2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Saturday, 20 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) 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, all of us are reminded of the need for all of us as Christians to be filled with faith in the Lord, as well as love and care for our fellow brethren, at all times. We must trust in Him and not in the ways of the world, and ensure that our lives must always be focused on God and His path, or otherwise, in the end, we may meet our end in sorrow and regret, for having disobeyed the Lord and turned our ways away from the path of God’s righteousness and grace. This is what we as Christians should not be doing.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel in which the story of the death of King Saul of Israel and some of his family members was told to us, and how David, Saul’s successor as the rightful king over all of Israel, was distraught and sorrowful upon having heard of the bad news. At that time, Saul and David had gone through some period of conflict and disagreements, over the right to rule Israel, because God had chosen David to replace Saul as the rightful King of Israel. Saul attempted to kill and destroy David in several occasions, but God protected David from harm.

Eventually, Saul vowed not to kill David, and stopped his efforts in chasing after David, after David spared his life when he had the perfect opportunity to kill Saul if he had wanted to. David never felt any kind of hatred or anger against Saul, and he still honoured the fallen king, just as we have heard in our first reading today. If we read the account from the earlier parts at the end of the first Book of the prophet Samuel, then we would have known that Saul fell in the battle between the Israelites and the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, together with his son, Jonathan, who was also a dear friend of David. Both of them were mourned by David, who still loved and respected them.

Saul met his end and downfall, and kingship was taken from him and his family ultimately because of his disobedience and failure to listen to the will of God. He chose to follow the whim of his own desires and personal ambitions rather than to obey the Lord and His commandments. Meanwhile, David obeyed the Lord, was humble and faithful, forgiving and kind, unlike Saul who was proud and ambitious, and who was easily tempted by jealousy and anger, when he saw that David was becoming more popular and beloved than him by the people.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard a very short passage in which the Lord was teaching to the people of God and ministering to them, while His family and relatives were waiting for Him. The crowds were very large, and the Lord spent so much time there ministering to them that He and His disciples could not even have time for themselves to have a meal. We heard then of how the Lord’s family and relatives attempted to save Him by saying that He was out of His mind. It could be interpreted as a manner of annoyance at how the Lord spent so much time in taking care of the people and preaching to them that He did not have time to take care of Himself properly. Yet, the Lord did so because He obeyed His Father’s will, and He did whatever He could to help all those multitudes who came to seek Him.

These are reminders for all of us that as Christians, we must always be centred on the Lord and follow Him, and we have to persevere in faith even if we may encounter opposition and disapproval from those who are around us, even from those who are close to us. We should not easily be swayed and tempted to give up our faith and obedience to God because of all the obstacles and challenges, the trials and hardships that we may have to face amidst our daily lives and struggles. Instead, we have to remain firmly faithful in the Lord, just as how David, the King of Israel, had always trusted in the Lord even in his most difficult moments, and how the Lord Himself had dedicated Himself thoroughly for our sake.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of not just one but two great saints, two holy men and servants of God whose faith and dedication truly serve as great examples and inspirations for all of us in how we all ourselves should live up to our faith. Both of them, namely Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian, have suffered greatly for their faith in Christ, and endured martyrdom for their courage and commitment to God. And yet, they welcomed their suffering and death, and remained faithful to the Lord, to the very end. Through their examples and lives which we are going to examine, I hope we can see and understand better how we can be better disciples and followers of Christ.

First of all, Pope St. Fabian was the leader of the Universal Church during the time of great turbulence throughout the Roman Empire, as wars and conflicts happened a lot, and many persecutions occurred against Christians as well. He was also facing a lot of issues with the unity of the Church, as there were factions of the Church in opposition against each other, as was the case of the followers of some heresies and different teachings, which made it even more to difficult to govern and lead the Church. Yet, Pope St. Fabian did not give up the efforts to unite the divided factions and parts of the Church, while opposing the various heresies and falsehoods that afflicted members of the Church. He faced a lot of trials and hardships, and eventually, he was martyred during the time of Roman Emperor Decius, who persecuted Christians harshly during his reign. Yet, despite this, the great examples, faith and inspiration from Pope St. Fabian continued to be great examples for many Christians throughout history.

Meanwhile, St. Sebastian was a soldier in the Roman army, and he was a rather high-ranking soldier and captain among the Praetorian Guards, the personal guardsmen and elite members of the military charged with the defence of the Roman Emperor. At that time, upon the ascension to power of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who was infamous among Christians for his particularly intense and vicious persecution against Christians, demanding all of them to abandon their faith and offer sacrifices to the Roman gods and to the Emperor under pain of great sufferings and death. St. Sebastian as a secret Christians was involved in helping some of the suffering Christians, and even making some converts from among the pagans.

Eventually, despite his efforts to conceal his Christian faith, it was discovered that St. Sebastian was a Christian, and hence he was persecuted and led to a field where he was shot by many arrows, leaving him for dead, only for St. Sebastian to miraculously remain alive, and he was nursed back to health by one of his fellow Christians. St. Irene of Rome. He then went on to criticise and condemn the Emperor Diocletian for his actions and wickedness against Christians, and hence, was beaten to death and martyred. The courage and great faith, the commitment and love which St. Sebastian had for the Lord remained as a great inspiration and example for many other Christians throughout the centuries afterwards.

From the examples of Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian, we gained even greater insight, inspirations and good examples on how we all should be living our lives faithfully as Christians. All of us should always do whatever we can so that by our commitment and contributions, in whatever we say and do, we will always be great source of inspiration and faith for our fellow brothers and sisters, and that we may proclaim the Lord’s truth to more and more people all throughout the world. May the Lord continue to bless and guide us all, in all of our every good efforts and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 20 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

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

Mark 3 : 20-21

At that time, Jesus and His disciples went home. The crowd began to gather again and they could not even have a meal. Knowing what was happening, His relatives came to take charge of Him, “He is out of His mind,” they said.

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Saturday, 20 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

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

Psalm 79 : 2-3, 5-7

Listen, o Shepherd of Israel, You, Who lead Joseph like a flock; You, Who sit enthroned between the Cherubim. Shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up Your might and come to save us.

O YHVH of hosts, how long will Your anger burn against the prayers of Your people? You have fed them with the bread of woe, and have given them tears to drink in their sorrow. You have made us the scorn of our neighbours and the laughingstock of our oppressors.

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Saturday, 20 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

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

2 Samuel 1 : 1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27

After the death of Saul, when David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, he stayed at Ziklag for two days. On the third day a man arrived from the camp of Saul with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he approached David, the man threw himself to the ground in homage.

David asked him, “Where are you from?” And he answered, “I have escaped from the Israelite camp.” David then said, “Tell me what happened.” And the man told him, “The soldiers fled from the battle but many of them fell and died. Saul and his son Jonathan – they too are dead.”

At this, David took hold of his clothes and tore them and his men did the same. And they mourned, weeping and fasting until evening, for the death of Saul and his son Jonathan, for all the people of Judah and for the nation of Israel.

David sang this song of lamentation for Saul and his son Jonathan, “Your glory, o Israel, is slain upon your mountains! How the mighty ones have fallen! Saul and Jonathan, beloved and cherished, neither in life nor in death were they parted; swifter than eagles they were and stronger than lions.”

“Women of Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in precious scarlet. How the valiant have fallen! In the midst of the battle Jonathan lies slain on your mountains. I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan; how dear have you been to me! Your love for me was wonderful, ever more than the love of women. How the valiant have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!”

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Friday, 19 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded of God’s calling for us to follow Him and His path, to do what is good and righteous, and in accordance with His Law and commandments. Each and every one of us as Christians should do what the Lord has shown and taught us, and also the examples set by His holy men and women, our holy predecessors, the saints and martyrs throughout time and history, and also like what King David of Israel had done in our Scripture passage today, in sparing the life of King Saul, his predecessor, who wanted to kill David out of jealousy and anger. All of us as Christians should always strive to do God’s will and to listen to Him speaking in our hearts and minds.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel in which the story of King Saul and his successor King David continues, after we have heard how God chose David to be the one to replace and succeed Saul as King and ruler over all of His people because of Saul’s disobedience and sin. Saul became deeply jealous and angry at David, and wanted to kill him so that he could eliminate this major threat to his rule and legitimacy. Yet, in doing so, Saul actually opened himself to even more temptations of the evil one and all the worldly attachments and temptations he had experienced, which led him to chase after David, and the latter had to flee from place to place with some of his supporters and friends.

But God was with David, and He protected him for all the years and time he spent in exile and on the run from King Saul. God’s favour was on him, and in this particular occasion highlighted in our first reading passage today, David and his companions encountered King Saul and his troops, who were all sleeping soundly, likely by God’s intervention. Such an opportunity was likely very rare, and it presented the perfect opportunity for David to end all of his struggles and difficulties, and in one strike, he could have killed Saul and therefore claim the kingdom completely for himself. His companions were urging him to do exactly that, but David resisted the temptations, and told his companions that they must not touch Saul, for he was also God’s anointed one.

Here we can see the great qualities and virtues that David had which made him to be truly worthy of the kingship as compared to Saul. While Saul was proud and arrogant, ambitious and disobedient, David was humble and committed to God, obeyed His Law and commandments, and he did not touch another person or harm him when he was vulnerable as we heard in our reading from the Book of Samuel today. Unlike Saul, who attempted on several occasions to harm and kill David in several separate occasions, out of jealousy and allowing himself to be tempted by Satan, David was humble and committed to God, and remembered His Law and commandments, while Saul had disobeyed them many times, especially with his desire to kill David, which is against God’s commandment, ‘You shall not kill.’

David himself was not a perfect and blameless man, as he had his flaws and shortcomings just like all of us, but he tried his best to remain faithful and committed to God, and resisted the temptations of worldly glory and desire as best as he could. He repented from his sins and mistakes, and tried his best to do what God has told him to do. In this way, therefore, he showed us all what it means for us to be disciples and followers of Christ, as we all should be obedient to the will, Law and commandments of God in all the things we say and do, in our whole entire lives. As Christians, we should always strive to live our lives most worthily as those whom the Lord had called and chosen to be His own beloved people, to proclaim His truth to the nations.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord called His disciples and appointed twelve among them to be the principal and most important ones among them, as part of His innermost and most trusted circle, also known as the Twelve or the Twelve Apostles. We heard the name of each and every one of them by name, and what they were told to do, in doing God’s works and obeying God’s will. It does not mean that they are perfect men either, as just like David, they also made mistakes, and one among them even lost his way completely, betrayed the Lord and then took his own life in despair and regret, namely that of Judas Iscariot, the traitor. However, all of them except for Judas Iscariot did their best to do God’s will and to carry out His Law and commandments, and to proclaim His Good News and truth.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church reminds us through these passages from the Sacred Scriptures of the need for all of us to turn away from the path of sin, and resist the many temptations present all around us. We are all reminded to stay away from the path of wickedness and evil, from all sorts of greed and desires for worldly things, from our ambitions and ego, that we will not end up losing our way in this journey of life we have. Let us all do our best to help and remind one another so that we will continue to be faithful to the Lord despite all the trials and challenges, difficulties and hardships that we may have to endure in our path. We must be strengthened and inspired by following the good examples of the Lord’s servants, His saints, and all whom we have discussed earlier today.

May the Lord continue to bless us and guide us in our journey of faith so that we may continue to do our best in living our lives to the best of our abilities. May He empower each and every one of us, so that by our every actions, words and deeds, we will always be ever faithful and committed to the Lord, and our faith may truly be shown to all, and that through us and our works and efforts, more and more people may come to believe in God as well, like how King David, the Apostles and many other holy saints of God had inspired us all. Amen.

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Friday, 19 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 3 : 13-19

At that time, Jesus went up into the hill country, and called those He wanted, and they came to Him. He appointed Twelve to be with Him, and He called them ‘Apostles.’ He wanted to send them out to preach; and He gave them authority to drive out demons.

These are the Twelve : Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John his brother, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, which means ‘men of thunder’; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

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Friday, 19 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 56 : 2, 3-4, 6 and 11

Have mercy on me, o God, have mercy; for my soul takes refuge in You; I will find shelter in the shadow of Your wings, till the disaster has passed.

I call on God the Most High; on God, Who has done everything for me : may He send from heaven, a Saviour, and put my oppressors to shame. May God send me His love and faithfulness.

Be exalted, o God, above the heavens! Your glory be over all the earth! For Your love reaches to the heavens, and Your faithfulness, to the clouds.

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Friday, 19 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Samuel 24 : 3-21

So Saul took three thousand picked men from all Israel and went in search of David and his men to the east of the Wild Goat crags. When he came to the sheepfolds along the way, he entered a cave to relieve himself.

Now David and his men were far back in the cave. David’s men said to him, “This is the day which YHVH spoke of : ‘Look I will deliver your enemy into your hands and you will do with him as you see fit.’” So David moved up and stealthily cut off an end of Saul’s robe. But afterward, David regretted having cut off an end of Saul’s robe, and he said to his men, “Let me not lay my hands on my master, for he is YHVH’s anointed.”

With these words, David restrained his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. Saul then left the cave and went on his way. Then David himself stepped out of the cave and called after Saul, “My master, the king!” When Saul looked back, David knelt and then bowed to the ground in homage and asked him, “Why do you listen to those who say that I want to harm you?”

“Look, today you have seen that YHVH delivered you into my hands in the cave. I was told to kill you but I held myself back and said : ‘I will not lift my hands against my master who is YHVH’s anointed.’ My father, look at this end of your robe which I am holding! I cut off the end of your robe but did not kill you.”

“Now you may know that I mean you no harm or treason. I have done you no wrong and yet you are hunting me down to kill me. May YHVH be judge between you and me; and may He exact justice from you in my case. But I shall do you no harm. As the saying goes, ‘From the wicked comes wickedness’; as for me, my hand shall not harm you.”

“But who is it you are after, o king of Israel? Are you pursuing a dead dog? A flea? May YHVH be Judge between you and me. May He see and uphold my cause and deliver me from your hands.”

After David had spoken these words, Saul asked, “Is that your voice, my son David?” He wept aloud and said to David, “You are right and I am wrong, for you have repaid with kindness the harm I have inflicted on you. This day you have shown your righteousness to me by not taking my life when YHVH put me into your hands. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go unharmed?”

“May YHVH reward you for what you have done for me today. Now I know for certain that you shall reign and the kingdom of Israel will be firm in your hand.”

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Thursday, 18 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we all heard from the Scriptures of what it truly means for us to be Christians, in following God and doing God’s will, and we are also reminded that we must be vigilant against the many temptations of the world, which could lead us astray and away from the path towards God and His salvation. If we are not careful and allow those corruptions to mislead us down the wrong path, then we will end up disobeying God and committing sins and wickedness in the sight of God and our fellow brothers and sisters. This is why as Christians all of us must always focus our attention first and foremost on the Lord, and commit ourselves and each and every moments of our lives to follow Him wholeheartedly.

In our first reading today, we heard the continuation of the story from the Book of the prophet Samuel in which we have heard for the past week and more of the time of the first kings of Israel, starting from Saul, whom God had first chosen to be the ruler and king over His people, and yet, that same king Saul disobeyed the Lord as he likely gave in to the temptations of worldly glory, power and ambitions. The Lord therefore gave the kingdom of Israel to be under the charge of another person, David, who would be more faithful, obedient and worthy than Saul. And therefore today in that first reading passage we heard of the jealousy of Saul when he heard of all the exploits and works of David, favoured and blessed by God in all that he had done.

Thus, Saul allowed himself yet again to be tempted by the temptations of worldly glory and evil, and all the wickedness that he had committed, gave in to the temptation of greed and jealousy, and hence, plotting murder and death for the young David. Thankfully, Jonathan, one of Saul’s own sons, was a good friend of David, and he helped David out of the predicament when he knew of what his father had plotted against David in his anger and jealousy. And as we heard, Jonathan attempted to talk Saul out of committing such a heinous and wicked deed, reasoning and arguing with him why he should not do so, and managed to get Saul to swear an oath not to harm or kill David. Nonetheless, later on, when Saul was tempted by the devil, he would still attempt to harm David.

The Gospel passage today then spoke of the moment when the Lord Jesus continued carrying out His ministry, and even in the wilderness, many people from all over the place, from the whole nearby region and even beyond, coming towards Him, from the regions of Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, as mentioned that they had all heard of all the works and deeds of the Lord, Who showed great signs and miracles. And many of the people came to the Lord seeking for healing and help, and they all were bringing more and more towards Him, making the Lord truly very famous and renowned at the time. Yet, we heard how the Lord told the people not to reveal what He had done for them.

This reminds all of us again that we must not allow our pride, ego and worldly desires from leading us astray because we crave and seek for the satisfaction of worldly ambitions, pleasures and fulfilment. The Lord was truly very popular and He had a large following, and He could very well have used that for His advantage and purpose just like how many others of His contemporaries and those who came before Him, claiming to be the Messiah, had done. The people could very well have made Him to be their King, and He could have gained the people’s support for that purpose. Yet, this was not what He had done, and He told the people sternly not to proclaim everything that He has done. He did all those things not for worldly glory and power, but instead to fulfil His Father’s will to save all the mankind.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from what we have heard from the Scripture passages today, we are all reminded that we should not allow worldly temptations, desires, ambitions and greed from undermining our faith and righteousness in God. Like Saul, if we allow ourselves to be swayed by those things, we may end up being dragged down the path of evil and wickedness, into sin and damnation. This is why we must always keep in mind that our lives should always be filled with the desire to be righteous and to follow and obey God in all the things we say and do. We should not let sin to lead us down the path to ruin and destruction, and we should always be strong and steadfast in leading lives that are exemplary and inspirational, that through us and our faith, many more may be strengthened in faith as well.

Let us all be humble in life and reject the path of sin and evil. Let us all resist all the trap and false promises of earthly wonders, of temporary pleasures and comforts found all around us, and instead let us return our focus once again towards the Lord, our loving God and Master. Let all of us be called and inspired to be the worthy and faithful beacons of God’s Light and truth, His Good News and love for all. Let our every words, actions and deeds, our every interactions with those around us, and our every way of life be truly Christ-like, and let us be committed to whatever vocation and missions which the Lord has entrusted to us all in our respective lives. Let our whole lives be truly filled with the light of Christ, in all things and in our every good efforts and endeavours.

May the Lord continue to guide and bless us, and may He bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours, so that through all of them, we may continue to do His will and be ever more committed to this path of righteousness and justice which He has led us through, following the examples that He Himself had set, and those of the holy saints and other great men and women, our holy predecessors. Amen.

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Thursday, 18 January 2024 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 3 : 7-12

At that time, Jesus and His disciples withdrew to the lakeside, and a large crowd from Galilee followed Him. A great number of people also came from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, for they had heard of all that He was doing.

Because of the crowd, Jesus told His disciples to have a boat ready for Him, to prevent the people from crushing Him. He healed so many, that all who had diseases kept pressing toward Him to touch Him. Even the people who had evil spirits, whenever they saw Him, they would fall down before Him and cry out, “You are the Son of God.” But He warned them sternly not to tell anyone Who He was.