24 September 2019

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Tuesday, 24 September 2019 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture which reminds us of the need for us to follow God’s will and to be righteous and just in all of our actions in life, so that we can be truly reunited and reconciled with Him, and therefore receive the fullness of His love and grace once again. And we heard this being represented in our Scripture passages today, beginning from the account of the Book of Ezra in our first reading which told us about the moment when the Israelites returned from their exile in Babylon.

At that time, the remnants of the Israelites who had been exiled for decades in Babylon after the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah were allowed to return to their homeland by the King of Persia, Cyrus the Great. Many of them went back to the land of their ancestors, led by a priest called Ezra and also by a scribe of the King, Nehemiah. It was this Ezra who was mentioned in our first reading passage today.

Ezra supervised the rebuilding efforts in Jerusalem and Judah, and began the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. That was what we have heard in our first reading today, as the people were organised to work on the rebuilding efforts. In all that we have heard in that passage, the destruction of the society of God’s people were overcome, as the society began to rebuild itself and a semblance of order returned.

After the Temple has been rebuilt, the priests and all those who were in charge of the Temple and worship were reappointed together with the other important roles within the community. This actually symbolised the rejuvenation and restoration of a nation which had been brought low and humbled by their disobedience against God, their sins which had caused them to meet their downfall in the hands of their enemies.

The priest Ezra led the people in the effort to be reconciled with God, as they picked up the pieces left after the destruction of their homeland. The rebuilding and its completion, the sacrifices and celebrations, especially that of the Passover signified a very important event in the reconciliation between God’s people and their Lord and Master. While before the people of Israel have sinned and worshipped pagan idols and disobeyed the Law, afterwards, they were all realigning their lives and way of life, following God from then on.

That is what the Lord in fact also stressed in His message to His disciples in our Gospel passage today, and that is to obey the will of God and for us to follow the path that God has shown to us. It is those who truly believe in God, walking in His path and obeying His will that will be considered as God’s own people. We may have sinned against Him, but as mentioned earlier, God loves us no matter what, and He has always given us many opportunities, one after another to be reconciled with Him.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing and able to make the same commitment as what the Israelites had done under the leadership of the priest Ezra? Are we able to rebuild our lives with faith and renewed conviction and love for God? Are we able to turn away from our sins and resist the many temptations in life? We need to think and reflect about this, and find how we can be more faithful to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore draw closer to God, by doing His will and obeying Him in all of our words, actions and deeds. Let our every actions, and let our whole being glorify God in all things. May the Lord continue to guide us and may He bless us all in our endeavours and good works. Amen.

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Tuesday, 24 September 2019 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 8 : 19-21

At that time, the mother of Jesus and His relatives came to Him; but they could not get to Him because of the crowd. Someone told Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside and wish to meet You.”

Then Jesus answered, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

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Tuesday, 24 September 2019 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 121 : 1-2, 3-4a, 4b-5

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the House of YHVH!” And now we have set foot within your gates, o Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, just like a city, where everything falls into place! There, the tribes go up, the tribes of YHVH, the assembly of Israel.

To give thanks to YHVH’s Name. There stand the courts of justice, the offices of the house of David.

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Tuesday, 24 September 2019 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ezra 6 : 7-8, 12b, 14-20

Let the governor of the Jews together with their leaders build the House of God on its former site. This is the command I give as to what you should do to help those Jewish leaders rebuild the House of God : pay the expenses in full and without delay, with the income from taxes of the province at the other side of the River which is allotted to the king. I, Darius, give this command. Let it be carried out at once.

And the leaders of the Jews continued to make progress in building, encouraged by what Haggai, the prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, had said; and they finished the work according to the command of the God of Israel and the decrees of Cyrus and Darius. The House was finished on the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of the reign of Darius.

The children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of those who had returned from exile celebrated the consecration of this House of God with rejoicing, offering on this solemnity one hundred young bulls, two hundred rams and four hundred lambs; and twelve he-goats as a sin-offering for all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

Then they installed the priests according to their ranks, and the Levites according to their classes, for the service of the House of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses. Those who had returned from exile celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the first month, for the priests and the Levites had purified themselves together, and all of them were clean. So, they slaughtered the Passover lamb for all who had returned from exile, for their fellow-priests and for themselves.