6th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Tuesday, 19 February 2019 : 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, 19 February 2019 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 28 : 1a and 2, 3ac-4, 3b and 9b-10

Give the Lord, o sons of God, give the Lord the glory due His Name; worship the Lord in great liturgy.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the Lord thunders over vast waters. How powerful is the voice of the Lord, how splendorous is the voice of the Lord.

The God of glory thunders, the Lord strips the forests bare, and in His Temple all cry, “Glory!” Over the flood the Lord was sitting; the Lord is King and He reigns forever.

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Tuesday, 19 February 2019 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Genesis 6 : 5-8 and Genesis 7 : 1-5, 10

YHVH saw how great was the wickedness of man on the earth and that evil was always the only thought of his heart. YHVH regretted having created man on the earth and His heart grieved. He said, “I will destroy man whom I created and blot him out from the face of the earth, as well as the beasts, creeping creatures and birds, for I am sorry I made them.” But Noah was pleasing to God.

YHVH said to Noah, “Go into the Ark, you and all your household, for I see that you are just in this generation. Of all the clean animals, you are to take with you seven of each kind, male and female, and a pair of unclean animals, a male and a female. In the same way for the birds of the air, take seven and seven, male and female, to keep their kind alive over all the earth, for in seven days I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights. I will blot out from the face of the earth all the living creatures I have created.”

Noah did all as YHVH had commanded. And after seven days the waters of the flood were over the earth.

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Monday, 18 February 2019 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the story from the Scriptures beginning with the tale of Cain and Abel, the firstborn children of men, of the first family, Adam and Eve. We heard how Cain and Abel grew up in this world, tilling its earth and shepherding the animals of the field. And as they grew up, we heard of the sad and unfortunate tale of how Abel killed his own brother, of his own flesh and blood, because of jealousy and anger.

We see in this unfortunate occasion, the greed and desire, the ego, pride and ambition that are present within us, that when we do not restrain ourselves, it can cause us to do things that can lead us into sin, as what Cain’s actions had shown us. Cain desired acceptance, acknowledgement and honour, and when his offerings to God were not accepted while his younger brother’s offering was accepted, he became angry and jealous at his brother.

And such feelings of anger and jealousy became source of temptation for Cain, and Satan made use of the opportunity to pull the strings at his desire and his ego, and as a result, without thinking further of the grave consequences, he killed Abel, his own younger brother, just so that he might be able to satisfy his jealousy and justify his anger and ego. In that action, he has committed a great sin of murder, and worse still, as he murdered his own brother.

In the Gospel reading today, we heard of another story, in which the people asking the Lord Jesus to perform signs and miracles before them. And especially, it was the Pharisees who asked the Lord to perform those miracles with the malicious intent of hoping to embarrass Him, despite themselves having seen how the Lord Jesus could perform all those wonders and powers which no one, except those sent by God, could have performed.

Yet they still asked the Lord to perform the miracles, with the intention to harm His reputation and to embarrass Him. This came about because of the jealousy that they had against the Lord Jesus, as they saw Him as a rival to their own teaching authority, power and prestige within the community of the people of Israel. They saw His courageous and authoritative teachings as threats to their influence and privileges, especially because large crowds always followed the Lord wherever He went.

Just as Cain felt angry and jealous because his ego and pride was seemingly slighted by the acceptance of Abel’s sacrifice over his, the Pharisees were also affected by the same anger and jealousy, when they saw that the people were no longer solely depending on them as the sole source of knowledge and authority, but instead turning towards the truth that Christ has brought into the midst of His people.

This shows each one of us how dangerous our ego and pride can be. History has shown that when we allow pride and ego to guide our way and our thoughts, our choice of actions and decisions in life, we can end up committing even heinous and wicked crimes and deeds, that can cause the sufferings of others, pain and hurt in those whose livelihood may be affected negatively by our own desires and ego.

Cain killed Abel over this matter, and the Pharisees joined all those who sought the death of the Lord Jesus, and condemned Him to die on the cross at the hands of the Romans, all because of their ego and pride. They allowed all these things to become obstacles in their way of faith, and in the end, sin entered into their hearts and minds, corrupting their whole beings. This is what we can also suffer from, unless we realise how dangerous our pride and ego is, and restrain them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we should temper our pride and our ego within us. These are things that are always within us, and we will always be tempted to be proud and to be selfish, to be seeking for our own glory and comfort, even at the expense of others. However, as Christians, we have all been called to overcome all of these, and resist the temptation to sin by this manner. Thus, instead of being filled with jealousy and pride, let us instead turn towards God and learn to love Him with all of our hearts.

May the Lord sow within us all the seeds of His love, that we may grow ever stronger in love, and remove from our hearts and minds all pride, egoistic and selfish attitudes, wicked thoughts and desires, and jealousy against others. Let us all love our brothers and sisters from now on, just as much as we love ourselves and love God in the same way as well. Amen.

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Monday, 18 February 2019 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

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, 18 February 2019 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 49 : 1 and 8, 16bc-17, 20-21

The God of gods, the Lord has spoken, He summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before Me.

What right have you to mouth My laws, or to talk about My covenant? You hate My commands and cast My words behind you.

You speak ill of your brother, and slander your own mother’s son. Because I was silent while you did these things, you thought I was like you. But now I rebuke you and make this charge against you.

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Monday, 18 February 2019 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Genesis 4 : 1-15, 25

Adam had intercourse with Eve his wife; she became pregnant and gave birth to a child. She named him Cain, for she said, “I have got a man with help from YHVH.” She later gave birth to Abel, his brother. Abel was a shepherd and kept flocks, and Cain tilled the soil.

It happened after a time that Cain brought fruits of the soil as an offering to YHVH. Abel for his part brought the firstborn of his flock, and some fat as well. Now YHVH was well pleased with Abel and his offering, but towards Cain and his offering He showed no pleasure. This made Cain very angry and downcast.

Then YHVH said to Cain, “Why are you angry and downcast? If you do right, why do you not look up? But if you are not doing what is right, sin is lurking at the door. It is striving to get you, but you must control it.”

Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go to the fields.” Once there, Cain turned on his brother Abel and killed him. YHVH said to Cain, “Where is your brother, Abel?” He answered, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”

YHVH asked, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. Now be cursed and driven from the ground that has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood that your hand had shed. When you till the soil, it will no longer yield you its produce. You will be a fugitive wandering on the earth.”

Cain said to YHVH, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. See! Today You drive me from this land. I must hide from You and be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, and it will so happen that whoever meets me will kill me.” YHVH said to him, “Well then, whoever kills Cain, will suffer vengeance seven times.” And YHVH put a mark on Cain to prevent anyone who met him from killing him.

Adam again had intercourse with his wife and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth; for she said, “YHVH has given me another child in place of Abel since Cain killed him.”

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Sunday, 17 February 2019 : Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we listened to the words of the Lord through the Scripture passages reminding us all of the need for each and every one of us to trust in the teachings and the ways that the Lord has shown us all, and not in our own human abilities and power, and neither in the matters of the world. All of us heard that we are called to turn towards God with all of our hearts and with all of our strength. God will bless us all greatly and wonderfully if we have done so.

In our first reading today, we heard the sayings of the prophet Jeremiah, in which the prophet cursed all those who trusted in their worldly power and in their own human glory, on how those people would never find true happiness in life as long as they continued to trust in the powers of the world. Instead, all those who trusted in God and in His power would be blessed and would receive all goodness in due time, as God has promised. They would receive true joy and happiness from God Himself.

Then, in the second reading today, we heard from St. Paul in the Epistle he wrote to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, where he spoke of the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ as the proof of the faith that all of the faithful had believed, that they had not believed in vain in the Lord, Who had overcome even death itself, our greatest enemy of all. Death is the result and consequence of sin, just as sin is caused by our disobedience against the will of God.

This is the proof that it is the faith and trust in God alone that will overcome all sorts of difficulties and challenges. There is no other foundation or any thing in this universe capable of replacing the Lord as the centre, focus and hope of our lives. Any other foundation and trust in other things beyond the Lord is superficial and illusory in nature, and we will not be able to gain true joy, assurance and satisfaction because we will never find true peace unless if we go through God.

Why is that so? Brothers and sisters in Christ, we should look upon the history of our humanity’s past, at all the various actions and things that we mankind had done and which we had experienced throughout time. We see how mankind always tried to do their best, to attain the best for themselves, to gain the most joy, pleasure, happiness, glory, fame, power, and all sorts of good things for themselves, and yet, they were never truly happy and secure in their lives.

On the other hand, instead of experiencing true joy, peace and happiness, our predecessors experienced much sorrow, agony, pain, suffering, despair and lack of peace in their lives, all because of them putting their trust and their focus on the wrong things, as they placed their trust on worldly assurances of money, of human glory, prestige, of pleasure of the body and the temptation of greatness and hubris, ambition and pride.

Everyone suffered, when those who had power, greatness, wealth, prestige and the means of worldliness oppressed those who have less, little or none, in their pursuit to gain more of those worldly desires and temptations for themselves. But they did not gain more happiness, joy and satisfaction among themselves, because by our nature, greed will only lead to even more greed and desire, and when we have something, we naturally desire even more.

That is why, we can never be satisfied by anything of this world, no matter how hard we try it. And we must not forget, just as the Lord Himself said in another parable He taught His disciples, showing the futility of those who sought to enrich themselves with many worldly things, that a rich man who tore down his many barns in order to accommodate even more goods in them, but was told by the Lord of his foolishness, as his own life would be taken away from him that very night, and none of his amassed wealth and glory would be his any longer.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why as I have mentioned earlier, death is our greatest enemy, for death marks the moment when our earthly life and existence ended. And that is why, throughout history and time, men had tried again and again, futilely, in order to try to overcome and cheat death. Many spent much money and resources, efforts and trying various methods in order to attain for themselves eternal life and youth. Many tried to keep themselves alive and appearing good, without success.

People had been spending a lot on beauty products and those things that were claimed to have life-lengthening and rejuvenating effects on the body. But in the end, no one can extend one’s life even by a millionth of a second, for everything is according to God’s will, and when God calls us back, and to give an account of our respective lives, we have no way to refuse this call. And none of our earthly glories and power will follow us through.

That is why, today’s Gospel passage, in which the Lord went through with His disciples and followers a series of blessings and curses for certain groups of people, which we know better as the Sermon on the Mount or the Eight Beatitudes, we heard exactly what we have just been discussing on our search for happiness, our often futile efforts to preserve ourselves from death, by searching and desiring for more worldly things, and allowing ourselves to be tempted by the devil.

In the Beatitudes, the Lord reminded all of us His people, that unless we learn and try to let go of all these wicked desires, and restrain all those thoughts of pride, ambition, and not allowing our ego and pride to overcome us, we will end up falling into sin, deeper and deeper, and eventually, as mentioned, sin leads to death, and not just any death, but eternal death and damnation. For those who sin and does not repent, they have no part in the Covenant that God had made with all those who are faithful to Him.

Those who are proud and ambitious, those who oppress and persecute others just so that they can earn for themselves more worldly glory, power, wealth, riches, majesty, fame and all other things we often desire, all of us who choose to put our trust in all these worldly things, will find ourselves disappointed because even though now we may enjoy what we have, and indulge in the pleasures they provided us, but these things will not last forever.

The time will come when the reckoning of our lives will be upon us, and unless we have done what the Lord has commanded us to do, then we may end up falling into eternal damnation, and has no share in the Covenant, the salvation which the Lord Jesus Christ, Our God and Saviour has brought upon us by His sacrifice on the cross. Only those who are humble, those who are poor in spirit, meaning those who look at themselves not with pride but instead with humility before God, will receive the fullness of God’s glory.

And through the Beatitudes, God is calling us all to follow this path that He had set before us all. He is calling us to be faithful, in all things and in all of our dealings and actions, that we place God as the very core and centre of our lives and existences. We are called to be peacemakers, to be those who bring the love of God to one another, sharing the love and blessings which He has so generously given us, so that each and every one of us may enjoy the fruits of God’s wonderful love.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, from now on, if we have not done so, let us all grow in faith in God, and devote ourselves to love God and to turn ourselves away from the path of sin and wickedness. Let us all strive to overcome our attachment to worldly temptations and goods, and instead, make the effort to put our complete trust in God. Let us all seek the Lord with all of our strength, and let us all grow ever closer to Him, from now on, through the lessons of the Beatitudes, and bear the fruits of the Beatitudes of Christ in our daily living. Amen.

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Sunday, 17 February 2019 : Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 6 : 17, 20-26

At that time, coming down the hill with His disciples, Jesus stood in an open plain. Many of His disciples were there, and a large crowd of people, who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem, and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon.

Then, looking at His disciples, Jesus said, “Fortunate are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Fortunate are you, who are hungry now, for you will be filled. Fortunate are you, who weep now, for you will laugh.”

“Fortunate are you, when people hate you, when they reject you and insult you and number you among criminals, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. Remember, that is how the ancestors of the people treated the prophets.”

“But alas for you, who have wealth, for you have been comforted now. Alas for you, who are full, for you will go hungry. Alas for you, who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Alas for you, when people speak well of you, for that is how the ancestors of the people treated the false prophets.”

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Sunday, 17 February 2019 : Sixth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 15 : 12, 16-20

Well, then, if Christ is preached as risen from the dead, how can some of you say, that there is no resurrection of the dead? If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith gives you nothing, and you are still in sin.

Also, those who fall asleep, in Christ, are lost. If it is only for this life, that we hope in Christ, we are the most unfortunate of all people. But no, Christ has been raised from the dead, and He comes before all those who have fallen asleep.