Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Luke 21 : 1-4
At that time, Jesus looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury of the Temple. He also saw a poor widow, who dropped in two small coins. And He said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them. For all of them gave an offering from their plenty; but she, out of her poverty, gave all she had to live on.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 23 : 1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
The earth and its fullness belong to the Lord, the world and all that dwell in it. He has founded it upon the ocean and set it firmly upon the waters.
Who will ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who will stand in His holy place? Those with clean hands and pure heart, who desire not what is vain.
They will receive blessings from the Lord, a reward from God, their Saviour. Such are the people who seek Him, who seek the face of Jacob’s God.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Revelations 14 : 1-3, 4b-5
I was given another vision : The Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, surrounded by one hundred and forty-four thousand people, who had His Name, and His Father’s Name, written on their foreheads. A sound reverberated in heaven, like the sound of the roaring of waves, or deafening thunder; it was like a chorus of singers, accompanied by their harps.
They sing a new song before the Throne, in the presence of the four living creatures and the elders, a song, which no one can learn, except the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been taken from the earth.
These are given, to follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They are the first taken from humankind, who are already of God and the Lamb. No deceit has been found in them; they are faultless.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday is the Thirty-Fourth and therefore the Last Sunday of Ordinary Time for this current liturgical year. Beginning next Sunday, the season of Advent will begin and it will also mark the beginning of the new liturgical year cycle. On this Sunday therefore we celebrate the great occasion of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, celebrating and honouring the Kingship of Our Lord, His Universal Dominion and Kingship, Mastery and Rule over the whole Creation and over all things. On this day we glorify our Lord and King, proclaiming Him as our only Sovereign and Master, the One Who is ruling over our lives, renewing our commitments and dedication to Him, as His followers and disciples, and as His one united people, the Church of God.
In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of the prophet Daniel in which the vision of Daniel was recounted to us, the vision of God on His Throne, One of a Great Age and the Son of Man, to Whom Daniel saw that the One of Great Age had granted power, sovereignty and dominion over the whole world. This vision was in fact a prelude and premonition of Christ’s coming into this world, the revelation that God would indeed send none other than His own Beloved and Begotten Son, the Divine Word of God, to be incarnate in our midst and to dwell among us, ruling over us all as our Lord and King. And as He comes upon us in the flesh, adopting our human nature and existence, He also made His Kingdom to be manifest in our midst, as something that is real and tangible.
We are also reminded that ultimately, our allegiance and obedience lies and rests in God. Of course we are parts and members of our own respective countries, states and other worldly authorities that we are under and subject to, but we must always keep in mind and remember that all the authority and power they have ultimately came from God, our true Lord and King, our Master and Ruler, Who has entrusted and delegated His power and authority to those whom He had chosen and called to be the ones to exercise that power and authority on daily basis, be it in the secular world, in our states and countries, our governments and worldly rulers, as well as in the Church of God, the Pope and the many bishops all around the world, who have been entrusted with all of us, God’s flock and holy people.
Then, in our second reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle where St. John recounted to us his heavenly vision of the events of the end of times and the Final Judgment, the ultimate triumph of the Lord and His victory over all evil, sin and death. St. John had witnessed all those things so that he might be able to encourage and strengthen every one of us, God’s holy and faithful people, reminding us that Our Lord, He Who is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Lord, Master and Ruler of all will come again in the end of times, to gather us all and to lead us into the eternal bliss, true happiness and joy that He has promised and reassured us all these while. As long as we have faith and trust in Him, and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him, we will be saved.
From our Gospel passage this Sunday, taken from the Gospel according to St. John, we heard of the account of the time when the Lord was going through His Passion or Suffering, when Pontius Pilate, the Governor and Procurator of Judea was questioning Him about why the chief priests handed Him over to him to be condemned to death and crucified. Then, in that conversation and exchange we heard Pilate’s question to Jesus, asking Him about the accusations that the chief priests had been making against Him regarding the claim that He called Himself as the King of the Jews. This false claim and accusation was made by the chief priests against the Lord because they knew that it was high treason for anyone to claim to be king and ruler when the land was under Roman dominion and rule.
It was then that the Lord replied to Pilate that He is indeed a King, although not in the manner that he would think or know of. The Lord Himself mentioned that His Kingdom is not of this world, in the sense that His Kingdom, Dominion, power and sovereignty cannot be bound or described in the manner that any other earthly kingdoms and dominions, states and realms can be defined and bound. His Kingship is truly Universal and all-encompassing, and every nation, dominions, realms and other earthly boundaries are all under His rule and power, and this is the truth and reality that every one of us have to believe and trust in, knowing that because God is our Lord and King, hence, we are all the people of the King of Kings, the ones whom He had called and chosen to be His own beloved people.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to these words from the Scriptures and as we all ponder upon the reality of the Kingship of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, let us all therefore renew our faith and commitment in the Lord, to proclaim Him as our one true Lord and King. And if we truly believe and accept our Lord Jesus as King, then we must truly enthrone Him in our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, in our whole being, and strive as always to put Him at the very centre of our existence and lives. This is what we have been invited and reminded to do, to follow and obey Our King at all times and in all circumstances. As Christians, we must always be ready to proclaim our allegiance to God and our adherence to His ways and teachings, His Law and commandments at every moments in our lives.
The problem often then lies in the fact that many of us do not truly proclaim and hold fast to the fact and belief that Our Lord Jesus Christ, our God, is our Lord and King, our Master and Ruler. Why is that so, brothers and sisters? That is because we often allow the temptations present all around us, the temptations of power, money, worldly desires and attachments to distract us and pull us away from God and His path. And we also end up making those things to be our idols and masters instead of the Lord. Indeed, there are plenty of false idols around us, the idol of money, possessions, ambitions and other forms of worldly pursuits and desires that can keep us away from being truly committed and faithful to the Lord, our true Master and King.
May our Lord and Saviour, our King and Master, Jesus Christ, the Almighty and All-Encompassing Master and Ruler of the whole entire Universe and Creation continue to bless and guide us in all of our every endeavours, efforts and works. May all of us as His beloved and faithful people, His one flock and nation, all remain united in total obedience and commitment to Him as our Lord and King, our true Master in all things. Let us all and our devotion to our King continue to inspire many others in how we live our lives, becoming the great and shining beacons of truth, hope and love, revealing the Good News of God to all creation. Christus Vincit! Christus Regnat! Christus Imperat! Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 18 : 33b-37
Pilate summoned Jesus and asked Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” Jesus replied, “Does this word come from you, or did you hear it from others?” Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed You over to me. What have You done?”
Jesus answered, “My kingship does not come from this world. If I were a King, like those of this world, My guards would have fought to save Me from being handed over to the Jews. But My Kingship is not of this world.” Pilate asked Him, “So You are a King?” And Jesus answered, “Just as you say, I am a King. For this I was born and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is on the side of truth hears My voice.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Revelations 1 : 5-8
And from Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him Who loves us and has washed away our sins with His own Blood, making us a kingdom and priests for God His Father, to Him be the glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
See He comes with the clouds and everyone will see Him, even those who pierced Him; on His account all the nations of the earth will beat his breast. Yes. It will be so. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, He Who is, Who was and Who is to come : the Master of the universe.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 92 : 1ab, 1c-2, 5
YHVH reigns, robed in majesty; YHVH is girded with strength.
The world now, is firm; it cannot be moved. Your throne stands from long ago, o YHVH; from all eternity You are.
Your decrees can be trusted; holiness dwells in Your House, day after day, without end, o YHVH.
Liturgical Colour : White
Daniel 7 : 13-14
I continued watching the nocturnal vision : One like a Son of Man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age and was brought into His presence. Dominion, honour and kingship were given Him, and all the peoples and nations of every language served Him. His dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; His kingdom will never be destroyed.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we conclude the current liturgical year and will be beginning the new liturgical year cycle with the season of Advent tomorrow on the First Sunday of Advent, let us all reflect upon all the words of the Sacred Scriptures that we have listened to on this day, reminding each and every one of us of our obligations as Christians to be truly faithful, committed and devoted to the Lord our God, at all times. We must always be vigilant and keep our lives worthy of the Lord, in doing His commandments and Law, and in walking down the path and following the things that He has shown and taught us to do. We should not be easily swayed by temptations and pressures from this world, the challenges, trials and difficulties that may be present in our path as we live our lives in Christian manner.
In our first reading passage today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Daniel in which we continue with the details of the apocalyptic vision that Daniel received from the Lord regarding the coming of the end of times and the salvation promised from God. In that reading, we heard of the coming of the four great beasts that will ravage the world, oppress the faithful and the people of God, and cause great destruction. These are the same beasts that a few centuries later, St. John the Apostle would also witness in his series of apocalyptic visions in the island of Patmos. Those beasts represent the forces of the Devil, the great enemy, who would try to crush all those who oppose him and those who are faithful to God.
We heard from that same passage how those beasts dominated over the world and persecuted the holy people of God, namely those who have held on firmly to their faith in God and remained virtuous and worthy of Him despite the struggles and challenges that they would have to face in the midst of their lives. Those beasts represent the dominion and power of Satan and all of his wicked allies, all the forces of evil who are always ready to strike upon us, bringing us to our downfall and destruction. And they manifested all their power and projections upon us, their efforts and strikes through the worldly domains and powers, by whom they persecuted and made lives difficult for those who continue to keep the commandments of the Lord faithfully and courageously.
But the Lord reassured us all, His beloved ones, that through Daniel, He showed us all that no matter how powerful and mighty those wicked forces may be, and how overpowering and dominating they all may seem to be to us, but in the end, even the mightiest of their forces, in their greatest triumphs and moments of pride, in the end, none of these shall remain and hold up against the might and power of the One true Lord and Master of all, Our King and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the One through Whom God has revealed His salvation and love, His truth and presence to all of us. In the end, even the devil and all of his mighty forces have to bend their knee and submit to the commands and the judgment of the one and only True God and King.
And as we heard from that same vision, the dominion of Satan and all of his forces, no matter how powerful and mighty they may be, ultimately all of them have been doomed from the start, for they rose up against the Lord, their Master, and they shall be utterly defeated and crushed in the end, never to harm any one of us ever again. There are of course those who have sided with them and chose to rebel against the Lord through sin and corruption of evil, but in the end, only those who are faithful to the Lord will be saved and will enjoy forever the rich bounties of God’s divine providence and inheritance, while those who did not keep their faith in Him will go to eternal damnation, suffering and destruction.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord Jesus reminding His disciples and followers, and hence all of us, that we should all be ever vigilant and prepared in each and every moments of our lives so that we do not end up being caught unprepared amidst the temptations, pressures, coercions and other things all around us that may cause us to lose our focus and attention on the Lord. Many of us have fallen into the temptations and corruptions of the worldly ways and wickedness present all around us. This is why many people have faltered and fallen into the wrong paths in life. This is why we are constantly being reminded by the Lord, especially as we are about to enter into the new liturgical year cycle, and the season of Advent, that we must not allow all those wickedness to affect and mislead us.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence examine and reevaluate our paths in life. Let us all look into how we have lived our lives so far, and ask ourselves if we truly have devoted our lives to the Lord and been true to His path. Are we willing to walk ever more faithfully in the path that God has shown us? Or are we more interested in satisfying ourselves with the temptations and desires, pleasures and attachments of this world? The choice is ours to make, whether we want to allow the Lord to lead us down the right path and whether we want to walk on this path, or whether we allow our desires and attachments to drag us down the path towards our downfall and damnation. The choice is ours to make because God has given us all the freedom to choose our course of action.
May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, continue to guide and strengthen each and every one of us. Let us all continue to persevere in our struggle daily in faith, and do whatever we can, so that we may always ever be worthy and committed in our dedication and commitment to the Lord at all times. Let us all enter into this Season of Advent with renewed heart and faith, with greater commitment and love for the Lord. Let us all be true and faithful disciples and followers of the Lord, and strive to be the worthy beacons of God’s light, truth and love, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Luke 21 : 34-36
At that time, Jesus said to the people, “Be on your guard : do not immerse yourselves in a life of pleasure, drunkenness and worldly cares, lest that day catch you unaware, like a trap! For, like a snare, will that day come upon all the inhabitants of the earth. But watch at all times and pray, that you may be able to escape all that is going to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 