Ark of God’s Holy Presence, seized by their bitter enemies. It was also mentioned that Hophni and Phinehas, the two wicked sons of Eli, were killed in battle, which probably gave us more insight on what happened and the circumstances of that time. Both of them were priests and successors of Eli, who was Judge, Priest and Leader of the people, and their actions as recorded in the Scriptures, were truly full of wickedness and evil.

They disobeyed the Lord, His Law and commandments, corrupt in their deeds and actions. The two of them tweaked the rules and regulations, for their own selfish benefits, and to satisfy their greed. They took the holy offerings that were supposed to be reserved for the Lord alone for themselves, and hence profaned the sanctity of God’s House and the offerings presented to Him, essentially committing great sin and blasphemy against Him. Therefore, the defeat of the Israelites at the Battle of Aphek, the seizure of the Ark of the Covenant and the deaths of the two sons of Eli can indeed be seen as a sign of clear Divine displeasure and anger against the wickedness of those whom the Lord had entrusted with the leadership and guidance over all of His people. Thus, their sins and wickedness had led to that great defeat and humiliation for the people of Israel. After all, they had chosen to put their trust in worldly desires and wealth, rather than in God.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus during the time of His ministry as He encountered a leper who begged Him to heal him and make him whole again. At that time, just as it was many centuries previously, leprosy as was known at that time, was considered a terrible disease that easily spread from one person to another person. It may not be the same with the kind of leprosy that we are familiar with today, and instead, was likely a kind of skin infection that can easily spread from people to people in a closely packed community. Hence, according to the Law of God, all those who were afflicted by leprosy had to be cast out of the community, shunned and rejected, wandering in the wilderness until they have been cured of the symptoms of their leprosy.

No one was supposed to come into contact with a leper, as anyone who come into contact with them would also be considered as unclean and should be ostracised and cast out of the community as well. The Lord had pity on the leper who sought the healing from Him, and touched the leper, showing His love, immediately making his leprosy to be miraculously cured. Then, the Lord also told the healed leper with a stern warning that he must not reveal to anyone about what had happened and how he was healed, and follow the Law that stated that he had to present himself to a priest so that he could be welcomed back into the community of the people of God. But that healed leper disobeyed the Lord, and instead, told everyone about what happened to him, and as we heard, this made the Lord unable to enter any towns.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because no one would even dare to come close to a leper, less so to touch that leper, and for the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the elders of the people, such actions of the Lord Jesus in healing a leper by touching him, was truly an abhorrent situation and case, and that would easily have made Him to be shunned and rejected by the community, from the synagogues and all places, and that was exactly what the Lord was willing to do in healing us all. Did the Lord know that the leper will disobey Him? He certainly did, and that was why He warned the leper in the first place. Nonetheless, the Lord still healed him regardless, even if it caused Him hardships and inconveniences. He obeyed the will of His heavenly Father perfectly, for the sake of our salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard today in our Scripture passages, we are reminded of the virtue of obedience, and how important it is in our lives as Christians. It is through obedience that Christ has saved us all from our impending death and destruction, and by His obedience to His Father’s will, He has reached out to us, suffering for us, and healing us from our afflictions. Meanwhile, the two wicked sons of Eli and many others had disobeyed the Lord, including that healed leper as well, causing hardships, challenges and troubles for others. As Christians, it is clear that we are all called to obedience, and to put our faith and trust fully in the Lord, and not to be easily swayed by the whim of worldly temptations, pressures or any kinds of coercions present all around us.

Let us all therefore do our best so that our lives may truly be enriched with faith and be truly obedient to the will of God, in obeying His Law and commandments. May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, be with us always, and may He empower each one of us, so that we may draw ever closer to Him, to His grace and love. May God bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours, in obeying His Law and commandments, at all times. Amen.

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Thursday, 11 January 2024 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 1 : 40-45

A leper came to Jesus and begged Him, “If You want to, You can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to; be clean.”

The leprosy left the man at once and he was made clean. As Jesus sent the man away, He sternly warned him, “Do not tell anyone about this, but go and show yourself to the priest; and for the cleansing, bring the offering ordered by Moses in this way, you will give to them your testimony.”

However, as soon as the man went out, he began spreading the news everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter any town. But even though He stayed in the rural areas, people came to Him from everywhere.