2nd Sunday of Lent

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Thursday, 17 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Patrick, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 17 : 5-10

This is what YHVH says, “Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings and depends on a mortal for his life, while his heart is drawn away from YHVH! He is like a bunch of thistles in dry land, in parched desert places, in a salt land where no one lives and who never finds happiness.”

“Blessed is the man who puts his trust in YHVH and whose confidence is in Him! He is like a tree planted by the water, sending out its roots towards the stream. He has no fear when the heat comes, his leaves are always green; the year of drought is no problem and he can always bear fruit.”

“Most deceitful is the heart. What is there within man, who can understand him? I, YHVH, search the heart and penetrate the mind. I reward each one according to his ways and the fruit of his deeds.”

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Wednesday, 16 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the Scriptures, reminding us to remain faithful to Him despite the challenges and trials that we may face in the midst of our journey of faith through life. We are reminded that following the Lord may not be an easy as it seems to be, and that just as the Lord Himself had faced a lot of rejection and opposition, hence we also have to be prepared to be treated in the same way.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah in which the opposition and plotting against Jeremiah was highlighted to us. Jeremiah was the prophet sent to the people and kingdom of Judah during its final years and days, reminding God’s people and calling on them to turn away from their wicked and sinful ways, and trust once again in the Lord instead of the falsehoods of the pagan idols and the false prophets that had been running rampant in ruining the kingdom and the people with their lies.

Those same false prophets and idolaters were the ones who hated Jeremiah and his works, plotting against him with each other and with collusion from the powerful nobles in trying to bring him down, accusing him with treason and with various other false accusations. They wanted to remove him as a great threat to their position, power and preeminence in the kingdom and the community as Jeremiah continued to work against them in proclaiming God’s truth to His people.

Jeremiah trusted in the Lord and placed his fate in His hands, and he followed the Lord and His providence, walked in the path that he had been shown, persevering even against the many challenges that he had to endure for the sake of his faith in God, as well as for the sake of the remnants of the people and the kingdom of Judah. He endured the sufferings and trials, and remained true to his faith to the end, as a truly exemplary role model to all of us Christians, God’s followers and people.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the moment when the sons of Zebedee, James and John, two of the Twelve closest among the Lord’s disciples, tried to gain extra favour from Him and brought their mother along in trying to gain for themselves better position among the Lord’s followers and inner circle, despite the fact that they were already among His closest confidants and assistants. They were trying to gain favour with the Lord as they must have thought that following Jesus the Messiah, as was commonly believed at that time, would lead to the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel.

Hence, the disciples were jostling for influence and power, for connection with the Lord, hoping that through their closeness to the Lord, they could benefit in terms of being possibly appointed as powerful members of the Lord’s court once He restored the kingdom of Israel. However, they did not know or realise that it was not what the Lord intended to do. He came indeed as King, but not to restore the earthly kingdom of Israel, but to gather everyone into the one true and eternal Kingdom of God.

But in order to do that, first He would have to suffer grievously much as Jeremiah His servant had once suffered at the hands of his enemies. The Lord had to endure rejection and persecution, the most painful torture and a most humiliating death on the Cross, all the cup of suffering that He had to partake and drink as part of His mission, His Passion, His death and eventually, His Resurrection. It was this same cup of suffering which the Lord mentioned to James and John in today’s Gospel reading.

The Lord said it clearly that His disciples would also drink from His cup of suffering, sharing the same fate that He had experienced. In another occasion, the Lord also said that unless one takes up his cross and follows Him, then he cannot truly be His disciple. This is yet again another reminder that as Christians, all of us will likely face challenges and trials in our path, and we have to be steady in faith and not easily give up regardless of what we may be facing along the way. We have to keep our faith and trust in the Lord at all times.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let this time and season of Lent be a time of renewal of faith for us, for us to deepen our relationship with God through more time spent on prayer and our many Lenten observances, through which hopefully we may draw closer to His path, His Law and commandments. Let us help each other in our journey of faith towards the Lord, and help one another to persevere through the many challenges and trials we may have to face for the Lord’s sake.

May the Lord be with us and empower us to live ever more worthily in His presence, now and always. May our Lenten season and observance be truly fruitful, in all the things we say and do, all for the greater glory of God. Amen.

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Wednesday, 16 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 20 : 17-28

At that time, when Jesus was going to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples and said to them, “See, we are going to Jerusalem. There the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, who will condemn Him to death. They will hand Him over to the foreigners, who will mock Him, scourge Him and crucify Him. But He will be raised to life on the third day.”

Then the mother of James and John came to Jesus with her sons, and she knelt down, to ask a favour. Jesus said to her, “What do you want?” And she answered, “Here You have my two sons. Grant that they may sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, when You are in Your kingdom.”

Jesus said to the brothers, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They answered, “We can.” Jesus replied, “You will indeed drink My cup, but to sit at My right or at My left is not for Me to grant. That will be for those, for whom My Father has prepared it.”

The other ten heard all this, and were angry with the two brothers. Then Jesus called them to Him and said, “You know that the rulers of the nations act as tyrants over them, and the powerful oppress them. It shall not be so among you : whoever wants to be more important in your community shall make himself your servant.”

“And if you want to be the first of all, make yourself the servant of all. Be like the Son of Man Who has come, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life to redeem many.”

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Wednesday, 16 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 30 : 5-6, 14, 15-16

Free me from the snare that they have set for me. Indeed You are my Protector. Into Your hands I commend my spirit; You have redeemed Me, o Lord, faithful God.

I hear whispering among the crowd, rumours that frighten me from every side – their conspiracies, their schemes, their plot to take my life.

But I put my trust in You, o Lord, I said : “You are my God;” my days are in Your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, from those after my skin.

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Wednesday, 16 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 18 : 18-20

Then, they said, “Come, let us plot against Jeremiah, for even without him, there will be priests to interpret the Teachings of the Law; there will always be wisemen to impart counsel and prophets to proclaim the word. Come, let us accuse him and strike him down instead of listening to what he says.”

Hear me, o YHVH! Listen to what my accusers say. Is evil the reward for good? Why do they dig a grave for me? Remember how I stood before You to speak well on their behalf so that Your anger might subside.

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Tuesday, 15 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded to be righteous in all of our actions and deeds, in each and every moments of our lives. We have to be humble and attuned to our sins and faults, all the wickedness we have committed, and endeavour to overcome them, replacing them instead with righteousness and virtue. We are reminded to turn away from sin and to embrace God’s path, His love and grace.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard the words of the Lord speaking clearly to His people through Isaiah calling on all of them to remember what they are meant to be as the chosen people of God, as those whom God had called to follow Him and to be role models for all of the other people of this world. They were all reminded of the fates of the wicked, all those who have not obeyed the Lord’s will and committed sins against Him. Hence, that was why Sodom and Gomorrah were mentioned, the fate of those two cities destroyed because of the sins of its people.

At that time, the people of Judah had seen what happened to the northern kingdom of Israel, the ten tribes that rebelled against the House of David and which for most of its history, rebelled against God as well. The northern kingdom had been overcome, overthrown and conquered by the Assyrians, who crushed their kingdom and cities, destroyed their capital of Samaria and brought off the entire people into exile in far-off Mesopotamia, in exile away from their homeland. This was the fate of those who had disobeyed the Lord, persecuted His prophets and refused to believe in Him.

The same fate would be faced by the people of Judah as well, in due time, as after the time of the prophet Isaiah, the people fell again into sin after a brief return to the way of the Lord, and they would abandon and betray Him, resulting in them also losing their kingdom, their homeland, defeated and humiliated, crushed and conquered by the Babylonians, and brought in shame to exile in the far-off lands of Babylon and beyond, sharing in the fate of those who have disobeyed God earlier on.

Yet, God has always been full of mercy and compassion for His people, and just as He has patiently loved all of them for a long time, despite all that they had done to Him, in abandoning and rejecting Him, the Lord still wanted them all to be reconciled to Him, and He called on them all to return to Him, being penitent and humble, willing to abandon their old ways of sin and evil, and embrace the new path of life that God has shown us, the virtuous and righteous way of life that God has presented and taught to us.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to the people regarding the pride and hubris of the elders and the leaders of the people of God, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, all those who were greatly respected in the community for their intellect, guardianship over the Law and the community, and which they then reciprocated with great arrogance and hubris, as they demanded a lot of honour and respect, to be treated with favour and given glory and fame.

That was exactly why many people failed to return to the Lord and remained in rebellion and disobedience against Him. It was the sin of pride, of ego and hubris that had brought many people down into sin, and they were the same ones that had kept people sinning again and again, and falling deeper and deeper into the path of sin and evil. This is why, as Christians, all of us are called to resist these temptations of our pride, ego, our hubris and ambition, all these desires we have for power and worldly glory, for wealth and fame among other things.

Therefore, let us all make great use of this Lenten season to be the good members of the Church and the Christian community. Let us all turn towards the Lord with renewed faith and commit ourselves in each and every moments of our lives, from now on, to face the world with the sight of faith, with the determination to carry on living our lives with genuine faith and trust in the Lord, living our every moments with courage and hope, as great role models of God’s path amidst our fellow brothers and sisters. May God bless us all and may He empower us all to live ever more courageously in His presence, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 15 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 23 : 1-12

At that time, then Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees have sat down on the chair of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say, but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even raise a finger to move them.”

“They do everything in order to be seen by people : they wear very wide bands of the Law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first places at feasts and reserved seats in the synagogues, and they like being greeted in the marketplace, and being called ‘Master’ by the people.”

“But you, do not let yourselves be called Master, because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father because you have only one Father, He Who is in heaven. Nor should you be called Leader, because Christ is the only Leader for you.”

“Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great.”

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Tuesday, 15 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 49 : 8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23

Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before Me. I need no bull from your stalls, nor he-goat from your pens.

What right have you to mouth My laws, or to talk about My covenant? You hate My commands and cast My words behind you.

Because I was silent while you did these things, you thought I was like you. But now I rebuke you and make this charge against you. Those who give with thanks offerings honour Me, but the one who walks blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God.

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Tuesday, 15 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 1 : 10, 16-20

Hear the warning of YHVH, rulers of Sodom. Listen to the word of God, people of Gomorrah. Wash and make yourselves clean. Remove from My sight the evil of your deeds. Put an end to your wickedness and learn to do good.

Seek justice and keep in line the abusers; give the fatherless their rights and defend the widow. “Come,” says the Lord, “let us reason together. Though your sins be like scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they be as crimson red, they will be white as wool.”

“If you will obey Me, you will eat the goods of the earth; but if you resist and rebel, the sword will eat you instead.” Truly the Lord has spoken.

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Monday, 14 March 2022 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to show kindness and compassion in our lives, in each and every moments of our daily living, in all of our actions, words and deeds, so that through us Christians, God’s love and mercy may be shown to the whole world, and more people may come to believe in Him and know Him. That is because we model ourselves based on the love and compassion which He Himself has shown us from the beginning.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Daniel the words of that prophet on behalf of the people, as he declared their love for the Lord, their dedication, faith and commitment. Daniel spoke abashedly and humbly regarding the sins that the people had committed before the Lord and all that they had done for all those years they spent in disobedience and rebellion against God, and the people regretted for their failures and shame, seeing all that they had endured because of the sins they committed and that of their ancestors’.

The people of God had sinned against God greatly, betraying and abandoning Him for the pagan idols and gods, disobeying His Law and commandments, persecuting and even killing His prophets all because they refused to believe in Him and all the things which He had revealed to them. The people preferred to trust in worldly matters and concerns, and as such they began to veer away, further and further away from the path of the Lord and into the path of sin. That was how they were overcome, conquered, and evicted from their lands into bitter exile.

Daniel represented these exiles who had spent quite a long time in exile, chastised and humbled, reminded of the folly of the actions of their ancestors and how they had wasted the great love and the patience that God has shown His people. The Lord had patiently loved the people despite all they had done to Him, sending them messengers, prophets and leaders to help them to return to the right path, and Daniel himself was one of those leaders whom God had appointed to lead the people whom He had chosen and loved from the nations.

And Daniel was instrumental as one of the leaders of the Israelites and their descendants who encouraged and called on them all to return to the Lord, seeking God’s ever generous mercy and forgiveness. For it is God alone Who could forgive their sins, and as such, the people were all called to repentance, to reject the evils of their past ways and the sins of their ancestors, and once again to remember the deeds that the Lord had done for their sake, that they might once again place their full trust in God, and no longer following the paths of the world and sin.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard the Lord’s words speaking to His disciples and therefore to all of us as well, that we all have to be merciful, to show mercy to one another, being filled with love and compassion on others just in the same way that God has shown the same compassion and mercy, even though our sins and faults against Him were much greater and far more numerous than any one of our sins and faults against each other. As Christians, all of us are challenged to be merciful and loving just as our Lord, our God and Father is ever so merciful and loving towards us as well.

In this season of Lent, brothers and sisters in Christ, have we lived our lives in the manner as Christian-like as possible? Have we grown closer to God through our Lenten observances, by our fasting and abstinence to restrain our human desires, ego and greed, and by being more loving and generous in giving, imitating the same love that God Himself has shown us? Have we all drawn closer to God in this manner, or have we instead continued to live in the state of sin, ignoring the constant calls that the Lord had made to us, calling on us to return to Him?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this blessed season of Lent, let us make good use of this time and opportunity which we have been given so that we may come to realise just how weak and fragile we are, and how easy we are in falling deep into the trap of sin. Unless we put ourselves strongly and anchoring deeply in the Lord, we will easily be swept away by the great waves of worldly temptations and sin, and we will end up getting further and further away from our destination in Christ. Is this what we want? Certainly not.

That is why, let us all make great use of this opportunity given to us that we may be ever more truly faithful in life, and no longer just remaining idle as Christians. Let us spend more time with the Lord and do what we can as Christians to reach out to others with love, care, affection and mercy. Let us also be ever more forgiving and let go of the anger and fears in our hearts. May God be with us all, and may He guide us in this journey, that we may find our way to Him, and receive the glorious inheritance He has shown us. Amen.