24th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 12 September 2022 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Most Holy Name of Mary)

1 Corinthians 11 : 17-26, 33

To continue with my advice, I cannot praise you, for your gatherings are not for the better but for the worse. First, as I have heard, when you gather together, there are divisions among you and I partly believe it. There may have to be different groups among you, so that it becomes clear who among you are genuine.

Your gatherings are no longer the Supper of the Lord, for each one eats at once, his own food, and, while one is hungry, the other is getting drunk. Do you not have houses in which to eat and drink? Or perhaps you despise the Church of God and desire to humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say? Shall I praise you? For this I cannot praise you.

This is the tradition of the Lord that I received, and, that, in my turn, I have handed on to you; the Lord Jesus, on the night that He was delivered up, took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it, saying, “This is My Body which is broken for you; do this in memory of Me.” In the same manner, taking the cup after the supper, He said, “This cup is the new Covenant, in My Blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of Me.”

So, then, whenever you eat of this bread and drink from this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord, until He comes. So then, brothers, when you gather for a meal, wait for one another.

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Mary)

Galatians 4 : 4-7

But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son. He came born of woman and subject to the Law, in order to redeem the subjects of the Law, that we might receive adoption as children of God.

And because you are children, God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of His Son which cries out : Abba! That is, Father! You yourself are no longer a slave but a son or daughter, and yours is the inheritance by God’s grace.

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Mary)

Ephesians 1 : 3-6

Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord, Who, in Christ, has blessed us from heaven, with every spiritual blessing. God chose us, in Christ, before the creation of the world, to be holy, and without sin in His presence.

From eternity He destined us, in love, to be His adopted sons and daughters, through Christ Jesus, thus fulfilling His free and generous will. This goal suited Him : that His loving-kindness, which He granted us His beloved might finally receive all glory and praise.

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Sunday, 11 September 2022 : Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are presented with clear message from the Sacred Scriptures of the power of God’s compassion, mercy and love. Each and every one of us have been shown the proof of God’s ever enduring love and patience with us throughout history, and through what we have heard in our Scripture passages today, all of us are reminded just how fortunate we are and how thankful we should have been, because we have this most loving and patient God by our side, Who still loves us even when He chastised and punished us for our sins, like that of a loving father cares for his children as indeed, He is our Father.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Exodus we heard from the story of the moment when the Israelites rebelled against the Lord just shortly after they had been freed from the tyranny and enslavement by the Egyptians and their Pharaoh in Egypt. The Lord had shown His great might and wonders, His miraculous deeds and powers, delivering His people Israel from the land of Egypt by sending Ten Great Plagues on the Egyptians and forced them and their Pharaoh to let the Israelites go free. The Lord opened the sea itself for the people of Israel to walk through and crushed the army and chariots of the Egyptians sent to chase after them.

Despite all these signs and wonders, some among the Israelites failed to have faith in the Lord, and many were swayed by those faithless ones to turn towards wickedness, as they built up for themselves a golden calf idol, no doubt modelled after the pagan deities they witnessed in the land of Egypt and elsewhere, treating that golden calf idol as the one who had liberated them and delivered them from the hands of the Egyptians. They acted on their own volition, in a foolish manner, despite the Lord having spoken on several occasions through Moses that they were not to have any other gods beside Him, and how He, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the one and only True God.

Ironically, this happened at that moment when the Lord was granting His Ten Commandments and Law to His people through Moses, and the very First commandment stated that, ‘I am the Lord your God, and you are not to have any other gods, or to have any graven images before you.’ The Lord was reminding the people again of their obligation to Him since He has established a new Covenant with them, and brought them to that place, the holy mountain, Mount Sinai to make that Covenant, which He had just established not long before the moment when the Israelites rebelled against the Lord. Unfortunately, they slid down into that rebellion, and disobeyed the Lord in the worst way possible.

God was just and right in His justification to punish the people who had rebelled against Him, in betraying Him for the pagan idol, the golden calf. He could indeed have crushed and destroyed all of them who have betrayed and abandoned Him, at the mere whim of His will, but that would not be according to what He wanted. While God is good and just, and does not tolerate any sin, but at the same time He is also full of love and compassion towards us, His beloved children and people, those whom He loved from the very beginning and created as the pinnacle of His creation in this world and universe.

If God wanted to crush and destroy us, He could have done that immediately right after we have sinned against Him first in the days of our very first ancestors, Adam and Eve, when they first disobeyed God and ate of the forbidden fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But God, although He punished mankind to wander and suffer in the world as a consequence for their sins, at the same time, He also prepared the path for the eventual redemption of all of the same people, to whom He promised the coming of His deliverance, which all came true through Jesus Christ, the Saviour born into the world, God Himself incarnate in the flesh.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples and to the people using several parables to explain the love that God has for each and every one of us, and how fortunate we are to have been beloved in such a manner by our loving Father and Creator. Through the parable of the lost sheep and the lost silver coin, the Lord Himself highlighted just how precious all of us who have been lost to our loving God and Father, that just as a shepherd would do all he could to go, find and gather his lost sheep, or for someone to go and find the lost silver coin, hence the Lord would go all out to find us all and to return us back to Himself.

And that was exactly what He had done as He reached out to us through Jesus Christ, His own beloved and begotten Son, Who came into this world in the flesh, to show us all the ever-enduring and ever-wonderful love that God has always had for us. Through Christ, God’s love had been made real, tangible and manifest, and we can see His love in Christ, Who did not just show how dear and beloved we are through these parables, but He also showed this love through His most loving sacrifice on the Cross, as a very tangible and real manifestation of His love. It is a love so great that as He Himself said that there is no love greater than for one to give his or her life for a friend.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, that is just how great God’s love for each one of us is. He has always generously loved us all, and desired for all of us to come back to Him with repentance and sincere desire to be reunited with Him. Just as highlighted in another parable that the Lord mentioned in our Gospel today, the well-known parable of the prodigal son, we can hear how the Lord is represented to us all in the person of the father in the parable, who had two sons, one of whom, the elder one, was more responsible and dutiful, obeying his father and remaining close to him, representing those who have always kept their faith in God.

On the other hand, the prodigal younger son, who wanted to take his share of inheritance and then went off to a far-off land, squandering his money and possessions in the process, represent all those who have become wayward and become lost from the Lord, and that is essentially all of us, just as how all of us have sinned and fallen into sin, been tempted and fell into disobedience against God, much as how the people of Israel had disobeyed the Lord, betrayed and abandoned Him for an idol made from gold by human hands, the golden calf idol. The Lord reminded the people through this story of the prodigal son, how He still loved us all nonetheless, despite our sins and wickedness, our disobedience and evils.

However, as we recall again the story of the prodigal son, we have to remind ourselves an important fact that is often missed out by those who listened to this story, and even among those who are familiar with this story. The prodigal son, by his own volition and willpower, chose to commit himself to return to his father, swallowing his pride and ego, humbling himself and admitting his own weaknesses, mistakes and faults. He must have had such great struggle within himself, especially when he realised that he had the choice to remain in that far-off place as a beggar, or to retun to his father, though in shame. He had decided to take his portion of the inheritance, and yet, he squandered it all off. For those who are concerned about their image and ‘face’, it must be tough to decide to return to his father.

Yet, that was what the prodigal son committed to do, and he returned to his father with great and sincere contrition, repentance and the desire to right the wrongs he had done and committed. That is the attitude that all of us sinners have to take heed of and adopt as well. Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because one of the greatest and most common reason why people failed to return to the Lord and remained in the state of sin is because they were too proud and could not let go of their pride and ego, and they chose to hide away from the Lord, keeping themselves distant from God, the only One Who can help them and free them from the bondage and slavery to those sins and evils.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing and able to follow the path of the prodigal son, in turning away from his pride and ego, from his attachments to sin and to learn humility and obedience once again, in repenting from his sins, faults and mistakes, and in admitting them before his own father? The Lord has provided the channel for us to do so through His Church through the Sacraments, particularly that of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. And this serves as a good reminder for us, to ask ourselves, when was the last time we went for the Sacrament of Reconciliation? When was the last time we went to confess our sins to a priest?

We are also called to be more attuned to the state of our souls, and how sinful we are. We are reminded that God’s mercy, love and compassion are boundless, but we need to come to Him and make the commitment to leave behind that wretched state, our sinful existence. The Lord has provided us with means and ways to come back to Him, and it is now then up to us to embrace His loving mercy and compassion, as He is always ever ready to welcome us back to Himself, like how the father in the parable of the prodigal son welcomed back his prodigal son with open arms, and restored him to a state of grace and honour, forgiving him fully of his mistakes and faults.

Let us all therefore do our part, brothers and sisters, to entrust ourselves more to the Lord in our daily living. Let us abandon all sorts of wicked and unworthy attitudes which had always become stumbling blocks in our path and journey towards the Lord. Let us all abandon all the idols present all around us, not just those idols of false gods, but even more importantly, the idols of our pride and ego, the idols of our greed, attachments to the world, of jealousy and wrath, and of worldly desires, among many others. Let us return to our most loving God and Father with a heart full of love for Him and genuine contrition for our many sins, and with the hope that God’s love will cleanse us from all those sins and wickedness.

May the Lord, our loving God and Creator, be with us always, and may He continue to strengthen and encourage us all to persevere through the many trials and challenges of life. May He continue to bless our every endeavours and good deeds, all for His greater glory. Let us all Christians glorify the Lord and proclaim His truth and Good News among all the peoples, through our own worthy lives, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 11 September 2022 : Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 15 : 1-32

At that time, tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable :

“Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and seek the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbours together, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine decent people, who do not need to repent.”

“What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp, and sweep the house in a thorough search, till she finds the lost coin? And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbours, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way, there is rejoicing among the Angels of God over one repentant sinner.”

And Jesus continued, “There was a man with two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Give me my share of the estate.’ So the father divided his property between them. Some days later, the younger son gathered all his belongings and started off for a distant land, where he squandered his wealth in loose living.”

“Having spent everything, he was hard pressed when a severe famine broke out in that land. So he hired himself out to a well-to-do citizen of that place, and was sent to work on a pig farm. So famished was he, that he longed to fill his stomach even with the food given to the pigs, but no one offered him anything.”

“Finally coming to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will get up and go back to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against God, and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son. Treat me then as one of your hired servants.’ With that thought in mind, he set off for his father’s house.”

“He was still a long way off, when his father caught sight of him. His father was so deeply moved with compassion that he ran out to meet him, threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. The son said, ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you. I no longer deserve to be called your son.'”

“But the father turned to his servants : ‘Quick!’ he said. ‘Bring out the finest robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Take the fattened calf and kill it! We shall celebrate and have a feast, for this son of mine was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found!’ And the celebration began.”

“Meanwhile, the elder son had been working in the fields. As he returned and approached the house, he heard the sound of music and dancing. He called one of the servants and asked what it was all about. The servant answered, ‘Your brother has come home safe and sound, and your father is so happy about it that he has ordered this celebration, and killed the fattened calf.'”

“The elder son became angry, and refused to go in. His father came out and pleaded with him. The son, very indignant, said, ‘Look, I have slaved for you all these years. Never have I disobeyed your orders. Yet you have never given me even a young goat to celebrate with my friends. Then when this son of yours returns, after squandering your property with loose women, you kill the fattened calf for him.'”

“The father said, ‘My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But this brother of yours was dead, and has come back to life; he was lost, and is found. And for that we had to rejoice and be glad.'”

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Luke 15 : 1-10

At that time, tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable :

“Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and seek the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbours together, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine decent people, who do not need to repent.”

“What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp, and sweep the house in a thorough search, till she finds the lost coin? And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbours, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way, there is rejoicing among the Angels of God over one repentant sinner.”

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Sunday, 11 September 2022 : Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Timothy 1 : 12-17

I give thanks to Christ Jesus, Our Lord, Who is my strength, Who has considered me trustworthy, and appointed me to His service, although I had been a blasphemer, a persecutor and a fanatical enemy. However, He took mercy on me, because I did not know what I was doing when I opposed the faith; and the grace of Our Lord was more than abundant, together with faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

This saying is true and worthy of belief : Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. Because of that, I was forgiven; Christ Jesus wanted to display His utmost patience, so that I might be an example for all who are to believe, and obtain eternal life.

To the King of ages, the only God, Who lives beyond every perishable and visible creation – to Him, be honour and glory forever. Amen!

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Sunday, 11 September 2022 : Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 12-13, 17 and 19

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

O YHVH, open my lips, and I will declare Your praise. O God, my sacrifice is a broken spirit; a contrite heart, You will not despise.

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Sunday, 11 September 2022 : Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Exodus 32 : 7-11, 13-14

Then YHVH said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have quickly turned from the way I commanded them and have made for themselves a molten calf; they have bowed down before it and sacrificed to it and said : ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.'”

And YHVH said to Moses, “I see that these people are a stiff-necked people. Now just leave Me that My anger may blaze against them. I will destroy them, but of you I will make a great nation.” But Moses calmed the anger of YHVH, his God, and said, “Why, o YHVH, should Your anger burst against Your people whom You brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with a mighty hand?”

“Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the promise You Yourself swore : I will multiply Your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land I spoke about I will give to them as an everlasting inheritance.”

YHVH then changed His mind and would not yet harm His people.

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Saturday, 18 September 2021 : 24th 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 we heard the words of the Lord in the Sacred Scriptures speaking to us with regards to the need for us to follow the Lord with all sincerity and commitment that we should have in obeying His will and commandments. We have to make good use of all the gifts and abilities, the opportunities and blessings that He has given to us. Each and every one of us have been granted the gifts of faith from God, which He had sown in us, awaiting for us to respond to them and to allow them to grow in us.

In our first reading today, the Apostle St. Paul has mentioned in his Epistle to St. Timothy, about the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, which he and the other Apostles and all the disciples and the followers of the Lord have preserved and stood up for. St. Paul reminded St. Timothy as well as the other members of the Church that all of them ought to remain faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the whole world and the One true King of all, the One Who has come into the world as the perfect manifestation of God’s love for His people, that is all of us.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Luke on the account of the Lord teaching His disciples and the people using the parable of the sower, the famous parable that I am sure many of us are very familiar with. In that particular parable, a sower came bearing seeds to be sown, and he scattered the seeds randomly in places, and such that the seeds ended up in completely different places and conditions, from the roadside and rocky places unsuitable for any plant growth, to the most fertile soils that yielded many rich returns to the sower.

As the Lord explained it during His discourse as we heard in our Gospel passage today, the parable of the sower is a clear reference to the Lord and His work among us all in this world, the field of the Lord and the place of His toils and labours. The Lord has sowed His seeds among all of us, the seeds of the Word of God, the truth and the faith that He has planted in us, in each and every one of the children of mankind. He has also given us many gifts, talents and abilities, opportunities and other things.

Those seeds that fell by the roadside represent those who did not even allow the Lord to speak to them, or impart His Word of truth to them, and therefore the seeds of faith were snatched from them by the evil one and his agents before they even had the chance to take root and grow in us, just as the birds of the sky in the parable came and eat those seeds. Similarly, those seeds that did land on the rocky ground, although they managed to germinate and grow, but very quickly they dry up and die, as they did not have the right conditions to grow well.

The seeds that fell among the thistles and brambles managed to germinate and grow into young plants, but the thistles and brambles, which are weeds, compete against them for nutrients and water, and other resources, and hence, as the thistles and brambles grow around the saplings, the young plants could not grow and compete against the weeds, which often grow very quickly and can easily outcompete other plants growing together with them.

As the Lord mentioned, that represents those who has allowed the Lord’s Word and truth to come into them, but yet, they allowed the temptations of the world, of worldly desires and glory, among many other things to distract them and to keep them away from the Lord and His salvation and grace. And the same can happen to us if we allow ourselves to be swayed by the temptations of our flesh, of worldly desires, of fame and ambition, glory, wealth, power and many other things.

Instead, all of us are called to be like the case when the seeds fell on rich and fertile soil, where the seeds germinated well, grew well and eventually returned a massive produce manyfold of the original seeds that were sowed there. That is what we are all expected to be, brothers and sisters in Christ, that is to bear rich fruits of our faith, by our every actions and words, by our every deeds and interactions with one another, in our lives that we lead an exemplary life focused on God.

And how do we do that? Often, it does not require us to do amazing or wonderful things. Instead, we should aspire and strive to do our best in even the simplest and most mundane thing in life, in every little things we say and do, in our daily interactions with one another, in our habits and actions, with our relatives and friends, and even with all those whom we encounter throughout life. We are all called to be righteous in all things, and we should be true disciples of the Lord in words just as in deeds. Are we willing then to commit ourselves in this manner, brothers and sisters in Christ?

Let us all discern our path in life and the actions that we ought to take as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord. Let us all ponder on how we can better live our lives as the followers of Christ. May the Lord continue to be with us in our journey and help us to find our way to Him, and may He strengthen us with the courage to remain faithful at all times to the Lord and be fruitful in our lives. May God bless us always, in our every good works and endeavours. Amen.

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Saturday, 18 September 2021 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Luke 8 : 4-15

At that time, as a great crowd gathered, and people came to Jesus from every town, He began teaching them with a story : “The sower went out to sow the seed. And as he sowed, some of the seed fell along the way, was trodden on, and the birds of the sky ate it up.”

“Some seed fell on rocky ground; and no sooner had it come up than it withered, because it had no water. Some seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with the seed and choked it. But some seed fell on good soil and grew, producing fruit, a hundred times as much!” And Jesus cried out, “Listen then, if you have ears to hear!”

The disciples asked Him, “What does this story mean?” And Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to others it is given in the form of stories, or parables, so that, seeing, they may not perceive; and hearing, they may not understand.”

“Now, this is the point of the parable : The seed is the word of God. Those along the wayside are people who hear it; but immediately, the devil comes and takes the word from their minds, for he does not want them to believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are people who receive the word with joy; but they have no root; they believe for a while, and give way in time of trial.”

“Among the thorns are people who hear the word, but, as they go their way, they are choked by worries, riches, and the pleasures of life; they bring no fruit to maturity. The good soil, instead, are people who receive the word, and keep it, in a gentle and generous mind, and, persevering patiently, they bear fruit.”

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Saturday, 18 September 2021 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 99 : 2, 3, 4, 5

Serve YHVH with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that YHVH is God; He created us, and we are His people, the sheep of His fold.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His Name.

For YHVH is good; His love lasts forever; and His faithfulness, through all generations.

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Saturday, 18 September 2021 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

1 Timothy 6 : 13-16

Now, in the presence of God, Who gives life to all things, and of Jesus Christ, Who expressed before Pontius Pilate the authentic expression of faith : preserve the revealed message to all. Keep yourself pure and blameless, until the glorious coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord, Who God will bring about at the proper time : He, the Magnificent Sovereign, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

To Him, alone, immortal, Who lives in unapproachable light, and Whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him, be honour and power, forever and ever. Amen!