Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 99 : 2, 3, 4, 5
Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people, the sheep of His fold.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His Name.
For the Lord is good; His love lasts forever and His faithfulness through all generations.
Liturgical Colour : White
1 John 3 : 11-21
For this is the message taught to you from the beginning : we must love one another. Do not imitate Cain who killed his brother, for he belonged to the Evil One. Why did he kill him? Because he himself did evil and his brother did good.
So, be not surprised, brothers if the world hates us; we love our brothers and sisters, and with this we know that we have passed from death to life. The one who does not love remains in death. The one who hates his brother is a murderer, and, as you know, eternal life does not remain in the murderer.
This is how we have known what is love is : He gave His life for us. We, too, ought to give our life for our brothers and sisters. If anyone enjoys the riches of this world, but closes his heart when he sees his brother or sister in need, how will the love of God remain in him? My dear children, let us love not only with words and with our lips, but in truth and in deed.
Then we shall know that we are of the truth and we may calm our conscience in His presence. Every time it reproaches us, let us say : God is greater than our conscience, and He knows everything. When our conscience does not condemn us, dear friends, we may have complete confidence in God.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that Christ our Lord is our focus and right direction in life, and not all the other temptations and falsehoods all around us. We must not easily be swayed by the many pressures of worldly things and matters, and all the attachments we may have to such things, which may easily lead us down the wrong path to our downfall and destruction. This is why all of us must always be reminded of our obligations to Christ our Lord, and do whatever we can so that by all of our actions and deeds we will always walk in God’s Holy Presence and we will continue to glorify God by our exemplary lives.
In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. John, the Apostle spoke to the faithful of the need for everyone to be truly committed to the path of Christ, that is the path of righteousness and virtue, rejecting the path of disobedience that leads to sin. St. John exhorted all the faithful people of God to stay away from the path of the devil, and strive their best to follow the path of Christ, the Son of God, Who has been manifested in our world through His Incarnation and coming into our midst, born a Man through the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, which therefore allowed us all to experience firsthand the love of God that had been made tangible to us in Jesus. We have heard His teachings, known about His works and wonders from those who had experienced them firsthand, the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord, who passed their knowledge to us through the Church.
This must be understood in the context of why St. John wrote such a reminder in the first place. In other parts of the same Epistle, St. John also warned the faithful about the presence of antichrists, false prophets and false leaders who could mislead many among the faithful into walking down the path of evil and sin, by showing paths and ways of life that were contrary to what the Lord had shown and taught them. Many of those false leaders and guides sought to change the teachings of God and mislead the faithful to the wrong paths. Such is the path of the devil, the path of disobedience which leads to sin, and from sin into damnation and eternal destruction. But the Lord has sent us all His Son, so that all of us who believe in Him, may not fall into the same wrong paths that the devil has been busy trying to mislead us into.
Through Christ, the Lord has gathered us all back into His Presence, calling upon all of us to follow Him and to walk in His path once again. The Lord Jesus through His coming into this world, as He revealed unto us the wonders of God’s love and the truth which He has given us, wanted us to know that the path of the devil is the path to oblivion and destruction, and He planted in us all the seeds of faith, hope and love, the seeds of His Good News, by which all of us have been made to be the adopted children of God. This is a reference to the Church of God and all of us who have been made part of this Church, gathered and baptised all in the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, with the Lord calling us all to be part of His one Body, and bestowing on us the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the same calling echoed through the words of St. John the Baptist, who told and exhorted his own disciples to follow the Lord Jesus. At that time, Jesus came to St. John the Baptist who was busy baptising many people at the River Jordan, asking for St. John to baptise Him. St. John recognised Who the Lord was, and told Him that it was he who needed to be baptised instead. The Lord told St. John the Baptist to carry out things as it should be, and after His Baptism, the Heavens opened, with the voice of the Father and the Holy Spirit like a Dove descending upon the Son of God, and hence, affirming Who Jesus truly is. Thus, St. John the Baptist pointed out to his own disciples that the Lord is the Lamb of God, Whom they should be following.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, that was exactly what the role of St. John the Baptist had, as he directed everyone towards Christ, the Saviour of the world. He did what was entrusted to him, and unlike all those false prophets and leaders, who served their own selfish interests and desires, St. John the Baptist was perfectly happy and satisfied to see his Lord and Master, Whose coming he had prepared and laboured for, prospering and gaining more and more followers. St. John the Baptist did not become jealous or envious at what the Lord had done and achieved, and he did not seek glory and greatness for himself. This was what set him apart and made him different from all those false leaders and false prophets who were rampant, in their pursuits of worldly agenda and glory, and in leading the people of God not to Him but to themselves.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all continue to progress through this joyous season of Christmas, let us always be focused on Christ and centre all of our celebrations and rejoicing on Him. Let us all not be easily distracted by all sorts of worldly pleasures and ambitions, temptations and the allures of worldly glories, that we do not end up falling into the wrong paths set before us by the devil and all those who sought our downfall and destruction. Let us all as Christians be great examples and role models for one another as we all carry on living our lives each day in our world today. Let us all be the faithful, good and worthy bearers of the light and hope of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, at all times.
May God be with us always, and may He continue to bless us and empower us all so that we may always be filled with His Wisdom, strength and the Holy Spirit, in enduring the challenges and trials of life, and in being ever faithful and committed to Him, and not being swayed by worldly temptations and the allures of worldly glory. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 1 : 35-42
On the following day John was standing there again with two of his disciples. As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and said, “There is the Lamb of God.” On hearing this, the two disciples followed Jesus. He turned and saw them following, and He said to them, “What are you looking for?”
They answered, “Rabbi (which means Master), where are You staying?” Jesus said, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where He stayed, and spent the rest of that day with Him. It was about four o’ clock in the afternoon.
Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard what John had said, and followed Jesus. Early the next morning he found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means the Christ), and he brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, son of John, but you shall be called Cephas” (which means Rock).
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 97 : 1, 7-8, 9
Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.
Let the sea resound and everything in it, the world and all its peoples. Let rivers clap their hands, hills and mountains sing with joy before the Lord.
For He comes to rule the earth. He will judge the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.
Liturgical Colour : White
1 John 3 : 7-10
My little children, do not be led astray; those who do what is right are upright, just as Jesus Christ is upright. But those who sin belong to the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning.
This is why the Son of God was shown to us, He was to undo the works of the devil. Those born of God do not sin, for the seed of God remains in them; they cannot sin because they are born of God. What is the way to recognise the children of God and those of the devil? The one who does not do what is right is not of God; so, too, the one who does not love his brother or sister.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, which is a truly timely and proper celebration considering that we are still in the middle of the Christmas season, in which we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus Himself, the Son of God Most High, incarnate in the flesh and appearing before all of us, as the perfect manifestation of God’s Love. On this day we honour and remember this Name which has been revealed to us, through the Archangel Gabriel, who revealed the Name of Our Lord and Saviour to Mary, the Lord’s Mother, to be the Name which is above all the other names, a Name by which all of us mankind are to be saved and liberated from all of our sins and bondage.
Today we focus on the importance of why the Most Holy Name of Jesus is so crucial for us all and how it is related to Christmas. It is because through His Incarnation, the Lord Himself has adopted our human existence, and as He has been born as a Child as all of us are, therefore, He has been given a name, just as Adam and Eve, our first ancestors had been given names by the Lord, and all of us ever since, in our own languages and terms. This is because it is by our name that we are known and called by others, and it is therefore by having been given a Name, the Lord may be known to us and revealed fully in His love and kindness. Through the Most Holy Name of Jesus, all of us have been liberated and freed from all bondage of sin and death.
Now, the Lord actually does have a Name, as if we read through the Old Testament and know about the history of the Israelites and how they perceive God, the Lord God was known as YHVH or Yahweh, also known as Tetragrammaton. This Holy Name of God was not meant to be pronounced or uttered, as it was considered a taboo for anyone to utter it, in any occasion. The only person who could utter the Holy Name of God was only the High Priest, and even so, he could only utter the Holy Name of God on a particular occasion in the year, as he entered into the Holy of Holies to meet with the Lord and be in His Presence. This is also related to the Third Commandment of the Ten Commandments that God had given to the people of Israel, which is ‘Keep holy the Name of the Lord’.
This is related to just how holy and mighty the Lord is, and how He has been perceived throughout the Old Testament, that even His Name cannot be uttered by us mankind, because of the sins we have committed which made us to be unworthy and separated from His love and grace. However, this is where then what the Lord had done for us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, has made Himself more available and approachable to us. How is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because by Him adopting our human flesh, nature and existence, He has come into our midst, becoming tangible, real and approachable to each and every one of us. His Name, Jesus, which the Archangel Gabriel revealed to Mary, is therefore a Name that we all can call, as the Name of Our Lord and Saviour, the Name in Whom we all hold on to hope for salvation in God.
Yet, while the Name of Jesus, unlike God’s Name in the Old Testament, is a Name that we can invoke, call upon and relate, or utter in our daily lives, at the same time, we must also not forget that this is still the Holy Name of God that we must always honour and respect above all and every other names, and which we should accord respect and honour even greater to the honour and respect that we give to ourselves. Why is that so? That is because through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, God had endeavoured to reach out to us and to bring us all to His redemption. God did not want us to be separated from Him, and hence, He gave us all His beloved Son, Jesus, by Whose Name all of us have received the assurance of eternal life and redemption.
We are all reminded that we all should appreciate and use the Name of Jesus with proper respect, honour and decorum, and not to utter or call His Name in vain. We must not be misusing the Lord’s Name or taking Him for granted, just as how many of us often take His Name lightly, and in some cases, even using His Name in curses and profanities, which are definitely not appropriate at all. One of the reason why people are losing their faith in God is because we have lost the sense of sanctity of God in our lives today, and this happened exactly because we have chosen to treat Him with disdain and did not honour and respect Him as we should have, and when we treat His Name without proper decorum and understanding just how powerful His Name is.
As St. Paul said in our second reading today, in his Epistle to the Philippians, that this is the Name by which all the knees of those in the Heaven, on earth or below the earth, in the underworld, essentially in all Creation and all of the Universe, shall bend, kneel and prostrate themselves. Even the devil, our great enemy, Satan the deceiver had to subject himself to the power of God, and in the Most Holy Name of Jesus is indeed among the most powerful weapon we have against Him, because through the Most Holy Name of Jesus, all those who seek to oppose us, shall be conquered, vanquished and defeated. This is why we must never take the Lord’s Holy Name for granted and we have to honour and respect it, as truly befitting our Lord, Master and King.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore put our hope and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, ever being reminded that in Him alone there is hope in the darkness of our world, and in His Name alone there is healing, liberation and freedom from the darkness of evil and sin. Let us all therefore strive to do our best in loving God and in entrusting ourselves to Him so that in everything that we all say and do, we will always be aligned to the Lord and His path, and continue to walk ever more righteously and with commitment to Him, at all times. May God bless us always and may He empower us all, to live in His Presence, entrusting ourselves to His Most Holy Name, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 1 : 29-34
At that time, the next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, “There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world! It is He of Whom I said : A Man comes after me, Who is already ahead of me, for He was before me. I myself did not know Him, but I came baptising to prepare for Him, so that He might be revealed in Israel.”
And John also gave this testimony, “I saw the Spirit coming down on Him like a dove from heaven, and resting on Him. I myself did not know Him, but God, Who sent me to baptise, told me, “You will see the Spirit coming down, and resting, on the One Who baptises with the Holy Spirit.’ Yes, I have seen! And I declare that this is the Chosen One of God!”
Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Jesus)
Luke 2 : 21-24
On the eighth day, the circumcision of the Baby had to be performed; He was named Jesus, the Name the Angel had given Him before He was conceived. When the day came for the purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought the Baby up to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of the Lord : Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to God.
And they offered a sacrifice, as ordered in the Law of the Lord : a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 97 : 1, 3cd-4, 5-6
Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.
The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.
With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, the Lord!
Alternative Psalm (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Jesus)
Psalm 8 : 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
When I observe the heavens, the work of Your hands, the moon, and the stars You set in their place – what is man, that You be mindful of him; the Son of Man, that You should care for Him?
Yet You made Him a little less than a god; You crowned Him with glory and honour and gave Him the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet.
Sheep and oxen without number, and even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and all that swim the paths of the ocean.
Liturgical Colour : White
1 John 2 : 29 – 1 John 3 : 6
You know that He is the Just One : know then that anyone living justly is born of God. See what singular love the Father has for us : we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
Beloved, we are God’s children and what we shall be has not yet been shown. Yet when He appears in His glory, we know that we shall be like Him, for then we shall see Him as He is. All who have such a hope try to be pure as He is pure. Anyone who commits a sin acts as an enemy of the law of God; any sin acts wickedly, because all sin is wickedness.
You know that He came to take away our sins, and that there is no sin in Him. Whoever remains in Him has no sin, whoever sins has not seen or known Him.
Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Jesus)
Philippians 2 : 1-11
If I may advise you, in the Name of Christ, and if you can hear it, as the voice of love; if we share the same Spirit, and are capable of mercy and compassion, then I beg of you, make me very happy : have one love, one spirit, one feeling, do nothing through rivalry or vain conceit.
On the contrary, let each of you gently consider the others, as more important than yourselves. Do not seek your own interest, but, rather, that of others. Your attitude should be the same as Jesus Christ had :
Though He was in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and in His appearance found as a Man.
He humbled Himself by being obedient to death, death on the cross. That is why God exalted Him and gave Him the Name which outshines all names, so that at the Name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead, and all tongues proclaim that Christ Jesus is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 