20th Week of Ordinary Time

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Wednesday, 19 August 2015 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

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

The king rejoices in Your strength, o Lord, 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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Wednesday, 19 August 2015 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Eudes, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Judges 9 : 6-15

Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubaal, said, “The trees once set out to find and anoint a king. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’ The olive tree answered, ‘Am I going to renounce the oil by which – thanks to Me – gods and people are honoured, to hold sway over the trees?'”

“The trees said to the fig tree : ‘Come and reign over us.’ The fig tree answered them, ‘Am I going to renounce my sweetness and my delicious fruit, to hold sway over the trees?'”

“The trees said to the vine : ‘Come and reign over us.’ The vine answered, ‘Am I going to renounce my juice which cheers gods and people to hold sway over the trees?'”

“Then the trees said to the bramble bush : ‘Come, reign over us.’ The bramble bush answered the trees, ‘If you come in sincerity to anoint me as your king, then come near and take shelter in my shade; but if not, let fire break out of the bramble bush to devour even the cedars of Lebanon.”

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Tuesday, 18 August 2015 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about how God sent His help and deliverance to His people through His messenger, an Angel, to bring the good news of liberation through the man, Gideon, whom He had appointed to be the one to save His people from the oppression and tyranny of the Midianites. Through Gideon, God would bring His people to remember what He had done to their ancestors when they were oppressed in Egypt.

The people of God had lived for quite some time by then in the land which He had promised them and their ancestors. The land of Canaan was a land that was superbly fertile and flourishing, flowing with milk and honey, and with bountiful harvests too. No other land on earth was comparable, and God gave His people the very best of land, because of the faith of their ancestors, and they inherit the good promise of God.

But in the process, the people of Israel forgot about the Lord and all the good things He has done for them. This is because, as is with human nature, all of us are easily tempted and corrupted by the many temptations and allures of this world. The bounty of goods and wealth that the land had brought them, had made the people of God overjoyed and even proud of what they had and what they had achieved, and in the end, they became like their neighbours, revelling in sin and merrymaking, and forgetting about God.

As a result, God allowed their neighbours to overpower them, to remind them that sin and worldliness lead to nothing but destruction and punishment suitable for that wickedness. And which in the Gospel today, our Lord Jesus Christ had also highlighted this fact, that it is difficult for someone with riches and wealth to enter into the kingdom of God, for their wealth and riches became their undoing.

It is just the same as what we heard in the Gospel yesterday on the young man who eventually did not follow the Lord even though He had faithfully obeyed all the Law and the commandments, because he was unable to part with his riches and wealth, when Jesus told him that the way to go was for him to let go of all that he had, and follow Him.

We have to take note that here, what Jesus is trying to tell us is not that wealth or riches are vile and wicked, and neither it is that rich people are wicked or evil, or that they are condemned. In fact, all people are equal before God, be it rich or poor, strong or weak, smart or foolish, great or small. What differentiates them is the love and devotion which they have for the Lord.

We are challenged today, to look beyond our earthly possessions and wealth that bound us to this world. Look at the disciples of the Lord, the holy Apostles, all of whom, like the many saints and martyrs who had abandoned everything to follow the Lord. They have no need to fear anything, and they were satisfied, for God provided all that they needed, and He cared for them in everything, and most importantly, they received the fullness of the promise of eternal life because of their faith.

Let us all also be able to resist the temptations of the flesh, and keep ourselves free from the allures of the devil and worldly goods. Let us all realise that whatever we have with us, we can use for the betterment of others around us, that all of us are well taken care of, and in love, all of us may be found worthy by our Lord, and be welcomed into His everlasting inheritance. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 18 August 2015 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 19 : 23-30

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you : it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Yes, believe Me : it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for the one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

On hearing this the disciples were astonished and said, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and answered, “For human beings it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

Then Peter spoke up and said, “You see we have given up everything to follow You. What will be our lot?” Jesus answered, “You who have followed Me, listen to My words : on the Day of Renewal, when the Son of Man sits on His throne in glory, you also will sit on twelve thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel.”

“As for those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or property for My Name’s sake, they will receive a hundredfold and be given eternal life. Many who are now first will be last, and many who are now last will be first.”

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Tuesday, 18 August 2015 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 84 : 9, 11-12, 13-14

Would that I hear God’s proclamation, that He promise peace to His people, His saints – lest they come back to their folly.

Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.

The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.

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Tuesday, 18 August 2015 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Judges 6 : 11-24a

The Angel of YHVH came and sat under the sacred tree at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash, of the family of Abiezer. Gideon, the son of Joash, was threshing the wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

The Angel of YHVH said to him, “YHVH be with you, valiant warrior.” Gideon answered, “Please, my Lord, if YHVH is with us, why is all this happening to us? Where are the wonders which our fathers recounted to us? Did they not say that YHVH led them up from Egypt? Why has He abandoned us now and given us into the hands of the Midianites?”

YHVH then turned to him and said, “Go, and with your courage, save Israel from the Midianites. It is I who send you.” Gideon answered : “Pardon me, Lord, but how can I save Israel? My family is the lowliest in my tribe and I am the least in the family of my father.”

YHVH said to him, “I will be with you and you shall defeat the people of Midian with one single stroke.” Gideon said to Him, “Please give me a sign that it is indeed You who speak. Do not leave until I return with an offering and present it to You.” YHVH responded, “I am going to wait for you here.”

Gideon went and prepared a young goat, took a measure of flour and baked unleavened bread. He put the broth in a pot and the meat in a basket, and went to present them to the Angel under the tree. Then the Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the bread; put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.”

Gideon did so. At that moment, the Angel of YHVH extended the staff He was holding and touched the meat and the bread. Suddenly, fire blazed from the rock. The fire consumed the meat and the bread, and the Angel of YHVH disappeared.”

Gideon realised that He was the Angel of YHVH and said, “Alas, o Lord YHVH! I have seen the Angel of YHVH face to face.” But YHVH said to him, “Peace be with you. Do not fear for you shall not die.” Gideon built an altar to YHVH in that place and called it YHVH-Peace.

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Monday, 17 August 2015 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard firstly about how God was angry at His people whom He had cared for so much during their Exodus and journey from Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan, which He had given to them for them and their descendants to dwell in. He had made a covenant with them, and yet, very quickly, they had broken their parts of the the covenant.

They were not fully faithful, although the Lord was faithful to them. They do not have the love for the Lord in their hearts, and their faith for the Lord was superficial and without strong foundation. They love only themselves and think about only their own security and try to satisfy their own desires, the desires of their stomach and their bodies before they would try to obey the Lord and His commands.

In the Gospel today, Jesus spoke about how someone who have followed the commandments of God, His Law and precepts cannot be fully His disciples if they did not learn to let go of their earthly temptations and the allures of the devil, which he had placed on our path to keep us ensnared and trapped in the darkness of sin. He showed us this truth and fact when He spoke with the young man on what he needs to achieve eternal life.

The young man had followed the Lord in all of His laws and commandments, and if we assume that this is referring to the laws as then practiced by the Jewish community, then we ought to know that this meant a very great accomplishment in some sense, as the Jews, particularly the Pharisees, were very stringent on following the laws to the very latter.

And there were very numerous rules and regulations in place, but the young man had obeyed them all, and yet what was it that hindered him from truly achieving the goal of salvation and eternal life? It was as mentioned, that his attachment and inability to separate himself from the worldly temptations was his undoing. He had a great wealth, and he would rather part with the Lord rather than part with those goods, as what we can imply from the Gospel.

This however does not mean that we ought to literally follow what Jesus had said, namely to sell all of our things and shun all forms of worldly goods. We still need to live in this world and in order to do so, we still need to use the goods of the world to sustain us. What we have to take note is that these goods, the wealth of the world is not inherently evil or bad, but instead, it is how we use them that can be considered as good or bad.

We have to learn to restrain our desires and how to use what we have meaningfully for the good of others around us, and that is what is important. Let us all pray that we will be given wisdom to discern good from bad, and how to love one another ever more, and not just to be concerned about ourselves and our need only. Let us be able to follow our Lord’s way of love, and be less selfish and be less focused on ourselves only.

May Almighty God help us, that we may overcome the temptations of the world, and find our way to His love, that in all of our actions, we may be true disciples and followers of His, and be found worthy of His eternal kingdom. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 17 August 2015 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 19 : 16-22

At that time, it was then that a young man approached Jesus and asked, “Master, what good work must I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus answered, “Why do you ask Me about what is good? One only is good. If you want to enter eternal life, keep the commandments.”

The young man said, “Which commandments?” Jesus replied, “Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honour your father and mother, and love your neighbour as yourself.”

The young man said to Him, “I have kept all these commandments. What is still lacking?” Jesus answered, “If you wish to be perfect, go and sell all that you possess and give the money to the poor, and you will become the owner of a treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow Me.”

On hearing this answer, the young man went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

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Monday, 17 August 2015 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 105 : 34-35, 36-37, 39-40, 43ab and 44

The people of God dared not destroy the pagans, as the Lord commanded; they mingled with these nations and learnt to do as they did.

In serving the idols of the pagans, they were trapped into sacrificing children to demons.

They defiled themselves by what they did, playing the harlot in their worship. The anger of the Lord grew intense and He abhorred His inheritance.

He delivered them many a time, but they went on defying Him and sinking deeper int their sin. But He heard their cry of affliction and looked on them with compassion.

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Monday, 17 August 2015 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Judges 2 : 11-19

The Israelites treated YHVH badly for they served the Baals instead. They abandoned YHVH, the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of Egypt, and served other gods, the gods of the neighbouring peoples. They bowed before those gods and offended YHVH.

When YHVH saw that they had abandoned Him to serve Baal and Ashtaroth, He became angry with His people and gave them into the hands of plunderers who left them in misery. He Himself sold them to their enemies who completely surrounded the Israelites, so that these Israelites could no longer withstand them.

Whenever they felt strong for an offensive, YHVH would turn against them and send evil upon them, as He had warned them and sworn to do. And this caused much distress and anguish for the Israelites.

YHVH raised up “judges” or liberators who saved the Israelites from their exploiters. But neither did they obey those “judges” for they still prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them. They soon left the way of their fathers who obeyed the commandments of YHVH; they did not follow the way of their fathers.

When YHVH made a judge appear among His people, YHVH was with him and saved them from their enemies. That lasted as long as the judge lived, for YHVH was moved to pity by the lament of His people who were oppressed and persecuted. But when the judge died, they again became worse than their ancestors – worshipping and serving other gods. They would not renounce their pagan practices and stubborn ways.