33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Saturday, 19 November 2022 : 33rd 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 all reminded of our faith and belief in the Lord, that especially we believe in the resurrection from the dead, which means that there is life and existence after death. Death does not mean the end of our life and existence, but it only marks the end of our physical existence in the way we know it in our present world. What comes after is a greater existence and truth that awaits us in the Lord, just as He has affirmed it and showed us through His own death and resurrection from the dead. It is our core and central tenet and belief as Christians that we believe in the life in the world to come, where we will be raised body and soul, hopefully to enjoy forever the eternal life of bliss and happiness with God.

From our first reading today, taken from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle we heard of the tale of the two witnesses of the Lord, who will be sent by God into this world so that He may let all the whole world to know the truth and love of God, and that all who still want to repent from their sins and turn from their evils may still be able to do so, before it is too late for them. Yet, there are many who are opposed to the Lord, and they refused to listen to those two witnesses and servants of God. The vision of St. John then tells us how the great enemy will rise against those servants of God and will persecute, kill and destroy them. And yet, at the appointed time, much like the Lord Himself, the two witnesses rise again into glory and life, resurrected from the dead by the power of God, and are raised into Heaven.

In that passage, we can see how the belief in the resurrection from the dead forms such a central tenet of our faith, and the resurrection from the dead brings hope to all those who have suffered and been persecuted for the Lord and for their faith in Him, like those two faithful witnesses mentioned in the Book of Revelations. Throughout the history of the Church, from the time of persecutions in the earliest days of the Church, and then followed by the many other examples of bitter and harsh persecutions and oppositions against Christians all over the world, even to the present day, all these showed us how our faith in the Lord and in the Resurrection gave hope even amidst the bleakest darkness and evil in this world.

It is because many of the faithful entrusted themselves wholly in the Lord and trusted in Him, and believed that they shall enjoy forever the fruits of their labour and faith even beyond this world that they were willing to endure such hardships and struggles, torture, pain and humiliation in defending their faith and their trust in God. They also recall and remember how the Lord Himself had suffered and died for their sake, in His enduring and ever patient love for us mankind, that He willingly took upon Himself the burdens of our sins and the weight of the punishments and consequences due to our sins and wickedness. The Lord was with them and with all of us, His beloved children and people, wherever we are and in whatever circumstances we are in. When we are carrying our crosses in life, we must not forget that the Lord is carrying His Cross too, by our side.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the encounter between the Lord and the Sadducees, a group of influential and powerful people within the Jewish community who were opposed to the spiritual nature of their Jewish customs and faith, as those were mostly worldly in nature, refusing to believe in matters like the resurrection, life after death, the concept of soul and spirits, or in any spiritual beings like Angels and demons, among many other things. Those Sadducees were often very rich and influential people in the community, who by the nature of their wealth and power, obviously had strong attachments to their worldly life, to their present existence, and naturally, they tend to live their lives as if there is no life and existence after death, as per their beliefs. They lived in excess, enjoying life’s bounty as much as they wanted.

Their questions and responses to the Lord, using the example of the seven brothers and their shared wife showed how much they still desired worldly things, and wanted everything to be the way it is in this world. They did not realise that in the afterlife, all of us mankind are no longer bound by the needs and desires in this imperfect world, for we will be with God Himself, and in His presence and perfection, all of us have nothing lacking, and all of us are in state of perfect harmony and love with God and one another that we no longer need all the things we often fancy and desire in this world, like that of material wealth, money, pleasures of all kind, food or any other things that we often desire and try to accumulate in this world. We have to remember and indeed remind ourselves once again, that we exist to glorify God by our lives, and not for our own personal ambitions and gains.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christians let us hence remind ourselves that we live in this world as a fleeting and temporary existence before we are fully reunited once again with God, and hence all of us should live our lives with that realisation found in our minds and hearts. If we realise this, then we should know that God will always be by our side and we have nothing to fear or lose if we entrust ourselves to Him, and do our best in our respective lives to do His will and to carry out whatever He has entrusted us with to do. Let us all inspire and help one another to persevere through our lives in this world, and do our best to be faithful witnesses of our faith, to be the bright beacons of God’s light and truth in our respective communities and places, at all times.

May the Lord be with us always and may He strengthen each and every one of us with the resolve to carry out our lives with faith and dedication from now on. May God bless our every good works and efforts, and empower us to be ever better and more committed disciples and witnesses of His truth in our world today. Amen.

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Saturday, 19 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Luke 20 : 27-40

At that time, some Sadducees arrived. These people claim that there is no resurrection, and they asked Jesus this question, “Master, in the Law Moses told us, ‘If anyone dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife, and any child born to them will be regarded as the child of the deceased.'”

“Now, there were seven brothers; the first married a wife, but he died without children; and the second and the third took the wife; in fact, all seven died leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. On the day of the resurrection, to which of them will the woman be a wife? For all seven had her as a wife.”

And Jesus replied, “Taking a husband or a wife is proper to people of this world, but for those who are considered worthy of the world to come, and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage. Besides, they cannot die, for they are like the Angels. They are sons and daughters of God, because they are born of the resurrection.”

“Yes, the dead will be raised, as Moses revealed at the burning bush, when He called the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For God is God of the living, and not of the dead, for to Him everyone is alive.”

Some teachers of the Law then agreed with Jesus, “Master, You have spoken well.” They did not dare to ask Him anything else.

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Saturday, 19 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

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

Psalm 143 : 1, 2, 9-10

Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.

My loving God, my Fortress; my Protector and Deliverer, my Shield where I take refuge, Who conquers nations and subjects them to my rule.

I will sing a new song to You, o God, I will make music on the ten-stringed harp, for You Who give victory to kings and deliver David, Your servant.

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Saturday, 19 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

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

Revelations 11 : 4-12

These are the two olive trees and the two lamps which are before the Lord of the earth. If anyone intends to harm them, fire will come out of their mouths to devour their enemies : this is how whoever intends to harm them will perish. They have the power to close the sky and hold back the rain during the time of their prophetic mission; they also have the power to change water into blood, and punish the earth with a thousand plagues, any time they wish.

But when My witnesses have fulfilled their mission, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war upon them, and will conquer and kill them. Their dead bodies will lie in the square of the Great City which the believers figuratively call Sodom or Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. And their dead bodies will be exposed for three days and a half to people of all tribes, races, languages and nations who will be ordered not to have them buried.

Then the inhabitants of the earth will rejoice, congratulate one another and exchange gifts among themselves because these two prophets were a torment to them. But after those three and a half days, a Spirit of life coming from God entered them. They them stood up, and those who looked at them were seized with great fear. A loud voice from heaven called them, “Come up here.” So they went up to heaven in the midst of the clouds in the sight of their enemies.

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Friday, 18 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of the special occasion this day when we celebrate the anniversary of the Dedication of not just one but two of the greatest churches in Christendom, namely the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in Vatican, the great and renowned House of God where the Pope frequently celebrates the Holy Mass and other important major events of the faith, as the place where St. Peter himself, the first Pope and Vicar of Christ, was martyred. The other great Basilica is the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, named such because it is located just outside the walls of the ancient city of Rome, and where St. Paul according to tradition, spent his time in Rome, while waiting for his trial by the Emperor as listed in the Acts of the Apostles.

On this day therefore, it is appropriate for us to remind ourselves of the two Apostles after whom those two great Basilicas, the House of God have been named after. St. Peter and St. Paul are both the patron saints of Rome and hence of the Universal Church, and their role in the establishment of the Church in Rome, the then heart of the Roman Empire and later on as the heart of all Christendom were truly significant, as they were the ones to lay the firm foundations of the Church there, through their toils and hard work, and by the shedding of their own blood and the martyrdom that they endured for the sake of the Lord and for His people. We honour these two great men of God, our important role models, as we remember and commemorate the anniversary of the Dedication of the two Basilicas named and dedicated in their honour. Those Basilicas as mentioned, are next in honour only after the Papal Cathedral, Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, which Dedication we commemorated just a week ago.

St. Peter the Apostle was the first Pope and Vicar of Christ, appointed as such by the Lord Himself, as He entrusted His Church to him as written in the Sacred Scriptures itself, entrusting to him the whole Universal Church and the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. He was appointed and made to be the leader of the whole Church, truly the Prince of the Apostles and the Lord’s Vicar in this world, as the leader of all the leaders of the Church, as the shepherd and guide for all the faithful people of God. And yet, for this great mission and responsibility, as we all ought to know, St. Peter was not one which the world would have deemed fit for the role. He was after all a mere illiterate, brash and poor fisherman from the lake of Galilee area, literally a nobody at that time. No one would have thought that this man would have become the Lord’s very own Vicar in this world.

Yet, that was what the Lord did, brothers and sisters in Christ, that He chose an ordinary man, a nobody in the eyes of the world to be His chief disciple, and what others might not have known then, was how dedicated and committed the Apostles, especially that of St. Peter, were to the Lord. What the Lord saw in their hearts were the capacity to love Him and to serve their fellow brethren with genuine dedication, and just as He called them and they responded, in the end, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, they all prevailed in faith, and gave their efforts and lives for the glory of God. St. Peter himself went on to Rome and became the first Bishop of Rome, establishing the foundation of the Church there, and during the persecution of Christians under the Emperor Nero, he was arrested and martyred, crucified upside-down on Vatican hill, where the great Basilica of St. Peter now stands. He chose to die in that manner because in his own words, he said that he was not worthy to die in the same way as his Lord and Master.

Meanwhile, St. Paul the Apostle was the Apostle to the Gentiles, sent and commissioned to reach out to the various communities of the faithful all throughout Christendom, and was renowned and remembered for his many efforts and labours especially among the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people, protecting their rights and helping them to find their ways to the Lord more easily, by opposing those who sought to impose the customs and strict, unbending, Pharisaical rules of the Jewish people onto the whole Church. He was himself was once Saul, a young and zealous Pharisee who was very fervent and energetic in his pursuit of the early Christians, in the hope of crushing and destroying the Church in its earliest moments, in his misguided efforts to follow the Law as per what he once knew.

After he had encountered the Lord personally on his way to Damascus, in that well-known conversion experience, and after he was baptised and received the wisdom and strength of the Holy Spirit, Saul, became Paul, a new man of God. From a vicious enemy of Christians and the Lord, St. Paul became a great and most ardent defender and champion of the Christian faith, dedicating his life and works to serve the Lord, wholeheartedly. He spent a lot of time and effort in reaching out to various people he encountered throughout his missionary journeys, and went through and endured a lot of sufferings and persecutions, arrest and imprisonment, and was eventually martyred in Rome by the same Emperor Nero when Christians were made scapegoats and were persecuted for the Great Fire of Rome, and St. Paul was beheaded for his faith.

Today, as we remember this memory of the Dedication of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in Vatican and the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, we are reminded that each one of us are also parts and members of the living Church of God, as the living stones making up this one Body of all the Christian faithful. As the two Basilicas were consecrated and dedicated to God, made hallow, holy and blessed, as places worthy for the worship and adoration of God, therefore each one of us have to strive to be worthy and holy for the Lord as well, just like that of the Apostles and the other disciples of God, especially that of St. Peter and St. Paul. And why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because all of us, according to St. Paul, are no less than the Temple of God’s very own Holy Presence, His own dwelling place, as He has come to us in His own Real and Precious Body and Blood in the Eucharist, and His Holy Spirit has dwelled within us as well.

Therefore, if our lives and actions are unbecoming and unworthy of what we as Christians are expected to do, then we are in fact doing no less than defiling the sanctity of this Temple and House of God, our very own body, heart, mind and soul, our very own beings. And if we do that, then it is by our own actions and wickedness that we will be judged, and certainly none of us will want to be on the wrong side of God’s judgment. Do we want to enjoy forever the blissful eternal life with God, in His presence and in the fullness of His grace and love? Or do we rather suffer for an eternity in eternal damnation and darkness because of our wickedness and sins? The choice has been given to us, and God has given us the freedom to choose our path in this life we have on Earth. Let us all choose wisely, brothers and sisters in Christ.

May the Lord therefore be with us, His Church, strengthening and empowering us all as His disciples and followers, and strengthening our unity as members of the same Church, the Body of Christ, so that we may always be holy just as our Lord is holy. May God bless us all and our every good endeavours and works, and may He remain with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 18 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Luke 19 : 45-48

At that time, Jesus entered the Temple area and began to drive out the merchants. And He said to them, “God says in the Scriptures, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of robbers!'”

Jesus was teaching every day in the Temple. The chief priests and teachers of the Law wanted to kill Him, and the elders of the Jews as well, but they were unable to do anything, for all the people were listening to Him and hanging on His words.

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Matthew 14 : 22-33

At that time, immediately, Jesus obliged His disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowd away. And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain by Himself, to pray. At nightfall, He was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves, for the wind was against it.

At daybreak, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. When they saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But at once, Jesus said to them, “Courage! Do not be afraid. It is Me!” Peter answered, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

Jesus said to him, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water to go to Jesus. But seeing the strong wind, he was afraid, and began to sink; and he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately stretched out His hand and took hold of him, saying, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?”

As they got into the boat, the wind dropped. Then those in the boat bowed down before Jesus, saying, “Truly, You are the Son of God!”

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Friday, 18 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Psalm 118 : 14, 24, 72, 103, 111, 131

I delight in following Your laws, more so than in all riches.

Your laws are my delight, my counsellors who uphold me.

Your law is more precious to me than heaps of silver and gold.

How sweet are Your promises to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Your statutes are my heritage forever, they are the joy of my heart.

I gasp in ardent yearning for Your commandments that I love.

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6

Sing to YHVH a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

YHVH has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love, nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you, lands, make a joyful noise to YHVH, 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, YHVH!

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Friday, 18 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Revelations 10 : 8-11

And the voice I heard from heaven spoke again, saying to me, “Go near the Angel Who stands on the sea and on the land, and take the small book open in his hand.” So I approached the Angel and asked him for the small book; he said to me, “Take it and eat; although it be sweet as honey in your mouth, it will be bitter to your stomach.”

I took the small book from the hand of the Angel, and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, it turned bitter in my stomach. Then I was told, “You must again proclaim God’s words about many peoples, nations, tongues and kings.”

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome)

Acts 28 : 11-16, 30-31

After three months, we boarded a ship that had spent the winter at the island. It belonged to an Alexandrian company, and carried the figurehead of Castor and Pollux as insignia. We sailed for Syracuse, staying there for three days; and, after circling the coast, we arrived at Rhegium.

On the following day, a south wind began to blow, and, at the end of two days, we arrived at Puteoli, where we found some of our brothers, who invited us to stay with them for a week. And that was how we came to Rome. There, the brothers and sisters had been informed of our arrival, and came out to meet us as far as the Appian Forum and the Three Taverns.

When Paul saw them, he gave thanks to God and took courage. Upon our arrival in Rome, the captain turned the prisoners over to the military governor, but permitted Paul to lodge in a private house, with the soldier who guarded him.

Paul stayed for two whole years, in a house he, himself, rented, where he received, without any hindrance, all those who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God, and taught the truth about Jesus Christ, the Lord, quite openly and without any hindrance.

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Thursday, 17 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Lord today contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the Lord Whom we worship and serve, the one and only true God, our Lord and Master, our King and Ruler over the whole entire Universe, which we will celebrate together this coming Sunday on the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and King of the Universe. We are therefore reminded today that we worship this Almighty, all-powerful and glorious God, Whose love for us has brought about our salvation and liberation from sin. By His mercy and most compassionate love, each one of us have received the assurance of eternal life and freedom from the shackles of sin that had held us hostage and kept us chained to our fate of suffering and death.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, we heard of the revelation shown to the Apostle, regarding the triumphant victory won by the Lord, enthroned in glory among the Cherubim and Seraphim, among the Angels and innumerable saints. St. John saw in the vision of the slaughtered Lamb of God, the Triumphant Lord, the Heir of David and Son of God, Who has won the ultimate victory against the forces of evil, sin and death. And he shared it with all of us, the faithful in this world so that we may have hope in Him and that we may trust Him to guide us down the path towards His grace, salvation and eternal life. Many of us have often forgotten the One Whom we are serving, and the One Whom we ought to be following in our lives. We act as if God is nobody, and that He has no place in our lives.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord speaking of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, the Holy City of God. He spoke of this eventual event on few occasions, and told His disciples how all the glory that was Jerusalem and its Temple, the majestic House of God built by king Herod the Great and his successors, would not remain standing, and all of them would be destroyed. This is in fact a reminder to all of us that all the glory of this world is merely passing and will not last forever, and whatever the people at that time took great pride in keeping, like the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, the elders and the chief priests who often rejected the Lord and His truth, and refused to listen to Him because they thought of themselves being superior and better, for all the properties, power, influence and glory they had.

They thought that their Temple authority, their Law and rituals, their practices and all their entrenched positions in the society of the people of God. They thought that their power and privileges earned them the right to boast and to be praised, to be entitled honour and respect they often demanded from the other people, but they forgot that, first of all, all of them were supposed to serve God and help others to come closer to God, as the guardians and custodians of God’s Law and truth. Instead, they often misused their authority and power, persecuting and ostracising those whom they deemed to be less than worthy, those whom they deemed as sinners and beyond redemption, while parading their own efforts and works, their piety and observance of the Law.

In that, the Lord wants us all as Christians to keep in mind not to fall into the same trap of pride, ego and greed. As the later destruction of the city of Jerusalem and its magnificent Temple, and the scattering of the Jewish people into various places, showed that no worldly glory, power, privileges, power or anything of those sorts can remain or last forever. Whatever is in the world can be destroyed and lost within mere short while and a mere moment, and those who depend on those things, on their worldly power and foundation, will indeed be disappointed and humiliated as history itself has shown us. Instead, God wants us all to put our trust and faith in Him, entrusting ourselves to His providence and care, and doing everything we can to follow Him and to obey Him. That, brothers and sisters in Christ, is our calling as Christians, what we are all supposed to do.

Today, the whole Church celebrates the feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, whose life and dedication to the Lord should become inspiration and example for all of us as Christians. We have to discern our path in life based on what we know of the life of this holy and devout saint. St. Elizabeth of Hungary was a Hungarian princess and noblewoman who was married to a German noble, and was widowed at a young age. Throughout her life from her youth, and in her short time as a wife in a happy marriage, and afterwards, St. Elizabeth of Hungary had always been very pious and devout to the Lord, and she showed particular concern and care for the poor and the sick all around her, in her community and beyond. She spent a lot of time and effort to reach out to them and to care for them, and after she was widowed, she gave herself to a life of dedication to God.

Despite the opposition and hardships that she had to face in her determination to commit herself and her life to God, to the point that she was imprisoned at times and in house arrest, in the attempts by her family to dissuade her from her commitment, St. Elizabeth of Hungary never gave in to the temptations and pressures, and continued to carry on her efforts and works, and her piety and inspiration soon gained a lot of supporters by all those who were inspired by her tireless works and efforts for the poor and the sick, and those touched by her great personal piety, love and faith in God. She established hospitals and places where the poor and the sick can be taken care of, using her own funds and properties in doing so. She did not let worldly glory, attachments, wealth and all those things to distract her from doing God’s will, and whatever that God has called her to do in her own life.

Let us hence be inspired by the examples shown by St. Elizabeth of Hungary, in her faith and commitment to live a life truly worthy of God, in her piety and devotion to God, and her love for her fellow brethren, that each and every one of us may also draw ever closer to the Lord by following her examples and faith, and also those of innumerable other saints, holy men and women of God who had devoted themselves to the Lord in their own manner and ways. Each and every one of us as Christians ought to follow their examples and remind ourselves that we have to centre our lives on the Lord and rid ourselves from the excesses of worldly desires, pride, ego, attachments to worldly matters, all of which had become serious obstacles and downfall for so many of our predecessors.

May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us in our faith, and may He empower and encourage us all to continue to persevere in faith, that we may draw ever closer to Him, and live our lives ever more worthily of Him if we have not yet done so, from now on. May God bless us always, now and forevermore, and may He stay by our side and remain with us always. Amen.

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Thursday, 17 November 2022 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Lord today contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the Lord Whom we worship and serve, the one and only true God, our Lord and Master, our King and Ruler over the whole entire Universe, which we will celebrate together this coming Sunday on the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and King of the Universe. We are therefore reminded today that we worship this Almighty, all-powerful and glorious God, Whose love for us has brought about our salvation and liberation from sin. By His mercy and most compassionate love, each one of us have received the assurance of eternal life and freedom from the shackles of sin that had held us hostage and kept us chained to our fate of suffering and death.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, we heard of the revelation shown to the Apostle, regarding the triumphant victory won by the Lord, enthroned in glory among the Cherubim and Seraphim, among the Angels and innumerable saints. St. John saw in the vision of the slaughtered Lamb of God, the Triumphant Lord, the Heir of David and Son of God, Who has won the ultimate victory against the forces of evil, sin and death. And he shared it with all of us, the faithful in this world so that we may have hope in Him and that we may trust Him to guide us down the path towards His grace, salvation and eternal life. Many of us have often forgotten the One Whom we are serving, and the One Whom we ought to be following in our lives. We act as if God is nobody, and that He has no place in our lives.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord speaking of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, the Holy City of God. He spoke of this eventual event on few occasions, and told His disciples how all the glory that was Jerusalem and its Temple, the majestic House of God built by king Herod the Great and his successors, would not remain standing, and all of them would be destroyed. This is in fact a reminder to all of us that all the glory of this world is merely passing and will not last forever, and whatever the people at that time took great pride in keeping, like the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, the elders and the chief priests who often rejected the Lord and His truth, and refused to listen to Him because they thought of themselves being superior and better, for all the properties, power, influence and glory they had.

They thought that their Temple authority, their Law and rituals, their practices and all their entrenched positions in the society of the people of God. They thought that their power and privileges earned them the right to boast and to be praised, to be entitled honour and respect they often demanded from the other people, but they forgot that, first of all, all of them were supposed to serve God and help others to come closer to God, as the guardians and custodians of God’s Law and truth. Instead, they often misused their authority and power, persecuting and ostracising those whom they deemed to be less than worthy, those whom they deemed as sinners and beyond redemption, while parading their own efforts and works, their piety and observance of the Law.

In that, the Lord wants us all as Christians to keep in mind not to fall into the same trap of pride, ego and greed. As the later destruction of the city of Jerusalem and its magnificent Temple, and the scattering of the Jewish people into various places, showed that no worldly glory, power, privileges, power or anything of those sorts can remain or last forever. Whatever is in the world can be destroyed and lost within mere short while and a mere moment, and those who depend on those things, on their worldly power and foundation, will indeed be disappointed and humiliated as history itself has shown us. Instead, God wants us all to put our trust and faith in Him, entrusting ourselves to His providence and care, and doing everything we can to follow Him and to obey Him. That, brothers and sisters in Christ, is our calling as Christians, what we are all supposed to do.

Today, the whole Church celebrates the feast of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, whose life and dedication to the Lord should become inspiration and example for all of us as Christians. We have to discern our path in life based on what we know of the life of this holy and devout saint. St. Elizabeth of Hungary was a Hungarian princess and noblewoman who was married to a German noble, and was widowed at a young age. Throughout her life from her youth, and in her short time as a wife in a happy marriage, and afterwards, St. Elizabeth of Hungary had always been very pious and devout to the Lord, and she showed particular concern and care for the poor and the sick all around her, in her community and beyond. She spent a lot of time and effort to reach out to them and to care for them, and after she was widowed, she gave herself to a life of dedication to God.

Despite the opposition and hardships that she had to face in her determination to commit herself and her life to God, to the point that she was imprisoned at times and in house arrest, in the attempts by her family to dissuade her from her commitment, St. Elizabeth of Hungary never gave in to the temptations and pressures, and continued to carry on her efforts and works, and her piety and inspiration soon gained a lot of supporters by all those who were inspired by her tireless works and efforts for the poor and the sick, and those touched by her great personal piety, love and faith in God. She established hospitals and places where the poor and the sick can be taken care of, using her own funds and properties in doing so. She did not let worldly glory, attachments, wealth and all those things to distract her from doing God’s will, and whatever that God has called her to do in her own life.

Let us hence be inspired by the examples shown by St. Elizabeth of Hungary, in her faith and commitment to live a life truly worthy of God, in her piety and devotion to God, and her love for her fellow brethren, that each and every one of us may also draw ever closer to the Lord by following her examples and faith, and also those of innumerable other saints, holy men and women of God who had devoted themselves to the Lord in their own manner and ways. Each and every one of us as Christians ought to follow their examples and remind ourselves that we have to centre our lives on the Lord and rid ourselves from the excesses of worldly desires, pride, ego, attachments to worldly matters, all of which had become serious obstacles and downfall for so many of our predecessors.

May the Lord continue to guide us and strengthen us in our faith, and may He empower and encourage us all to continue to persevere in faith, that we may draw ever closer to Him, and live our lives ever more worthily of Him if we have not yet done so, from now on. May God bless us always, now and forevermore, and may He stay by our side and remain with us always. Amen.