31st Week of Ordinary Time

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Saturday, 9 November 2024 : Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 2 : 13-22

At that time, as the Passover of the Jews was at hand, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the Temple court He found merchants selling oxen, sheep and doves, and money-changers seated at their tables.

Making a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the Temple court, together with the oxen and sheep. He knocked over the tables of the money-changers, scattering the coins, and ordered the people selling doves, “Take all this away, and stop making a marketplace of My Father’s house!” His disciples recalled the words of Scripture : Zeal for Your house devours me like fire.

The Jews then questioned Jesus, “Where are the miraculous signs which give You the right to do this?” And Jesus said, “Destroy this Temple and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then replied, “The building of this Temple has already taken forty-six years, and will You raise it up in three days?”

Actually, Jesus was referring to the Temple of His Body. Only when He had risen from the dead did His disciples remember these words; then they believed both the Scripture and the words Jesus had spoken.

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Saturday, 9 November 2024 : Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 45 : 2-3, 5-6, 8-9

God is our strength and protection, an ever-present help in affliction. We will not fear, therefore; though the earth be shaken and the mountains plunge into the seas.

There is a river whose streams bring joy to the City of God, the holy place, where the Most High dwells. God is within, the city cannot quake, for God’s help is upon it at the break of day.

For with us is YHVH of hosts, the God of Jacob, our refuge. Come, see the works of YHVH – the marvellous things He has done in the world.

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Saturday, 9 November 2024 : Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Ezekiel 47 : 1-2, 8-9, 12

The Man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple and I saw water coming out from the threshold of the Temple and flowing eastward. The Temple faced the east and the water flowed from the south side of the Temple, from the south side of the Altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside, to the outer gate facing the east; and there I saw the stream coming from the south side.

He said to me, “This water goes to the east, down to the Arabah, and when it flows into the sea of foul-smelling water, the water will become wholesome. Wherever the river flows, swarms of creatures will live in it; fish will be plentiful; and the seawater will become fresh. Wherever it flows, life will abound.”

“Near the river on both banks, there will be all kinds of fruit trees, with foliage that will not wither; and fruit that will never fail; each month they will bear a fresh crop, because the water comes from the Temple. The fruit will be good to eat and the leaves will be used for healing.”

Alternative reading (Second Reading if this Feast is celebrated as a Solemnity)

1 Corinthians 3 : 9c-11, 16-17

But you are God’s field and building. I, as good architect, according to the capacity given to me, I laid the foundation, and another is to build upon it. Each one must be careful how to build upon it. No one can lay a foundation other than the One which is already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Do you not know that you are God’s Temple, and that God’s Spirit abides within you? If anyone destroys the Temple of God, God will destroy him. God’s Temple is holy, and you are this Temple.

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Friday, 8 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that we are all called to a life of holiness, righteousness and virtue as is expected of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people. Each and every one of us are called to a life of virtue and faith, where we truly embody our faith and belief in God, and showing that faith genuinely through every moments of our lives, and putting the Lord at the very centre and as the focus of our whole lives and existence. All of us must always keep this in mind as we continue living our lives in this world today, so that we may truly be the worthy bearers of our Christian faith and identity, as those whom God had called and chosen as His own people.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Philippi, we heard the Apostle telling the faithful there about how each and every one of them as Christians, as the people God had called and chosen, and as they have received the revelation of God’s truth and love, all of them are expected to live in a holy and worthy manner, distancing themselves from all sorts of wickedness and evils which would have corrupted them and led them away from the path towards God and His grace. They and hence all of us, as God’s faithful people are reminded not to live in a worldly manner, but rather in a manner that is truly pleasing to God and worthy of Him.

St. Paul also mentioned in that same passage of the fact that all of us are ultimately meant for Heaven, by stating that our citizenship is truly one that is in Heaven, and we are meant to be in Heaven with our Lord and Creator, as He has always intended for us. We were never meant to be defiled in this world of darkness and sin, and we should not have endured all the sufferings, difficulties and challenges that we are facing in this world, as that was not what the Lord intended for us. He had intended for all great and wonderful things for us, creating us to share His most wonderful love with us, but our inability to resist the many temptations of this world and our attachments to the worldly desires and ambitions had led us astray and kept us away fom God and His righteousness.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we heard of the famous parable of the dishonest steward which the Lord Jesus told to His disciples and all the people who were listening to Him at the time. In that parable, the Lord told the disciples about a dishonest steward who had been reported to his master because of his dishonest action which therefore led to him being dismissed from his position. And we then heard how that steward then quickly acted in order to secure his own livelihood after he lost his job and position, by using his position to leverage certain bargains and privileges from those who owed money and things to his master. Essentially, if we were to read more into the actions of the dishonest steward, he was actually carrying out even more dishonest actions through what he had done.

That was how the dishonest steward attempted to safeguard himself, by making use of the tricks and ways that he himself was very familiar with, doing dishonest actions and carrying out those things to benefit himself and so that he could safeguard his livelihood after he was no longer having a job anymore. We heard how the Lord described then the master commending the dishonest steward for his astuteness in his actions, for having done what he did to swindle even more money and possessions from his master by manipulating the debts from his master’s debtors. On the face value, this parable may be somewhat confusing to us, and we may even be surprised to think that the Lord Jesus was perhaps promoting the dishonest and wicked acts that the dishonest steward had done. But that is not the case, brothers and sisters.

In fact, what the Lord wanted to highlight to His disciples and therefore to all of us is that those who were following the ways of this world, those who were accustomed to the ways and practices of the world are filled with the wickedness of this world and its many temptations, distractions and all the things that can separate us from the Lord and prevent us from truly being able to return to the Lord. Meanwhile, those who are righteous and worthy, just and obedient to the Lord, like how a steward should have been to his master, ought not to carry out those things that the dishonest steward had done. That dishonest steward had indeed done things that would guarantee him good life in this world, but that does not mean that what he has done is right and recommended. For as mentioned earlier by St. Paul, that we as God’s holy and beloved people, we belong to Him and Heaven is our true abode, not this world.

That is why this parable by the Lord on the dishonest steward is in fact a reminder for all of us that we must not allow ourselves to be swayed by worldly desires and ambitions, and we must always do our part as Christians, as God’s faithful and beloved people, to be His good, worthy and committed stewards, to be truly good and just, righteous and exemplary in all of our deeds, in everything that we say and do at all times? We must not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by those temptations and desires we have in our hearts, and we should endeavour to put the Lord and His righteous paths and teachings at the centre of our lives and actions. We should not resort to wicked ways and means to fuel our own ambition and personal desires, and instead, we should make good use of whatever the Lord has given to us, His many blessings and opportunities we have received, to glorify Him.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, the question is, are we all willing make the commitment to follow God wholeheartedly and to turn our hearts and minds completely to Him, that we, who all belong to the Lord and are meant to dwell in the eternal joy with God in Heaven, can truly be worthy of everything that God has promised us? Are we capable of giving our best to the Lord, our time, effort and attention, everything that we are in the service of our Lord and God? Or are we merely just giving Him our lip service and our faith merely a formality? This is why each and every one of us must always strive to overcome our attachments and entanglements with worldly desires and all the things that can lead us down the path of destruction and ruin, just as the dishonest steward had shown us.

May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us in our journey from now on, so that we may always strive to live our lives in the best manner, to be always faithful to Him, as His worthy and dedicated stewards, the stewards of His creation and of this world and everyone we have encountered in life. Let us all continue to glorify the Lord by our lives, and lead by example in our every actions, words and deeds, and in our every interactions with one another, to proclaim the Lord and His righteousness through our own virtuous, worthy and noble deeds, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 8 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 16 : 1-8

At that time, Jesus told His disciples, “There was a rich man, whose steward was reported to him for fraudulent service. He summoned the steward and asked him, “What is this I hear about you? I want you to render an account of your service, for it is about to be terminated.'”

“The steward thought to himself, ‘What am I to do now? My master will surely dismiss me. I am not strong enough to do hard work, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do : I must make sure that when I am dismissed, there will be people who will welcome me into their homes.'”

“So he called his master’s debtors, one by one. He asked the first debtor, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ The reply was, ‘A hundred jars of oil.’ The steward said, ‘Here is your bill. Sit down quickly and write fifty.’ To the second debtor he put the same question. ‘How much do you owe?’ The answer was, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ Then the steward said, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.'”

“The master commended the dishonest steward for his astuteness : for the people of this world are more astute, in dealing with their own kind, than are the people of light.”

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Friday, 8 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 121 : 1-2, 3-4a, 4b-5

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” And now we have set foot within your gates, o Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, just like a city, where everything falls into place! There the tribes go up.

The tribes of the Lord, the assembly of Israel, to give thanks to the Lord’s Name. There stand the courts of justice, the offices of the house of David.

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Friday, 8 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Philippians 3 : 17 – Philippians 4 : 1

Unite in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and look at those who walk in our way of life. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. I have said it to you many times, and now I repeat it with tears : they are heading for ruin; their belly is their god and they feel proud of what should be their shame. They only think of earthly things.

For us, our citizenship is in heaven, from where we await the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Lord. He will transfigure our lowly body, making it like His own Body, radiant in Glory, through the power which is His to submit everything to Himself.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, you my glory and crown, be steadfast in the Lord.

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Thursday, 7 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are constantly being reminded as we have always been by the Lord to be those whom God had deemed to be worthy, holy and truly deserves to be in the eternal Kingdom and true glory and happiness which He has prepared for each and every one of us. We must always strive to put our focus on the Lord and to come and seek the Lord, as He has always been kind and merciful towards us, showing us His everlasting grace and kindness, revealing His love and patience to us at all times. And we should no longer be stubborn in resisting His ever generous mercy and love, the compassion and kindness which He has given us and shown us all these while, but we must always be grateful instead of the opportunity we have been granted and be the good role models in faith for each other.

In our first reading today, we heard of the words of St. Paul the Apostle in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Philippi in what is today part of Greece. In the continuation of that Epistle we heard of the sharing from the Apostle regarding his beliefs and experiences of being a faithful and zealous Jew and Pharisee in his younger days, in what was likely addressed especially to the Jewish converts to the Christian faith in Philippi. St. Paul mentioned about how he followed the Law of Moses in its entirety just as how the Pharisees back then often zealously followed and observed the Law, getting himself circumcised and following other tenets and parts of the Law despite having been born and growing up outside of the lands of Israel, in Tarsus in Asia Minor.

What St. Paul then further highlighted to the faithful and especially the early Jewish Christians and maybe other Jewish people in Philippi was that while obeying and observing those Law and commandments were good and worthwhile, but they are superseded and transcended by the knowledge of Christ and His salvation, and of the ways and manners which the Lord Himself had brought into our midst, purifying and clarifying the intentions, purpose and the practices of the Law of God. What was once seen as means to achieve righteousness in God, and which was misunderstood and misused as means to make oneself feeling superior and better to others, like what many of the Pharisees had done in their way of observing the Law, the Lord had pointed out and St. Paul had further reminded the people of God that one’s faith in Christ matters way more than fussing over how one ought to observe the Law of God.

Indeed, the Law itself was in fact meant to lead us to God and to teach us to love Him more, to be more faithful to Him. But many during the time of the Lord Jesus and His Apostles when these New Testament Scripture passages we heard today were written, had lived their lives in manner contrary to the true intentions of God’s Law, and as mentioned, many among the Jewish people, especially the Pharisees among them who put more emphasis and importance in the details, rituals and the practices of the Law rather than in truly understanding, implementing and appreciating what God’s Law and commandments were all about, and how they really should have been observed and lived, focused on the Lord in all things rather than being obsessed with the rituals and details as many of the faithful then had done.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples and all those listening to Him using parables to highlight to them about God’s wonderful mercy and love, which He has kindly offered and shown to all those whom He had called and chosen, to all of us mankind, who are truly dear and beloved to Him. He used those parables to highlight to them the concepts of God’s mercy and love with themes that were easily understandable by those living at that time, as He used the example of a shepherd who was looking for one lost sheep among the hundred sheep that he had, and also a woman who was looking for a silver coin that she had misplaced and could not find, among all the silver coins that she had possessed. All those were events and things that all of the people could relate to and understand easily.

And the Lord’s message to His people, to all of us was that, if He Himself like the shepherd who left all of his other sheep to look for the lost sheep and like the woman who went through all the efforts to search every corner of her house in looking for the silver coin, then it is the same with Him as well, as He has a Heart that is always full of love for each one of us. Thus, God wants us to know that He would go out all the way in looking for us, His beloved and precious ones, so that every single one of us would be found, reconciled and reunited with Him once again. He would never abandon us to the darkness and as long as we are willing to listen to Him calling on us to follow Him, and heed His call, there is always a path for us to come back to Him.

And that was why He gave us all His Law to help and guide us in our path, to learn how to love Him and to be truly faithful to Him, and to rediscover what it means for us to be God’s holy and beloved people, distancing ourselves from anything and everything that had corrupted and separated us from God and His love. And not only that, He even gave us all His most beloved Son to be our Saviour, to bring forth the salvation that He has promised to us and our ancestors, and to lead us all back to Him. Christ, the Son of God is the Good Shepherd just as He Himself mentioned in the parable to the people, as He went forth calling for the last, the lost and the least among the people so that they all may find justification and reconciliation with God through Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must never take this love from God from granted, and we truly should appreciate all the love that God has given us. Let us all be thankful for all the love of God, and His generosity in caring for us and in being compassionate with us, by striving to live our lives with the desire to love Him and to obey His will at all times, to do what is right and just in the manner that He Himself has taught and shown us. May the Lord continue to bless us and strengthen us in our journey in life so that by our every efforts and works, our contributions and commitments in our daily living and actions, we will draw ever closer to the Lord and His saving grace. May our lives be truly worthy of God and may all of us be good and worthy role models and inspirations for everyone around us. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 15 : 1-10

At that time, tax collectors and sinners were seeking the company of Jesus, all of them eager to hear what He had to say. But the Pharisees and the scribes frowned at this, muttering, “This Man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable :

“Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and seek the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbours together, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine decent people, who do not need to repent.”

“What woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one, will not light a lamp, and sweep the house in a thorough search, till she finds the lost coin? And finding it, she will call her friends and neighbours, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way, there is rejoicing among the Angels of God over one repentant sinner.”

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Thursday, 7 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 104 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Sing to the Lord, sing His praise, proclaim all His wondrous deeds. Glory in His holy Name; let those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.