Saturday, 20 June 2015 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we are reminded to keep in mind that we mankind are always sorely tempted to boast of ourselves, and to think solely of ourselves, and to be worrying about what we want in life. We always by our nature selfish, and we always act by instinct to preserve our own safety and well-being first, just as animals do.

But we can do better than that, brothers and sisters, for we all know that God loves all of us, and He cares for all of us, for all of our needs and concerns, and He provides freely all that we need to live, as He had also done the same to the animals and plants, in short, for all of creation. God created us all not because He just want to do so, but because He wants to share His love with us, and to care for us with perfect love and compassion.

As a result, indeed, there is truly no need for us to worry at all about anything. We worry because our minds and hearts are filled with concern for ourselves. We cannot detach ourselves from the many concerns and desires that continuously assail us with all their temptations and demands, such that we continuously worry ourselves, either about what we are to eat, or about what we will have in the day, in terms of money, human relationship and many other things.

We also worry because God is not in our hearts and minds. If we have kept the Lord in us faithfully and placed our trust in Him, then we would definitely have not been fearful and we would not have worried about anything. We worry because our fears and our desires grow stronger than our trust and faith in the Lord, and we do not believe that He could help us, or worse, thinking that He had abandoned or ignored us.

Often, this is what people feel when they pray and then their wishes were not heard. But this is because we fail to understand what a prayer truly is. We frequently think of prayer as the channel for miraculous help, and that God can grant us anything we want. But God is truly not someone who will fulfil all that we want, since we all should be aware of human nature, that when we have something, we tend to be not satisfied and wanting even more of what we already have.

That is why when we think that the poor ones are suffering, but the rich in fact also suffer, because the more they have, the more they too worry and desire for even more things. As a result, this causes a continuous vicious cycle that continues to feed our own desires, and then cause us to worry even more as we obtain more of what we wanted.

The key to break away from this great dilemma is by learning to put our trust and hope in the Lord our God. If we can trust in the Lord, then we should know that in His own way, He has been providing for us what we need, either through what we receive in this life, or by what He had done through others around us, whose hands and actions were inspired by the Lord to show His works for our sake.

God works in mysterious ways, but it is often that we fail to understand how He cared for us in His own ways. He gives us what we need and bless us richly. But the true reward lies in the end, when the faithful shall receive the fullness of God’s grace in His heavenly kingdom. This is the promise which He had given to all of His faithful. And this is when we should indeed put our trust in all of His promises and love for us.

May Almighty God strengthen the love which we have for our Lord in our heart. May all of us be more able to love Him more, and trust Him more in all things, so that we will be worrying less about ourselves and what we are to have today, and do the best we can do today, building up our treasures in the everlasting life promised to us. God be with us all. Amen.

Saturday, 20 June 2015 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 6 : 24-34

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “No one can serve two masters; for he will either hate one and love the other, or he will be loyal to the first and look down on the second. You cannot at the same time serve God and money. This is why I tell you not to be worried about food and drink for yourself, or about clothes for your body.”

“Is not life more important than food, and is not the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow, they do not harvest and do not store food in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not less worthy than they are?”

“Can any of you add a day to your life by worrying about it? Why are you so worried about your clothes? Look at how the flowers in the fields grow. They do not toil or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his wealth was clothed like one of these. If God so clothed the grass in the field, which blooms today and is to be burned tomorrow in an oven, how much more will He clothe you? What little faith you have!”

“Do not worry and say : What are we going to eat? What are we going to drink? Or : What shall we wear? The pagans busy themselves with such things; but your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Set your heart first on the kingdom and justice of God, and all these things will also be given to you. Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Saturday, 20 June 2015 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 33 : 8-9, 10-11, 12-13

The Lord’s angel encamps and patrols to keep safe those who fear Him. Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!

Revere the Lord, all you His saints, for those who fear Him do not live in want. The mighty may be hungry and in need, but those who seek the Lord lack nothing.

Come, listen to me, my children; I will show you how to fear the Lord. If you desire long life, if you want to enjoy prosperity.

Saturday, 20 June 2015 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

2 Corinthians 12 : 1-10

It is useless to boast; but if I have to, I will go on to some visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a certain Christian : fourteen years ago he was taken up to the third heaven. Whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know, God knows. But I know that this man, whether in the body or out of the body – I do not know, God knows – was taken up to Paradise where he heard words that cannot be told : things which humans cannot express.

Of that man I can indeed boast, but of myself I will not boast except of my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, it would not be foolish of me, for I would speak the truth. However, I better give up lest somebody think more of me than what is seen in me or heard from me.

Lest I become proud after so many and extraordinary revelations, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a true messenger of Satan, to slap me in the face. Three times I prayed to the Lord that it leave me, but He answered, “My grace is enough for you; My great strength is revealed in weakness.”

Gladly, then, will I boast of my weakness that the strength of Christ may be mine. So I rejoice when I suffer infirmities, humiliations, want, persecutions : all for Christ! For when I am weak, then I am strong.