2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 20 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded that each and every one of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, each and every one of us are called to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the path that God has called us to walk through, following the examples of the Lord Himself, Our Saviour and High Priest Who has obeyed so perfectly the will of His Heavenly Father so that by His perfect obedience, He may show all of us mankind the path towards eternal life and salvation. He has become the perfect Man, the New Adam and the New Man that all of us as Christians are called to follow and embody in our own lives, embracing wholeheartedly our Christian faith in everything that we say and do at all times.

In our first reading today, the continuation from the discourse by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews on the nature and the works of the Messiah, in which the author continued to elaborate on the role which Christ as the Messiah had played in the story of our salvation. As the author was writing to the audience composed of the Jewish people, likely both those who have believed in the Lord and also those who have not yet believed, he explained in detail throughout this Epistle Who the true and real identity of Jesus Christ was, the One Whom the Jewish leaders and authorities had rejected, oppressed and then handed over to the Romans to be crucified. This Epistle to the Hebrews instead presented this crucifixion as part of the plan of the Lord in saving all of His people just as He has promised and prophesied through His prophets like the prophet Isaiah.

The account from this Epistle further highlighted the actions that Christ has done at the pinnacle of His salvific mission, in offering on our behalf the perfect offering for all of our multitudes of sins, in the manner how the priests of the Israelites offered sacrificial offerings for the people of God. Those priests had to first offer sacrifices for themselves first because they themselves were sinners and had to atone for their own sins first, before offering the sacrifices on behalf of the people who came to them seeking their help. But it is different for the case of the Lord Jesus, the One and only True High Priest of all because He is perfect and without any taint of sin, and hence had no need to offer sin offering for Himself.

And most amazingly, while He Himself is blameless and without any fault, He chose willingly to bear the blame and the punishment assigned to Him, imposed on Him by the Jewish leaders and authorities, who blamed on Him the fault of rebellion and blasphemy against God, that He was handed over to the Romans to be crucified. Yet, as those who were familiar with the Scriptures would realise, this persecution and suffering of the Messiah that God had sent to be with His people has been foretold by the prophets, and it was by this willing sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all, offered His own Most Precious Body and Blood on the Altar of His Cross, by which He has purchased all of us, once and for all, the redemption for all of our innumerable sins.

Then from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus against those people who questioned Him on why those Pharisees and the disciples of St. John the Baptist carried out fasting and other pious practices but His disciples did not do the same. This was because at that time the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were particularly strict in how they interpreted the Law of God, requiring all the people to follow the Law strictly, and one of them was the requirement for fasting, and how they ought to fast in the right manner. However, they placed so much emphasis and time focusing on how they observed and practiced the Law, that they ended up neglecting to follow the Lord faithfully and with God at the centre of all things.

The Lord also presented to them all the parable of the new wine and wineskin, old wine and wineskin, as well as new cloth and old cloth. This parable is meant to highlight first of all the fact that the Lord’s coming revealed truths about the Lord and His Law, His intentions and desire for His people, all of us, to fulfil them all perfectly and to correct the erroneous ways that His will, His Law and commandments have been received by the people, particularly by those who interpreted the Law and practiced them. Secondly, it is also a reminder for us that if we truly want to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and completely, then there is a need for us all to follow His path and reject the old path of worldliness that we may be familiar with. Otherwise, if we do not do so, we are no better than hypocrites.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of not just one but two amazing men of God whose faith and dedication to Him should be reminders for all of us to be truly faithful and committed as well in our own lives, in our obedience to God and His cause, and in doing whatever we can so that we may imitate their good and faithful lives, and realise how being good Christians may often require us to make sacrifices and to be ready and prepared to face challenges, trials and even oppressions for our faith in God. Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian both have suffered for their faith in God, being persecuted for their belief in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all. However, they remained firmly faithful even despite all those sufferings and becoming for us great inspirations and role models to follow.

Pope St. Fabian was born into a noble Roman family during the third century after the birth of Christ, at a time of great challenges and turmoil for the Church and the faithful as they often encountered harsh persecutions and oppressions from the Romans who treated Christians and their faith as those who deserved to be punished and killed, unless they abandoned their faith. His election as Pope was truly remarkable in the sense that when the previous Pope, his predecessor passed away and the election for the successor took place, the future Pope St. Fabian was actually just visiting, and amidst all the competition between all the influential candidates at that time, no one minded Pope St. Fabian at all until a dove miraculously descended upon him, and the whole assembly acclaimed him as the new Pope. He would go on to carry out many great deeds and works as Pope.

Meanwhile, not much was known about the early life of St. Sebastian, but according to Church tradition and his hagiography, he was a young man who joined the Roman military during the time of the reign of the then Emperor Carinus, and then under his successors, Emperors Diocletian and Maximian. Those two Emperors were notorious for their very harsh and terrible persecution against Christians, but St. Sebastian managed to become one of the captains of the Praetorian Guards, the guards of the Emperor himself. In that capacity, he managed to help several of the captive and persecuted Christians, and even managed to convert some of those involved in the arrest and persecution of Christians.

Eventually, after the relatively long reign of about fourteen years for Pope St. Fabian and after the clandestine efforts in helping Christians and converting others for St. Sebastian, both of them were found out in their efforts and faith as Christians, with Pope St. Fabian being persecuted by the new Roman Emperor Decius, who unlike the previous Emperors that had been more tolerant of Christianity, he was a hardliner, arrested Pope St. Fabian and executed him for his faith as an example to all the other Christians. St. Sebastian meanwhile was persecuted by another harsh persecutor, the Emperor Diocletian, who was particularly displeased that one of his own Praetorian captains was a Christian. He was shot with many arrows, but miraculously survived and cared for by a Christian widow, before being martyred after he rebuked the Emperor publicly for his actions against Christians.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the essence of what we have heard in our Scripture passages today and the lives of those saints whose memory we commemorate is that we must appreciate the great love, compassion and kindness which God has given to us so generously through His Son, and therefore, just as He has suffered in doing so, being rejected by the world and all those who dwelled and remained in sin, and how Pope St. Fabian, St. Sebastian and many other saints and holy men and women of God had done, let us all realise the challenges, difficulties and sufferings that we may face amidst our lives as Christians in this world today. Let us also be ready to live lives that are truly worthy of God at all times so that we may be good role models and inspirations ourselves to one another. Amen.

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Monday, 20 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Mark 2 : 18-22

At that time, one day, when the Pharisees and the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting, some people asked Jesus, “Why is it that both the Pharisees and the disciples of John fast, but Yours do not?”

Jesus answered, “How can the wedding guests fast while the Bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the Bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the day will come when the Bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.”

“No one sews a piece of new cloth on an old coat, because the new patch will shrink and tear away from the old cloth, making a worse tear. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, for the wine would burst the skins, and then both the wine and the skins would be lost. But new wine, new skins!”

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Monday, 20 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 109 : 1, 2, 3, 4

The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand till I make Your foes Your footstool.”

From Zion the Lord will extend Your mighty sceptre and You will rule in the midst of Your enemies.

Yours is royal dignity from the day You were born in holy majesty. Like dew from the womb of the dawn, I have begotten You.

The Lord has sworn, and He will not take back His word : “You are a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

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Monday, 20 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Hebrews 5 : 1-10

Every High Priest is taken from among mortals and appointed to be their representative before God to offer gifts and sacrifices for sin. He is able to understand the ignorant and erring for he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he is bound to offer sacrifices for his sins as well as for the sins of the people.

Besides, one does not presume to take this dignity, but takes it only when called by God, as Aaron was. Nor did Christ become High Priest in taking upon Himself this dignity, but it was given to Him by the One Who says : You are My Son, I have begotten You today. And in another place : You are a Priest forever in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

Christ, in the days of His mortal life, offered His sacrifice with tears and cries. He prayed to Him Who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His humble submission. Although He was Son, He learnt through suffering what obedience was, and once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for those who obey Him. This is how God proclaimed Him Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

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Sunday, 19 January 2025 : Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, which is the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, we are all reminded of the many great things which God has done for us, in the salvation and assurances of His love which He has made available most generously to each one of us through His Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. He has revealed to us the love of God made manifest in our midst, making this love approachable, tangible and real for all of us so that by His works and loving grace, we may all be gathered once again into His most loving Presence, healing us all from our hurts and sufferings that had been caused by our sins. Through Christ, all of us have seen this salvation and received the assurance of eternal life through Him, and we are reminded to continue believing in this truth. 

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which the Lord spoke of the salvation and the joy which He would bring to His people, the Israelites, freeing them from their sufferings, humiliations and exile, bringing them once again into their homeland, granting them His blessings and wonders, giving them all His strength and grace, empowering each and every one of them with the light of His salvation. He would indeed fulfil everything that He has promised through the sending of His Saviour, the One that the prophet Isaiah had made a lot of prophecies and predictions about, revealing to us all what He has planned for us and what He desires to do with us, through the Saviour that He would send into our midst, in Jesus Christ, His only-begotten Son.

During the time of the work and ministry of the prophet Isaiah, the people of Israel had been separated and divided into smaller groups, and many of their separated brethren had been defeated and conquered by the Assyrians who had destroyed the cities of the northern kingdom of Israel, conquered Samaria and destroyed the kingdom of Israel, bringing many of its people, a large proportion of the Israelites to exile in distant lands while bringing foreigners to dwell in their lands. And the people of Judah in the south did not escape harm either, as they were also almost defeated and conquered by the Assyrians if not for God’s providence and protection at the last moments. All of these showed the bleak and sad state of the Israelites during the time when Isaiah carried out his ministry among them.

All of that had happened because the disobedience and sins which the people of God had committed against Him, in their refusal to obey His words and commandments, and that had led them to the consequences of having to endure the difficulties, challenges and obstacles brought about by their own refusal to obey the Lord. Nonetheless, God proved that His love for each and every one of us is truly so great that not even all those obstacles, challenges and trials can truly separate us all from His love and grace, and from the salvation that He has promised to each one of us. But He also gave us the freedom and the free will to choose whether we want to accept and embrace this salvation or not. Many of our predecessors have unfortunately chosen to continue disobeying the Lord and reject His generous offer of mercy and kindness.

In our second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Corinth in Greece, we heard the Apostle reminding the faithful of the various gifts that God has given to each and every one of them through the Holy Spirit that He has given and imparted to them through the Church. St. Paul told them this so that they all first might realise the love and generosity that they all have received from the Lord, much as the prophet Isaiah had reassured the people of Israel, and then also the Apostle reminded all of the faithful, including us all listening to this message now on how blessed we all are to have experienced the revelation of God’s love through His Son, the fulfilment of His many promises through Christ.

And we are all reminded of the many gifts which we have received from the Lord through the Holy Spirit, the various unique gifts presented to us so that we may make good use of them in our daily lives, and not be ignorant of what we are all able to do as Christians in living our lives to the best of our abilities and in doing God’s will. Many of us are either ignorant of this calling and mission which God has entrusted to us, or we are easily jealous and envious over what others have received, and which we also desire to have as well for ourselves. This is where we are reminded that God has given us all unique gifts and means suitable to our own situation and the opportunities which we have been provided, and we should not envy others for our own respective gifts. In fact, the greater is the blessings God had provided us, the greater is the responsibility for us to make good use of them. 

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the famous account of the time when the Lord Jesus, our Saviour, performed His very first miracle at Cana, the miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding banquet. We heard how the host of the wedding banquet was in trouble because he was running out of wine, and he sought the help from the Lord through His mother Mary, who was also there at the banquet. Mary came to her Son asking Him to help out the host who was in risk of being greatly embarrassed at having run out of wine on such a joyous occasion that they were having at the time.

Initially as we heard, the Lord was reluctant to help them all as it was not yet His time to reveal Himself to the masses. And yet, He listened to the words and request put forth by His Mother, who pleaded with Him to help, and Mary also directed the servants to listen and obey the instructions from her Son. As a result, we heard how the very first miracle performed by the Lord was done, the water in the jugs were transformed miraculously into the finest quality wine for everyone to partake. This Gospel passage is a reminder for us that we have to obey God’s words and His will, and like Christ Himself, Who has made Himself a Man for our salvation, He showed what it means by true and perfect obedience, obeying the will of His heavenly Father to show His love to all of us.

And Mary, the Mother of God is there by our side, helping and guiding us all to her Son, providing us with the sure path towards Him and His salvation so that none of us may be lost to Him. Each and every one of us are reminded today therefore of God’s ever enduring love for each one of us, and how fortunate all of us are for having so beloved and blessed by Him. All of us should not take for granted what the Lord has given to us, and we should make sure that in everything that we do from now on, we should make good use of them for the good and benefit of everyone around us, as we have all been entrusted to do by God. Let us all discern carefully our path in life and pray so that the Lord may show us how we can better use these gifts and blessings that He has given to us all.

May the Lord be with us always and may He empower us with His blessings and grace, so that in everything we do, we will always strive to do our best for the greater glory of His Name, and to touch the lives of others, of everyone around us with the generous love and kindness that God Himself has always shown us. May Mary, the Mother of God continue to help and intercede for each and every one of us, her beloved children, that we may find our way to her Son and the eternal life and salvation in Him. Amen.

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Sunday, 19 January 2025 : Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

John 2 : 1-11

At that time, three days after Jesus called Nathanael, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples. When all the wine provided for the celebration had been served, and they had run out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

Jesus replied, “Woman, what concern is that to you and Me? My hour has not yet come.” However His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” Nearby were six stone water jars, set there for ritual washing as practiced by the Jews; each jar could hold twenty or thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them to the brim. Then Jesus said, “Now draw some out and take it to the steward.” So they did. The steward tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing from where it had come; for only the servants who had drawn the water knew. So, he called the bridegroom to tell him, “Everyone serves the best wine first, and when people have drunk enough, he serves that which is ordinary. Instead you have kept the best wine until the end.”

This miraculous sign was the first, and Jesus performed it at Cana in Galilee. In this way He let His glory appear, and His disciples believed in Him.

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Sunday, 19 January 2025 : Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 12 : 4-11

There is diversity of gifts, but the Spirit is the same. There is diversity of ministries, but the Lord is the same. There is diversity of works, but the same God works in all.

The Spirit reveals His presence in each one with a gift that is also a service. One is to speak with wisdom, through the Spirit. Another teaches, according to the same Spirit. To another is given faith, in which the Spirit acts; to another, the gift of healing, and it is the same Spirit.

Another works miracles, another is a prophet, another recognises what comes from the good or evil spirit; another speaks in tongues, and still another interprets what has been said in tongues. And all of this, is the work of the one and only Spirit, who gives to each one, as he so desires.

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Sunday, 19 January 2025 : Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 7-8a, 9-10a and 10c

Sing to YHVH a new song, sing to YHVH, all the earth! Sing to YHVH, praise His Name.

Proclaim His salvation, day after day. Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds.

Give to YHVH, you families of nations, give to YHVH glory and strength. Give to YHVH the glory due His Name.

Worship YHVH with holy celebrations; stand in awe of Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, He will judge the peoples with justice.

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Sunday, 19 January 2025 : Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 62 : 1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, for Jerusalem I will not keep silent, until her holiness shines like the dawn and her salvation flames like a burning torch. The nations will see your holiness and all the kings your glory. You will be called by a new name which the mouth of YHVH will reveal.

You will be a crown of glory in the hand of YHVH, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will you be named Forsaken; no longer will your land be called Abandoned; but you will be called My Delight and your land Espoused. For YHVH delights in you and will make your land His spouse.

As a young man marries a virgin, so will your Builder marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.

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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.