3rd Sunday of Lent

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Monday, 4 March 2024 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded of several very important things through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures that we must heed as we continue to progress through this time and season of Lent, called to repentance from our many sins and wickedness, and reminded to return to the Lord, our most loving God, Who alone can heal us from our fallen state, our troubled and corrupted beings, because of the corruption and the wickedness caused by our many sins. Through the story of the healing of Naaman the Syrian from the Old Testament to the story of how the Lord Jesus was rejected in His own hometown of Nazareth in the Gospels, we are all reminded that we should put our trust in the Lord and not in the ways of the world, many of which may lead us astray and down the wrong path in life.

As mentioned, in our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Kings of Israel and Judah the story of how Naaman, a great and respected general of the Kingdom of Aram-Damascus, was afflicted with the terrible leprosy disease that was not yet easily curable at that time. That disease made one to be shunned and rejected from the community, and that must have been a really terrible blow for such a high-ranking and well-respected man. Then, we heard how Naaman came to the land of Israel hearing that there was a prophet there, the prophet Elisha, who was renowned for his many miracles and good works in ministering to the Israelites, showing God’s power and miracles to them. Naaman went to Elisha with the hope that the man of God could heal him from his conditions.

Therefore, Elisha told Naaman to go and bathe in the River Jordan seven times and then he would be healed from his leprosy. But we heard how Naaman became angry, expecting that the man of God should have come to him and perform his miracles to him in person, and not to ask him to do such trivial tasks, even arguing that there were better rivers in his own land. This was where Naaman’s servant reminded him that such a task was not really difficult to do, and if Naaman really wanted to be healed, then he should have just listened to Elisha and do ask he was asked to do. We heard how Naaman obeyed eventually and was therefore healed from his afflictions, and was restored to good health through his obedience and faith in God.

In what we have heard from our first reading today, we can see clearly how the Lord loved all of His people, including even the people who did not belong to the nation of Israel. The Aramaeans were enemies of the Israelites for much of their existence, and yet, God showed His mercy, love and healing for one of their most renowned generals. Naaman was also a representation of all of us, who are sinners and unworthy of God, and yet, through His most wonderful and generous mercy, love and compassion, Naaman was healed and therefore in the same way, all of us can and will be healed as well, as long as we allow ourselves to be healed by the Lord, healed from the taint and corruption of our many sins and wickedness, which have caused us to be separated from God and His love.

And that leprosy is a representation of our sins, which are also akin to the disease in how they afflict us. Unlike leprosy, which can ultimately still be cured by earthly means, only the Lord alone can heal us from our sins, by His forgiveness and mercy. Through God’s forgiveness and grace, we will once again be in His favour, reconciled to Him, while having those sins cleared and forgiven from us. We will therefore no longer suffer the consequences of those sins which we have committed, and we will once again be filled with God’s grace, and reassured of His salvation and eternal life. All these can only happen if we allow ourselves and are open to the mercy and kindness of God that He has shown to all of us, just as He has shown it to Naaman who listened to Him and obeyed His commands through the prophet Elisha.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Luke in which as mentioned, the story of the moment when Jesus was rejected in His own hometown of Nazareth, as the people there refused to believe in what the Lord had said and proclaimed, simply because they judged Him and thought that they knew Who He truly was, the Son of a lowly village carpenter, that is His foster-father St. Joseph. The people of Nazareth hardened their hearts and minds against the Lord and rejected Him, in contrast to how the attitude of Naaman, the Syrian general had been. This was highlighted by the Lord Himself, Who said that prophets were never respected and honoured in their own lands, and gave the example of Naaman himself, who believed in God and was healed by the prophet Elisha, while so many others in the land of Israel refused to believe in Elisha and even persecuted the man of God.

This is a reminder for all of us that once again, God’s healing, mercy and forgiveness are shared and offered freely to everyone. He did not discriminate by the origins or backgrounds of the people, because ultimately, all of mankind, all of us are His beloved children and people. He called some earlier than others, like Abraham and his descendants, the Israelites, but ultimately God desired to call everyone to His Presence and to save all of them without exception. This is why the Lord was making that point about how even foreigners and pagans were receiving God’s grace and salvation because they believed, while the people who were supposed to be called first and were faithful, were actually the ones who rejected the love and mercy of God. This is a reminder that we should not be prideful and haughty, and we must not think that we are in any way better or more worthy than others around us, and less still to discriminate against others.

The Church celebrates the Feast of St. Casimir today, and on his feast day all of us are reminded of the exemplary faith and life of this dedicated man of God, so that hopefully we may also follow his good examples in our own lives. St. Casimir was a prince of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and at one time was the heir apparent to the thrones of both realms although he eventually did not succeed to both as he passed away quite early in his life. St. Casimir was renowned for his great piety and care for the less fortunate, for the needy and the sick throughout the kingdom despite his relatively young age. He lived his life humbly and with great devotion to God, and showed his piety and concern for the poor through charity and almsgiving.

The life of St. Casimir, while it might be a relatively short one compared to many others, is a great example and inspiration to many of us, as he showed all of us and many others during his time, his contemporaries how to live as true and genuine Christians, in doing God’s will, obeying His Law and commandments, in showing love for Him first and foremost while also showing great love and compassion for his fellow brethren at the same time, particularly those who were less fortunate and unloved. This is why today, I hope that his examples and inspirations can also serve as a good model for all of us to follow so that in whatever we say and do, in all of our actions and deeds, in our every interactions, we may truly be good examples for everyone.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to empower us all to live ever more faithfully as His disciples and followers, doing the best we can to proclaim His glory and to serve Him most faithfully at all times. May He bless us and strengthen us that we may continue to persevere in faith and remain firm in our commitments to Him, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 4 March 2024 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 4 : 24-30

At that time, Jesus said to the people of Nazareth, “No prophet is honoured in his own country. Truly, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens withheld rain for three years and six months and a great famine came over the whole land. Yet, Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in the country of Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet; and no one was healed except Naaman, the Syrian.”

On hearing these words, the whole assembly became indignant. They rose up and brought Him out of the town, to the edge of the hill on which Nazareth is built, intending to throw Him down the cliff. But He passed through their midst and went His way.

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Monday, 4 March 2024 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 41 : 2, 3 and Psalm 42 : 3, 4

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, o God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I go and see the face of God?

Send forth Your light and Your truth; let them be my guide, let them take me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You reside.

Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my gladness and delight. I will praise You with the lyre and harp, o God, my God.

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Monday, 4 March 2024 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Casimir (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

2 Kings 5 : 1-15a

Naaman was the army commander of the king of Aram. This man was highly regarded and enjoyed the king’s favour, for YHVH had helped him lead the army of the Arameans to victory. But this valiant man was sick with leprosy.

One day some Aramean soldiers raided the land of Israel and took a young girl captive who became a servant to the wife of Naaman. She said to her mistress, “If my master would only present himself to the prophet in Samaria, he would surely cure him of his leprosy.”

Naaman went to tell the king what the young Israelite maidservant had said. The king of Aram said to him, “Go to the prophet, and I shall also send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman went and took with him ten silver talents, six thousand gold pieces and ten festal garments.

On his arrival, he delivered the letter to the king of Israel. It said, “I present my servant Naaman to you that you may heal him of his leprosy. When the king read the letter, he tore his clothes to show his indignation, “I am not God to give life or death. And the king of Aram sends me this man to be healed! You see, he is just looking for an excuse for war.”

Elisha, the man of God, came to know that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, so he sent this message to him : “Why have you torn your clothes? Let the man come to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stopped before the house of Elisha. Elisha then sent a messenger to tell him, “Go to the river Jordan and wash seven times, and your flesh shall be as it was before, and you shall be cleansed.”

Naaman was angry, so he went away. He thought, “On my arrival, he should have personally come out, and then paused and called on the Name of YHVH, his God. And he should have touched with his hand the infected part, and I would have been healed. Are the rivers of Damascus, Abana and Pharpar not better than all the rivers of the land of Israel? Could I not wash there to be healed?”

His servants approached him and said to him, “Father, if the prophet had ordered you to do something difficult, would you not have done it? But how much easier when he said : ‘Take a bath and you will be cleansed.’” So Naaman went down to the Jordan where he washed himself seven times as Elisha had ordered. His skin became soft like that of a child and he was cleansed.

Then Naaman returned to the man of God with all his men.

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Sunday, 3 March 2024 : Third Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are presented with the important message and reminder for all of us to listen to the Lord our God, heed His Law and commandments, and be truly genuine and sincere in following Him as His disciples, followers and holy people. We cannot be truly saved unless we have embraced God in all things, in all parts of our whole lives and do everything in accordance to His will, to the best of our abilities. God has given us His Law and commandments to help and guide us in our journey, so that we can find the best path towards Him, in following what His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, has taught and revealed to us, in truly being obedient to the fullness of God’s Law and commandments, in being sincere and full of love both for God and for our fellow brothers and sisters around us.

In our first reading this Sunday, we heard from the Book of Exodus here the Lord spoke to Moses, revealing the core and basic tenets of the Law and the commandments which He was giving to His people, the Israelites, whom He was taking on a journey through the desert, on their way out of the land of Egypt, from their slavery and sufferings there, and into the land of promise, the Land of Canaan. The Lord gave them all His Law and commandments to guide them and to help them navigate their lives so that they would not lose their way and be misguided into the path of sin and evil, knowing that they would disobey and rebel against Him. The Lord taught them all His ways and showed them all that to follow Him and to commit to the Covenant which He had been making with them and their ancestors, then they would have to adhere to those Law and commandments.

That was why we heard of the Ten Commandments which God gave to His people through Moses, which He wrote on the two slabs of stone, as the heart and core of all the laws, precepts, rules and matters pertaining His ways and teachings. The Ten Commandments, just as the Lord Jesus elaborated and explained further later on, were in essence the way to love the Lord as well as loving one another, one’s own parents, family, relatives, friends and any other people around us, even strangers and acquaintances, because God Himself is Love, and it is only right and appropriate that all of us who follow Him and call ourselves as His beloved people, as Christians, just as the Israelites in the past, do what is truly befitting of us as people filled with love both for our God and as well as for our fellow brothers and sisters around us.

And as we have heard and being reminded of, to be truly filled with God’s love is for us to show that same, selfless and most generous love towards our Lord, first and foremost, in loving and focusing ourselves on Him at all times, in loving Him with all of our strength and might, and doing whatever we can so that by our love, we may truly dedicate and commit ourselves to Him, loving Him as just how He has loved us so generously. Then, we are reminded to show love and care for our fellow brothers and sisters, not to cause any hurt or suffering upon them, to be genuine in all of our love and compassion towards each other. This is why we must always centre ourselves upon the Lord, obey His Law and commit ourselves to the path that He has shown us.

In our second reading today, we heard from St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city of Corinth in which the Apostle spoke of how their beliefs, the beliefs that Christians upheld and possessed, all of them might lead to ridicule, rejection and persecution from both the Jewish authorities and people, as well as the Greeks, the two groups which at that time were where the main obstacles to the Christian missions came from. The Jewish authorities in particular opposed the teachings of the Lord and the works of His Apostles because they denied that He is the Son of God, and they had charged Him with blasphemy and crime against the Lord and His people.

Meanwhile, for the Greeks, many of whom were still pagan at that time, the rapid growth of the Christian faith and the increasingly rapid rate of conversion were threatening their traditional way of life and their own beliefs in the many pagan gods of the region. If we have read through the Acts of the Apostles, then we would have been familiar with how tensions arose between the Greek pagans and the Christian missionaries and converts, because the rapidly growing Church in those places were threatening the pagan ways, and the polytheistic pagans with their many gods and deities scoffed at the beliefs of the Christians with their monotheistic belief in one God, and in the differences between their beliefs and that of Christian teachings as mentioned earlier in the Law and commandments of God.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the story of the moment when the Lord Jesus chased out the merchants and the money changers doing their businesses at the courtyard of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. At that time, the Temple officials and the chief priests likely sanctioned and maybe even encouraged the merchants and the money changers to operate at the courtyard of the Temple firstly because their services were needed for the rituals and the sacrifices which were done at the Temple according to the Law and commandments of God. As the Jewish people at the time had spread to many other places beyond the land of Israel, and thus, many of them came from distant lands using various currencies, the services of the money changers are required, as only the Jewish shekel or silver coins were allowed to be used for the purchase of the Temple sacrifices, and those sacrifices were usually purchased by most of the pilgrims, as bringing them from faraway lands must have been difficult or impossible.

Then, those merchants and money changers must have also benefitted the Temple officials as they were likely paying rents for using the place, and hence, the Temple officials turned a blind eye to the wicked things that those merchants and money changers had done. They wickedly overcharged their customers, charging those pilgrims a premium for their services and goods, earning lots of profits and benefitting therefore from others’ sufferings. It was this wickedness and sin against God and their fellow mankind which the Lord Jesus was particularly angry against, as He told it all loudly for all to hear, not to turn His Father’s House into a ‘den of robbers’, referring to all those corrupt and unscrupulous merchants and money changers, and the Temple officials who grew rich out of all those wicked actions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is why this Sunday as we listened to all these words of the Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded that as Christians, we must always stand firm in our faith and in our Christian way of living, resisting and rejecting the temptations of worldly glory and all the paths of evil and wickedness which the devil and all of the forces of the wicked have arrayed against us. Each and every one of us should embrace God’s path and remember His Law and commandments, reminding ourselves that as Christians, as God’s holy people, we must always be exemplary in our lives and actions, and we must inspire others around us in how we live our lives, fulfilling the Law and commandments of God, not just doing them without meaning and purpose, but doing them with full of understanding and appreciation of what the Law is all about.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as the Lord has rooted out and chased those wicked people out of the Temple of God, let us all be reminded that especially during this time and season of Lent, we should also root out from ourselves all the wickedness of sin and evil, all the things which had ensnared us and kept us away from God and His truth. We must remember that our body, heart, mind, soul and our whole being itself is like the Temple of God, and we must always keep it pure and worthy of the Lord at all times. This is why today and henceforth, let us all repent from our sinful and wicked ways, and make best use of this time of Lent to turn back once again towards the Lord, our most loving and merciful God, keeping faithfully His Law and commandments, and be good inspiration for everyone around us. Amen.

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Sunday, 3 March 2024 : Third Sunday of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 2 : 13-25

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.

Jesus stayed in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, and many believed in His Name, when they saw the miraculous signs He performed. But Jesus did not trust Himself to them, because He knew all of them. He had no need of evidence about anyone, for He Himself knew what there was in each one.

Alternative reading (Reading from Year A)

John 4 : 5-42

At that time, Jesus came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well is there. Tired from His journey, Jesus sat down by the well; it was about noon. Now a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” His disciples had just gone into town to buy some food.

The Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?” (For Jews, in fact, have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift of God! If you knew Who it is, Who is asking you for a drink, you yourself would have asked Me, and I would have given you living water.”

The woman answered, “Sir, You have no bucket, and this well is deep; where is Your living water? Are You greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself, together with his sons and his cattle?” Jesus said to her, “Those who drink of this water will be thirsty again; but those, who drink of the water that I shall give, will never be thirsty; for the water, that I shall give, will become in them a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to Him, “Give me this water, that I may never be thirsty, and never have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said, “Go, call your husband, and come back here.” The woman answered, “I have no husband.” And Jesus replied, “You are right to say, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you said is true.”

The woman then said to Him, “I see You are a Prophet; tell me this : Our ancestors came to this mountain to worship God; but you Jews, do you not claim that Jerusalem is the only place to worship God?” Jesus said to her, “Believe Me, woman, the hour is coming when you shall worship the Father, but that will not be on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”

“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is even now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for that is the kind of worshippers the Father wants. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit, and truth.”

The woman said to Him, “I know that the Messiah (that is the Christ) is coming. When He comes, He will tell us everything.” And Jesus said, “I Who am talking to you, I am He.”

At this point the disciples returned, and were surprised that Jesus was speaking with a woman, however, no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and ran to the town. There she said to the people, “Come and see a Man Who told me everything I did! Could He not be the Christ?” So they left the town and went to meet Him.

In the meantime the disciples urged Jesus, “Master, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” And the disciples wondered, “Has anyone brought Him food?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the One Who sent Me, and to carry out His work.”

“You say that in four months there will be the harvest; now, I say to you, look up and see the fields white and ready for harvesting. People who reap the harvest are paid for their work, and the fruit is gathered for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. Indeed the saying holds true : One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap where you did not work or suffer; others have worked, and you are now sharing in their labours.”

In that town many Samaritans believed in Him when they heard the woman who declared, “He told me everything I did.” So, when they came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and Jesus stayed there two days. After that, many more believed because of His own words, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you told us: we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is the Saviour of the world.”

Alternative reading (shorter version of Reading from Year A)

John 4 : 5-15, 19b-26, 39a, 40-42

At that time, Jesus came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well is there. Tired from His journey, Jesus sat down by the well; it was about noon. Now a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” His disciples had just gone into town to buy some food.

The Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?” (For Jews, in fact, have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift of God! If you knew Who it is, Who is asking you for a drink, you yourself would have asked Me, and I would have given you living water.”

The woman answered, “Sir, You have no bucket, and this well is deep; where is Your living water? Are You greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself, together with his sons and his cattle?” Jesus said to her, “Those who drink of this water will be thirsty again; but those, who drink of the water that I shall give, will never be thirsty; for the water, that I shall give, will become in them a spring of water, welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to Him, “Give me this water, that I may never be thirsty, and never have to come here to draw water. I see You are a Prophet; tell me this : Our ancestors came to this mountain to worship God; but you Jews, do you not claim that Jerusalem is the only place to worship God?” Jesus said to her, “Believe Me, woman, the hour is coming when you shall worship the Father, but that will not be on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”

“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is even now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for that is the kind of worshippers the Father wants. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit, and truth.”

The woman said to Him, “I know that the Messiah (that is the Christ) is coming. When He comes, He will tell us everything.” And Jesus said, “I Who am talking to you, I am He.”

In that town many Samaritans believed in Him, so, when they came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and Jesus stayed there two days. After that, many more believed because of His own words, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you told us: we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is the Saviour of the world.”

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Sunday, 3 March 2024 : Third Sunday of Lent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

1 Corinthians 1 : 22-25

The Jews ask for miracles and the Greeks for a higher knowledge, while we proclaim a crucified Messiah. For the Jews, what a great scandal! And for the Greeks, what nonsense! But He is Christ, the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God, for those called by God among both Jews and Greeks.

In reality, the “foolishness” of God is wiser than humans, and the “weakness” of God is stronger than humans.

Alternative reading (Reading from Year A)

Romans 5 : 1-2, 5-8

By faith we have received true righteousness, and we are at peace with God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through Him we obtain this favour in which we remain and we even boast to expect the Glory of God.

And hope does not disappoint us because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God. Consider, moreover, the time that Christ died for us : when we were still helpless and unable to do anything.

Few would accept to die for an upright person; although, for a very good person, perhaps someone would dare to die. But see how God manifested His love for us : while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

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Sunday, 3 March 2024 : Third Sunday of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 18 : 8, 9, 10, 11

The Law of YHVH is perfect : it gives life to the soul. The word of YHVH is trustworthy : it gives wisdom to the simple.

The precepts of YHVH are right : they give joy to the heart. The commandments of YHVH are clear : they enlighten the eyes.

The fear of YHVH is pure, it endures forever; the judgments of YHVH are true, all of them just and right.

They are more precious than gold – pure gold of a jeweller; they are much sweeter than honey which drops from the honeycomb.

Alternative Psalm (Psalm from Year A)

Psalm 94 : 1-2, 6-7, 8-9

Come, let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful sound to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him giving thanks, with music and songs of praise.

Come and worship; let us bow down, kneel before the Lord, our Maker. He is our God, and we His people; the flock He leads and pastures. Would that today you heard His voice!

Do not be stubborn, as at Meribah, in the desert, on that day at Massah, when your ancestors challenged Me, and they put Me to the test.

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Sunday, 3 March 2024 : Third Sunday of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Exodus 20 : 1-17

God spoke all these words. He said, “I am YHVH your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Do not have other gods before Me. Do not make yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything in heaven, or on the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them.”

“For I, YHVH your God, am a jealous God; for the sin of the fathers, when they rebel against Me, I punish the sons, the grandsons and the great-grandsons; but I show steadfast love until the thousandth generation for those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

“Do not take the Name of YHVH your God in vain for YHVH will not leave unpunished anyone who takes His Name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. For six days you will labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath for YHVH your God.”

“Do not work that day, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter nor your servants, men or women, nor your animals, nor the stranger who is staying with you. For in six days YHVH made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, but on the seventh day He rested; that is why YHVH has blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

“Honour your father and your mother that you may have a long life in the land that YHVH has given you. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not give false witness against your neighbour. Do not covet your neighbour’s house. Do not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his.”

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Exodus 20 : 1-3, 7-8, 12-17

God spoke all these words. He said, “I am YHVH your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Do not have other gods before Me. Do not take the Name of YHVH your God in vain for YHVH will not leave unpunished anyone who takes His Name in vain. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.”

“Honour your father and your mother that you may have a long life in the land that YHVH has given you. Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not give false witness against your neighbour. Do not covet your neighbour’s house. Do not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his servant, man or woman, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is his.”

Alternative reading (Reading from Year A)

Exodus 17 : 3-7

But the people thirsted for water at Rephidim and grumbled against Moses, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to have us die of thirst with our children and our cattle?”

So Moses cried to YHVH, “What shall I do with the people? They are almost ready to stone me!” YHVH said to Moses, “Go ahead of the people and take with you the elders of Israel. Take with you the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you on the rock at Horeb. You will strike the rock and water will flow from it and the people will drink.”

Moses did this in the presence of the elders of Israel. The place was called Massah and Meribah because of the complaints of the Israelites, who tested YHVH saying, “Is YHVH with us or not?”

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Saturday, 18 March 2023 : 3rd Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded as we progress through this blessed season and time of Lent, that we should not allow pride, ego, ambition, arrogance and all the wickedness in our hearts and minds to distract and mislead us all down the wrong paths. If we allow those things to lead us astray, then we will end up getting further and further away from the Lord and His salvation. Worse still, we may end up in the eternal darkness and damnation, where regret and agony will be ours for eternity, regretting our foolish decisions and our inability to resist the various urges and temptations that surround us, pressure and allow us to walk down this wrong path in life. We should turn away from this path when there is still time and opportunity for us to do so.

In our first reading today, we heard from the prophet Hosea in which God reminded His people of the love that He has for them all, and also the sins and wickedness that they had committed against Him. Yet, despite all those sinful ways and wickedness, the Lord still looked upon all of them with pity and mercy, calling on them to repent and turn away from their sins and embrace His love and grace once again. He has called on all of them to find their way to His salvation, offering them freely His forgiveness and mercy, leading them down the path to righteousness, as He has done through His many prophets and messengers. The prophet Hosea for example has been sent to the people in the northern kingdom of Israel, composed of much of the ten of the twelve tribes of the Israelites that rebelled against the House of David, where many of the people had been wicked and sinful for throughout most of the preceding centuries, refusing to believe in God and persecuting His prophets.

Back then, during the life and ministry of the prophet Hosea, the people of Israel and Judah have been facing a lot of hardships and struggles, being attacked and crushed from all sides by their enemies, and at the time of Hosea, the kingdom of Israel were especially threatened by the growing power of the mighty and conquering Assyrian Empire, which was to destroy and conquer the Israelites towards the end of Hosea’s ministry, destroying their capital Samaria, their cities and towns, and bringing most of them off into exile and scattered them in distant lands far away from their homeland. Then, just another century or so later, the same would happen to the people of Judah as well, because the Babylonians also destroyed Jerusalem and Judah, and brought the rest of the people of God into exile. All those things happened because of the disobedience and the many sins that the people of God had committed against Him, and their refusal to follow Him or listen to His will.

Yet, the Lord did not abandon or forget about His people, despite them having betrayed and refused to listen to Him so many times. God has always remembered them and showed His kindness and love on them regardless. He has generously reached out to all of them and He is willing to forgive them all their sins if only that they repented and changed their sinful and wicked way of life. He had sent them so many prophets and messengers in order to remind and help them in their journey back towards Him, and He always showed His desire to be reconciled with us and to have us back once again in His loving embrace. God desired not their empty love and lack of true faith, but desiring that they all have a genuine conversion of heart, and a wholehearted commitment and dedication to His path, remembering His Law and commandments, His teachings and truth.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the well-known parable that the Lord spoke to the people regarding a Pharisee and a tax collector each praying in the Temple of God. We heard how the Pharisee flaunted his piety and actions, praising himself in an act of self-congratulation and pride, showing his egoistic nature and ambitious desires, and not only that, but he even looked down on the tax collector and criticised him for his supposed failures and wickedness, and making a show of his mocking of the tax collector’s unworthiness and sins before God. Meanwhile, as we heard, the tax collector did not even dare to look up, and was too ashamed and embarassed at his failures and sinful way of life, which he regretted and hoped to atone for before the Lord, begging for His mercy and forgiveness. He came before the Lord seeking for mercy and forgiveness, and that is what he was given, while the Pharisee’s boastful self-praise and action actually led him further into sin.

It was through this story then that the Lord wanted us all to know that each and every one of us are equally beloved by Him, and we should not think that we are deserving more of His love and mercy than others, or to think that others are undeserving and unworthy while we are worthy. The Lord has made it clear that all of us can share in the Lord’s most bountiful love and mercy, as long as we commit ourselves to the path of redemption, and commit ourselves to resist the temptations of sin and evil, distancing ourselves from those wickedness that had caused us to be sundered and separated away from God. The Lord has called on us to return to Him, and He wanted us all to walk this path of faith and forgiveness, showing us His desire to embrace us with His most generous kindness and love, to make us all His blessed people and children once again.

That is why we should resist the temptations of pride, greed and all the things that the Israelites and the Pharisee in our Scripture readings today have shown us. Instead, let us all look upon the good examples set by our holy predecessors, who have lived their lives faithfully and with love and devotion to God, especially that of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, whose feast we are celebrating today. St. Cyril of Jerusalem was the Bishop of Jerusalem who was remembered for his dedication to God and his flock, as well as for his courageous efforts and works in defending the true and orthodox faith against those who espoused the false and heretical teachings, especially that of the Arian heresy. Back then, many among the heretics enjoyed the protection of the Imperial court and the support of the powerful members of the community, and swayed by greed and worldly glory, those heretics continued to work in dividing the Church and bringing about the downfall of many into the wrong paths.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem dedicated himself to resist the efforts of those wicked heretics and committed his life and ministry to care for the spiritual well-being of his flock and that of the wider Universal Church, spending a lot of time writing various treatises on the faith, as well as other theological matters, and resisting the various efforts of the false teachers and guides in misleading the people of God down the wrong path. He faced a lot of hardships and trials throughout his ministry, being deposed and exiled on several occasions due to the intrigues and the resistance from the Arian bishops and heretics, but all these did not dampen the spirit and the dedication of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who continued to commit himself wholeheartedly for the work intended for the salvation of souls and for the glory of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the good examples set by St. Cyril of Jerusalem, and do whatever we can so that we may commit ourselves more wholeheartedly to the path that God has set before us. Let us all seek Him with humble and contrite hearts, loving God with all of our hearts and focusing our attention on Him. Let us all turn away from sin and from all evil, and let us resist the temptations surrounding us so that we may be truly worthy of God in all the things we act, say and do. May God be with us always, and may He guide us in our journey towards Him, and help us to remain strong and persevere against the allure of worldly temptations and evils. Amen.