4 August 2015

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Tuesday, 4 August 2015 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings have a clear theme, that all of them spoke of the faults and mistakes which all of us have committed in this life, and how we ought to humble ourselves before God and seek His ever great mercy, so that we may be forgiven of our sins and therefore we will not be cast away from His presence and from the life which He had promised to all of us.

In the first reading we heard how in the time during the Exodus from Egypt, Moses had some sort of power struggle with his siblings, namely Miriam and Aaron, his sister and brother respectively. They were unhappy at what they perceived as something unjust when God favoured Moses such that he was the only one through whom God communicated His will to His people.

As his brother and his sister, Miriam and Aaron had that kind of jealousy, thinking that if Moses had received such favours, then they too would deserve it as well. They therefore grumbled and rose up against Moses, all for the sake of the glory and praise which in our opinion, we think that they were expecting by sharing the same power and privilege which Moses had enjoyed.

But God was angry at them, because they had unjustly and wickedly tried to usurp and contest what God had decided, and they tried to wrest the rightful blessings and grace which God had shown His servant Moses, just because they were jealous in their hearts. And as a result, God showed His displeasure at them, and Miriam contracted leprosy, which was a disease that was one of the most taboo and humiliating at the time.

Yet, we should note how Moses did not rejoice over what had happened to his brother and his sister, and instead, he begged God to show mercy on them. Truly, this is something that we have to take note of. This means that, we cannot be like Aaron and Miriam in their behaviour towards Moses, in all the injustice they had shown him. Yet, their behaviour and actions are precisely what many of us mankind are suffering from.

How many of us have this tendency in us to be jealous at the achievement of others? How many of us also covet what others have? If we look at our own lives, then surely we would realise how many times we have caused this great discomfort upon others and bicker with them for what they have, because we are unable to restrain ourselves. We succumb ourselves to the pressure of our desires and wants, and therefore, we fell into sin.

Today, we celebrate the feast of a holy man, a holy saint, whose in life was known as a hardworking and dedicated man of God, whose concerns were for those whose souls were lost in the darkness, for those who were in a state of mortal danger and sin. He was known as the Cure of Ars, also known by his name of St. John Vianney or St. John Mary Vianney.

We know him as the patron saint for priests, who was the one whose examples inspired so many of the priests past and today. Through his hard and tireless works, he had brought about a great transformation in the lives of those people who were around him, transforming his community and many others who flocked to his place to see him and to hear from his teachings, and to be healed by his hands.

Through St. John Vianney and his works, countless souls had been saved, and many others were initiated on their path towards salvation. This is what Jesus in the Gospel today had mentioned, that salvation and someone’s righteousness does not begin with exterior cleanliness and purity, but instead, begins from the inside. St. John Vianney worked to heal not the body but the soul.

And in the Gospel today, we also heard about how Jesus chided Peter for his lack of faith, because he tried to walk on the water as Jesus had done, but the wind and the waves made him to fear, and in his fear, he trembled and started to sink. He lacked faith in the Lord, and the concerns and fears of this world began to affect him, the same things that had brought Aaron and Miriam to commit sin against God by being jealous to their own brother.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us no longer remain an unbeliever, and believe! Let us put our trust and faith fully in God and no longer be affected or corrupted by the many desires and worries of this world. Let us purify ourselves, our body, heart and soul from all sorts of jealousy, greed, desire, hatred and all other forms of negativities in us. May Almighty God bless us and guide us on our way. Amen.

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Tuesday, 4 August 2015 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 14 : 22-36

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 walking 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!”

They came ashore at Gennesareth. The local people recognised Jesus and spread the news throughout the region. So they brought all the sick to Him, begging Him to let them touch just the hem of His cloak. All who touched it became perfectly well.

Alternative reading

Matthew 15 : 1-2, 10-14

At that time, some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. And they said to Him, “Why do Your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? In fact, they do not wash their hands before eating.”

Jesus then called the people near Him, and said to them, “Listen and understand : What enters into the mouth does not make a person unclean. What defiles a person is what comes out of his mouth.” After a while the disciples gathered around Jesus and said, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended by what You said?”

Jesus answered, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted. Pay no attention to them! They are blind leading the blind. When a blind person leads another, the two will fall into a pit.”

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Tuesday, 4 August 2015 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 5-6a, 6bc-7, 12-13

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

For I acknowledge my wrongdoings and have my sins ever in mind. Against You alone have I sinned.

What is evil in Your sight I have done. You are right when You pass sentence and blameless in Your judgment. For I have been guilt-ridden from birth, a sinner from my mother’s womb.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

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Tuesday, 4 August 2015 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Numbers 12 : 1-13

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married and they said, “Has YHVH only spoken through Moses? Has He not also spoken through us?” And YHVH heard. Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than any man on the face of the earth. Yet suddenly YHVH said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, all three of you, to the Tent of Meeting.” The three of them came out.

YHVH came down in the pillar of cloud and, standing at the door of the Tent, called Aaron and Miriam. They both went out and He said, “Listen carefully to what I say : If there is a prophet among you, I reveal Myself to him in a vision and I speak to him in a dream. It is not so for My servant, Moses, My trusted steward in all My household. To him I speak face to face, openly, and not in riddles, and he sees the presence of YHVH. Why then did you not fear to speak against My servant, against Moses?”

YHVH became angry with them and He departed. The cloud moved away from above the Tent and Miriam was there white as snow with leprosy. Aaron turned towards Miriam and he saw that she was leprous. And he said to Moses, “My lord, I beg you, do not charge us with this sin that we have foolishly committed. Let her not be like the stillborn whose flesh is half-eaten when it comes from its mother’s womb.”

Then Moses cried to YHVH, “Heal her, o God, I beg of you.”