21st Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 26 August 2024 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded to be truly faithful to God and not to be merely paying lip service to Him, or to be like hypocrites and all those who did not truly have genuine faith and trust in the Lord. Each and every one of us as Christians must always be sincere and genuine in our faith and belief in the Lord, and we should not merely be living our lives without commitment and the desire to live them in accordance to the faith and belief which we have in God. In each and every moments of our lives, we should always strive to do our best, to be exemplary and role model for one another in all things, to be true Christians not just in name, but also in our every efforts, endeavours, our words, actions and deeds.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Thessalonians in which St. Paul greeted the faithful people of God in Thessalonica, in what is today part of Greece, praying for them and encouraging them amidst the many challenges and trials that they had to endure in their path and commitments as Christians, as those who have faith in the Lord and believed in Him. St. Paul reminded the faithful that the Lord would always be with them and they should not give up in enduring the many persecutions and challenges because rich would be their rewards in the Kingdom of God, the assurance that the Lord Himself has given to them, that they would be well taken care of, and no one who had made commitment and sacrifices for the Lord would be abandoned by Him.

This letter from St. Paul to the Thessalonians highlighted the reality of being a Christian, a follower and believer of Christ at that time, during the early years of the existence of the Church. At that time, the Christian faith was still a relatively new faith and faced many opposition and challenges from those who disagreed with the Lord’s teachings and from the pagans and also the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem. Being persecuted and enduring trials and tribulations were part and parcel of being Christians then, and many among the faithful had to face these difficulties on a daily basis. And yet, this did not discouraged many of them from continuing to follow the Lord faithfully as the persecutions in fact strengthened their desire to continue to serve and follow the Lord faithfully.

From the Gospel passage taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew today, we begin the next few days of discourses on the woes of the Pharisees, as the Lord launched a series of criticisms at the Pharisees for their lack of faith and genuine commitment to the Lord, for their many hypocrisies in enforcing very strict laws and regulations as according to their interpretation of the Law of Moses, and yet, they themselves did not practice those laws with sincere faith, true commitment and understanding of the Law of God, His precepts and rules. They made it difficult for the people of God by applying very strict laws and regulations, and yet they themselves did not obey them wholeheartedly, making excuses and exceptions that contradicted themselves.

Not only that, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law often took great pride in their supposed piety and obedience to the Law of God. They often showed off their faith and sought praise and glory from whatever they had done, taking great joy and satisfaction in being treated preferentially and respected by the others in the community. This attitude was also complemented by their exclusivist and elitist attitude as they often showed great prejudice and disdain against those whom they deemed to be less worthy than they were, those whom they condemned as sinners, like those tax collectors and prostitutes, those who were afflicted by diseases and possessed by evil spirits, as well as the pagans and non-Jewish people whom they deemed to be unworthy of God and His salvation.

It is all these attitudes and behaviours that the Lord had warned all of His disciples against, so that they would not adapt the same attitudes and ways. As His disciples and followers, the Lord expects each and every one of us to walk in His path, to be always humble in our disposition and our attitudes, not allowing ourselves to be swayed by worldly glory and pride. We should not allow ourselves to be taken over by the desire for greatness and superiority over others, like what the Pharisees had suffered from, and like the Lord Himself has shown and taught us, we should constantly remind ourselves that what God wants from us is not empty proclamations and hubris-filled piety. Instead, the greater and better we are, all the more we should be humble and be willing to help others around us.

As Christians, we should always lead by example in all of our actions, words and deeds, in each and every moments of our lives. We should always be centred on the Lord in all things, doing our best at all opportunities given to us to proclaim Him through our examples, even in the smallest things that we do. We should never underestimate the impact of what we are doing, as often we may not realise that our every actions have wider consequences and implications that we may not be aware of. Through our actions and deeds, even the smallest and seemingly least significant ones among them, we may either show many others the truth and love of God, calling many more towards Him and His salvation, or we may end up scandalising His Holy Name instead, turning many away from God and His grace.

The decision on which path we are to embark on is ours alone, brothers and sisters in Christ. God has given us all the free will to decide and choose our path, and we should consider carefully how we are to proceed from now on so that we do not end up falling into the wrong path. Let us all henceforth renew our commitments from now and beyond, to continue to glorify the Lord by our lives and to do our best so that in everything that we say and do, we will continue to be the faithful and committed disciples and followers of the Lord in all things. May the Lord be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 26 August 2024 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 23 : 13-22

At that time, Jesus said to the people and to His disciples, “But woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door to the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You, yourselves, do not enter it, nor do you allow others to do so.”

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You devour widows’ property; and as a show, you pray long prayers! Therefore, you shall receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel by sea and land to make a single convert; yet, once he is converted, you make him twice as fit for hell as yourselves!”

“Woe to you, blind guides! You say : To swear by the temple is not binding; but, to swear by the gold of the temple is binding. Foolish men! Blind men! Which is of more worth : the gold in the temple, or the temple which makes the gold a sacred treasure? You say : To swear by the altar is not binding, but to swear by the offering on the altar is binding. How blind you are! Which is of more value : the offering on the altar, or the altar which makes the offering sacred?”

“Whoever swears by the altar, is swearing by the altar and by everything on it. Whoever swears by the temple, is swearing by the temple, and by God, Who dwells in the temple. Whoever swears by heaven, is swearing by the throne of God, and by Him, Who is seated on it.”

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Monday, 26 August 2024 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 4-5

Sing to YHVH a new song, sing to YHVH, all the earth! Sing to YHVH, praise His Name.

Proclaim His salvation, day after day. Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds.

How great is YHVH and worthy of praise! Above all gods, He is to be feared. For all other gods are worthless idols, but YHVH is the One Who made the heavens.

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Monday, 26 August 2024 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Thessalonians 1 : 1-5, 11b-12

From Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy, to the Church of the Thessalonians, which is in God, our Father, and in Christ Jesus, the Lord. May grace and peace be yours, from God, the Father, and Christ Jesus, the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, we should give thanks to God, at all times, for you. It is fitting to do so, for your faith is growing, and your love for one another, increasing. We take pride in you, among the Churches of God, because of your endurance, and by your faith in the midst of persecution and sufferings. In this, the just judgment of God may be seen; for you must show yourselves worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are now suffering.

May our God make you worthy of His calling. May He, by His power, fulfil your good purposes, and your work, prompted by faith. In that way, the Name of Jesus, our Lord, will be glorified through you, and you, through Him, according to the loving plan of God and of Christ Jesus, the Lord.

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Sunday, 25 August 2024 : Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday all of us are yet again reminded of our responsibilities as God’s people, as His disciples and followers and as all those who have been called to obey the Lord wholeheartedly and to trust in Him with all of our heart and might. Each and every one of us as Christians should always remained strong in our faith and trust in the Lord despite the many challenges, trials, difficulties and even oppressions which we may have to endure in our path and journey forward as faithful followers and disciples of the Lord. We must not allow ourselves to be easily dissuaded and discouraged by those obstacles that we may encounter or have to endure in our lives as faithful Christians, knowing that the Lord Himself is by our side, present with us all throughout the journey.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of Joshua in which the occasion when the Israelites gathered before Joshua, their leader and the successor of Moses, when Joshua was already very old and was about to pass away. Joshua reminded the people of Israel of their obligation and responsibility to serve the Lord, their Master and King. He told them all to remain faithful to the Lord and not to be swayed by the false gods of their ancestors and the people who lived around them, the Canaanites and their idols. Joshua reminded them all that God had made a Covenant with them and their descendants, bringing them all to live in the land which had been granted to them to settle in. The Israelites then responded with faith, proclaiming their faith, fealty and loyalty to the Lord.

Unfortunately, if we were to read up further about the lives of the Israelites after the passing of Joshua, we would realise just how fast they went back on their words, not following and obeying the Law and commandments of God. They did not remain firmly faithful and committed to what they had pledged before Joshua and God on what they would do. They quickly turned away from the Lord and embraced the wicked ways of the world, worshipping pagan idols and false gods, building up shrines and altars to honour those idols instead of worshipping and obeying their Lord and God, the One and only True God. They did not remain truly faithful to the Lord because they likely found obeying and following the laws and precepts of the Lord to be demanding and difficult, as opposed to following the wicked ways of the pagan idols that often suit their worldly desires.

Then, from our second reading taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, we heard of the words of St. Paul reminding the people of God there to be good and faithful to the Lord, as well as to be committed in their respective parts and roles in the community, exhorting husbands and wives to be devoted and faithful to one another because they are all parts of the same one Body of Christ, that is the Church of God. St. Paul kept on highlighting this fact and the unity that all the faithful had in the Lord, which all would be explained through the discourse of the Bread of Life in our Gospel passage this Sunday and previous Sundays. Through His giving of Himself, His most Precious Body and Blood, He has united us all to Himself and brought us all together into this unity in the Church, to become part of His Body.

And that is why, each and every one of us as Christians are expected and called to live our lives worthily of the Lord so that in everything that we say and do, as we ourselves are the bearers of God’s light and truth, and His Presence is within us through the Most Precious Body and Blood that He has given us, and which we partake, as well as through the Holy Spirit that He has bestowed and blessed us with, dwelling in each and every one of us. Therefore, we are all part of the same sacred and holy Body of Christ, the Church, the Temple and House of God’s Holy Presence, and as such, we are all expected to do our best to live our lives in the manner that is truly pleasing to God at all times. Each and every moments of our lives should indeed be filled with God’s grace and love, and we should always ever be faithful to Him at all times.

In our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John, we heard the continuation of the discourse on the Bread of Life which we have covered in the past few Sundays. In this occasion we heard how the Jews who listened to the Lord speaking to them about Him giving them His own Body and Blood for them to share and partake, found it really difficult to accept as a truth and reality. He however did not shy away from telling them this truth, reminding them all that whatever He had told them was none other than the full truth, that He is indeed the Bread of Life, the Lamb of God, Who would soon lay down His own life on the Cross, breaking His own Precious Body and shedding His own Precious Blood so that all of us who share and partake in His Body and Blood may be saved and have new life in us.

We heard how many of the disciples of the Lord left Him after this occasion because they could not reconcile themselves with what they have heard from Him, with many of them probably disgusted upon hearing that the Lord would give them His own Body and Blood to consume and partake, not understanding and willing to open their hearts and minds to listen to Him, or to welcome the truth into their hearts. They prefer to follow their own judgments and thoughts rather than to believe and trust in the Lord, and despite everything that they themselves had witnessed and seen with their own eyes. But the Twelve remained faithful to their Lord and Master, trusting in Him and following Him regardless, and renewed their commitment to Him with the words spoken by St. Peter, who faithfully reaffirmed their faith and loyalty to Him before everyone. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore as Christians do our part in reaffirming our own faith and trust in the Lord, not just with mere words only but also through concrete and real actions. We must not be like those Israelites in the past who professed to have faith in the Lord and yet, they quickly gave up their faith in God and followed the false path of the pagans and their false idols. We must not merely be paying lip service of our commitment and faith in the Lord, but we must always strive to do our best, to truly embody our faith and trust in the Lord through our firm belief in what the Lord Himself has shown and taught us. And this means that we should live our lives worthily of Him, knowing that He has given us all His own Precious Body and Blood to partake, gathering us all to be part of His one Body, the Church of God.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, continue to strengthen and guide us all in our journey through life, so that in everything that we say and do, in our every good efforts and commitments to Him, we will continue to do our best to glorify Him by our lives. May all of us be the shining beacons of Our Lord’s truth and Good News, and continue to inspire many others to come ever closer towards God and His salvation, all through our own worthy and exemplary actions, in each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us always in all things, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 25 August 2024 : Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

John 6 : 60-69

At that time, after the Jews heard Jesus, many of His followers said, “This language is very hard! Who can accept it?”

Jesus was aware that His disciples were murmuring about this, and so He said to them, “Does this offend you? Then how will you react when you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, not the flesh. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life. But among you there are some who do not believe.”

From the beginning, Jesus knew who would betray Him. So He added, “As I have told you, no one can come to Me unless it is granted by the Father.” After this many disciples withdrew and no longer followed Him. Jesus asked the Twelve, “Will you also go away?

Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We now believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”

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Sunday, 25 August 2024 : Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 5 : 21-32

Let all kinds of submission to one another become obedience to Christ. So wives to their husbands : as to the Lord. The husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the Head of the Church, His Body, of Whom He is also the Saviour. And as the Church submits to Christ, so let a wife submit in everything to her husband.

As for you, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. He washed her and made her holy by baptism in the Word. As He wanted a radiant Church without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless, He Himself had to prepare and present her to Himself.

In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. And no one has ever hated his body; he feeds and takes care of it. This is just what Christ does for the Church, because we are members of His Body.

Scripture says : Because of this a man shall leave his father and mother to be united with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a very great mystery, and I refer to Christ and the Church.

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Sunday, 25 August 2024 : Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 33 : 2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23

I will praise YHVH all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.

The eyes of YHVH are fixed on the righteous; His ears are inclined to their cries. But His face is set against the wicked, to destroy their memory from the earth.

YHVH hears the cry of the righteous and rescues them from all their troubles. YHVH is close to the brokenhearted and saves the distraught.

Many are the troubles of the just, but YHVH delivers them from all. He keeps all their bones intact, and none of them will be broken.

Evil will slay the wicked; the enemies of the just will be doomed. But YHVH will redeem the life of His servants; none of those who trust in Him will be doomed.

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Sunday, 25 August 2024 : Twenty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Joshua 24 : 1-2a, 15-17, 18b

Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel in Shechem, and assembled the elders, judges and secretaries. And together they presented themselves before God.

Addressing the people, Joshua said to them : “If you do not want to serve YHVH, make known this very day whom you shall serve – whether they be the gods your ancestors served in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites who formerly occupied the land in which you now live. As for me, I and my household will serve YHVH.”

The people answered : “May God not permit that we ever abandon YHVH to serve other gods! For it was He Who brought us and our ancestors out of Egypt, the house of slavery. It was He Who did those great wonders that we have seen; He protected us on the way and through all the land where we passed. So we shall also serve YHVH : He is our God!”

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Saturday, 2 September 2023 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded of the obligation which the Lord has entrusted to us, in doing His will and living our lives to the fullest, in proclaiming His Good News and truth, and in living our lives to the best of our abilities so that we may indeed be exemplary and inspirational, in reaching out to our fellow brethren with love and with genuine faith. All of us as Christians are called and obliged to make good use of all the opportunities that we have been given, so that we may truly be full of God’s grace and faith, in being fruitful and bountiful in the things that we do, for the greater glory of God and for the good of our fellow brothers and sisters, which is what we have been called to do with our lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Thessalonica, we heard of the call that the Apostles made to them, in praising and encouraging those faithful people in Thessalonica to do even more of what they had faithfully done in walking the path that God has shown them. They have been doing great in following God, in living their lives according to His Law and commandments, as active and committed disciples and followers of the Lord, and whose lives are exemplary and full of grace and virtues worthy of true Christians. They were the shining examples to all the other Christians of their time, as the ones who have followed the teachings of the Apostles diligently and properly.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, all of us heard of the famous parable of the silver talents, in which the Lord Jesus told His disciples His intentions through the story of a master who entrusted his three servants with three different amounts of silver talents, five, two and one silver talents each. A talent is a rather large amount and quantity in weight, and silver being a precious commodity means that each of those servants, regardless of the amount they received, had been entrusted with significant amounts of wealth by their lord and master, and they were therefore expected to take good care of what they had been entrusted with, and not to misuse or to lose them, and to allow those properties and wealth to grow just as we heard in that parable.

We heard how the three servants took care of the silver talents entrusted to them differently, with those who were entrusted with five and two silver talents made good use of the silver talents, actively investing them in various businesses and efforts, so that they received back twice the amount of the silver talents they had been entrusted with, by the time the master returned to account for the silver talents entrusted to them. We heard how the last servant, the one entrusted with one silver talent chose to hide the silver talent that had been entrusted to him, and then returned the silver talent to the master in fear, which showed his reluctance to be responsible for what he had been entrusted with, his lack of aptitude and his lazy demeanour.

This is why the master rewarded richly those who have committed themselves to him and done what they could to make good use of the riches they had been entrusted with, while the one who had not been obedient and dutiful in the exercise of his works, the one who hid the silver talent, was punished greatly for his disobedience and lack of action, his unfaithfulness and lack of responsibility. And all of these are reminders for each and every one of us, so that we may be truly committed to our Christian faith and calling, to the mission and whatever it is that the Lord has entrusted to us, which He has also blessed us with His every blessings and graces, the various talents and abilities, opportunities and moments, all those that He has given us, just as those servants in the parable received the silver talents.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all therefore reminded to follow in the footsteps of the faithful Thessalonians, so that in everything we say and do, we will always do the will of God, follow His commandments and Law, and to carry out living our lives with true dedication and commitment to God. Each and every one of us are called to serve the Lord faithfully and to show genuine dedication and commitment to God, so that in all and everything in our lives, at every moment, we will be truly shining examples and beacons of our Christian faith, proclaiming the Lord and His truth, His love and compassionate kindness in all of our communities, within our families, circles of friends and acquaintances, and even to the strangers whom we encounter each day.

Are we able to do something like this in our lives? Are we able to commit ourselves to the works for the greater glory of God and to do what he has taught and commanded us to do? Or do we prefer to do things according to our own preferences, our own desires and ambitions, and all the things which often led us into the path of worldliness and sin? We are all called today to choose our path in life well, and to heed the Lord’s call, and all the mission which He has entrusted to us. Each and every one of us as Christians have to heed God’s call and we have to embrace the fullness of His love, in all things, and we have to be the shining beacons of His light and love. We are all the bearers of His truth, His Good News and His Law, and it is through our actions, words and deeds that we may proclaim Him more and better to our world today.

May the Lord our God continue to help us and guide us in our journey of faith, in our lives today, so that in everything that we say and do, we will always do the will of God, glorify Him, and be strengthened in our faith, and that we may ever be better disciples and followers of our Lord and Saviour. May God be with us all, His disciples and His faithful ones, and may He bless our every good works and efforts, that we may always do them for His cause, and do our best in all things, to proclaim His truth to all those whom we encounter in life. Amen.