27th Week of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 6 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bruno, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the important responsibilities and obligations that each and every one of us have as Christians, as those whom the Lord had called and chosen so that we may recognise what it is that the Lord has called us all to do in our own respective lives. We should remember that we cannot be ignorant or neglect our responsibilities and the various callings and vocations that the Lord had called us to, in whatever way it is that He wants us to follow Him, just as He has shown us through our Scripture passages today with the calling of the prophet Jonah and also through the Parable of the Good Samaritan that He Himself had told His disciples.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Jonah, we heard of the moment when the Lord called Jonah to be His servant and messenger to the people of the great city of Nineveh, the capital of the great Assyrian Empire. The prophet Jonah was reluctant to follow this mission and instead of obeying God and doing what He had wanted him to do, he chose to flee from the Lord, thinking the he would be able to flee from the Lord’s calling, taking a ship to distant lands away from the mission that he had been called to do. And we heard how the Lord sent a great storm to the ship as it was on its way, and Jonah had to admit to the ship crews how he had been fleeing from the Lord and refusing to do as He had commanded it.

That was how Jonah was famously then thrown off from the ship on his own request, and the Lord sent a great beast of the sea, believed to be a whale, to take care of Jonah as he was in the belly of the beast for three days until the beast brought him to the shore again. Jonah repented his previous disobedience and followed the Lord’s guidance, and he went to the city of Nineveh to do what God had sent him to do there, to proclaim God’s words and judgment to that city which had been filled with much wickedness and evils. Through this story of the prophet Jonah, we are all reminded that each and every one of us has specific callings and missions which the Lord has entrusted to us, and we should listen to Him and follow Him in everything that He has called us to do in our respective lives.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the famous parable of the Good Samaritan in which the Lord highlighted to His disciples the story of the Good Samaritan who have helped a severely injured Jew that was beset and struck by bandits during his journey on the way to Jericho. In that occasion, we heard how three people passed by the place where the injured person was, firstly a priest, then a Levite, and last of all, a Samaritan. And if we understand the context and the significance of these people who passed by and who was the one that actually stopped by and helped the injured man, then we will realise why it truly matters for us to follow the example of the Good Samaritan in the parable today.

First of all, the Jews and the Samaritans are two different groups of people that were actually descended from a rather common ancestry, as both of them descended from the ancient Israelites, the original chosen people of God who dwelled in the Promised Land of Canaan. However, after the reign of King Solomon of Israel and the division of Israel into two opposing kingdoms of Israel and Judah, this led to the bitter division among the two groups of people, which further crystallised after the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel centred in Samaria, from where the term Samaritan came from. At that time, the Assyrians that conquered the northern kingdom brought in people from other lands to dwell in that land, and over the centuries, these people intermingled with some of the remnants of the Israelites to become the Samaritans.

Meanwhile the Jews descended from the people of both Judah and Israel that had been exiled to Babylon, Assyria and elsewhere, and when they returned back to their ancestral homeland, they dwelled mostly in Judea and Galilee surrounding Samaria, where the Samaritans lived in. Over the centuries, their accumulated differences and misunderstandings grew, and the Jews and the Samaritans grew to resent each other, and considered the other party to be flawed, mistaken and wicked in their way of living their lives and faith. Each group claimed to be the righteous bearers of the true belief in God, and each even had their versions of the Torah, which respectively claimed that their version was the true one while the other one was faulty and flawed.

Ironically however, from the perspective of the Jews, to whom most of the Lord’s followers and disciples belonged to, among the three people, the priest, the Levite and the Samaritan, it was only the Samaritan who bothered to stop and help the injured Jew. The priest and the Levite for the context were the ones who were highly respected among the Jewish people, and they should have been the ones to help the injured Jew, their own fellow countryman, and yet, they did not even stop and help at all. It was a Samaritan, the so-called mortal and bitter enemy of the Jewish people that showed love and concern, and not only that, but he even went the extra mile to help the man, and committed himself to his well-being afterwards too. This is therefore a reminder from the Lord to each and every one of us, His disciples and followers, as Christians, to show true love and genuine care to everyone, regardless their origins and backgrounds.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Bruno, a courageous priest and servant of God who is also known as St. Bruno of Cologne. St. Bruno was the renowned founder of the Carthusians Order, also known as the Order of Carthusians that gathered both monks and nuns who devoted themselves to the rule set by their founder. St. Bruno himself was born in Cologne in today’s Germany in the early eleventh century, and then becoming a priest and involved in education and schools in the region of Reims in today’s France, as a renowned teacher, philosopher and theologian. Some of his students would go on to become bishops and leaders of the Church, and one of them even became Pope, namely Pope Urban II.

He was also made as the Chancellor of the Diocese of Reims and managed the diocese, its goods and resources well, uprooting the corruption in the local Church, and was renowned for his confrontation against the new Bishop of Reims who was a worldly and corrupt man, an aristocrat with no clear love and concern for the Church and its people. St. Bruno persevered in his efforts and struggles with the bishop and eventually prevailed despite the challenges and difficulties that he had to face in doing so for a number of years. When he himself was about to be made a bishop for his accomplishments, he chose to withdraw himself from such worldly ambitions, and that was how he eventually built up the foundation for the Carthusian Order. Through his many efforts, inspirations and piety, he inspired many people to live their lives worthily and to commit themselves ever more wholeheartedly to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect on the words of the Scriptures, the examples of the prophet Jonah and the message of the Parable of the Good Samaritan, as well as the life and ministry of St. Bruno of Cologne. Let us all realise that each and every one of us are called to good actions and dedications, in whatever way we can, so that in our own daily lives, in our own respectives areas of responsibility, in whichever parts of our lives, we may continue to be good role models and examples to everyone around us. Let our faith and actions shine forth with the grace of God, and may these be the inspiration that strengthen many more people in their faith, especially those whose lives have been touched by us. May God bless us always in all of our endeavours, and may He bless us in our every good efforts and works, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 6 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bruno, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Luke 10 : 25-37

At that time, then a teacher of the Law came and began putting Jesus to the test. And he said, “Master, what shall I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do You understand it?” The man answered, “It is written : You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

Jesus replied, “What a good answer! Do this and you shall live.” The man wanted to justify his question, so he asked, “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus then said, “There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him and went off, leaving him half-dead.”

“It happened that a priest was going along that road and saw the man, but passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite saw the man, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan also was going that way; and when he came upon the man, he was moved with compassion. He went over to him, and cleaned his wounds with oil and wine, and wrapped them in bandages. Then he put him on his own mount, and brought him to an inn, where he took care of him.”

“The next day, he had to set off; but he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend on him, I will repay when I return.'” Jesus then asked, “Which of these three, do you think, made himself neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” And Jesus said, “Then go and do the same.”

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Monday, 6 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bruno, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Jonah 2 : 3, 4, 5, 8

In my distress I cried to YHVH, and He answered me; from the belly of the netherworld You heard my voice when I called.

You cast me into the abyss, into the very heart of the sea, and the currents swirled about me; all Your breakers and Your billows passed over, engulfing me.

Then I thought : I have been cast out from Your presence, but I keep on looking to Your holy Temple.

When my soul was fainting within me, I remembered YHVH, and before You, rose my prayer up to Your holy Temple.

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Monday, 6 October 2025 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bruno, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Jonah 1 : 1 – Jonah 2 : 1, 11

The word of YHVH came to Jonah, son of Amittai, “Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach against it, because I have known its wickedness.”

But Jonah decided to flee from YHVH and go to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, found a ship bound for Tarshish, and paid the fare. Then he boarded it and went into the hold of the ship, journeying with them to Tarshish, far away from YHVH.

YHVH stirred up a storm wind on the sea, so there was a sea tempest, which threatened to destroy the ship. The sailors took fright, and each cried out to his own god. To lighten the ship, they threw its cargo into the sea. Meanwhile Jonah had gone into the hold of the ship, where he lay fast asleep. The captain came upon him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God. Perhaps He will be mindful of us and will not allow us to die here.”

The sailors said to each other, “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this disaster.” So they dod, and the lot fell on Jonah. They questioned him, “So you are responsible for this evil that has come upon us? Tell us where you are from. What is your country, your nationality?” And Jonah told them his story, “I am a Hebrew and I worship YHVH, God of heaven Who made the sea and the land…”

As they knew that he was fleeing from YHVH, the sailors were seized with great fear and said to him, “What a terrible thing have you done! What shall we do with you now, to make the sea calm down?” The sea was growing more and more agitated.

He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. It will quiet down, for I know it is because of me that this storm has come.” The sailors, however, still did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea had grown much rougher than before. Then they called on YHVH, “O YHVH, do not let us perish for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. For You, YHVH, have done this as You have thought right.”

They took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm again. At this the men were seized with great fear of YHVH. They offered a sacrifice to YHVH and made vows to Him. YHVH provided a large fish which swallowed Jonah. He remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Then YHVH gave His command to the fish, and it belched out Jonah onto dry land.

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Sunday, 5 October 2025 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, each and every one of us have been reminded of the need for us all to trust in God, as His servants and followers, that we do not easily give up the struggle and fight for the sake of our faith in Him. All of us should always persevere in our faith even when it may be very difficult for us to endure through the various challenges, trials and difficulties that we encounter daily in our lives. We must continue to do our best each and in every moments to be good role models and examples for everyone around us. We should not allow ourselves to be dissuaded by those challenges and trials that we end up losing our sight and focus on the Lord and on what He wants us to do in our lives.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Habakkuk in which the conversation between Habakkuk and God was highlighted to us. Prophet Habakkuk was sent by God to the people of the kingdom of Judah during the years of its waning and final existence, when the Babylonians were rising as a threat that would eventually lead to the end and destruction of the kingdom of Judah, its capital Jerusalem and the Temple that God had established and built in that city. Prophet Habakkuk delivered God’s words to the people of Judah, and much like his near contemporary, Jeremiah, he faced a lot of hardships, rejection and persecutions due to his efforts and works, as the people resisted what the Lord had wanted to tell them through His prophets.

The Lord revealed to the people of Judah through Habakkuk that if they continued to disobey Him and if they kept on committing what was wicked in His sight, worshipping pagan idols and gods, refusing to follow His Law and commandments and if they kept on persecuting and murdering His prophets, then in the end they would all face the consequences of their actions, where they would be conquered by their enemies, facing humiliation for losing their cities and lands, and they would be exiled from those lands to distant lands. But the stubbornness of those in Judah brought great misery upon Habakkuk, and the prophet sought the Lord’s help, for which he was strengthened and empowered, reassured and reminded that God could do everything for those who are faithful to Him.

Then, from our second reading this Sunday, we heard of the words of St. Paul the Apostle in his Epistle to his protege, St. Timothy, one of the first bishops of the Church and the successor of the Apostles as the leaders of the Church, reminding him and the other Church leaders about the reality of what it is like to struggle and to labour for the sake of the Lord in the works of evangelisation and the proclamation of the Good News of God. While sufferings and struggles, trials and difficulties would indeed be part and parcel of the works and ministry of the Apostles and their successors, all the disciples and the other missionaries of the Lord, but they were not alone in their struggles and efforts, as the Lord was always with them, guiding and journeying with them.

St. Paul encouraged St. Timothy and the other early Christians to remain strongly rooted in their faith in God, to remain true to what the Lord had called them to do, to be faithful to the teachings of the Gospels and the truth of God in all things, never be discouraged and be prevented from doing their good works because of the oppositions and challenges that they had to face. They should trust in the Lord and remember His assurances, just as what He has assured the prophet Habakkuk in the Old Testament. Through their hard works and efforts, firmly entrenched in the gifts of God through the Holy Spirit, they would indeed carry out many good and wonderful works for the Lord’s sake, and touched countless people and bringing many closer to God.

Lastly, from our Gospel passage this Sunday, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples in the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, in which He highlighted that first of all, if they were to have genuine faith in the Lord, no matter how small it is, then they can do all things in Him, and everything will become possible for them. This is the Lord highlighting to His disciples the importance and the power of faith, one which we ourselves should also have, the trust and faith that we ought to have in God, despite the hardships and challenges that they may have to encounter in their path and endure. The Lord does not abandon His servants and disciples in their hour of need, and even when they suffer, the Lord would always be with them, guiding and strengthening them in their paths, at all times.

Then, the Lord also highlighted to the disciples how each and every one of them should not expect remunerations and benefits from the Lord for what they were doing in carrying out the missions that the Lord had entrusted to them. They were supposed to be doing whatever the Lord had asked of them to do, and the Lord technically did not owe anything to them either. This is an important reminder which the Lord told to His disciples and also to all of us as well, that we should not be faithful merely to seek personal gains or for our own selfish desires and ambitions. We should serve the Lord because we genuinely seek to glorify Him and to do His will, and to carry out His good works in our community and among all those whom we encounter daily and at all times.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore remember that following the Lord will likely be full of challenges, trials and difficulties for us. There may be moments when we may want to give up and abandon our missions and even our faith, but we must remember that the Lord is always with us, by our side, ever encouraging us all throughout the way. We should always trust in God and His Providence and continue to do our very best so that in each and every things we do, in our every words and actions, in our interactions and in how we treat everyone around us, we will always be genuine in showing the most Christian love and way of living, so that we may become the powerful inspirations for all those around us, now and always.

May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours and strengthen us always in faith, in all that we say and do, in our every interactions, to be God’s ever faithful disciples, followers and servants at all times, ever full of devotion and faith in Him. Amen.

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Sunday, 5 October 2025 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 17 : 5-10

At that time, the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” And the Lord said, “If you have faith, even the size of a mustard seed, you may say to this tree, ‘Be uprooted, and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it will obey you.”

“Who among you would say to your servant, coming in from the fields after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Go ahead and have your dinner?’ No, you tell him, ‘Prepare my dinner. Put on your apron, and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink afterward.’”

“Do you thank this servant for doing what you told him to do? I do not think so. And therefore, when you have done all that you have been told to do, you should say, ‘We are no more than servants; we have only done our duty.’”

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Sunday, 5 October 2025 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Timothy 1 : 6-8, 13-14

For this reason, I invite you to fan into a flame, the gift of God you received, through the laying on of my hands. For God did not confer on us a spirit of fearfulness, but of strength, love and good judgment. Do not be ashamed of testifying to our Lord, nor of seeing me in chains. On the contrary, do your share in labouring for the Gospel, with the strength of God.

Follow the pattern of the sound doctrine which you have heard from me, concerning faith, and love in Christ Jesus. Keep this precious deposit, with the help of the Holy Spirit, Who lives within us.

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Sunday, 5 October 2025 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 94 : 1-2, 6-7, 8-9

Come, let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful sound to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him giving thanks, with music and songs of praise.

Come and worship; let us bow down, kneel before the Lord, our Maker. He is our God, and we His people; the flock He leads and pastures. Would that today you heard His voice!

Do not be stubborn, as at Meribah, in the desert, on that day at Massah, when your ancestors challenged Me, and they put Me to the test.

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Sunday, 5 October 2025 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Habakkuk 1 : 2-3 and Habakkuk 2 : 2-4

YHVH, how long will I cry for help while You pay no attention to me? I denounce the oppression and You do not save. Why do You make me see injustice? Are You pleased to look on tyranny? All I see is outrage, violence and quarrels.

Then YHVH answered me and said, “Write down the vision, inscribe it on tablets so it can be easily read, since this is a vision for an appointed time; it will not fail but will be fulfilled in due time. If it delays, wait for it, for it will come, and will not be deterred. Look : I do not look with favour on the one who gives way; the upright, on the other hand, will live by his faithfulness.”

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Saturday, 12 October 2024 : 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 all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the constant need for each and every one of us to remember that we are all God’s people, all equally beloved and precious before Him and in His eyes. None of us can claim that we are better or more preferred simply because of our background, our circumstances, or by whatever other parameters that we usually tend to divide or categorise ourselves into. When we are called to follow Him as Christians, to be God’s beloved and holy people, each and every one of us are called to reflect His light and truth, and whatever He had taught us in our lives, so that our every words, actions and deeds truly show that we are His holy and blessed people.

In our first reading today, we heard from the continuation of this week’s discourse and passage from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Galatia in what is now part of modern day Turkey, where the Apostle continued to elaborate about the matter of obeying the old and outdated ways of the Law of Moses, of the manner how those laws, commandments and rules, rituals and regulations were observed and enforced by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, those who were considered as the religious and intellectual elites of the community in charge of the maintenance and enforcement of the Law of God. Those people were also rather rigid and inflexible in their understanding and application of the Law of God, enforcing them very strictly and harshly, forcing the faithful people of God to follow all of the numerous rules, regulations and precepts.

And in their pride, ego, ambition and greed they had ended up misusing the Law of God to serve their own selfish interests, desires and ambitions. They sought to be praised and acclaimed because of their great piety and supposed obedience and adherence to the fullness of the Law of God, and they judged others who did not follow or obey the Law of God in the manner that they had done it. It is this boundary and limits which man had established which St. Paul was quite adamantly against, and for which he had criticised those who still continued to insist that everyone ought to follow and obey those man-made boundaries and obligations that were not truly in accordance with God’s will and what He desired from His people.

Then, in our short Gospel passage today from the Gospel of St. Luke, the words of the Lord to His disciples and all the people who were listening to Him were very clear indeed in their intention and meaning. The Lord wanted to tell each and every one of us that what He wants from us is obedience to the will of God and for all of us to do what God has taught us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Himself, and everything that He has brought unto us in this world today. It is not by association or connection to Him that one would be blessed or favoured by God, as He pointed it out Himself that just because someone belongs to the relatives or family of the Lord, but it did not mean that they would be favoured solely by that connection.

This was unlike what was common in the world at that time, where people usually favoured those who were connected and of the same family or group as themselves. This same attitude is also shown by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law mentioned earlier as they commonly favoured those who were in their own group and shared the same thoughts and beliefs as they were, and they despised and were judgmental against all those whom they disagreed or differed in views with. That was why despite the Lord having performed many of His good and wonderful works before their own eyes and spoke of His great wisdom and teachings before them, they would not believe and continued to reject the truth and the revelations of the Lord’s Good News, despite the irrefutable truth it has brought them.

This kind of favouritism and bias exist even right up to this day, and is something that all of us as Christians are reminded to be ever vigilant against. As Christians, we must not allow ourselves to be easily swayed and tempted by the various worldly temptations, distractions and pressures all around us, and not to be easily persuaded by false directions and falsehoods in our midst. The Lord showed us all that to be truly faithful to Him we have to be ready and willing to listen to Him, embracing His truth and love, doing whatever we can so that by our commitment to Him, we will continue to live our lives worthily and doing whatever we can to glorify Him by our every words, actions and deeds throughout each and every moments of our lives, which we should always offer to God and strive to proclaim His truth and love to all.

And as the Lord mentioned all that before His disciples, lest we may think that He was being disrespectful to His family members and relatives, particularly to His mother, Mary, we must realise that He was in fact praising His own mother’s great examples and her being a great role model and inspiration for each and every one of us to follow in our own lives as Christians. Mary through her life and dedication to God has always lived her life with full of commitment and love for God, and being in a state full of grace, she obeyed the Lord perfectly and completely, following Him and His commandments, doing His will and living the life of the exemplary and model Christian by her complete obedience and trust in God, which we all should follow as well. The Lord has pointed the path to Himself through His mother, and we all should follow this path.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore ponder carefully how we are to continue living our lives from now on, doing our best so that we may continue to glorify the Lord by our lives and by doing His will, and to remain humble at all times. And as the examples of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law ought to have reminded us, we should not allow ourselves to be swayed by the temptations of worldly glory and ambitions, or by our pride and ego so that we will not end up falling ever deeper into the path of sin towards destruction and damnation. Let us all instead follow the Lord’s call and through the help of His loving Mother Mary and His many saints, holy men and women, our wonderful holy predecessors, we may continue to progress well in our journey towards Him. Amen.