4th Week of Ordinary Time

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Thursday, 6 February 2020 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 6 : 7-13

At that time, Jesus called the Twelve to Him, and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over evil spirits, and He ordered them to take nothing for the journey, except a staff : no food, no bag, no money on their belts. They were to wear sandals and were not to take an extra tunic.

And He added, “In whatever house you are welcomed, stay there until you leave the place. If any place does not receive you, and the people refuse to listen to you, leave after shaking the dust off your feet. It will be a testimony against them.”

So they set out to proclaim that this was the time to repent. They drove out many demons and healed many sick people by anointing them.

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Thursday, 6 February 2020 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Chronicles 29 : 10, 11ab, 11d-12a, 12bcd

May You be praised, YHVH God of Israel our ancestor, forever and ever!

Yours, YHVH, is the greatness, the power, splendour, length of days, glory; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is Yours.

Yours is the sovereignty forever, o YHVH; You are supreme Ruler over all. Riches and honour go before You.

You are Ruler of all; in Your hand lie strength and power. You are the One Who gives greatness and strength to all.

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Thursday, 6 February 2020 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Kings 2 : 1-4, 10-12

When David was about to die, he gave his son Solomon this instruction, “I am about to go the way of all creatures. Be strong and show yourself a man. Keep the commandments of YHVH your God and walk in His ways. Keep His statutes, His commands, His ordinances and declarations written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in whatever you do and wherever you go.”

If you do so, YHVH will fulfil the promise He made to me : If your sons take care to walk before Me faithfully with their whole heart and their whole soul, you shall always have one of your descendants on the throne of Israel.”

Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. David reigned over Israel for forty years : seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. So Solomon sat on the throne of David his father and his reign was firmly established.

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Wednesday, 5 February 2020 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are told first of all, of another occurrence when king David of Israel sinned against God besides his adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of his captain Uriah. King David wanted to know the might of his power and the glory of his kingdom and thus, he asked Joab his commander to conduct a great census over all of Israel and Judah, which was abhorred by God because it implied that David had fallen into pride.

And David only realised his folly later on, when the Lord rebuked and reminded him of how futile his pursuits had been. For even if God were to grant him more people to rule over and even a greater kingdom to rule over, it was by the grace of God that David has enjoyed all the wonders and glory, and not by his own strength and power. At that moment, David gave in to his momentary weakness and allowed the devil to tempt him with the temptation of grandeur and worldly glory.

How is this then related to what we heard in our Gospel passage today? In that Gospel passage today we heard of how the Lord Jesus went to His own hometown, that is Nazareth, and began teaching and performing His works among His own townspeople, many of whom had known Him since He was still very young. Almost immediately they doubted and judged Him, wondering how the Son of a simple village carpenter could have spoken so well and performed so many wonders and miracles.

They questioned the Lord in that manner, and because of their lack of faith, the Lord could not do much work and progress in that area, a fact that He Himself lamented and He also mentioned how the prophets of old also devoted their time and efforts to bring God’s truth and guide the people into the right paths, and yet it was the same people who rejected the prophets and persecuted them. The people of Israel and Judah to whom the prophets belonged to refused to listen to them, although those prophets were known to them.

It was the people considered as pagans and idolaters that listened to the prophets, like the widow of Zarephath in Sidon who gave the prophet Elijah a lodging and food during his time away from the land of Israel. It was also Rahab the prostitute in Jericho who helped the scouts of the Israelites to hide from those who wanted to look for them. It was the Samaritans who welcomed the Lord Jesus when He was rejected by His own countrymen and even those from His own village.

All of these show us that when we mankind become proud and allow ourselves to be swayed by the temptations of the devil, we will end up falling into his trap and we may be like those Israelites who failed to welcome and accept the truth of God through the prophets because they were too engrossed with themselves and their pursuits for worldly happiness and glory. The devil knows this very well and he will do whatever he can to prevent us from opening ourselves to God and allowing Him to touch our lives.

Are we willing and able to welcome the Lord into our hearts and open them for Him to enter? His own townspeople and countrymen rejected Him out of their pride and existing prejudices, their reluctance to listen and change according to what the Lord has revealed to them. But we can be better than them, and we are called to follow the Lord and be attuned to His truth and love. Today, we have a great example in St. Agatha, a great holy woman and martyr of the faith, who can inspire us through her life and faith how we should live our lives with faith.

St. Agatha, also known as St. Agatha of Sicily was one of the most highly venerated and famous saint of the early Church for her great courage in defending her faith. She was born into a noble family and encountered great trouble when a Roman prefect made advances on her and she rejected it because she dedicated herself in a holy vow of virginity to God. The Roman prefect, angered by her rejection, brought St. Agatha to be arrested and persecuted under the then vicious persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperor Decius.

Despite all the persecution and suffering that she had to face, St. Agatha refused to renounce her faith in God and she also was remembered for her prayer for courage before Lord, asking Him to guide and protect her as she was led like a lamb into the midst of wolves. She suffered all sorts of terrible torture and assault, humiliation and actions that would have made any other people to give up, but St. Agatha remained firm in her faith until she died in martyrdom eventually in prison. She remained true to her faith in God till the very end, and her example inspired many others through the centuries and more afterwards.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Agatha has shown us what it means to truly have faith in God and to be faithful to Him, with a living and genuine faith that allow God to enter into our lives so that our lives and actions may be transformed by His grace and love. Are we able to devote ourselves to God in this manner? Are we able to spend our time and commit ourselves to God as St. Agatha and many other of our holy predecessors had done? Let us not allow the devil from penetrating into our hearts and minds, and definitely we must not allow him to tempt us into sin.

Let us all discern carefully the path that we will take in life so that we may truly serve God with all of our hearts and minds from now on with faith, as St. Agatha and innumerable other saints and holy men and women of God had done. May the Lord help and guide us through this journey, and help us to resist the temptations of pride and desire, and love Him with ever greater devotion and sincerity from now on. Amen.

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Wednesday, 5 February 2020 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 6 : 1-6

At that time, leaving the place where He raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead, Jesus returned to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and most of those who heard Him were astonished.

But they said, “How did this come to Him? What kind of wisdom has been given to Him, that He also performs such miracles? Who is He but the Carpenter, the Son of Mary, and the Brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? His sisters, too, are they not here among us?” So they took offence at Him.

And Jesus said to them, “Prophets are despised only in their own country, among their relatives, and in their own family.” And He could work no miracles there, but only healed a few sick people, by laying His hands on them. Jesus Himself was astounded at their unbelief. Jesus then went around the villages, teaching.”

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Wednesday, 5 February 2020 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 31 : 1-2, 5, 6, 7

Blessed is the one whose sin is forgiven, whose iniquity is wiped away. Blessed are those in whom YHVH sees no guilt and in whose spirit is found no deceit.

Then I made known to You my sin and uncovered before You my fault, saying to myself, “To YHVH I will now confess my wrong.” And You, You forgave my sin; You removed my guilt.

So let the faithful ones pray to You in time of distress; the overflowing waters will not reach them.

You are my Refuge; You protect me from distress and surround me with songs of deliverance.

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Wednesday, 5 February 2020 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Samuel 24 : 2, 9-17

The king said to Joab and the commanders of the army who were with him, “Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beersheba and count the people that I may know how many they are.”

Joab gave the total count of the people to the king : eight hundred thousand warriors in Israel and five hundred thousand men in Judah. But after he had the people counted, David felt remorse and said to YHVH, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done, but now, o YHVH, I ask You to forgive my sin for I have acted foolishly.”

The following day, before David awoke, YHVH’s word had come to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, “Go, and give David this message : I offer you three things and I will let one of them befall you according to your own choice.”

So Gad went to David and asked him, “Do you want three years of famine in your land? Or do you want to be pursued for three months by your foes while you flee from them? Or do you want three days’ pestilence in your land? Now, think and decide what answer I shall give Him Who sent me.”

David answered Gad, “I am greatly troubled. Let me fall into the hands of YHVH Whose mercy is abundant; but let me not fall into human hands.” So YHVH sent a pestilence on Israel from morning until the appointed time, causing the death of seventy thousand men from Dan to Beersheba. When the Angel stretched forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, YHVH would punish no more and said to the Angel who was causing destruction among the people, “It is enough, hold back your hand.”

The Angel of YHVH was already at the threshing floor of Araunah, the Jebusite. When David saw the Angel striking the people, he spoke to YHVH and said, “I have sinned and acted wickedly, but these are only the sheep; what have they done? Let Your hand strike me and my father’s family.”

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Tuesday, 4 February 2020 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of God speaking to us about the matter of life and death, and how all of us as Christians must truly believe that our lives are in the hands of the Lord, Who is the Lord and Master of all life. He loves all of us as His own children and cares for each and every one of us without exception. We heard of one example of this precious love as what we have heard in our first reading today of what happened between king David of Israel and his son, Absalom.

At that time, Absalom rose up in rebellion against king David, his own father, with the intention of seizing power and the kingdom for himself. Absalom had always been proud of himself and behaved haughtily since he was young, and as described in the Scriptures, he always pretended and dressed as if he was already a king since his youth, acted and behaved with ambition and pride, and when opportunities presented itself, after period of possible conflict and disagreement with his father, Absalom took the chance and launched his rebellion.

But God was with David, and the rebellion was destroyed when the armies of Absalom were defeated by the supporters of David. And as mentioned in our Gospel passage today, Absalom himself was killed by Joab, David’s chief commander when he was fleeing and was unfortunately trapped by a tree. Hearing the news of Absalom’s death from a Cushite, David broke down in great sorrow and showed his still great love and affection for Absalom despite his rebelliousness.

It was this love with which God our Father loves us all, His beloved children, that He wants us all to know that He is with us and He will not abandon us to our sufferings. He listens to our prayers and knows all of our needs, and He will provide for us when we ask. In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the many miracles which Our Lord Jesus performed, beginning from the healing of the woman with bleeding or haemorrhage, who was healed when she touched the cloak of Jesus, and then the daughter of the Temple official who died of sickness and then raised back to life by the Lord.

We have sinned by our disobedience against God, and because of that we should have been destroyed and suffered. And yet, because of the great love that God has for each and every one of us, He gave us Christ, His own beloved Son, to be our Saviour. All those who believe in Him and have placed their trust in Him will be saved, as the woman with bleeding proved to us. She had complete faith in the Lord’s providence, and she was healed.

We contrast this with the attitude of the many people who laughed at Jesus when He said that the daughter of the Temple official was just sleeping and not dead. Despite most likely knowing the Lord Jesus and His miracles beforehand, those people did not believe in Him and did not put their trust in Him. They preferred to trust in their own judgment and gave in to their prejudices and pride like that of Absalom, David’s prideful son. It was this pride and hubris that first of all led him into his path of rebellion that ended in tragedy.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what is the important lesson that all of us should take heed of today? It is that our rebellion and disobedience against God lead only to suffering and destruction, to be antagonised against God, our loving Father. Yet, He still loves us all regardless of this and wants us to be reconciled to Him. He has given us the perfect gift of Christ, His Son to us to reconcile us to Himself. If we turn our hearts and minds away from sin, and put our trust and faith once again in God through Christ, salvation in guaranteed for us.

But are we able to make that commitment? There are plenty of challenges and temptations that will threaten to keep us away from being able to recognise God’s love and desire to forgive us. Either we are too proud to accept and acknowledge God’s forgiveness and mercy, or that we think that we are too unworthy and sinful to deserve to be forgiven. And the devil will try his best to persuade us all to think in these manner, to prevent us from being reunited with God.

Let us all reflect on the messages of the Scripture passages and the words of God given to us today. Let us renew our faith in God and deepen our relationship with Him, putting our trust in Him and in His forgiveness and mercy, by throwing ourselves with repentance and sincere desire to love Him into His embrace. Let us all sin no longer and devote ourselves, our time, effort and attention from now on to be good disciples and followers of God in all things. May God be with us all and bless us, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 4 February 2020 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 5 : 21-43

At that time, Jesus then crossed to the other side of the lake; and while He was still on the shore, a large crowd gathered around Him. Jairus, an official of the synagogue, came up and, seeing Jesus, threw himself at His feet; and begged Him earnestly, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, so that she may get well and live.”

Jesus went with him, and many people followed, pressing around Him. Among the crowd was a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a lot at the hands of many doctors and had spent everything she had, but instead of getting better, she was worse. Because she had heard about Jesus, this woman came up behind Him and touched His cloak, thinking, “If I just touch His clothing, I shall get well.”

Her flow of blood dried up at once, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her complaint. But Jesus was conscious that healing power had gone out from Him, so He turned around in the crowd, and asked, “Who touched My clothes?” His disciples answered, “You see how the people are crowding around You. Why do You ask who touched You?”

But He kept looking around to see who had done it. Then the woman, aware of what had happened, came forward, trembling and afraid. She knelt before Him, and told Him the whole truth. Then Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be free of this illness.”

While Jesus was still speaking, some people arrived from the official’s house to inform him, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Master any further?” But Jesus ignored what they said, and told the official, “Do not fear, just believe.” And He allowed no one to follow Him except Peter, James and John, the brother of James.

When they arrived at the house, Jesus saw a great commotion, with people weeping and wailing loudly. Jesus entered, and said to them, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep.” They laughed at Him. So Jesus sent them outside, and went with the child’s father and mother and His companions into the room, where the child lay.

Taking her by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kumi!” which means, “Little girl, get up!” The girl got up at once and began to walk around. (She was twelve years old.) The parents were amazed, greatly amazed. Jesus strictly ordered them not to let anyone know about it; and He told them to give her something to eat.

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Tuesday, 4 February 2020 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 85 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Listen, o YHVH, and answer me, for I am afflicted and needy. Preserve my life, for I am God-fearing; save Your servant who trusts in You.

Have mercy on me, o YHVH, for I cry to You all day. Bring joy to the soul of Your servant; for You, o YHVH, I lift up my soul.

You are good and forgiving, o YHVH, caring for those who call on You. Listen, o YHVH, to my prayer, hear the voice of my pleading.