27th Week of Ordinary Time

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Sunday, 3 October 2021 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we are all presented through what we have heard in the readings from the Sacred Scriptures the very clear proclamation of the Lord to all of us regarding the matter of the sacred bond of marriage, as we heard how marriage is a sacred bond decreed by the Lord for those who have chosen to be one and united, as husband and wife, and blessed by God as an indissoluble union. This is a sacred union that should be held sacred by all, and should not be broken easily, by any circumstances or reasons.

This is why the Church has been very strict with the laws and rules regulating the possibility of divorce or annulment, as both involves breaking the destruction of this sacred bond of marriage, which is a Sacramental Union, the Sacrament of the Holy Matrimony and not just a mere ceremony as many in our world today tend to see it. The Church has very strict conditions regarding the matter of annulment, through which only the matrimonial bond can cease to exist, not because they had been broken, but rather because of the special considerations and conditions, the marriage was held to have never occurred in the first place.

On the contrary, consistent to what we have heard from the Sacred Scriptures today, from the Divine Law, that divorce, especially when contracted against the advice and the rules of the Church, and God’s Law, is considered as a grave sin. That is why those who have divorced and then remarried again had committed an even greater sin, that is the sin of adultery, because once the man and woman had been united in the sacred union blessed by God, as the Lord Himself said, no one could and should break that bond, and for man to go specifically against the will of God by remarrying after divorce, is to commit a great sin before God and mankind alike.

This is what the Lord had put before us through the Scriptures to remind us to value and to treat our marriage life, our institution of Holy Matrimony with great importance, as truly, the Holy Matrimony is the origin of the Christian family, and if the institution of sacred marriage falls apart or is considered easily expendable as what many people in this world thought, then the Christian families themselves will come under great threat and eventually this will harm not only those who were directly involved in the divorce or remarriage after divorce, but also the entire Church.

For it was from our Christian families that more good Christians would come to be, as good Christian parents who lived through their marriage commitments faithfully will inevitably also likely to raise good and faithful young Christians from their children. Should families be broken by divorce and remarriage, as evidences from the past few decades up to now have shown us, many of the children and the other family members ended up being lost, fell into sinful ways and falling out from the Church, amidst other troubles that they encountered through the experience.

And not only that, but faithful and fruitful Christian marriage is what often led to blossoming in vocations to the priesthood and also to religious and consecrated life. Take for example St. Therese of Lisieux, also known as St. Therese of the Child Jesus, whose feast we have just celebrated two days ago on the first day of October. This holy saint also had holy parents, namely St. Louis Martin and St. Marie-Azelie Guerin, who also were made saints because of their very devout and pious upbringing of their children in the faith, and as role model for other parents in their love for one another and their children. All their five surviving daughters, including St. Therese, all joined consecrated life as religious sisters.

In our Scripture readings today, the Lord therefore wanted to remind us all that marriage is a very fundamental and important part of our Church life and in our calling for many of us to build up good and faithful Christian families. From the first reading we heard from the Book of Genesis about the account of the creation of Man, of how God made us man and woman, as He made Adam the first man, and then made the first woman, Eve, bone from Adam’s bone, and flesh from Adam’s flesh. Through this, as the Lord Himself said, that man and woman have been made to be complementary to each other, distinct and yet complementing each other.

This is also a reminder that by God’s Law and natural law, mankind are meant to unite, man and woman, to be one body, but in a more perfect union than merely conjugal and sexual relationship, or reproductive relationship, God Himself declared that man and woman in their union are united by God, blessed by Him and no longer separate. This means that the union between man and woman are divine by nature, a union not just between man and woman, but a contract that is made between them and God. This is why marriage is sacred, and through marriage, those who have embraced married life are called to be responsible to each other and through their children to raise them to be faithful to God as they are.

In our Gospel passage today then we heard of the confrontation between the Lord and the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees who asked Him about the legality of divorces contracted through the laws and rules of Moses. The Mosaic law decreed that divorce could be done should the man and woman sought the authorities and made a certificate of dismissal. However, in its original intention, as the Lord mentioned, the Law of Moses was already modified as it was to accommodate the stubbornness of the people who continued to disobey God and sinned against Him.

And in its implementation and development over the centuries that passed since the Law was revealed, the practice and application of the Law had been further modified, eased and changed to suit the needs of man, such that by the time of the Lord Jesus, it was relatively easy for someone to divorce his spouse. It was even corrupted and wicked in nature considering that people could pay sums of money or make arrangements with the authorities to allow them to legally divorce their spouses and remarry again, essentially loosening the moral dimension and definition of marriage.

Essentially, what the Lord Jesus was against and which He spoke out fervently against, was not those marriages that were truly invalid and could be annulled legally and rightfully, but rather the practices of the people in treating the marriage as a commodity and as something that is not sacred and to be protected. He spoke out against those who treat the relationship between man and woman as merely a physical satisfaction of the flesh, and which can be easily undone once they no longer satisfied each other. This is unfortunately the same thing that is also happening in our world today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the world today is full of broken marriages and divorces, of broken families and even many more children who have been raised in families that were incomplete and bereft of true parental love. In the same manner, many people also treat marriage as no more than a convenience to suit themselves, to seek for wealth and pleasure, for physical appearances among other things. And once these no longer satisfied them, this is what resulted in infidelities in our married life, in adulterous relationships and improper moral behaviour amidst our communities.

This Sunday, as we listened to these words of the Scriptures, we are all called to reflect carefully on the matter of our Christian marriage, the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, that is now constantly under attack from those who seek to destroy the Church, that is none other than Satan and his fellow forces of evil. They tempt us with the temptations of worldly desires and pleasures, distorting the true meaning and importance of marriage and leading to infidelities and adultery that lead to breakups in marriages and families.

Those of us who have been called to the vocation of married life, let us all rediscover the sanctity of our marriages and the need for all of us to centre our married life and families in our focus towards God. We have to resist the many temptations of the evil ones who are actively trying to lead us astray into the path of sin. We have to control ourselves and understand that love is something that is sacred and blessed by God, and not lust or the fulfilment of the desire of the flesh. We have to sanctify our marriage, and the best way to do it is by praying together, and celebrating our faith together, through the celebration of the Sacraments in the Holy Mass.

If God is at the centre of our families and is present in our marriage, then it will be difficult for anyone to break up our union, as we allow God to strengthen us and our unity, and as long as we place our foundation, our family’s bedrock on Him, and live faithfully in obedience to His Law and commandments, while we may encounter difficulties and challenges as a married couple and family, we will be far more likely to succeed in resisting the pressures and temptations that can break our families apart.

We should also spend quality time with each other in our families, for no families can stay together unless they grow in their relationships, which requires commitment of time and effort. This may be difficult to accomplish at times, due to our work commitments and other matters that often take up much of our time, but can we not at least put the effort to do this? Just as we need to spend some time with God to grow in our relationship with Him, the same applies to our families as well. A family whose members do not communicate with each other, or spend at least some time to do things together, will not end up well and may easily be broken apart, as many evidences all around us have shown.

And to all of us who are contemplating marriage, let us all carefully discern our path towards marriage, and realise that marriage is not something that is trivial, but rather one that requires proper discernment and careful considerations, as well as proper journey and development, so that we will not end up like the millions of broken marriages and families out there, many of which happened because of impulsive decisions that those involved would come to realise only much too late afterwards. We have to communicate and build dialogues, and allow relationships to develop carefully and properly, and not rush to decisions unlike what many have done out there and failed.

Let us all protect the sanctity of our marriage, our Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, and realise that as Christians, those of us who have responded to God’s call for us to build these sacred unions from which loving Christian families can be formed, we have the sacred duty to build up enduring, loving and faithful Christian families, in raising our children properly in the faith, and in living our faith together that we may inspire each other and also become inspirations to other families out there, on what our Christian marriages and families ought to be like.

Remember, brothers and sisters, that our families are the bedrock and pillars of the Church, as our community is based on our Christian families and their success. We have to resist the attacks of the evil ones who are trying to undermine the Church by attacking our family values and by striking at the sanctity and indissolubility of our sacred unions. Let us not be deceived and let us entrust our families and our marriages to God, and ask Him to strengthen each and every one of us so that we may ever persevere in faith, as loving Christian couples, as husbands and wives, as parents and as members of God’s Holy Church.

May God bless our families and our sacred bond of the Holy Matrimony, and may He guide us in our journey of love and faith, that each and every one of us, especially those who have married and built up families, may be role models to one another, in how we live our Christian lives with true and genuine faith, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 3 October 2021 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 10 : 2-16

At that time, some Pharisees came and put Jesus to the test with this question : “Is it right for a husband to divorce his wife?”

He replied, “What law did Moses give you?” They answered, “Moses allowed us to write a certificate of dismissal in order to divorce.” Then Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you, because you are stubborn. But in the beginning of creation God made them male and female, and because of this, man has to leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body. So they are no longer two but one body. Therefore let no one separate what God has joined.”

When they were indoors at home, the disciples again asked Him about this, and He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against his wife, and the woman who divorces her husband and marries another also commits adultery.”

People were bringing their little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, and the disciples rebuked them for this. When Jesus noticed it, He was very angry and said, “Let the children come to Me and do not stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

Then He took the children in His arms and, laying His hands on them, blessed them.

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Mark 10 : 2-12

At that time, some Pharisees came and put Jesus to the test with this question : “Is it right for a husband to divorce his wife?”

He replied, “What law did Moses give you?” They answered, “Moses allowed us to write a certificate of dismissal in order to divorce.” Then Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you, because you are stubborn. But in the beginning of creation God made them male and female, and because of this, man has to leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body. So they are no longer two but one body. Therefore let no one separate what God has joined.”

When they were indoors at home, the disciples again asked Him about this, and He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against his wife, and the woman who divorces her husband and marries another also commits adultery.”

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Sunday, 3 October 2021 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Hebrews 2 : 9-11

But Jesus, Who suffered death, and for a little while, was placed lower than the Angels, has been crowned with honour and glory. For the merciful plan of God demanded that He experience death, on behalf of everyone.

God, from Whom all come, and by Whom all things exist, wanted to bring many children to glory, and He thought it fitting to make perfect, through suffering, the initiator of their salvation. So, He Who gives, and those who receive holiness, are one. He, Himself, is not ashamed of calling us brothers and sisters.

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Sunday, 3 October 2021 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 127 : 1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

Blessed are you who fear YHVH and walk in His ways. You will eat the fruit of your toil; you will be blessed and favoured.

Your wife, like a vine, will bear fruits in your home; your children, like olive shoots, will stand around your table.

Such are the blessings bestowed upon the man who fears YHVH. May YHVH praise you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosperous all the days of your life.

May you see your children’s children, and Israel at peace!

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Sunday, 3 October 2021 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Genesis 2 : 18-24

YHVH God said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will give him a helper who will be like him.” Then YHVH God formed from the earth all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air and brought them to man to see what he would call them; and whatever man called every living creature, that was its name.

So man gave names to all the cattle, the birds of the air and to every beasts of the field. But he did not find among them a helper like himself. Then YHVH God caused a deep sleep to come over man and he fell asleep. He took one of his ribs and filled its place with flesh. The rib which YHVH God had taken from man He formed into a woman and brought her to the man.

The man then said, “Now this bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken from man.” That is why man leaves his father and mother and is attached to his wife, and with her become one flesh.

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Saturday, 10 October 2020 : 27th 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 Scripture we are reminded yet again by the continuation of St. Paul’s exhortations to the Church in Galatia, of the universal nature of God’s love, and how all of us, every single one of us are beloved by God, and we are precious to God, without any prejudices or biases. And this is why, all of us are called to listen to Him, follow His way, and believe in Him wholeheartedly.

In our first reading, we heard the conclusion of this week’s series of exhortations of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Galatia, which had been wrecked with divisions and confusion because of the differing teachings and disagreements among the members of the Church and the faithful community. St. Paul reminded all of them that their faith in God has surpassed the adherence and especially the blind obedience to the old laws of God, the laws of Moses, particularly in how it was upheld and enforced by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.

St. Paul revealed that the Law of God as it was revealed through Moses had been useful and had it means in maintaining the people’s faith, especially at the time when they were influenced by so many other corrupting influences of the world. If we read the accounts of the Exodus and journey of the Israelites from the land of Egypt to the Promised Land of Israel, we will know just how stubborn the Israelites were, and how often they had disobeyed the Lord and even broke His commandments and Covenant.

That is why, amidst that as a backdrop and context, the Lord issued a very harsh and restrictive Law to keep the people in check at the time, to keep them disciplined and in line during those crucial early years. We see their lack of faith that is so great, that despite having witnessed God’s miracles and powers, they still disobeyed and lost their faith nonetheless. That is why, to prevent them from committing even more sins and perish because of those sins, God imposed those rules to help and guide them to Himself.

However, as time passed on, this original intent had been forgotten and overlooked, and the people grew to observe the Law and its commandments and rules just because they found it as a formality and something to be fulfilled, or that they were afraid of God’s anger and wrath, as they heard how their ancestors had been punished severely for their sins, without realising that it was because of their own sins that they had suffered, and not because God was angry at them or sought for their destruction.

The truth is that God truly loves each and every one of us, His beloved people. He created us mankind as the crowning jewel of His creation, and God will do everything in order to bring us back and to be reconciled with us. It is we who are often negligent, rebellious and ignorant, and refuse to accept God’s generous love and His compassionate mercy. And this is why we have often erred and wandered off away from the path of God’s grace and salvation.

As the people of God forgot the love with which God has cared for them, and the Law by which He intended to teach them to love Him and to reorganise and redirect their lives to be more loving and faithful to Him, they ended up focusing on all the wrong things, on the unnecessary details on how the rules and regulations of the Law were to be enforced and followed, more than realising how the Law is just a means by which we mankind can better help and discipline ourselves to find the way to the Lord.

That is why today, as we listen to these readings from the Scriptures, we are constantly reminded that we need to appreciate just how much we are beloved, and how God loves everyone equally, without any more label like Jews or Gentiles, but all as God’s people all the same. As Christians, we need to live and bear witness to this love, loving one another equally and generously as much as we can, welcoming others as fellow brothers and sisters.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing to listen to God and obey His will from now on? God has called us all to be faithful to Him and to follow Him with all of our hearts, with all of our might. Let us all heed His call, and do our very best, in every opportunities, to walk faithfully in the presence of God, and be ever more faithful to Him, with each and every passing moments. Let us all be the genuine examples and bearers of God’s love in our communities today, be the light of God’s truth in this darkened world.

May God be with us always, and may He bless us all in our every good endeavours, guide us in our journey and lead us to Himself, that we may glorify Him at all times by our lives, our faithful dedication and exemplary lives. Amen.

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Saturday, 10 October 2020 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Luke 11 : 27-28

At that time, as Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, “Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!”

Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”

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Saturday, 10 October 2020 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 104 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Sing to the Lord, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds. Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

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Saturday, 10 October 2020 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

Galatians 3 : 22-29

But the Scriptures have declared, that we are all prisoners of sin. So, the only way to receive God’s promise is to believe in Jesus Christ. Before the time of faith had come, the Law confined us, and kept us in custody, until the time in which faith would show up. The Law, then, was serving as a slave, to look after us until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith.

With the coming of faith, we are no longer submitted to this guidance. Now, in Christ Jesus, all of you are sons and daughters of God, through faith. All of you, who were given to Christ through Baptism, have put on Christ. Here, there is no longer any difference between Jew or Greek, or between slave or freed, or between man and woman : but all of you are one, in Christ Jesus. And because you belong to Christ, you are of Abraham’s race and you are to inherit God’s promise.

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Friday, 9 October 2020 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today through the Scripture readings all of us are called to embrace God’s love and His path, and to believe in Him wholeheartedly, just as we heard how in the early Church and throughout the Lord’s ministry, there were all those who refused to believe in the Lord and preferred to keep to their old beliefs and their previous ways of the Law, and these disagreements had even led them to accuse the Lord Himself wrongly of a heinous sin and evil.

In our first reading today, we heard of St. Paul continuing with his address to the Church and the faithful in Galatia in Asia Minor, where for the past few days of our Scripture passages, we have heard how St. Paul chastised the faithful for their lack of faith and for believing in the misguided teachings of those who placed the Law above that of faith, and those who sought to divide the Church and lead the faithful astray. This is likely because in Galatia, as were in other cities and places where the first Christian communities appeared, many of the believers were from the Jewish diaspora, the Jewish people scattered throughout the world as they had been for centuries.

And among the Jews, some of whom became converts to the Christian faith, there were those who belonged to the Pharisees and believed in their tenets and way of living the faith. The Pharisees were very rigorous in their enforcement of the many rules and regulations, tenets and all which numbered no less than six hundred and thirteen, if not more, in how the Jewish people ought to live their faith. And the issue lies in the fanaticism in which these people carried on their beliefs, and their attitude in enforcing this belief on others made it problematic for the Christian faithful.

Those same people also held strongly the view that the Jewish people were God’s sole chosen people and that they were far superior to the other peoples and races, and that they alone were worthy of God’s grace and blessings, His salvation and glory. They looked down on the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people, mainly the Greeks, Romans and other local populace that did not follow the laws of Moses preserved by the Jews and especially by the Pharisees.

And they also demanded that the Gentiles who converted to the faith ought to adopt the Jewish laws and customs in their entirety, and that they ought to be circumcised and follow all the cultural traditions of the Jews, which essentially would have forced them to abandon their own customs and culture. And all these became significant source of friction between the members of the Christian community, that St. Paul wanted to resolve.

In our Gospel today, we heard the Pharisee accusing the Lord Himself of colluding with the devil, with the prince of demons Beelzebul when He miraculously drove out evil spirits from a person. Many of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were so adamant in their opposition against the Lord that they were unable to look beyond their narrow-mindedness and stubbornness in insisting that their way was the true way and others like the Lord were wrong and even blasphemous.

The Lord then immediately pointed out the flaw in their argument and said that it did not make sense for the demons and the evil spirits to be divided among themselves and fighting against each other. For if that was the case, then the dominion of Satan and all of his forces would have been torn apart, and the truth was that, the evil one and all of his allies, all those wicked spirits desiring our downfall, are always ever united in their desire and aim to bring about our destruction.

The Lord knew this full well, and just as St. Paul did in his response to the happenings in Galatia, both of them were saddened by what they saw as the divisions sowed by the devil in the community of the faithful. And thus, the Lord used the example of how the devil’s dominion would have collapsed and fallen apart if all of its members were divided against each other to point out that this will happen to us unless we seek to overcome the divisions among us and seek true unity in Christ.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings serve as a powerful reminder for us not to be easily misled by the devil and all of his forces, as they attempted to sow divisions and dissensions among us. We have to keep in mind what St. Paul said, that God has called on all, Jews and non-Jewish people alike, to follow Him, and that there should not be any distinction between them, for everyone is equal before God and is equally beloved.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, our challenge lies in how we should strive for unity in our Christian community, and hold firmly to the faith which we have received from the Church. We must not allow the forces of evil from successfully dividing us and destroying the unity within our Church. And we should be inspired by our holy predecessors, whose feast we are celebrating today. St. Denis and his companions in martyrdom, as well as St. John Leonardi are good examples for us in how we should be faithful to God.

St. Denis was the Bishop of Paris at the time of the late Roman Empire, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Decius, who was infamous for his particularly brutal persecution of Christians, in which even the Pope at the time, Pope St. Fabian, was martyred together with many other Christian faithful. St. Denis himself presided over the Christian population that was targeted by intense persecution, and despite the difficulties, laboured hard to preach the Good News which successfully converted many among the pagans, and which brought opposition against their efforts.

Eventually, St. Denis, the bishop of Paris and two other clergy were arrested and then sentenced to death by the governor. They were executed by beheading, but miraculously, after his head had been cut off, St. Denis was still alive, picking up his severed head and preaching a sermon as he walked down for miles from the place of his martyrdom, and eventually stopped at a place where he died, in which now stood the great St. Denis’ Basilica built and named in his honour.

Meanwhile, St. John Leonardi was a renowned and holy priest, who was the founder of the Order of the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca, remembered for his devotion to God and also to Mary, the Blessed Mother of God. Through St. John Leonardi, many people came to be converted, after having been touched and inspired by his tireless efforts in reaching out particularly to sinners. He made popular the Forty Hours Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and was instrumental in the Counter-Reformation effort in deepening the faith and spirituality of many among the faithful.

St. John Leonardi faced difficulties and oppositions in his efforts and works as well, from those who were wary of his works and were skeptical of him, much like how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law often ridiculed, opposed and went against the Lord and His works. Nonetheless, St. John Leonardi remained firm in his conviction and desire to help others and to lead more and more souls to the salvation in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by their examples, and after discerning the message of our Scripture passages today, let us strive to be more faithful as Christians, in genuinely loving God and devoting our time, effort and attention, in all things to glorify God by our lives. May the Lord, our loving God, bless us all and guide us in our journey, and help us all to remain united in faith, and not be divided and scattered by the falsehoods and dissent planted in our community by the evil one. May God be with us all, His Church, now and always. Amen.