22nd Week of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 31 August 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us heard the unfortunate story of how the Lord Jesus was rejected in His own hometown of Nazareth in Galilee, by His own townspeople, not long after He began His ministry. He proclaimed the truth of God as prophesied by the prophet Isaiah and proclaimed how the Lord’s salvation has finally arrived, in Him. But the people of Nazareth were bewildered, and all of them who heard Him in the synagogue was initially amazed and then later on confused and found it hard to believe that Jesus was referring to Himself as He read from the text of the prophet Isaiah. After all, they were His neighbours and fellow townspeople, many of whom had seen Him from when He was still very young, and saw Him as He grew up.

And He was merely the Son of the village carpenter, St. Joseph, who although an upright and likely well-respected man, but was poor and worked in a profession that was usually looked down upon. What went through the minds of the people then must have been things like, ‘How did this Jesus gain such wisdom and knowledge? He was just the poor carpenter’s Son!’ or ‘Preposterous! How can He claim Himself as the Messiah? We were just a mere tiny and poor village in Galilee!’ This referred to how that area was among the poorest in the region of Galilee, a small village and not noteworthy at all. Galilee itself was always seen as a backwater region, at the periphery of the Jewish world, then centred in Judea and Jerusalem. Galilee was where the Jewish settlers often lived alongside significant populations of Samaritans, local Canaanites and Syro-Phoenicians.

Thus, to the understanding of the people, it was impossible for someone from Galilee to have been the Messiah, and even less still, the Son of a poor carpenter hailing from the small and poor village in Galilee, the village of Nazareth. And we must also not forget that there must have been tinge of jealousy as the people complained against the Lord more because He tried to show them that in truth, He was not just a mere village carpenter’s Son. This unfortunate incident, and how the Lord was cast out of His own hometown was exactly what St. Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Corinthians, in our first reading today. He said that ‘your faith might be a matter not of human wisdom, but of God’s power.’

Those people of Nazareth thought that they knew it better and doubled down on their prejudices and biases, not willing to listen to the truth which the Lord Himself had brought into their midst. They, especially the religious and intellectual elites among them, the members and followers of the Pharisees and the priestly caste, among others, looked down on those deemed less than worthy, those of base and humble origins like the carpenters and others who were seen as uncouth, uneducated and uncivilised. That was why they hardened their hearts and minds against God’s truth and wisdom, even as these truths had been presented by the Lord Himself before their very own eyes, and even when they likely had heard of all the miracles and wonders which He had performed in the surrounding regions of Galilee.

And this is a reminder that we must not use our own human intellect, wisdom and understanding to judge the truth of God. And St. Paul also said earlier how as he came to the people preaching the truth about Christ, he did so with humility and open heart and mind, and thus, sought his listeners to do the same as well. It is an important reminder that we must not let the same sense of superiority and pride, our ego and all the other obstacles we heard to be barriers for us to truly be able to follow the Lord and obey Him. When we allow ourselves to be more humble, to learn to accept the limitations of our own human existence and wisdom, and realise that there is so much more that the Lord wants us to embrace and receive from Him, then that is when we truly can embark faithfully on the path that He is leading all of us towards.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on these passages of the Scriptures we are reminded how every one of us have to open our minds and hearts, and allow God’s words and truth to enter into us. We must not be prejudiced in any way to others, just as the people of Nazareth were prejudiced against the Lord. As long as we have prejudice, bias and all these, it will be difficult for us to accept God’s truth and have genuine faith. And this applies in our own world as well. Why is that so? That is because if we are biased, prejudiced, then we are filling ourselves up with ego and pride, and there will be no place either for God or for our fellow brothers and sisters in our hearts and minds. And the word of God and His truth will remain elusive for us. Instead, we have to heed the words of St. Paul, reminding us to be humble before God, to accept His truth and not to allow our judgment be clouded by our prejudices and biases, our worldly perceptions and thoughts.

Let us all seek the Lord with all of our hearts, with all sincerity and faith, and let us devote our time and effort to be faithful witnesses of His truth, proclaiming that the Lord Jesus is indeed the Messiah of God, Who brought with Him and with His sacrifice on the Cross, the promise of eternal life and salvation and liberation from sin and death. Let us rejoice knowing that God has come to us, to be with us, and be thankful for His love, and no longer be stubborn or harden our hearts as His own townspeople and many of the Jewish leaders had done. The greater we are, truly the humbler and more kind and compassionate we should become instead of us becoming more ambitious and prejudiced in our ways and actions in life.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He strengthen in us our faith, and our love for Him, as well as for our fellow brothers and sisters. May the Lord bless us and all of our works, and may He grant us the courage to persevere in life with faith, in all of our works and actions, becoming ever greater inspiration and strength for one another, for our fellow brothers and sisters all around us, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 31 August 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 4 : 16-30

At that time, when Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, as He usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed Him the book of the prophet Isaiah.

Jesus then unrolled the scroll and found the place where it is written : “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. He has anointed Me, to bring good news to the poor; to proclaim liberty to captives; and new sight to the blind; to free the oppressed; and to announce the Lord’s year of mercy.”

Jesus then rolled up the scroll, gave it to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. Then He said to them, “Today, these prophetic words come true, even as you listen.” All agreed with Him, and were lost in wonder, while He spoke of the grace of God. Nevertheless they asked, “Who is this but Joseph’s Son?”

So He said, “Doubtless you will quote Me the saying : Doctor, heal yourself! Do here, in Your town, what they say You did in Capernaum.” Jesus added, “No prophet is honoured in his own country.” Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land.”

“Yet, Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet; and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.”

On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought Him out of the town, to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, intending to throw Him down the cliff. But He passed through their midst and went His way.

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Monday, 31 August 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 118 : 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102

How I love Your law, meditating on it all day!

Your command – mine – forever – has made me wiser than my enemy.

I have more insight than my teachers, for I meditate on Your decrees,

I have more understanding than the elders, for I abide by Your precepts.

I turn my feet from evil paths, that I may keep step with Your word.

I have not departed from Your decrees, for You, Yourself, have instructed me.

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Monday, 31 August 2026 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 2 : 1-5

When I came to reveal to you the mystery of God’s plan I did not count on eloquence or on a show of learning. I was determined not to know anything among you but Jesus, the Messiah, and a crucified Messiah. I myself came weak, fearful and trembling; my words and preaching were not brilliant or clever to win listeners.

It was, rather, a demonstration of spirit and power, so that your faith might be a matter not of human wisdom, but of God’s power.

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Sunday, 30 August 2026 : Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the need for all of us to resist the temptations and the pressures all around us, that we do not end up allowing ourselves to be swayed by worldly glory, fame, temptations, and the pleasures of the world, that we fall into the path of sin and evil. Unless we make that conscious effort and have the strong determination to keep ourselves committed to the path that the Lord has shown us, and unless we do whatever we can so that our every actions, words and works proclaim the glory of God, His truth and love in our society today, we cannot truly consider ourselves as faithful and devout Christians. Each one of us are God’s holy people, and we have been called and chosen to follow Him, and to entrust ourselves to His cause.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, in which we heard the struggle of Jeremiah in carrying out the will of God, in his predicament in facing challenges and hardships throughout his ministry, as he encountered stiff opposition and rejection from many of those whom he had been sent to minister to, that was the people of the kingdom of Judah. Back then, the kingdom of Judah was in its final days, torn between the great powers of the Neo-Babylonian Empire under King Nebuchadnezzar and the Kingdom of Egypt under Pharaoh Necho II and his successor. The kingdom of Judah was therefore in a very precarious situation where the king and the nobles were swayed by the temptations of power and glory, and the assurance of worldly powers and politics, and trusted in all those rather than to trust in the Lord, their God.

Instead, they doubled down on their disobedience and sins, in their worship of pagan idols and false gods. They refused to listen to the Lord, and they persecuted all the prophets and messengers that God had sent to them to remind them of their allegiance and obligation in following God and His Law, His commandments and ways. This included that of the prophet Jeremiah, whom the Lord sent to the people of Judah on the last days of the existence of their kingdom. The prophet Jeremiah spoke of everything that would happen to the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, how destruction would come upon everything because of the constant sins and wickedness of the people, who have not truly obeyed the Lord as they should and who have allowed their desires, greed and evils to corrupt them and to lead them away from the path of righteousness and virtue. They allowed the devil to tempt them and to sway them away from the path of God into the path of sin.

The prophet Jeremiah himself was also persecuted greatly, and he suffered for all that he had done for the Lord, so much so that as we heard in the same first reading passage, he was also likely tempted by the devil, who persuaded him to stop for a while in his mission and work for the Lord. Yet, the Lord kept on calling and reminding Jeremiah, who therefore heeded the Lord’s call and embrace once again the missions and works that he has been called to do. He was tempted and the devil prevailed for a short while, but eventually Jeremiah came by and remained firm in his efforts and conviction to follow the Lord wholeheartedly, and to continue to speak the truth of God, His words of warning to the people and kingdom of Judah, even if that meant hardships and challenges would come to him, and he was persecuted greatly for his courage and commitment to his calling and mission.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples, in which the Lord told them that He would eventually have to face His enemies and those who would oppress Him, and how He would suffer in Jerusalem, and faced in His Passion and death. This brought about consternation and unrest among the disciples who heard that, and St. Peter in particular, pulled the Lord and tried to dissuade Him from allowing such a thing to happen. This was then met with immediate rebuke by the Lord, not on St. Peter personally, but Satan who was manipulating St. Peter and others, so that the Lord would doubt His mission and works. Hence, He told Satan off through St. Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!” to highlight just how susceptible any one of us are to the temptations and to the falsehoods and persuasions of the evil one, and how he has always been busy at work in trying to subvert and destroy us all.

In essence, as we compare what we heard from the prophet Jeremiah and the Lord’s stories, we can see how the works of God met the opposition and challenges from the evil one, and all those who do not desire our salvation and liberation from the tyranny and power of sin and death. Just as Jeremiah had been persecuted for speaking the truth, and how he has suffered greatly for that, like the other prophets and messengers of God, thus the Lord Himself was not spared such a fate. In fact, He Himself faced a fate far worse than all those messengers and servants of God, having to bear the very heavy burden of the punishments and persecutions for our sins and faults, and yet, He persevered out of His everlasting love for us all.

He also encountered stubborn attitude and hardships from those same ones that He had tried to save, and those to whom He had been sent to, in order to reveal and proclaim the salvation and Good News of God. Yet, the Lord persisted and resisted those temptations, much as how He has rejected the advances of Satan during the time when He was tempted in the desert. The Lord’s dedication and obedience to His heavenly Father’s will, and His love for us all mankind allowed Him to keep on going regardless of the hardships and trials that He would have to face. This is something that should serve as a powerful inspiration for all of us to follow in our own lives.

In our second reading today, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome, the Apostle told and reminded the faithful there to lead lives that were truly faithful and committed to God, resisting the worldly and pagan ways of life around them, to be always ever righteous and committed to the Law and commandments of God, in not doing things that were contrary to their faith, in embracing the pagan ways and the worship of false idols. Like that of the prophet Jeremiah, and the many other prophets, and the Lord Himself and His disciples, all of them have been called to proclaim God’s truth, as God’s holy and faithful people, that they may inspire and show everyone else, what it truly means to be followers and disciples of God. To be Christians means that we have to do what the Lord Himself had told us, that we have to carry our crosses just as He has carried His Cross.

It means that we may have to suffer injustice, oppression and rejection from the world, and challenges as well as trials throughout our lives here in this world. We may be tempted to give up our faith and struggle for the truth, just as Satan had done to Jeremiah, St. Peter, and undoubtedly many others of even our great and holy predecessors, and definitely for many others. Are we going to listen to his words of deceit and lies, the falsehoods and the wicked things that he suggested to us? Or are we going to heed instead the Lord’s persistent calling and reminders in our hearts and minds, that like Jeremiah, we may turn once again wholeheartedly towards the Lord, and dedicate ourselves once again to His cause. Each and every one of us are all the examples and the tangible signs of God’s works, in proclaiming His truth and Good News, His love and kindness in our world today.

Let us all therefore do whatever we can so that we may always be committed and focused on the Lord at all times, in living our lives well and worthily as Christians, to be holy and worthy of God, in all of the things we say and do, and in our every interactions and works. May God be with us always and may He strengthened and encouraged us in our resolve to walk ever more faithfully in His path, so that in all things and at all opportunities, we will always do what we can for the greater glory of God and for the well-being and salvation of more souls, of our fellow brothers and sisters. May God bless our every works and efforts, our every good endeavours, at all times, and may He continue to inspire us all to follow Him so that we may always do what we can to seek Him, and not for the glory of the world. Amen.

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Sunday, 30 August 2026 : Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 16 : 21-27

At that time, from that day, Jesus began to make it clear to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem; that He would suffer many things from the Jewish authorities, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law; and that He would be killed and be raised on the third day.

Then Peter took Him aside and began to reproach Him, “Never, Lord! No, this must never happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an obstacle in My path. You are thinking not as God does, but as people do.”

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If you want to follow Me, deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow Me. For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life, for My sake, will find it. What will one gain by winning the whole world, if he destroys his soul? Or what can a person give, in exchange for his life?”

“Know, that the Son of Man will come, in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels, and He will reward each one according to his deeds.”

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Sunday, 30 August 2026 : Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 12 : 1-2

I beg you, dearly beloved, by the mercy of God, to give yourselves, as a living and holy sacrifice, pleasing to God; that is the kind of worship for you, as sensible people.

Do not let yourselves be shaped by the world where you live, but, rather, be transformed, through the renewal of your mind. You must discern the will of God : what is good, what pleases, what is perfect.

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Sunday, 30 August 2026 : Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 62 : 2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9

O God, You are my God, it is You I seek; for You, my body longs and my soul thirsts, as a dry and weary land without water.

Thus have I gazed upon You in the Sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.

I will praise You as long as I live, lift up my hands and call on Your Name. As with the richest food, my soul will feast; my mouth will praise You with joyful lips.

For You have been my help; I sing in the shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

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Sunday, 30 August 2026 : Twenty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Jeremiah 20 : 7-9

YHVH, You have seduced me and I let myself be seduced. You have taken me by force and prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; they all make fun of me, for every time I speak I have to shout, “Violence! Devastation!” YHVH’s word has brought me insult and derision all day long.

So I decided to forget about Him and speak no more in His Name. But His word in my heart becomes like a fire burning deep within my bones. I try so hard to hold it in, but I cannot do it.

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Saturday, 6 September 2025 : 22nd 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 all of us are reminded through the readings and passages of the Sacred Scriptures of what we all need to do as Christians, that is as the disciples and followers of the Lord, our God, in doing what the Lord Himself has told us all to do, in each and every moments of our lives. All of us are reminded that we should always have a genuine and steadfast faith in God in all the things that we say and do, and we should not be easily swayed by other concerns and temptations present all around us which may be trying to lead us away from the path towards God and His salvation. We should follow only what the Lord had told us to do through His Church, and not allowing our worldly concerns and ideologies from affecting how we are to live our lives and faith.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Colossae, we heard of the words of the Apostle reminding the faithful people of God there of what the Lord had done for their sake, in liberating them from the path of wickedness and worldliness that they had followed earlier on in their lives. Contextually, the people of Colossae had also been quite faithful to the Lord in their way of life, in obeying the Lord and His commandments according to what St. Paul and the other Christian missionaries had delivered to them. They had listened to the words of those missionaries and lived their lives in a Christian manner, and that was praised by St. Paul himself, who encouraged them to continue to be faithful to God.

St. Paul encouraged the Christians in that place to continue to have faith in the Lord and to be always filled with hope in Him. He wanted each and every one of them to stay strong amidst the challenging nature of their lives and the environment all around them. If they remained strong and committed to the Lord, in the end, their faith and commitment to God shall be rewarded and they shall enjoy the fullness of God’s promised inheritance and everything that He has desired to give to all those who have been faithful to Him. There would indeed be trials and tribulations, hardships, obstacles and challenges, but all those things should not prevent the people of God from remaining true to their faith in Him, and from continuing to hold fast and strongly to the faith that they continue to have in Him, their Lord and Master.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the Lord Jesus debating with the Pharisees who were following Him and His disciples, and then criticised those disciples because they were picking on the grains of wheat on the field on the day of the Sabbath. For the context, the Sabbath day is the last day of the week in the Jewish calendar, the seventh day which is a day of rest, following the model of the Lord Himself Who rested on the seventh day after His labours in Creation. According to the Law of God revealed through Moses, the people of Israel ought to observe the Sabbath as a day of rest as well, dedicated to the Lord and not to be used for labour and work.

The Lord’s intentions when He made this Sabbath Law for the people was that He wanted them all to spare that time for their Lord and Master, and remembering that despite their busy schedules and activities, after all, they still have their obligation and responsibility to give their time and attention to the Lord their God. Otherwise, it is easy for them, especially when things are all good, or when they are too busy settling worldly matters for them to forget about God completely and to be ignorant of their roles and missions in life. That was why the Lord wanted all of His people to spare that day of the Sabbath to be focused on Him rather than on their various worldly dealings and concerns, their works and activities which could distract them from what they needed to do.

Unfortunately, over time, the intention and purpose of the Sabbath had been largely overlooked and forgotten. The people began to observe the Sabbath out of routine and fear of punishment rather than to truly spend quality time and to focus their attention on God. And in the case of what the Pharisees had highlighted and criticised the Lord’s disciples for, they were too focused on the fact that they broke the Law and disobeyed the commandment for anyone not to do work on that day, but overlooking the fact that they were themselves doing God’s works. And by the nature of their ministry, ever busy going from places to places and ministering to the people of God in many places, long hours and tedious works, they certainly had difficulties getting enough time to rest and eat food.

That was why the Lord quoted from the example of King David and his followers when they were in a journey fleeing and in exile because of the persecutions they faced from King Saul of Israel, and also the trials they faced in their journey. In that case, at the House of God, with the High Priest’s generosity and permission, the highly respected King David partook with his followers the Temple showbread that were supposed to be eaten only by the priests, and they had their fill and continued on their journey, which was what the Lord wanted them all to do, and because of this, we are reminded that what the Lord wanted us to know is that He does not demand blind obedience and attitudes that do not truly show genuine faith and trust in Him.

Instead, He wants each and every one of us to grow genuinely in faith in Him, and He is truly full of concern and care for each and every one of us, wanting us all to be well and happy in all things, and He wants us to love Him just in the same way that He has constantly loved us ceaselessly and consistently. And that is why God has given the best help to each and every one of us by providing His Law and commandments to help regulate and guide us in our journey through life, that we may truly find our way to Him, and that we may live our lives worthily, and be ever closer towards Him, our loving Father. He does not treat us like slaves, unlike what some people at the time of the Lord would have thought, but as His beloved children and people, and hence, we should not think that God’s Law are meant to constraint, restrict and make our lives difficult.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence continue to put our faith and trust in the Lord, to follow in the path that He has shown to each and every one of us, becoming good role models and examples in faith to each other and to be truly and genuinely faithful to God in all things despite the challenges and trials that we may be facing in life. We should not allow ourselves to be swayed and turned from the Lord because we are deluded by the thoughts thinking that God wants to control us and make our lives difficult. Instead, we should do our best to work with God and embrace His love wholeheartedly, and we should always remember all the kindness and love that He has shown us all these while. May the Lord continue to strengthen us in faith, and may we do our very best to glorify Him each day and at every moments by our lives, now and forevermore. Amen.