2nd Week of Advent

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Friday, 11 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Popes)

Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the one who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the Law of the Lord and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.

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Friday, 11 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Popes)

Isaiah 48 : 17-19

Thus says YHVH, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel : I, YHVH, your God, teach you what is best for you; I lead you in the way that you must go. Had you paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

Your descendants would have been like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their names never cut off nor blotted out from My presence.

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Thursday, 10 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the words of the Holy Scriptures, which revealed to us the promise that God had made with us mankind, that He will save us by His coming and by the rescue that He will bring us from all the darkness and the wickedness in the world. And what He wanted is to let us know how His salvation has come upon us, and that there will be great things to come awaiting us at the end of our journeys.

It was through John the Baptist that the world who had awaited for a long time for the arrival of its deliverance, the arrival of the Messiah, listened for the first time the message of hope and also at the same time a warning and a reminder, a call towards repentance and redemption, that mankind who were once sinners and rejected from the grace and the presence of God, were reunited in love with Him.

Indeed, many of us might have lost hope in waiting for the salvation that was promised by our God, and we continued to suffer persecutions, difficulties and challenges, especially if we profess ourselves to be faithful to the Lord and follow His ways. Many of us do not realise that God is working His graces and blessings through us, and by our own actions, we have made it possible for ourselves to attain the salvation in our God.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? This means that the Lord Who had made Himself manifest in the world, visible and known to all, has shown us the way to go, that is the path which we are to take if we would like to achieve the salvation of our souls. He has shown us the path and the way, such that all that remains now is really how to execute and work in this.

We have to realise that many of us do call ourselves Christians, but we do not really know what it means to be one. We have heard the Word of God, received His teachings, and we have also professed our faith before Him, but we should really ask ourselves, are these enough? No, it is not enough. Our faith must be much more than just these, for we all should know that faith without good works and actions are meaningless and empty.

God is in fact calling all of us today, just as He had done so in the past, to be more proactive and committed to Him by our works and actions, that we no longer just believe in Him, but we also act on our faith so that our faith becomes an inspiration to others, and through our faith, we spread God’s Good News to the whole world and bring His salvation to all the peoples.

In this season of Advent, we are preparing ourselves for Christmas, the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour into this world. But we have to realise that the best way to prepare for Christmas is not in buying all the decorations and putting them up, that is not in the best Christmas tree we make or the best gifts we wrap for the occasion.

Rather, the best way to prepare for Christmas is through a renewal of our faith and a greater understanding of the role which our Lord and Saviour had come into this world to reveal to us, that we too have our parts to play in the works of salvation. The best way to prepare for Christmas is our commitment to work more for the sake of the Lord, in calling others and as many people as possible, to return to the Lord, and by our actions, guided and rooted in faith, we may bring inspiration to all of them to also walk faithfully in our God.

May our Almighty God bless us and keep us in His grace, and may He help us to realise that there are still so many things that we can do in order to bring His Good News into this darkened world, that through us and through our works, we may help to bring salvation to as many souls as possible. May God be gracious to us and bless us always. Amen.

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Thursday, 10 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 11 : 11-15

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “I tell you this : no one greater than John the Baptist has come forward from among the sons of women, and yet the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of Heaven is something to be conquered, and violent men seize it.”

“Up to the time of John, there was only prophesy : all the prophets and the Law. And if you believe Me, John is that Elijah, whose coming was predicted. Let anyone with ears listen!”

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Thursday, 10 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 144 : 1 and 9, 10-11, 12-13ab

I will extol You, my God and King; I will bless Your Name forever. The Lord is good to everyone; His mercy embraces all His creation.

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your power.

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endures from generation to generation.

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Thursday, 10 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 41 : 13-20

For I, YHVH, your God, take hold of your right hand and say to you : “Fear not, I am your assistance.” Fear not, Jacob, poor worm, and you, people of Israel, so frail. I am your Redeemer, says YHVH, the Holy One of Israel, your Helper.

I will make you a thresher, new and with sharp double teeth : you will thresh hills and mountains, crushing them and reducing them to chaff. You will winnow them, the wind will carry them off and the storm will scatter them. But you will rejoice in YHVH and glory in the Holy One of Israel.

The poor and the afflicted seek water, and find none. Their tongues are parched with thirst. But I, YHVH, will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open up streams over the barren heights and let the rivers flow through all the valleys; I will turn the desert into lakes and brooks and the thirsty earth into a land of springs.

I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle and the olive; I will plant in the wasteland fir, cypress and pine – that all may see and know, consider and understand, that the hand of YHVH has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.

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Wednesday, 9 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Lord Who calls all His people to Himself, that they should put their trust, hope and commitment to Him, for His way is salvation, and in Him they will find rest and the solution of their troubles. The Lord reminded us that after all the sufferings and troubles we may encounter on our path of being faithful to Him, we shall find our eternal rest in Him.

In the first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, God spoke to us through the prophet of the importance our putting our trust less in ourselves and in our own abilities, and placing more trust in the Lord and in what He can do for us. This is what we have to learn and what we have to accustom ourselves to, as in following our own path, or the path shown by the world, only uncertainties lie ahead of us.

We often did not realise that we have so many limitations with us, our shortcomings and vulnerabilities, and yet we are easily swayed with pride and hubris, thinking that whatever good and great things we have achieved, they were due to our own abilities and our own strengths. And as a result, this is why many of us have this tendency today to forget about God and all the good things He has done for us.

And many of us only seek the Lord and try to find Him, begging and beseeching Him whenever we are in distress and in times of difficulty, but when good tines are upon us, many of us readily forget about the Lord and instead become focused on satisfying our ego and our hearts’ desires first above all. And this is why we tend to be swayed away from God, as we only remember God when we are in need, and if what we wanted are not fulfilled by God, we tend to become angry against God.

This is not the way for us to relate to our God, our loving Lord and Father. And neither is the way that follows our own whim and desires. For God is a loving God, Who cares for us all especially because we are His beloved ones, the most beautiful and beloved among all of the things and life that He has created, and yet many of us did not show the love that we ought to give Him.

God has given us so many good things, all the blessings and graces that filled our lives on this earth, and the greatest of all being this life that we have been blessed with, is also a gift from God, and yet many of us do not realise how thankful we are to breathe every single seconds of our lives. Instead, we become preoccupied with ourselves, with our desires and the things that we want in this world, and we fail to give thanks to Him Who had made everything possible for us.

Let us take note of the examples of the saint whose feast day we celebrate on this day, St. Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, also known as St. Juan Diego, a Native American saint whose life was spent in total and complete dedication to God and to His blessed mother Mary. And he also spent many hours in prayer and spiritual devotion, while also being loving and charitable to his brethren around him.

He dedicated his whole life, together with that of his family, his properties and possessions, for the sake of the Lord and His Church. And his piety was truly renowned, and many people became inspired by the faith that St. Diego has shown. And he received many visions and inspirations of faith that helped to deepen his faith and the faith of those who are around him further.

On one occasion, the Blessed Virgin Mary herself appeared to him in a vision telling him to go to a hill and gather flowers that grow on the hill, and wearing his cloak, also known as tilma, he went to the hill and found flowers that did not normally grow on that location. He gathered them back and went back to the governor, to whom St. Juan Diego had related his vision.

The governor doubted the veracity and authenticity of the vision, and he asked for a proof. St. Juan Diego gathered the flowers as a proof as directed by Mary, and when he showed the flowers to the governor, what shocked the governor was not so much the flowers but the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary herself that was printed upon the tilma or the cloak, which from then on were known by its more popular name of our Lady of Guadalupe.

From this example, we can see how the Lord rewards those who are faithful and devoted to Him. And He will bless and love all those who commit themselves to Him in faith. And He will show His favour to all those who belong to Him, and He will never abandon them to the darkness. The examples, the piety and the dedications of St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin should be an inspiration to all of us, to lead a life devoted to the Lord in all things.

Let us all learn to place our trust in the Lord and commit ourselves to live in accordance with the will of God, so that all of our words, deeds and actions will always be pleasing to God, and He Who sees all and knows all, will keep us forever in His grace, and grant us eternal life and happiness that He has promised to all of His beloved ones. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 9 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)

Matthew 11 : 28-30

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “Come to me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart and you will find rest. For My yoke is good, and My burden is light.”

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Wednesday, 9 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 8 and 10

Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger. He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve.

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Wednesday, 9 December 2015 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)

Isaiah 40 : 25-31

“To whom, then, will you liken Me or make Me equal?” says the Holy One. “Lifted up your eyes and see : Who has created all this?”

He has ordered them as a starry host and called them each by name. So mighty is His power, so great His strength, that not one of them is missing. How can you say, o Jacob, how can you complain, o Israel, that your destiny is hidden from me, that your rights are ignored by YHVH?

Have you not known, have you not heard that YHVH is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth? He does not grow tired or weary, His knowledge is without limit.

He gives strength to the enfeebled, He gives vigour to the wearied. Youth may grow tired and faint, young men will stumble and fall, but those who hope in YHVH will renew their strength. They will soar with eagle’s wings; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and never tire.