31st Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 6 November 2023 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 68 : 30-31, 33-34, 36-37

But I myself, am humbled and wounded; Your salvation, o God, will lift me up. I will praise the Name of God in song; I will glorify Him with thanksgiving.

Let the lowly witness this, and be glad. You who seek God, may your hearts be revived. For YHVH hears the needy; and does not despise those in captivity.

For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah. His people shall dwell in the land and possess it. The children of His servants shall inherit it, and those who love His Name will dwell in it.

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Monday, 6 November 2023 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 11 : 29-36

Because the call of God, and His gifts, cannot be nullified. Through the disobedience of the Jews, the mercy of God came to you who did not obey God. They, in turn, will receive mercy, in due time, after this disobedience, that brought God’s mercy to you. So, God has submitted all to disobedience, in order to show His mercy to all.

How deep are the riches, the wisdom and knowledge of God! His decisions cannot be explained, nor His ways understood! Who has ever known God’s thoughts? Who has ever been His adviser? Who has given Him something first, so that God had to repay him? For everything comes from Him, has been made by Him and has to return to Him. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

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Sunday, 5 November 2023 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are all called to be truly faithful to the Lord, and to be wholly committed to Him in all the things we do in our lives. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed by the many temptations all around the world, which may lead us down the wrong path towards sin and our downfall. We must always be firm in our commitment and dedication to God, and we must always remember that everything we say and do, and all of our works, all of them should be done for the glory of God, with the focus and centre on the Lord, rather than for our own glory and achievements, ambitions and desires. These are what we are reminded as Christians, that we know how to live our lives worthily of the Lord.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Malachi, the words of the Lord warning His people, and in particular His priests, those from the tribe of Levi who had been appointed to be the priests over the people of God. The prophet Malachi was one of the last prophets of the Lord to come before the advent of the Messiah, and he gave this warning in relation to the sinful and wicked actions that the people of God had done in the previous moments, in their numerous rebellions and disobedience against Him, in all the wickedness that they had committed throughout their lives. God has always been patient in helping and guiding them all so that they might find their way back to Him, and once again be filled with His grace and love.

The priests mentioned by the Lord in that passage today, had been responsible for the spiritual well-being of the people and becoming the intermediary between the Lord and His beloved ones. The priests, who were chosen and appointed from among the tribe of the Levites, were supposed to be the ones to offer on behalf of the people, the offerings and sacrifices meant for the absolution and forgiveness of their sins. However, as it had frequently happened before, such as if we read in the other parts of the Old Testament, like in the Book of the prophet Samuel, the sons of Eli the High Priest, named Hophni and Phinehas, who belonged to the Levites, were corrupt in their practices, wicked and abused their positions for their own benefits.

They did not obey the Lord and they took from the fattest and best portion of the meat and the offerings presented to them, even though the Law stated that those had to be offered to God and reserved for Him. But those two sons of Eli instead appropriated those for themselves, and in other instances of wickedness and sinful deeds, they did whatever the corrupt priests had done throughout time, while theirs were the ones most well-documented in the Scriptures. And in this case, the Lord’s warning and action against those wicked priests came true, as those who were wicked faced their just fate, like the sons of Eli who were slain in battle against the Philistines, and the Ark of the Covenant that they brought to the battle with them were seized by the Philistines.

Similar fates faced those other people of God, their kings and nobles, and also the priests and the common folks, who had not obeyed the Lord and His commandments and Law, and instead preferring to follow the wicked ways of the world, and all the corruptions of sin. Many among the people and their wicked kings have chosen to abandon God and worship the pagan gods and false idols instead, and lived in the state of sin, which caused many to fall further and deeper into the wrong paths. They also persecuted the prophets and messengers that God had sent to them in order to help and remind them to return to the path of righteousness. In the end, they faced the just consequences of their wickedness and sins, as they were crushed, defeated and had their country and cities destroyed, by the Assyrians and the Babylonians.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard something that is rather similar, as the Lord Jesus criticised the actions of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law in their refusal to obey the Lord and His Law in the right way. They chose to follow their own interpretation and understanding of the Law, which was flawed, and they focused so much on external appearances and pious expressions, that they forgot what it truly meant to be obedient to God, to His Law and commandments. They spent their time and effort to make themselves look good and pious before the others, and they became enamoured by their own vanity and pride, which resulted in them doing things and works not for the greater glory of God, but rather for their own fame and glory.

This was why the Lord criticised them much, as they misled the people of God into the wrong path by their lack of appreciation and understanding of the true nature of God’s Law and commandments. They paraded their piety and actions, proudly thinking that they were league ahead of others around them, in being better and more worthy, more righteous and religious than others. But they deluded themselves because this attitude made them haughty, ambitious and proud, and forgot that they themselves were sinners, imperfect and in need for God’s mercy and healing as well. They had not just acted unjustly towards others, but they had also neglected their responsibilities and duties in showing the path towards God to those who have been entrusted under their care. Not only that, but they had also closed off the path towards God’s grace and salvation by their attitude, in ostracising and being prejudiced against those whom they deemed to be less than worthy.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is why as Christians, all of us should always strive to be exemplary in our actions and way of life, and most importantly, place the Lord ever always at the centre of our lives and existence. We must not allow the temptations and allures of worldly glory and pleasures to distract us from our calling to serve the Lord in all things and to be full of our faith and obedience to God’s Law and precepts. As we have discussed and talked about earlier on, those priests, elders and the Pharisees who had not obeyed the Lord wholeheartedly, and allowed themselves instead to be misled and swayed by worldly temptations, ambitions and pleasures, which brought them deeper and deeper into the path of wickedness and sin, by which they will be judged against, and found wanting. This is why, all of us, in our own respective areas of life, we must always strive to overcome the temptations and the pressures of worldly desires that may tempt us to follow the path of sin and evil.

In our second reading today, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Thessalonica, the Thessalonians, wrote about how the Apostles and the missionaries of the faith cared for them all and shown them the true nature of the Christian faith, that is full of love and compassion, care and attention to others. He spoke to them of the hard work and efforts that they had done for the sake of God’s people, and all of those in the end showed us that true nature of our Christian faith is one of dedication to God, as well as our commitment to love one another just as much as we have loved God and ourselves. We must not put our selfish desires and wants above that of our love for others, and we must not let our personal ambitions and selfish attitudes to prevent us from reaching out to the Lord, our God and Saviour.

Instead, as we continue to labour and walk through this life that we have been blessed and given opportunities in, all of us should continue to resist the corruptions of sin, and the temptations to do things for our own personal benefits at the cost of others around us, who may suffer because of our selfishness, greed and ambitions. Otherwise, as the Scriptures had already clearly shown us, and the Lord’s own words to add on to that, those who are wicked shall be held accountable for their actions, and the greater our position of responsibilities are, the more heavily this burden shall be on our shoulders, as the Lord will judge every single deeds we have done, and what we have also failed to do in our lives, even when we have been given the opportunities to do so. We should not forget that in our every moments in life, we should always be exemplary in faith, and we must always show our Christian faith in our actions at every step of our lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us hence strive to put God above all other things in our lives, and commit ourselves anew with faith to whatever that He has commanded and told us to do. Each and every one of us have been entrusted with the particular missions to contribute to the works of the Church, in various different parts and areas of the world. We do not have to do great things in life in order to do this. Rather, what matters is for us to do what we can in the small things we do each day and at every moments, in our various areas of responsibilities, so that we may indeed be good role models and inspirations for one another, in everything that we say and do, and we may be the shining examples of Christian virtues and love to all the people, that more and more may come to believe in God through us.

May the Lord be with us all and may He empower each one of us so that we may indeed be strengthened and inspired to live our lives ever more worthily as Christians, in each and every occasions throughout our lives, that we may come ever closer to righteousness and grace of God. May God bless us and our good efforts, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 5 November 2023 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 23 : 1-12

At that time, Jesus said to the crowds and to His disciples, “The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees have sat down on the chair of Moses. So you shall do and observe all they say; but do not do as they do, for they do not do what they say. They tie up heavy burdens and load them on the shoulders of the people, but they do not even lift a finger to move them.”

“They do everything in order to be seen by people : they wear very wide bands of the Law around their foreheads, and robes with large tassels. They enjoy the first places at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues, and they like being greeted in the marketplace, and being called ‘Master’ by the people.”

“But you, do not let yourselves be called Master, because you have only one Master, and all of you are brothers and sisters. Neither should you call anyone on earth Father, because you have only one Father, He Who is in heaven. Nor should you be called Leader, because Christ is the only Leader for you.”

“Let the greatest among you be the servant of all. For whoever makes himself great shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be made great.”

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Sunday, 5 November 2023 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Thessalonians 2 : 7b-9, 13

We were gentle with you, as a nursing mother, who feeds and cuddles her baby. And so great is our concern, that we are ready to give you, as well as the Gospel, even our very lives, for you have become very dear to us.

Remember our labour and toil; when we preached the Gospel, we worked day and night, so as not to be a burden to you. This is why we never cease giving thanks to God for, on receiving our message, you accepted it, not as human teaching, but as the Word of God. That is what it really is, and, as such, it is at work in you who believe.

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Sunday, 5 November 2023 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 130 : 1, 2, 3

O YHVH, my heart is not proud nor do I have arrogant eyes. I am not engrossed in ambitious matters, nor in things too great for me.

I have quieted and stilled my soul, like a weaned child, on its mother’s lap; like a contented child is my soul.

Hope in YHVH, o Israel, now and forever.

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Sunday, 5 November 2023 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Malachi 1 : 14b – Malachi 2 : 2b, 8-10

For I am a great King; and My Name is respected through all the nations, says YHVH of hosts.

This warning is also for you, priests. If you do not listen to it, or concern yourself, to glorify My Name, says YHVH of hosts. But you, says YHVH of hosts, have strayed from My way, and, moreover, caused many to stumble because of your teaching. You have broken My Covenant with Levi.

Therefore, I let all the people despise you and consider you unworthy, because you do not follow My ways; and you show partiality in your judgments. Do we not all have the same Father? Has the same God not created all of us? Why, then, does each of us betray his brother, defiling the Covenant of our ancestors?

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Saturday, 5 November 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are called to remember that we have to be true and committed in our faith in Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. We cannot be easily swayed, distracted and tempted by the many worldly pleasures, coercions, distractions and temptations all around us. We have to remember that often times as Christians we have to make a stand and choice between following and serving God, or to choose following the path of the world, the path of temptation and sin. As long as we remember this, then we are less likely to be drawn or swayed into the wrong path, and we also have to keep in mind that our actions, deeds and works can either inspire others to do the right thing or things that can bring scandal to the Church and our faith.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful community in Philippi, the Apostle spoke of the need for all of the faithful people of God to put their faith and trust in Him, and to dedicate themselves to the path that He has shown and guided them through. St. Paul told them all that they have to trust in the Lord for His providence, strength and protection. What the Apostle referred to in our first reading today must have been the people’s concerns over what St. Paul had to endure, in his many struggles and trials, in the challenges that he had faced, throughout all those moments and times when he had to brave even great dangers in order to bring the Word of God and the Good News to more and more people.

Yet, the Lord was always with St. Paul and his companions, with the other Apostles and missionaries, all the servants whom God had chosen, called and sent to minister to the people of this world, to call them all back to Himself. The Lord never abandoned or left them all on their own, and even amidst their sufferings, they were still guided by God on their side. And first of all, we must also ever forget the very fact that the Lord Himself, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, had suffered persecution, rejection and death for our sake, for the sake of His love for each and every one of us, and for the truth that He had brought into our midst by His coming into this world, and for the salvation of the whole entire world.

Thus, all the faithful who have shared in the Lord’s own Body and Blood, and become one in the Holy Communion of the faithful, as the one united Church of God, the Body of Christ, are bound to share in His sufferings and rejections, oppressions and challenges as well. The Lord Himself had told His disciples in a few occasions as highlighted in the Gospels, that if the world hated Him, the Lord and Master, then surely the same world will also hate those who are following Him and believing in Him. That is why we must not be surprised that we may have to endure those challenges as well, but we are not alone in that, because God is always by our side, and we must have firm faith in Him or else we will be easily swayed by worldly temptations.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord speaking to His disciples regarding the matter of serving God and Money, continuing from what we have heard yesterday with regards to the parable of the dishonest steward. In that parable, we heard of the steward who had been dishonest and cheated on his master and lord in order to gain more for his own good. However, when the lord found out about his dishonest action, the steward was fired and that same steward did whatever he could and in whatever way he knew, in order to secure a good livelihood for himself after he was fired. Thus, he then cheated his master of even more money by illicitly altering the debts of some of those who owed his master money and goods.

Through that parable, the Lord wanted us all to know that the temptations of the world such as money and other forms of material possessions are truly dangerous, and they can easily lead us down the wrong path if we are not vigilant or do whatever we can to resist those temptations. And as I mentioned in yesterday’s discourse, it is not that those money or material possessions themselves that are evil, as they can very well be used for good use and purposes too. However, it is actually our obsession and unhealthy attachments to them that is the true culprit for our downfall, and our inability to be truly faithful to God, because our hearts are divided between those things we desire and God. And often times we sidelined God and chose other things instead of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let today’s Scripture passages be reminders for each one of us so that we may truly carefully reflect upon our lives, our choice of actions and path in life. Are we going to continue to choose the path of worldliness, worldly desires and ambitions, desires and greed, and are we going to continue to sideline God in our lives and instead be focused on our wants and desires? Or are we going to reevaluate our priorities in life and begin to attribute a much more important place for the Lord in our lives, that is at the very heart and centre, and as the focus of our whole lives and existence? This is what we seriously have to consider as we remind ourselves of these Scripture passages we heard today and whatever we have discussed just earlier on.

Let us all make a commitment and renew our conviction to live ever more worthily of God from now on, prioritising Him in our lives and actions. Let us no longer be swayed or tempted by all sorts of attachment to worldliness and desires, ambitions, pride or ego. Let us all be purified in our hearts and minds, and be strengthened by God, that through His grace we may always ever strive to be faithful and committed to Him. May God be with us all, and may He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, for His greater glory, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 5 November 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Luke 16 : 9-15

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “And so I tell you : use filthy money to make friends for yourselves, so that, when it fails, these people may welcome you into the eternal homes. Whoever can be trusted in little things can also be trusted in great ones; whoever is dishonest in slight matters will also be dishonest in greater ones.”

“So if you have been dishonest in handling filthy money, who would entrust you with true wealth? And if you have been dishonest with things that are not really yours, who will give you that wealth which is truly your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he does not like the one and is fond of the other, or he regards one highly and the other with contempt. You cannot give yourself both to God and to Money.”

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and sneered at Jesus. He said to them, “You do your best to be considered righteous by people. But God knows the heart, and what is highly esteemed by human beings is loathed by God.”

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Saturday, 5 November 2022 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 111 : 1-2, 5-6, 8a and 9

Alleluia! Blessed is the one who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commands. His children will be powerful on earth; the upright’s offspring will be blessed.

It will be well with him who lends freely, who leads a life of justice and honesty. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered and loved forever.

His heart is confident, he needs not fear, he gives generously to the poor, his merits will last forever and his head will be raised in honour.