26th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 26 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cosmas and St. Damian, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Job 1 : 6-22

One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before YHVH, and Satan came with them. YHVH asked Satan, “Where have you been?” Satan answered, “Going up and down the earth, roaming about.” YHVH asked again, “Have you noticed My servant Job? No one on earth is as blameless and upright as he, a man who fears God and avoids evil.”

But Satan returned the question, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not built a protective wall around him and his family and all his possessions? You have blessed and prospered him, with his livestock all over the land. But stretch out Your hand and strike where his riches are, and I bet he will curse You to Your face.”

YHVH said to Satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power. But do not lay a finger upon the man himself.” So Satan left the presence of YHVH. One day, while his sons and daughters were feasting in the house of their eldest brother, a messenger came to Job and said, “Your oxen were plowing, and your donkeys were grazing nearby when the Sabaeans came and carried them off. They killed the herdsmen, I alone escaped to tell you.”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came, “God’s fire fell from the sky and burned all your sheep and the shepherds as well. I alone have escaped to tell you.” He had hardly finished speaking when another messenger arrived, “Three raiding teams of Chaldeans have killed your servants and carried off your camels. I alone have escaped to tell you.”

He was still speaking when another messenger came and said to Job, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking in the house of their eldest brother when suddenly a great wind blew across the desert and struck the house. It collapsed on the young people and they all died. I alone have escaped to tell you.”

In grief Job tore his clothes and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshipped, saying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked shall I return. YHVH gave, YHVH has taken away. Blessed be His Name!” In spite of this calamity, Job did not sin by blaspheming God.

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Sunday, 25 September 2016 : 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Lord our God spoke to us to remind us about how we ought to live our respective lives in this world, so that we do not give ourselves in to debauchery and excesses of life, and not to sell our bodies and our beings to enjoy and be corrupted by the pleasures of the life of this world, which will then lead us into danger of falling into eternal damnation in hellfire.

That is what the passage from the Book of the prophet Amos, our first reading today, spoke to us when the prophet Amos rebuked the people of Israel for their lives lived in wickedness and in disregard of the laws and the commandments of the Lord, following the whims of their own desires and living lavishly and with pomp and grandeur, without regard to God and as what we can assume, without regards for those who were poor and less fortunate as well.

And this is exactly what the Lord also wanted to reiterate to us through His Church when we hear about the parable that our Lord Jesus told to His disciples, about Lazarus the poor and the rich man, which many of us should probably be quite familiar with. We heard how Lazarus the poor man had nothing upon himself, and he had to beg even in order to get food. And yet the rich man who had plenty on himself did not spare anything for Lazarus, and thus that poor man died in agony and suffering.

Yet, as we all heard, Lazarus was given rest from all of his sufferings and pains, and was brought up to heaven to enjoy forever with all the saints and all the holy and people worthy of God, the eternal bliss and joy of heaven. Meanwhile, the rich man also eventually died by an unknown cause, and when he died, he was cast down into the great depth and darkness of hell, where he suffered from the great pain and agony there for eternity.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what is important is that we must understand that God does not despise the rich nor that He hated these people for having wealth, possession, money and all the things that they have. He does not hate them, for after all, rich or poor, strong or weak, famous or unknown, male or female, all are equal in the sight of God, for everyone are all equally the beloved children of God, our loving Father and Creator.

God does not look at the riches or the strength of mankind when He loves us all. What He sees instead is the heart, the inside of our heart, our minds and our souls. He sees what we have done and committed in our daily lives, and we cannot hide anything from Him or deny Him anything. Yes, that is because He is God Who created us and Who knows everything, omniscient and omnipotent, Almighty in all of His deeds.

Even rich men and all endowed with wealth can be good and generous with their deeds, giving and caring for others who have less or none. There were many examples in the past and present, where generous people have stepped up to the occasion, offering whatever they could to help their fellow brethren to be able to meet their life requirements. In fact, because they had greater wealth and things with them, they could be generous and give more to help even more people to make their ends meet.

On the other hand, there were also people who were poor, but they also oppressed those who were poor as they were, and these people mistreated their fellow men and even made profit out of the situation. In God’s eyes, those who are rich and yet give generously and act kindly and with love and concern for their brethren are better than those who are poor and yet are wicked and oppress their fellows for their own benefit.

God sees our deeds, brothers and sisters in Christ, and He knows everything that we do, and what we have failed to do. The rich man has been blessed with great riches, and he had everything that he needed to lead a comfortable life and even more. And yet, when given many opportunities to help the poor Lazarus, and by assumption, other poor people around him, he failed to do so. He did not lift even a finger to help them or to alleviate their sufferings.

We also have been given many opportunities in this life to care for our fellow brethren, helping them either in terms of material, that they can make their ends meet, or in terms of spiritual needs and love. Wherever we are, we are always encountering those who are in need of our help, of our presence, and even among our friends and families, there are also those who are in need.

Then let us ask ourselves, are we able to devote ourselves to help these needy people? Or do we rather be like the rich man who did nothing to help the plight of Lazarus and perhaps the other poor and weak people as well? God has given us many blessings, graces and sustenance in this life. Some indeed have more and some have less, but that should not be the reason why some would have to suffer and perish just because they have little of what they need to survive.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all devote ourselves from today onwards to be more charitable and generous with our giving. Let us all not be selfish and greedy, which are the things that have brought much misery to the world today, not because wealth and possessions are necessarily evil in the first place, but because we mankind are unable to resist the temptation of greed and desire, which led us into such situations where we cause harm and agony for others.

God knows all of our deeds, and all the things that we have not done in order to help alleviate the suffering of our own fellow men, when we are clearly capable of doing so. It will be accounted from us on the day of judgment, and if we are found wanting in our faith and in our actions, we will end up like that rich man, who is suffering for eternity the consequences of his ignorance and his lack of love for his brethren.

Let us all realise, brothers and sisters in Christ, that the more we have been given, the greater is the responsibility which we have been given. Let us all not be hesitant and be ignorant of the needs of those who are around us, but instead open our hearts and minds to them, and pour out our love for them. Let us all bring the love of God to our fellow men, and make them realise that God is with them, and His love is ever present in our world today, despite all the sufferings and pains that mankind are suffering from.

May God help us all today, that we may be ever more like true Christians in how we live our lives, that we may be filled with love and devotion for our Lord, as well as caring and loving for our fellow men. May He bless us all and keep us in His grace, and may He welcome us all into His heavenly glory, the same glory and joy which Lazarus enjoyed, and which will be ours as well, if we are ever always faithful to our loving God. May God be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 25 September 2016 : 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 16 : 19-31

At that time, Jesus told His disciples this story, “Once there was a rich man who dressed in purple and fine linen and feasted every day. At his gate lay Lazarus, a poor man covered with sores, who longed to eat just the scraps falling from the rich man’s table. Even dogs used to come and lick his sores.”

“It happened that the poor man died, and Angels carried him to take his place with Abraham. The rich man also died, and was buried. From hell, where he was in torment, the rich man looked up and saw Abraham afar off, and with him Lazarus at rest. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me, and send Lazarus, with the tip of his finger dipped in water, to cool my tongue, for I suffer so much in this fire.'”

“Abraham replied, ‘My son, remember that in your lifetime you were well-off, while the lot of Lazarus was misfortune. Now he is in comfort, and you are in agony. But that is not all. Between your place and ours a great chasm has been fixed, so that no one can cross over from here to you, or from your side to us.'”

“The rich man implored once more, ‘Then I beg you, Father Abraham, to send Lazarus to my father’s house, where my five brothers live. Let him warn them, so that they may not end up in this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.'”

“But the rich man said, ‘No, Father Abraham; but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.'”

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Sunday, 25 September 2016 : 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
1 Timothy 6 : 11-16

But you, man of God, shun all this. Strive to be holy and godly. Live in faith and love, with endurance and gentleness. Fight with good fight of faith and win everlasting life to which you were called when you made the good profession of faith in the presence of so many witnesses.

Now, in the presence of God Who gives life to all things, and of Jesus Christ Who expressed before Pontius Pilate the authentic profession of faith : preserve the revealed message to all. Keep yourself pure and blameless until the glorious coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord, which 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!

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Sunday, 25 September 2016 : 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 145 : 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10

The Lord is forever faithful; He gives justice to the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free.

The Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord straightens the bent. The Lord loves the virtuous, but He brings to ruin the way of the wicked. The Lord protects the stranger.

He sustains the widow and the orphan. The Lord will reign forever, your God, o Zion, from generation to generation. Alleluia!

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Sunday, 25 September 2016 : 26th Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Amos 6 : 1a, 4-7

Woe to those proud people who live overconfident on the hill of Samaria! You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and sprawl on your couches; you eat lamb from the flock and veal from calves fattened in the stall.

You strum on your harps, and like David, try out new musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you do not grieve over the ruins of Joseph.

Therefore you will be the first to go into exile; and the feast of sprawlers will be over.

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Saturday, 3 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the assurance of the Lord who will succour and help His people, all those who keep their faith in Him, despite even all of our wickedness and wrongdoings, all the mistakes that we had committed in this life. God has given us a new chance through Christ Jesus, His beloved Son.

In the readings today, God wants us to realise that despite all of our intellect, our wisdom and understanding, our strengths and power, there is nothing greater than the wisdom and the might of the Lord. The ancestors of the people of God, the Israelites during the time of the kings met their end because of their lack of faith, their inability to restrain their pride and greed, and they walked in the path of rebellion of Satan.

Satan was one of the greatest angels in heaven, and he was mighty and great beyond compare, but in his moments of greatness and being too obsessed with his power, he fell into wickedness, because he thought of himself as a being greater than even his own Creator and Master, that is God. He sought to have the equality with God, and even to surpass Him, in trying to usurp the throne of Heaven for himself.

But he failed to do so, and instead of rising up high, he was brought down to damnation. And when he failed, he tried to bring us down, the most beloved of God’s creations, by tempting us to disobey the Lord as well, playing with and manipulating our desires and the pride within us, by claiming that in our disobedience and in our turning inward towards our own desires, we will be able to achieve great things, such as gaining equality with God, or gaining pleasures and goodness for ourselves.

This is what we must challenge ourselves to resist, the temptation of pride and power, which had corrupted so many of those who went before us. For pride and power make us to look only at our own greatness and good things inside us, but it made us blind to the reality of our frailty and weakness. There had been so many people who fell into this trap, believing in their own greatness and power, boasting about them.

St. Paul put it very nicely in one of his letters, that if we are to boast or want to boast, let us not boast about ourselves, or bring praise upon ourselves. Instead, when we want to boast, we should boast only about the Lord our God, He who is the only One worthy of true praise and glorification. Remember that all of us are creations of our Lord and Creator, and thus, any greatness or glory we receive is truly not ours, but it belongs to the One who created us. We share in His glory and we are glad.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on our own lives. Have we been truly faithful to God, or have we been indulging in our own delusions of grandeur instead? It is in our human tendency to fall into praise for ourselves, into the fulfilment of our own selfish desires at the expense of others. There are therefore a lot of things that we need to do to resist those temptations and uphold the faith which we have in the Lord our God.

We have to learn to be humble, in being able to realise our shortcomings and inabilities, all the things that we are unable to do, and learn to trust in the Lord more, for it is truly in God that we can trust, and not in our own human power. For while the power of God is reliable and will never fail, but the power of men is just temporary and do not last, and they often fail us.

God will not disappoint us, and as long as we remain faithful to Him, we will always be blessed by His grace and love, and in the end, prosperity will never be far away from us, and our sufferings which we suffer now for being upright and just in the presence of God shall be repaid with the eternity of happiness and true joy in the presence of God. May God our Lord bless us and keep us in His grace always, and let us praise and bless His Name. Amen.

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Saturday, 3 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Luke 10 : 17-24

At that time, the seventy-two disciples returned to Jesus full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on Your Name.”

Then Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”

At that time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and made them known to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been Your gracious will. I have been given all things by My Father, so that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

Then Jesus turned to His disciples and said to them privately, “Fortunate are you to see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings would have liked to see what you see, but did not see it; and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

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Saturday, 3 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 68 : 33-35, 36-37

Let the lowly witness this and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts be revived. For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise those in captivity. Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and whatever moves in them.

For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. His people shall dwell in the land and possess it; the children of His servants shall inherit it, and those who love His Name will dwell in it.

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Saturday, 3 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

Baruch 4 : 5-12, 27-29

Take courage, my people, you who preserve the memory of Israel. You have been sold to the nations but not for your destruction; because you had aroused the anger of God, you were delivered to your enemies.

For you displeased your Creator in sacrificing to demons and not to God. You have forgotten the Eternal God, the One who nourished you. You have filled Jerusalem with sadness, she who brought you up. For she saw the anger of God fall on you and she said, “Listen, you neighbouring cities of Zion, God has sent me a great sorrow. I have seen the captivity of my sons and daughters, which the Eternal One brought on them.”

“I had nurtured them in joy; with tears and sadness I saw them leave. Let no one rejoice on seeing me a widow and abandoned by all. Because of the sins of my children I am now alone, because they have turned away from the Law of God.”

Take courage, my children, cry out to God, for He who sent you into exile will remember you. Thus, as you distanced yourself from God, return to Him and seek Him ten times more earnestly. For He who caused these evils to fall on you will bring you salvation and eternal joy.