5 October 2016

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Wednesday, 5 October 2016 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings show to us the works of the Apostles, who in St. Paul and the Twelve Apostles had brought the Good News of the Lord and preached it to the many peoples in the various cities that they have visited. They have revealed the goodness of God to those people and called them out of the darkness and into the light.

And what did they tell these people, brethren? It is that God is their loving God and Creator, He Who have crafted them and gave life to them, and therefore, instead of a faraway and distant God, He is the Lord Who is also our Father, loving and caring, compassionate and willing to forgive us His children, all those who have erred in our ways.

This has become even more special for the Lord Himself after taking up the flesh of our own humanity, becoming one of us, through Jesus Christ His Son, the Divine Word Incarnate, that as He calls His Father, God, as His Father, now we all who share in the same flesh of Man He had, we too may also call God our Father. And that is the very essence of His prayer, which now we all know as the Pater Noster, our Father, or the Lord’s Prayer.

That prayer is the essence of pure prayer and the perfect way of communicating with the Lord our Father. And Jesus showed us all how to pray, that we know how to talk to the Father Who cares for us and shows His gentle love to us, that we may be able to find the way to understand what He wants us to do, and that we may be able to open our hearts and minds to listen to Him speaking to us in the depth of our our hearts.

Many of us may think that we know how to pray, but in reality, if we think about it, how did we pray to God? Did we pray to God only when we are in need of help and thus heaped upon God a litany of wishes or even demands? Did we only seek to turn to the Lord at our times of need and wants? If we have done all these, then we ought to know then that our prayer and spiritual life is weak, and the foundation of our faith is likely also weak.

Many of us think that prayer is a human’s way to get help from God, as if God is our servant to begin with, and that we can ask Him and order Him to do as we wanted. And that is where many of us are often mistaken on the nature of prayer. We think of prayer as some kind of wonder path for us, a magical path for God to come in and help in our lives, and thus that is why when our wants and wishes are not met and fulfilled, we tend to become angry and reject the Lord.

The truth is that, prayer is a way for us to communicate with the Lord, our God and Father. And as all forms of communication are, prayers should be a two-way conversation between us and God. However, it is too often that we drown out God’s voice in our own loud voice and insistence that God should listen to our demands and wishes. And more often than not, we are also often too busy in noticing just how much our Father wants to speak with us and talk to us.

Jesus offered a simple and yet powerful prayer, a model for all other forms of prayers to follow. It contains glorification, petition and humility all in one prayer. As God has been so loving and caring towards us, it is indeed only right and just for us to thank Him and to glorify Him for all of His wonderful grace. God has loved us so much, and if we only would open our hearts and minds to Him, He would have blessed us abundantly. He will not abandon us to destruction or ruin on purpose.

Therefore, as we all reflect on today’s Scripture readings, let us all look upon our relationship with God our Father. Are we even close to Him? Are we able to truly look upon Him and call Him our Father? Have we given Him the love of our heart just as He has given His love for us? These are the things that we have to ponder as we live our lives in this world today, that we may not lose the sight of our true focus and attention, that is the Lord our loving God.

Despite whatever challenges and difficulties we face, and even while others and all our strengths falter, but God alone will remain true and faithful, and in Him alone we shall find true love and salvation. God will not abandon us for He Who is all good cannot possibly deny His own love for us. Let us all therefore draw closer to God our Father and ask Him to bless us always and to grace us with His love, and let us open our hearts to communicate with Him through sincere prayer. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 5 October 2016 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 11 : 1-4

At that time, one day Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”

And Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say this : Father, may Your Name be held holy, may Your kingdom come; give us each day the kind of bread we need, and forgive us our sins, for we also forgive all who do us wrong; and do not bring us to the test.”

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Wednesday, 5 October 2016 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 116 : 1, 2

Alleluia! Praise the Lord, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him.

How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.

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Wednesday, 5 October 2016 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Galatians 2 : 1-2, 7-14

After fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and Titus came with us. Following a revelation, I went to lay before them the Gospel that I am preaching to the pagans. I had a private meeting with the leaders – lest I should be working or have worked in a wrong way.

They recognised that I have been entrusted to give the Good News to the pagan nations, just as Peter has been entrusted to give it to the Jews. In the same way that God made Peter the Apostle of the Jews, He made me the Apostle of the pagans.

James, Cephas and John acknowledged the graces God gave me. Those men who were regarded as the pillars of the Church stretched out their hand to me and Barnabas as a sign of fellowship; we would go to the pagans and they to the Jews. We should only keep in mind the poor among them. I have taken care to do this.

When later Cephas came to Antioch, I confronted him since he deserved to be blamed. Before some of James’ people arrived, he used to eat with non-Jewish people. But when they arrived, he withdrew and did not mingle anymore with them, for fear of the Jewish group.

The rest of the Jews followed him in this pretence, and even Barnabas was part of this insincerity. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas publicly : If you who are Jewish agreed to live like the non-Jews, setting aside the Jewish customs, why do you now compel the non-Jews to live like Jews?