6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Wednesday, 19 February 2020 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 8 : 22-26

At that time, when Jesus and His disciples came to Bethsaida, He was asked to touch a blind man who was brought to Him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When He had put spittle on his eyes and laid His hands upon him, He asked, “Can you see anything?”

The man, who was beginning to see, replied, “I see people! They look like trees, but they move around.” Then Jesus laid His hands on his eyes again and the man could see perfectly. His sight was restored and he could see everything clearly. Then Jesus sent him home, saying, “Do not return to the village.”

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Wednesday, 19 February 2020 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 14 : 2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5

Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right, who speak truth from their heart and control their words, who do no harm to their neighbours.

Those who cast no discredit on their companions, who look down on evildoers but highly esteem God’s servants; who, at all costs, stand by a pledged word.

Those who do not lend money at interest and refuse a bribe against the innocent. Do this, and you will not be shaken.

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Wednesday, 19 February 2020 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

James 1 : 19-27

My beloved, be quick to hear but slow to speak, and slow to anger, for human anger does not fulfil the justice of God. So get rid of any filth, and reject the prevailing evil, and welcome the word that has been planted in you, and has the power to save you.

Be doers of the word, and not just hearers, lest you deceive yourselves. The hearer, who does not become a doer, is like that one, who looked at himself in the mirror; he looked, and then promptly forgot what he was like. But those who fix their gaze on the perfect law of freedom, and hold onto it, not listening and then forgetting, but acting on it, will find blessing on their deeds.

Those who think they are religious, but do not restrain their tongue, deceive themselves, and their religion is in vain. In the sight of God, our Father, pure and blameless religion lies in helping the orphans, and widows in their need, and keeping oneself from the world’s corruption.

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Tuesday, 18 February 2020 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Scripture, we have all been reminded of the great love of God for each and every one of us, and yet at the same time we are also warned of the dangers of our human desires and wants, our personal ambitions, ego and pride, which can lead us down the slippery path of sin that will make it difficult for us to resist the temptations to sin against God.

In our first reading today, St. James mentioned in his Epistle to the faithful, how God is ever good and ever loving, and if we put our trust and faith in Him, we will never be disappointed. And we should not say that temptations come from God, as indeed, St. James explained how temptations come from within us, through our desires and pride, ego and ambitions that twisted our thoughts, our minds and our hearts. And all those temptations and desires lead us to sin, and sin eventually lead us to damnation.

And this is what the Lord actually mentioned in our Gospel passage today, as He told the people who heard Him to be careful of the ‘yeast of the Pharisees’ and the ‘yeast of Herod’ and to keep their eyes open and be vigilant, that they themselves would not fall into sin and into damnation. What do these yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? This is where we need to look deeper into the significance of why Christ brought these two up in His teaching.

First of all, the Pharisees were the powerful group of intellectuals and men of high social standing, for their ardent and often zealous and rigid adherence to the laws and customs of the Law according to Moses. The Pharisees were the enforcers and guardians of the tradition and customs of the Law, and they took great pride in having such a position and honour among the people. The Pharisees saw themselves as the guardians of the traditions and the people, and as such they zealously guarded their positions and ways.

And this is what the ‘yeast of the Pharisees’ is all about. It speaks of the pride and ambition, the ego and desire in the hearts and minds of the Pharisees to maintain their position and privileges at all costs, even in opposing the Lord and Saviour Who has come into this world bearing the truth and salvation of God. They would rather resist Him and oppose Him and His works, rather than to lose their authority, power, control and influence among the people.

This is how pride and ego, ambition and desire can be so dangerous, as indeed they can lead us to temptations, and being tempted to maintain our ego and pride, we will end up making actions that are not just contrary to our faith, but are even scandalous and directly opposite of what God has taught us to do. And this is what the Lord meant by the ‘yeast of the Pharisees’ that we, the people of God, must be careful and vigilant against.

How about the ‘yeast of Herod’ then? Herod was the king of Galilee at the time, and he was infamous for his adulterous relationship with Herodias, his own brother’s wife, whom he married when she was still legally married to Herod’s brother, Philip, who was then also still alive. Herod was overcome by his desire and greed, and sinned by his desires, which resulted in his adultery. And not only that, when he was hosting a party, Herod succumbed to this same desire even towards his own stepdaughter.

When the daughter of his brother and Herodias danced in the party before Herod and his guests, Herod was again overcome by desire and made vows and promises that eventually led him to cause the death of St. John the Baptist whom he had arrested earlier on. Herodias wanted him dead, and made use of the opportunity through her daughter to make the request to Herod, a request that he could not reject because of the vows he had just made earlier on.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, here we can clearly see how this ‘yeast of Herod’ and the earlier mentioned ‘yeast of the Pharisees’ are the same ‘yeasts’ that we also have in us, the yeast of sin, of pride, ego, ambition, greed and desire. We are always struggling with them and unless we make the effort to resist the temptations they caused us, we will likely fall into the slippery trap of sin, and become trapped further and deeper into the darkness, finally into damnation.

Therefore, all of us are reminded today to keep ourselves pure and worthy of God, resisting the temptations to sin and distancing ourselves from things that can lead us to immorality and actions that are against God’s will and ways. Let us all have the resolve to live our lives from now on with ever greater zeal and faith, focusing ourselves on living our lives with greater commitment to God in all the things we say and do, in our every actions and deeds.

May the Lord continue to guide us and bless us in everything we do, and may He strengthen all of us that we may be ever stronger in faith and be more capable of resisting the temptations in life, the ‘yeasts of Herod and the Pharisees’ as we have talked about earlier. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 18 February 2020 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 8 : 14-21

At that time, the disciples had forgotten to bring more bread, and had only one loaf with the in the boat. Then Jesus warned them, “Keep your eyes open, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” And they said of one another, “He saw that we have no bread.”

Aware of this, Jesus asked them, “Why are you talking about the loaves you are short of? Do you not see or understand? Are your minds closed? Have your eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear? And do you not remember when I broke the five loaves among five thousand? How many baskets full of letfovers did you collect?”

They answered, “Twelve.” “And having distributed seven loaves to the four thousand, how many wicker baskets of leftovers did you collect?” They answered, “Seven.” Then Jesus said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

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Tuesday, 18 February 2020 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 93 : 12-13a, 14-15, 18-19

Fortunate the one You correct, o YHVH, the one You teach Your Law; You give them relief from distress.

YHVH will not reject His people, nor will He forsake His heritage. Justice will return to the just; and the upright will follow, in its wake.

No sooner did I say, “My foot is slipping,” Your kindness, o YHVH, held me up. The more worries and trouble assailed me, the more You consoled me.

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Tuesday, 18 February 2020 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

James 1 : 12-18

Happy are those who patiently endure trials, because, afterward, they will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love Him. No one, when tempted, should say, “This temptation comes from God.” God is never tempted, and He can never tempt anyone. Instead, each of us is lured, and enticed, by our own evil desire. Once this desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when fully grown, gives birth to death.

Do not be deceived, my beloved. Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of Light, in Whom there is no change, or a shadow of a change. By His own will, He gave us life, through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of offering to Him, among His creatures.

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Monday, 17 February 2020 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the message of the Scriptures through which we are all reminded that as Christians, we have to put our full trust and faith in God. We must be careful lest our pride, ambition, ego and desire in us lead us down the path towards ruin and sin. As we heard from the Gospel passage today, that was why the Pharisees refused to believe in Jesus and in His works and truth.

The Pharisees were often too proud of themselves and their actions, believing that they were always right and the best in everything they do and in the way that they obey and follow the Law of God. They criticised and looked down on others who they deemed to be unworthy and sinful, people like the tax collectors, prostitutes and people who were crippled and diseased. They also looked down on the Lord Himself and His disciples, whom they deemed to be dangerous influences on the people.

They were usually so full of themselves and so blinded by their pride that they were not able to open their hearts and minds to welcome the Lord, and as we heard in today’s Gospel passage, they argued with the Lord and asked, probably even rather demanding to see a miraculous sign. The Lord must truly have been sad to see their stubbornness and refusal to believe. For the truth was that all the while the Pharisees followed Him and His disciples, they have seen His miraculous signs and deeds.

Yet, despite having seen all those wonderful signs and miracles, they failed to believe and instead doubted the Lord and His works. They criticised and attacked Him, questioning His authority and legitimacy, and even going to the extent of associating Him and His miracles to the collusion with the prince of demons, Beelzebul. They asked for signs and wonders, and yet when the Lord graciously showed them all those things, they refused to believe.

They put their trust in their human intellect and judgment, their prejudices and thoughts, rather than to trust in the Lord. They were proud and could not bear to humble themselves before the Lord Who had come bearing His truth into the world. To them, the Lord Jesus was a rival and a dangerous threat because they feared of losing their much cherished privileges and honour, their own authority and glory among the people. All these things clouded their thoughts and judgements and prevented them from opening themselves up to the Lord.

This is why St. James in his Epistle which is our first reading passage today reminded us that all of us need to trust and have faith in God, and must not allow doubts, pride, desire, or whatever obstacles we often placed in our own journey of faith, to be a true obstacle in preventing us from finding and appreciating God’s love and grace. St. James reminded us as Christians that we need to be steadfast in our faith, to trust in God as there will be lots of trials and challenges that will come our way, which will test our faith and dedication to God.

How do we then overcome those challenges, both the doubts and the temptations of pride and desire from within us, and those challenges and trials that come from elsewhere? It is by deepening our relationship with God, through a healthy and living faith, filled with prayer and closeness to God, by obeying God and following Him through our lives and actions. And today, perhaps we should look upon the examples of today’s saints, whose feast we celebrate, namely that of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order.

These seven men who founded the Servite Order, a religious institution that remained and flourished until today, were those who were called by God, during the high Middle Ages era in Italy, when each of the seven men met one another and began to live their lives with a new emphasis on sanctity and obedience to God. They dedicated their lives to God, caring for the material and spiritual needs of the people living around them. Many people were touched by their devotion, faith and hard work, and many chose to follow their examples.

That was how the Servite Order eventually came to be, as thousands upon thousands enrolled themselves to the banner of the Order, under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom the seven holy founders had deep devotion for. Until this day, the lives of the seven holy founders continue to inspire many in the Servite Order, both the religious, priests and friars in the order, as well as the numerous lay groups associated with the Servites, all aiming for a more holy and dedicated life to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, how about us then? What are we going to do in order to follow the Lord? Are we able to put our faith and trust in Him with all our heart and get rid of ourselves all the obstacles of pride, ego, ambition, greed and desire that have prevented many, such as the Pharisees among others, from truly believing in God? Are we able to commit ourselves, following the good examples set by the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order?

Let us all seek the Lord with ever greater zeal and devotion from now on then, and live our lives from now on with ever greater faith and be ever closer to God with every passing moments of our lives. May God be with us always, and may He bless us and strengthen us in our faith and courage to live in Him. Amen.

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Monday, 17 February 2020 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Mark 8 : 11-13

At that time, the Pharisees came and started to argue with Jesus. Hoping to embarrass Him, they asked for some heavenly sign. Then His Spirit was moved. He gave a deep sigh and said, “Why do the people of this present time ask for a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this people.”

Then He left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side of the lake.

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Monday, 17 February 2020 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Seven Holy Founders of the Servite Order (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Psalm 118 : 67, 68, 71, 72, 75, 76

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey Your word.

You are good, and Your works are good; teach me Your decrees.

It is good for me to have been afflicted, for I have deeply learnt Your statutes.

Your Law is more precious to me than heaps of silver and gold.

I know, o YHVH, that Your laws are just; and there is justice in my affliction.

Comfort me then with Your unfailing love, as You promised Your servant.