7 June 2017

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Wednesday, 7 June 2017 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard two stories, one from the first reading, from the Book of Tobit, in which the son of the faithful Tobit, Tobias was sent to his relative, Ragouel who has a daughter named Sara, who was beset by a powerful demon, Asmodeus. She had had seven husbands, all of whom had died before they were able to consummate the marriage, because of the work of the demon, and she was highly distressed because of that.

But through the her prayers, which she made in her time of distress and despair, the Lord had heard her call for help, and sent to her the Archangel Raphael, who with Tobias, the son of Tobit, chased the demon away from her, and Sara was given to Tobias as a wife. And the demon did not disturb her any longer, and a new family was created, eventually leading to the healing of Tobit who became blind, and could see again.

This is likely the story which the Sadducees quoted in the time when they tried to argue with the Lord Jesus, which we heard today in our Gospel passage. The Sadducees were the group of powerful and influential people, one of the two main power groups in control of the Jewish society at that time, in opposition to the Pharisees, the other group in power.

Unlike the Pharisees, whose unbending and strict adherence to the laws of Moses brought them into conflict with Jesus because of the Way which He had taught the people, bringing the real truth and meaning of the Law away from the corruptions of the laws which the Pharisees upheld, the Sadducees were against the Lord Jesus because He preached about His own death and later resurrection, as well as resurrection of all the people into a new life in God.

That is because the Sadducees were the ones who enjoyed the good fruits of this world, those who were close to the ruling nobles and rulers, especially with Herod the king of Galilee and other powerful people in the society. They were the ruling elite, who enjoyed the privileges and influences of this world, and therefore, they believed in living their lives in this world, their earthly existence to the fullest, and refused to believe of the notion of life after death.

The Sadducees therefore argued with Jesus, using the example of the woman who had had seven husbands to trap Jesus, by using the legal examples of the law of Moses, which allowed a woman to remarry the brother of her husband if her husband has died without having a children with her, which in fact, is what the Sadducees put in place against Jesus, when the woman married all the seven brothers, and all died without having any children.

Their inability to comprehend the truth and teachings of Jesus lay in the fact that they still thought of the afterlife in the same manner as their earthly existence, whereas in fact, the life after death for all of us is an existence far superior and perfect compared to what we have now on earth. The Lord told us mankind to marry and procreate to fill the earth with our descendants, because we are still living in this world, and are still bound to it, with all of our earthly desires and wants.

However, once we have been brought into the new and eternal life in God, we have no more need for such earthly desires, sustenance, relationships or other things such as money, influence, power, and all the other things we mankind normally treasure in this world, and particularly important for those Sadducees, who valued their worldly existence above everything else. No, that is not the case, since when we are with God, we have all we need through Him, and He is our Bridegroom, Who will be with us forever.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings are reminders for us to live as how the Lord had taught us to live, as Christians, who are not so much concerned about worldly matters and worries, so as to detract us from our true goal, that is to love the Lord and to serve Him with all of our heart and strength. We should not be greedy or be preoccupied with gathering material wealth and worldly influence or power, all of which are superfluous in nature, for none of these will be ours as we pass through from death into new life in God.

Which one do we want, brothers and sisters in Christ? To enjoy so much the pleasures and goodness of life in this world, and yet then falling into eternal damnation and suffering in hell? Or rather for us to be focused on the Lord and His way, the way which He had shown us all, that as true and devout Christians, we may live our lives filled with love and care, for the Lord first of all, and then also for our fellow brethren? In the end, the Lord will reward us with life everlasting with Him, and we will experience true joy and happiness that the world cannot give.

May the Lord be our strength, and may He guide us in this journey of life, so that it does not matter what kind of problems we have encountered in life, we will always persevere through and remain faithful to the Lord, and not be distracted by the many temptations of worldly life. Let us seek the Lord and remain true to Him forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 7 June 2017 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 12 : 18-27

At that time, the Sadducees also came to Jesus. Since they claim that there is no resurrection, they questioned Him in this way, “Master, in the Scriptures Moses gave us this law : if anyone dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must take the woman, and with her have a baby, who will be considered the child of his deceased brother.”

“Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children. The second took the wife, and he also died leaving no children. The same thing happened to the third. In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Last of all the women died. Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.”

Jesus replied, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry, but are like the Angels in heaven. Now, about the resurrection of the dead, have you never had thoughts about the burning bush in the book of Moses?”

“God said to Moses : I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is the God not of the dead but of the living. You are totally wrong.”

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Wednesday, 7 June 2017 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 24 : 2-3, 4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9

In You my God I trust; let me not be put to shame, let not my enemies exult over me. Those who hope in You will never be humbled; those who turn away from You will suffer disgrace!

Teach me Your ways, o Lord; make known to me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and instruct me, for You are my God, my Saviour.

Remember Your compassion, o Lord, Your unfailing love from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, but in Your love remember me.

Good and upright, the Lord teaches sinners His way. He teaches the humble of heart and guides them in what is right.

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Wednesday, 7 June 2017 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Tobit 3 : 1-11a, 16-17a

Distressed, I wept and prayed and expressing my sorrow, I said, “You are just, o Lord; all Your actions and all Your ways are merciful and just; Your judgments are always true and just. Remember me, Lord, and look on me. Do not punish me for my sins nor for the wrongs I have committed through ignorance.”

“Pardon the sins which my fathers have committed in Your sight, for they disobeyed Your commandments. You have allowed us to suffer pillage, captivity and death. You have allowed us to be mocked by all the pagan nations among whom we have been dispersed.”

“Ah well! All Your judgments are just when You choose to punish me for my sins and those of my fathers, because we have not accomplished Your will, nor have we sincerely obeyed Your commands. We have not walked before You in truth. Do with me as You will. Order my life taken from me, and turn me into dust, because I prefer death to life. In this way free me and let me return to dust.”

“It is better for me to die than to live, because these unjust reproaches have caused me great distress. Command that I be now released from trials, and let me enter my eternal dwelling place. Do not turn Your face away from me.”

That same day, at Ecbatana in Media, Sara, the daughter of Ragouel, was insulted in a similar way by her father’s young maidservants. Sara had had seven husbands, but the demon Asmodeus had killed each one of them before the marriage had been consummated.

The maidservants said, “It was you who killed your husbands. You have had seven husbands and you have not enjoyed marital relationship with any of them. Why do you punish us? Since they are dead, go and join them. May we never see a son or daughter of yours!”

That same day Sara was so distressed in mind that she went to the upper room in her father’s house. She wished to hang herself. But she thought better of it and said : “If people ever reproached my father and said to him : ‘You had an only daughter whom you cherished and she hanged herself because she was unhappy,’ I would cause my father in his old age to die of grief. It is better for me not to hang myself but to ask the Lord that I may die and not live to hear any more insults.”

At that moment she stretched forth her hands towards the window and prayed. The Lord in His glory heard the prayer of Tobit and Sara and He sent Raphael to heal them both – to give back his sight to Tobit and to give Sara, the daughter of Ragouel, to Tobit’s son Tobias, as his wife.