27th Week of Ordinary Time

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Sunday, 4 October 2020 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 21 : 33-43

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Listen to another example : There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the wine press, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then, went to a distant country.”

“When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Again, the owner sent more servants; but they were treated in the same way.”

“Finally, he sent his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they thought, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”

“Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?” They said to Him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due time.” And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it.”

“Therefore I say to you : the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you, and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Whoever falls on this stone, he will be broken to pieces; on whomsoever this stone falls, he will be ground to dust.”

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Sunday, 4 October 2020 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Philippians 4 : 6-9

Do not be anxious about anything. In everything, resort to prayer and supplication, together, with thanksgiving, and bring your requests before God. Then, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with whatever is truthful, holy, just, pure, lovely and noble. Be mindful of whatever deserves praise and admiration. Put into practice what you have learnt from me, what I passed on to you, what you heard from me or saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.

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Sunday, 4 October 2020 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 79 : 9 and 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20

You had a vine You brought from Egypt. You drove nations out, to plant it in their land. Its branches reached out to the sea and its shoots to the River.

Why, then, have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pluck its fruits? The beasts of the forest ravage it and all creatures of the field feed on it.

Turn again, o YHVH of hosts, look down from heaven and see; care for this vine, and protect the stock Your hand has planted.

Then, we will never turn away from You; give us life, and we will call on Your Name. Restore us, o YHVH, God of hosts; make Your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

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Sunday, 4 October 2020 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 5 : 1-7

Let me sing for my Beloved, my love song about His vineyard. My Beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up, cleared the stones, and planted the choicest vines. He built there a watchtower and hewed out a wine press as well. The He looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only wild grapes.

Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do that I have not done for My vineyard? Good grapes was the yield I expected. Why did it yield only sour grapes?

Now I will let you know what I am going to do with My vineyard : I will remove its hedge and it will be burnt; I will break down its wall and it will be trampled on. I will make it a wasteland, I will neither prune nor hoe it, and briers and thorns will grow there. I command the clouds, as well, not to send rain on it.

The vineyard of YHVH Sabaoth is the people of Israel; and the people of Judah are His pleasant vine. He looked for justice, but found bloodshed; He looked for righteousness but heard cries of distress.

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Saturday, 12 October 2019 : 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, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture that remind us all about what it means for us to be Christians, and that is to believe in the Lord, our loving God with all of our hearts and with all of our strengths, to the very best of our abilities, listening to Him and knowing His will for each and every one of us that we may always walk faithfully in His presence.

In that occasion, the Lord wanted His people to know that even though difficult moments would come in their way and that they would have to endure many sufferings and challenges for the sake of remaining true to Him and faithful in our ways, but He shall always be with us, and He will guide us through those challenging moments through to the very end. He will not abandon us or leave us in the darkness.

That is the theme of what the Lord revealed to His people through His prophet Joel, as we heard in continuation from yesterday’s first reading passage taken from an earlier part of the Book of Joel. While in that portion the Lord forewarned His people of the coming trials and times when they would suffer, now God revealed that after suffering will come the time of rejoicing and relief, as suffering and sorrow give way to true joy and happiness in God.

And this is what each and every one of us Christians must realise as it will be easy for us to go astray when we encounter suffering in life, and when we face obstacles in our journey of faith. Unless we have that trust and faith in God, it will be easy for us to sway away from God and His path, and we end up putting our trust and faith in other things that we often depend on such as money, wealth and material goods as well as other forms of pleasures and satisfaction.

What the Lord Jesus asked His disciples and the people to do in our Gospel passage today, “Hear the Word of God and keep it as well” is something that is easier said than done. Indeed, many of us can hear the word of God and find the word in our many actions throughout life, in our obedience to the laws and rules of the Church and so on. However, how many of us can confidently say that we truly have kept His word well as we should have done?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our lives we will definitely end up having to make choices in our respective lives. And we have been given the free will as well as the wisdom to make a conscious choice to choose between the path leading towards the salvation in God and the path that eventually leads down to the damnation in hell for eternity. But while many of us may focus on the end journey in sight, it is a reality that when the path and the journey is tough, we will be tempted many times to give up and turn away from God.

We must discern on this matter carefully in our hearts and minds. And we must not let the many temptations present all around us to affect us and prevent us from reaching out towards God’s salvation and grace. Let us have greater faith in God and put our trust in Him wholeheartedly. We must neither be without faith and neither should we go forward blindly without good and proper recollection and direction of our path in life.

Once again, I want us to remember that the Lord has always been by our side all these while, and just as He reassured His people in our reading passage from the Book of Joel, that good times in Him will come and if we endure those sufferings and challenges we faced with grace and faith, in the end God will bless us all with His promised inheritance. He will keep His promise in the end because He is ever faithful to the Covenant which He has made with all of us.

The path leading towards God may seem to be challenging and difficult, and the journey may seem to be arduous and painful, but we must not lose hope as in the end the rewards for our faith and dedication to God will be truly worthwhile. On the other hand, the alternative path, that is the path of worldliness and sin, championed by Satan and all those wishing for our destruction may seem to be good and easier, but we must not let ourselves to be deceived.

Let us all discern carefully our path in life and make the conscious effort to serve the Lord wholeheartedly from now on. Let us all seek Him with all of our hearts and with all of our strength from now on, and let us do our very best to love Him and to follow Him in our daily living. May God bless each and every one of us in our every good actions and endeavours for the greater glory of His Name. Amen.

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Saturday, 12 October 2019 : 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, 12 October 2019 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 96 : 1-2, 5-6, 11-12

YHVH reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Clouds and darkness surround Him; justice and right, are His throne.

The mountains melt like wax before YHVH, the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His justice, all peoples see His glory.

He sheds light upon the upright, and gladness upon the just. Rejoice in YHVH, you, who are blameless; and give praise to His holy Name.

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Saturday, 12 October 2019 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

Joel 4 : 12-21

Rise up, o people, and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, nations. Bring a sickle for the harvest is ripe; come and tread, for the wine press is full, and the vats overflow; so great is their wickedness! Multitudes and more multitudes in the Valley of Verdict! The day of YHVH is near in the Valley of Verdict! The sun and the moon become dark, the stars lose their radiance.

YHVH roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth are shaken. Indeed, YHVH is a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the Israelites. You will know that I am YHVH, your God, dwelling on Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be a holy place; and foreigners will never pass through there again.

On that day, the mountains shall drip wine and the hills flow with milk; all the streams of Judah will run with water; and a fountain will spring from the house of YHVH, and water the valley of Shittim. On the other hand, Egypt will be devastated; and Edom will become a deserted wasteland, because they committed violence against Judah and shed innocent blood in their country.

But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem through all generations. And I shall avenge their blood and not leave it unpunished, for YHVH dwells in Zion.

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Friday, 11 October 2019 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us are called through what we have just heard from the passages taken from the Sacred Scriptures, to turn towards God with all of our hearts and minds, and to open them to allow God to enter into our beings, that He may transform us and heal us from our many afflictions, namely the afflictions of our sins and wickedness by which we have been found wanting by God.

In the first reading today taken from the Book of the prophet Joel, we heard of terrible premonitions and words of caution from God to His people, asking them to be prepared to face trials and tribulations that would for them, in the context of how the prophet Joel lived during the middle years of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Therefore, the premonition spoke of the then upcoming times of upheavals and sufferings when the people of both the kingdoms would be conquered and humiliated by the Assyrians and the Babylonians many years after.

God was in fact reminding His people not to be complacent in their lives and in their faith and commitment to live holy and virtuous lives in the presence of God and men alike. At that time, the people had lapsed from their faith and fell into the many temptations surrounding them, following the evil ways of the world and resorting to the worship of the pagan gods and idols, offering sacrifices to those idols rather than offering true sacrifice to their one and only True God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, then we heard from our Gospel passage of the heated exchange between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisees and teachers of the Law who accused Him of colluding with the power of the evil prince of demons, Beelzebub in His many miracles and healing works among the people, and in the casting out of the evil spirits from those who had been possessed by those demons. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had seen all those miracles but they refused to believe.

And why is that so? That is because the devil himself and all of his wicked allies were busy at work in trying to destroy us, in tempting us to sin and to refuse God’s generous offer of love and mercy. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were afraid that they would lose their much valued influence and status among the community and the people. They therefore saw the Lord Jesus as a great threat and rival to them. In truth, the pride and ego, the greed and desires in their heart blinded them.

God wanted them all to see the truth, but as long as those people allowed their ego, pride, desire, jealousy and all sorts of temptations to develop in their hearts, they will not be able to see the truth of God and accept Him wholeheartedly as they should have. When He spoke of the coming of the time of persecution through the prophet Joel, He was warning us all, His people, that if we want to be faithful to Him and walk in His path, then we must be prepared to face challenges, opposition, ridicule, humiliation and persecution as the Lord Himself had faced.

The devil is always out and about working to destroy us by dragging us into sin, in tempting us to walk astray on the wrong path. And we cannot face him alone or by our own strength and power. It is only through God and His providence that we can withstand and overcome the devil and all of his wicked forces of evil. Nonetheless, there will be plenty of obstacles and challenges awaiting for us in our journey of faith in life.

But we must not be disheartened, for God is truly with all of us, and He will always guide us in our path. He has guided one of His own devout servant, a holy man and leader of the Universal Church, as Pope St. John XXIII in his journey of faith in his life. Pope St. John XXIII was remembered as the ‘Good Pope’, ever dedicated to the Lord throughout his life and ministry. He is a great inspiration for each and every one of us in how we should be faithful in our own lives as well.

Pope St. John XXIII was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in a poor farmer’s family in Bergamo in northern Italy, and an opportunity in having education sponsored by his uncle eventually led to him embracing the call and vocation to priesthood, after which he served in his region of Bergamo. Having experienced the struggles of the people during the difficult years of the early twentieth century and inspired by the love which his bishop showed during those tumultuous times, the young Father Roncalli grew ever stronger in his own love and devotion to God.

He was appointed as an Archbishop and as the Papal Delegate to Bulgaria and later on to Turkey and eventually France, working as a diplomat for many years in managing the relationship both between the nations and the Holy See, and also in the relationships between the Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox faithful, who were then often bitterly divided against each other. Archbishop Roncalli faced a lot of challenges and difficulties, sufferings and pains, in his ministry, in facing those who were distrustful of the Church and the faith.

Eventually, as he became the Patriarch of Venice and eventually elected as the Successor of St. Peter as Pope, Pope St. John XXIII carried on his life and mission with the fullness of faith in God, dedicating his years of life in bringing the love of God to His people. He initiated the Second Vatican Council to bring the Church together through difficult and challenging times, and also helped to broker peace among the superpowers of the world during a time of great tension in the height of the Cold War.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect on our own lives and think how we can serve the Lord with greater love, commitment and fidelity from now on. Let us all therefore seek to be ever more faithful, loving God each and every days of our life, putting our trust in Him just as Pope St. John XXIII had been. Let us all draw ever closer to Him from now on. Amen.

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Friday, 11 October 2019 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Luke 11 : 15-26

At that time, some of the people said, “Jesus drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons.” Others wanted to put Him to the test, by asking Him for a heavenly sign.

But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, “Every nation divided by civil war is on the road to ruin, and will fall. If Satan also is divided, his empire is coming to an end. How can you say that I drive out demons by calling upon Beelzebul? If I drive them out by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive out demons? They will be your judges, then.”

“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God; would not this mean that the kingdom of God has come upon you? As long as a man, strong and well armed, guards his house, his goods are safe. But when a stronger man attacks and overcomes him, the challenger takes away all the weapons he relied on, and disposes of his spoils.”

“Whoever is not with Me is against Me, and whoever does not gather with Me, scatters. When the evil spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through dry lands, looking for a resting place; and finding none, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds the house swept and everything in order. Then it goes to fetch seven other spirits, even worse than itself. They move in and settle there, so that the last state of that person is worse than the first.”