30th Week of Ordinary Time

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Thursday, 31 October 2019 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 13 : 31-35

At that time, some Pharisees came to Jesus and gave Him this warning, “Leave this place and go on Your way, for Herod wants to kill You.”

Jesus said to them, “Go and give that fox My answer : ‘I drive out demons, and I heal today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish My course!’ Nevertheless, I must go on My way today, and tomorrow, and for a little longer; for it would not be fitting for a Prophet to be killed outside Jerusalem.”

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you slay the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often have I tried to bring together your children, as a bird gathers her young under her wings, but you refused! From now on, you will be left with your Temple, and you will no longer see Me, until the time when you will say, ‘Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord.'”

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Thursday, 31 October 2019 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 108 : 21-22, 26-27, 30-31

But as for me, o God my YHVH, for Your Name’s sake, act on my behalf; deliver me, in the goodness of Your love. For I am poor and needy; my heart is stricken within me.

Help me, o YHVH my God; and save me, for the sake of Your love. Let them know that this is Your hand; that it is You, YHVH, Who do this.

To YHVH, I will give my thanks; I will praise Him in the great assembly. He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save them from those who condemn them.

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Thursday, 31 October 2019 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 8 : 31b-39

If God is with us, who shall be against us? If He did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not give us all things with Him? Who shall accuse those chosen by God : He takes away their guilt. Who will dare to condemn them? Christ, Who died, and better still, rose, and is seated at the right hand of God, interceding for us?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Will it be trials, or anguish, persecution or hunger, lack of clothing, or dangers or sword? As the Scripture says : For your sake, we are being killed all day long; they treat us like sheep to be slaughtered.

No, in all of this, we are more than conquerors, thanks to Him, Who has loved us. I am certain, that neither death nor life, neither Angels nor spiritual powers, neither the present nor the future, nor cosmic powers, were they from heaven, or from the deep world below, nor any creature whatsoever, will separate us from the love of God, which we have, in Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

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Wednesday, 30 October 2019 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture speaking to us about the need for us to make the effort to be righteous and worthy of God as even though we seek His salvation and the eternal life He has promised us, but the path that we have to follow is littered with much suffering and challenges.

There are plenty of temptations and pressures that are pushing us away from the path of the Lord, and we are often easily swayed and tempted by these things. The Lord Himself plainly said how the path to the kingdom of God is through a narrow door, and while many may claim that they know God or profess faith in Him, but they cannot attain the salvation in God because they did not have genuine faith in Him.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that we can call ourselves as Christians and claim that we have been saved by God but unless our hearts and minds are truly attuned to Him, centred on Him and all of our attention and focus are on Him, then we may still be far away from being saved, as our faith is not genuine or only nominal on paper alone.

There are many of us who call ourselves as Christians, and yet in the way we interact with one another, in the words we say and use, in the actions we took and in the way we live our lives, the presence of God can neither be felt or seen. People who saw us, heard us and witnessed our actions and deeds saw in us not God’s presence and love, but worldliness, selfishness, pride, greed and many others.

And why is that so? That is because we are often too proud and take things into our own hands, thinking that we are able to brave through all the challenges and obstacles alone on our own. But we are by nature weak and easily tempted, and unless we have a firm foundation of faith, we are likely to fall deeper and deeper into sin and darkness, and from there, eventually to damnation.

In our first reading today, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome reminded them of the need for the faithful people of God to put their trust in the Lord through the works of the Holy Spirit, for it is through the Holy Spirit that God guides His people into the right path, strengthening them and encouraging them to live and persevere through the difficulties with faith.

But we often do not allow the Spirit of God to do its work in us and through us. As mentioned, our pride and our attachments to worldliness prevented us from allowing God and His Holy Spirit from transforming us, our beings and our actions from one of sin and darkness into one of faith and light. Unless we allow God and His Holy Spirit to be an integral part of our daily living, in our every words and actions, there can be little progress for us in the way of faith.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all from now on learn to put our trust in God and open our hearts and minds to allow Him and His Spirit to penetrate through the deepest part of our inner beings and no longer being lukewarm in how we live our faith from now on. Instead of living our lives the way we see fit or how the world wants it to be, let us from now on truly live up to our faith, in our every words, actions and deeds.

May the Lord our God continue to bless us and guide us, so that throughout our lives’ journeys we may persevere through the many challenges and temptations, and grow ever deeper in our faith and devotion to the Lord. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 30 October 2019 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 13 : 22-30

At that time, Jesus went through towns and villages teaching, and making His way to Jerusalem. Someone asked Him, “Lord, is it true that few people will be saved?”

And Jesus answered, “Do your best to enter by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. When once the master of the house has gone inside and locked the door, you will stand outside. Then you will knock at the door, calling, ‘Lord, open to us!’ But He will say to you, ‘I do not know where you come from.'”

“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets!’ But He will reply, ‘I do not know where you come from. Away from Me, all you workers of evil.’ You will weep and grind your teeth, when you see Abraham and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves left outside.”

“Others will sit at table in the kingdom of God, people coming from east and west, from north and south. Some who are among the last, will be first; and some who are among the first, will be last!”

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Wednesday, 30 October 2019 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 12 : 4-5, 6

Look upon me and answer, o YHVH my God! Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; lest my enemy say, “I have routed him,” lest my foes rejoice of my fall.

But I put my trust in Your unfailing love, my heart will rejoice on seeing Your salvation. I will sing to YHVH, for He has been good to me!

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Wednesday, 30 October 2019 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 8 : 26-30

Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes for us, without words, as if with groans. And He, Who sees inner secrets, knows the desires of the Spirit, for He asks for the holy ones, what is pleasing to God.

We know that in everything, God works for the good of those who love Him, whom He has called, according to His plan. Those whom He knew beforehand, He has also predestined, to be like His Son, similar to Him, so, that, He may be the Firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And so, those whom God predestined, He called; and those whom He called, He makes righteous; and to those whom He makes righteous, He will give His glory.

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Tuesday, 29 October 2019 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the word of God in the Scriptures we are reminded of the need for us to look forward with faith and put our trust in God that everything in the end will be as how God wills it to be, no matter how difficult the journey may be, no matter how bleak and hopeless the situation may seem to be for us at times. God will always be with us and He will guide us through our journey.

In our first reading and Gospel passage today, all of us are presented with the bleak outlook of the present day situation, as we struggle and face challenges in life. We may not be able to see the end point or what we are expecting to get in the end, but we must still keep up hope knowing that God is always there for us, and He is always ever faithful to those who have kept His commandments and remain true for His sake.

This is linked to our Gospel passage today as we heard the parable of the mustard seed and yeast, through which God wanted His people to realise that to journey with Him and to follow Him requires a lot of faith, hope and love from us. How is this so? First of all, at the start of the growing period, no one can expect how a small and tiny mustard seed can grow into a large and mighty tree, or how the dough that is tough and unappealing can become so edible and good when yeast has been added to it. To continue doing this regardless, we need faith and also hope.

But if we lose faith and hope, then the mustard seed will always remain a mustard seed and will never grow up to be the plant it is supposed to become. Similarly, if the yeast was never added to the dough and flour, the dough will not become bread in the end. One must have faith that everything will turn out fine in the end if we trust in God, the one and only anchor of our lives.

In the end, the most important of all things is love. Without love, there can be little hope and faith. Through love, first and foremost for God, and then for our fellow men and brethren, we are able to weather through difficult challenges and moments in life. If we do not love what we are doing also, how can we have anything good in the end? That is why we are called to embrace God and His ways fully in our daily living.

As St. Paul reminds us yet again through the excerpts from the Epistle to the Romans in our first reading today, we must remain strong and resolute despite the challenges we face, while at the same time trusting in God’s plan and providence for us. We must trust that God will bring us out of our predicaments, much like how St. Paul urged the Church and the faithful in Rome to remain faithful despite the sufferings they had to face, as persecutions against Christians were beginning to take place at that time.

Life is never easy, brothers and sisters in Christ, and it is filled with its ups and downs. There will be times when we are happy and satisfied, but there will also be times when we may feel said or even despair and losing hope just because we had it so tough. We must understand that God is always by our side, be it through happy times or through challenging times. He is always sharing with us our joys, just as He also shares our sorrows and pains.

Let us all not lose focus on our journey of faith in our respective lives. Instead, we should look forward to the true joy that we can find in God alone. Let us not be distracted by the many temptations through which Satan has always been busy in trying to turn us away from God and to lead us astray from the path towards our salvation.

May the Lord continue to be with us and bless us, as we carry on living our lives focusing on Him and loving Him with each and every living moments. Let us all keep up hope in the eternal joy and glory He will bring us into at the time of reckoning of our lives, should we remain true and faithful to Him and not fall into sin and wickedness of this world. May God bless us all, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 29 October 2019 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 13 : 18-21

At that time, Jesus continued to say to the people, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? Imagine a person who has taken a mustard seed, and planted it in his garden. The seed has grown, and become like a small tree, so that the birds of the air shelter in its branches.”

And Jesus said again, “What is the kingdom of God like? Imagine a woman who has taken yeast, and hidden it in three measures of flour, until it is all leavened.”

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Tuesday, 29 October 2019 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 125 : 1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6

When YHVH brought the exiles back to Zion, we were like those moving in a dream. Then, our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.

Among the nations it was said, “YHVH has done great things for them.” YHVH had done great things for us, and we were glad indeed.

Bring back our exiles, o YHVH, like fresh streams in the desert. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs and shouts of joy.

They went forth weeping, bearing the seeds for sowing, they will come home with joyful shouts, bringing their harvested sheaves.