7th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Saturday, 25 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Holy Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to listen to the words from the Sacred Scriptures, we are again constantly being reminded of the need for us all as Christians to be truly genuine in our faith and obedience to God. We should not be hypocrites who profess to believe in God and yet in our daily living, in how we live our lives, in how we act and behave, in what we say and do, we do not truly believe in the Lord, and we even sully and profane His Holy Name because our actions had been contrary to what we believe in, to our Christian faith and calling.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. James in which the Apostle continued with his exhortations to the people of God that we have heard in the past one or two weeks, as he told the people not to give in to the many temptations of the world, highlighting the fact that all those temptations had led to many people to fall into the path of sin and destruction, which leads only to damnation and suffering for us, and that was why the Apostle exhorted all the faithful to stay away from the path of temptation, disobedience and sin, all the things which could lead the people astray from truth and therefore into their downfall and defeat.

St. James told the faithful to stay rooted in their faith in God and to have genuine relationship and connection with God. Through prayer and the building of genuine commitment and relationship with God, we mankind can continue to live through our lives with renewed faith and that important connection that can help anchor us all in the faith. We must use the many opportunities, chances and moments that the Lord had given us so that we may build and establish a truly vibrant and living relationship with Him, strengthened through prayer and quality time, and through the faithful living of our lives as Christians.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples, reminding them all to be like little children in their faith. He was making this reference because they had been fighting and quarrelling with each other over favour and preference by the Lord, debating and disagreeing among themselves who among them was the greatest and the most important among the Lord’s followers. The Lord contrasted those attitudes with the pure faith of little children, who truly believe in the Lord and put themselves completely in His care, and not allowing themselves to be swayed by the temptations of the world.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of not just one but three holy saints of the Church, and these holy men and women hopefully can encourage us all through their exemplary lives so that by their good examples, we may indeed be strengthened in our resolve and commitment to follow their examples and live our lives ever more worthily in the Lord. First of all, St. Bede the Venerable was an English saint and remembered for his numerous writings and works on history as well as other Church matters, and then Pope St. Gregory VII was the leader and Pope of the Church, known for his role in the Investiture Controversy against the Holy Roman Emperor and his reforms of the Church, and lastly St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi who was a renowned Carmelite nun and mystic during the late Renaissance era.

St. Bede the Venerable was raised from young in a monastic area during the Anglo-Saxon period of England and its surrounding regions, eventually becoming a monk, ordained deacon and eventually as a priest, to be a faithful and good servant of God and His Church. As mentioned, St. Bede was well-known for his numerous writings and intellectual works, through which he chronicled not just many aspects of history of the British Isles and the general region, history of the world and other things, but his many writings and translations of the Scriptures were very influential in helping many generations of the Christian faithful in the British Isles and beyond after his time.

Pope St. Gregory VII as mentioned was embroiled in the bitter Investiture Controversy that had lasted for quite some time between the Church authorities and the secular powers of the world, with the Pope leading the Church on one side, while the Holy Roman Emperor entrusted with power and rule over all of Christendom on the other side. The Holy Roman Emperor, while crowned and anointed by the Pope to be the God-appointed ruler of all Christendom, began claiming the power to choose the bishops and prelates over the lands under his dominion as well, which was something that the Pope reserved to himself as the Vicar of Christ.

Thus, this led to a lot of struggles and disagreements, with the Holy Roman Emperors even appointing their own rival Antipopes to be the rival of the Popes in Rome, and to cast doubt on their authority, while trying to bring the Popes under Imperial dominion, power and influence. Pope St. Gregory VII laboured hard to oppose this intrusion of secular power into the spiritual and Church domain, rights and privileges, and he also spent a lot of time and efforts to reform the Church and its clergy, many of whom had fallen to corruption and excesses of the world. The Lord did many truly great things through this holy Pope and servant, who had dedicated himself thoroughly to His cause.

St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi was born into a very wealthy and influential family in what is today Italy, and since young, she had been brought up in great piety, and she soon exhibited great love and commitment to God, practicing self-mortification and wearing even a replica of the crown of thorns and other means to restrain her own worldly desires and temptations, while at the same time beginning to experience visions and mystical experiences that she would receive and encounter throughout her whole life. Eventually, after resisting her family’s effort to marry her to another nobleman, St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi joined religious life, dedicating her whole life to God, experiencing many visions and writing down her experiences, through which she inspired many others who were touched by her experiences.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard from the great examples of these three saints, holy men and women of God, in how they dedicated themselves and their whole lives to the Lord, let us all therefore strive to do our best to follow in their footsteps and to carry out whatever it is that God has entrusted to us to do so that by our every lives, actions and deeds, in our whole entire way of living, we may truly be worthy and will be great inspiration ourselves for all those who have witnessed us and our lives. Let us resist the temptations of worldly glory and desires, and the temptations of our ego, ambition, pride and other things that can lead us down the path towards our downfall. May God be with us always, and may He empower each one of us to live ever more faithfully in each and every moments of our lives. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Holy Virgins)

Mark 10 : 13-16

At that time, people were bringing their little children to Jesus to have Him touch them, and the disciples rebuked them for this. When Jesus noticed it, He was very angry and said, “Let the children come to Me and do not stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”

Then He took the children in His arms and, laying His hands on them, blessed them.

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Saturday, 25 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Holy Virgins)

Psalm 140 : 1-2, 3 and 8

Lord, I call on You, hasten to help me! Listen to my plea when I call to You. Let my prayer rise to You, like incense; as I lift up my hands, as in an evening sacrifice.

O YHVH, set a guard at my mouth; keep watch at the gate of my lips. But my eyes are turned to You, o God, my YHVH; strip me not of life, for You are my refuge.

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Saturday, 25 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church, Pope St. Gregory VII, Pope, and St. Mary Magdalene de’ Pazzi, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests, Popes and Holy Virgins)

James 5 : 13-20

Are any among you, discouraged? They should pray. Are any of you happy? They should sing songs to God. If anyone is sick, let him call on the elders of the Church. They shall pray for him, anointing him with oil in the Name of the Lord. The prayer said in faith will save the sick person; the Lord will raise him up and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.

There will be healing, if you confess your sins to one another, and pray for each other. The prayer of the upright man has great power, provided he perseveres. Elijah was a human being, like ourselves, and when he prayed, earnestly, for it not to rain, no rain fell for three and a half years. Then he prayed again : the sky yielded rain and the earth produced its fruit.

Brothers, if any one of you strays far away from the truth, and another person brings him back to it, be sure of this : he who brings back a sinner from the wrong way, will save his soul from death and win forgiveness for many sins.

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Friday, 24 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan, and World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened from the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the need for all of us to remember once again the Law and commandments of the Lord, and our obligations and responsibilities as Christians in obeying God’s will and in doing what the Lord had entrusted to us and what He had taught us to do. Each and every one of us as Christians must always strive to be truly committed to God in all of our words, actions and deeds, to be great role models and inspirations for one another in the way and the manner that we live our lives, so that by our great examples in life and by our worthy way of life, we may truly embody what believe in as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. James the Apostle in which the Apostle continued with his exhortations to the faithful people of God, as part of his reminders to all of them not to live their lives following the wicked ways and temptations of the world, all of which could lead them astray and prevent them from attaining true happiness, joy and salvation in the Lord. All those worldly temptations and glory, fame and pleasures of the world, the pleasures of the flesh and all sorts of gratification and corruption all may lead us down the slippery slope into the path of sin and evil, out of which we may find it quite difficult to escape. Many of our predecessors had been tempted such and fell away from the path of God’s righteousness and grace.

That was why St. James told the faithful to be truly genuine in their faith, and to be truly committed to God. They should no longer be idle in their faith but be truly committed to God in all things, in everything that they all say and do, so that by their lives, the truth and glory of God may indeed be revealed to all. The Lord has called on all of His beloved people, His followers and disciples to be the bearers of His truth and Good News, and the best way for us to do this and to proclaim the Lord, His Good News and truth is to practice our faith in our everyday living, in our every actions, words, deeds, interactions with one another, down to the smallest things we say and do in each and every moments of our existence. That is our calling and responsibility as Christians.

And St. James in particular made a point in his Epistle, that our faith has to be made alive through our concrete actions and works, for faith that is without works is dead. We are all justified by our faith in the Lord, but this faith cannot be one that is lacking in genuine commitment, love and actions, grounded and based upon the faith that we have in the Lord. Otherwise, if we do not act in the manner that our faith has called us to be like, and if we worse still commit things that are in opposition and contradictory to the Law of God, to His will and commandments, then essentially we are hypocrites, who profess this faith in God, and yet we do not live up to our faith as we should have. This kind of faith is dead, and will not lead us into eternal life and salvation. We must remember that our baptism is not the end of the road but rather the beginning of a new life in Christ, a new journey that is complete with its various trials and challenges.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Mark where the Lord was in a deep discussion with the members of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were debating about the matter of marriage and divorce according to the Law of Moses. We heard how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law tested and debated the Lord on the matter of marriage and divorce, because according to the Law of God revealed through Moses and the commandments and laws provided with it, divorce was allowed as long as the necessary proceedings were done. But the Lord rebuked those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, telling them all that they had essentially twisted the purpose, meaning and intention of the Law. What Moses did in making compromises at that time to accommodate the stubbornness of the Israelites had become an excuse for the people of God to disobey God by using the technicalities of the Law.

Essentially, brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord Jesus wanted to remind not just the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, but also all of us as Christians, that we all should not end up being superficial in our faith, but rather we must truly be genuine in believing everything that the Lord has taught us. Many among the Pharisees at that time had become too legalistic and literal in their interpretation and application of the Law of God, choosing to focus on the details and rituals involved in the Law and the customs of the people of God, but forgetting why those laws and customs were made in the first place. It is again like those who profess to believe in something and yet act in a different manner, which is why the Lord Jesus often criticised many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law as hypocrites. As Christians, we must remember that our every actions and commitments are important in ensuring that we truly are living our lives with true and living, genuine and vibrant faith in God.

Today, the Church celebrates the event of the Feast of Mary Help of Christians, as well as Our Lady of Sheshan, who is the celebrated form of Mary Help of Christians popularised by the pilgrim site of Sheshan Basilica in the area of Shanghai. This site of Sheshan Basilica today, also known as the Basilica of Mary, Help of Christians, was built where the early Christian missionaries established themselves in China during the time when China began to open itself to the outside world after years of severely restricting the activities of Christian missionaries. About a century and a half ago, Catholic missionaries began working in and around Shanghai area, where there was a rapidly growing Catholic community owing to the foreign settlement in Shanghai.

Jesuit missionaries built the church in that area to serve as a focal point of the missionary efforts, and to thank the Blessed Virgin Mary for her protection from the tumultuous events, conflicts and wars that happened at the time due to the Taiping Rebellion and other hardships facing the Christian faithful in the region. Thus, the Church was consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Our Lady of Sheshan in thanksgiving for her patronage and protection of the missionaries and the faithful people of God from harm. Thus the devotion to Our Lady of Sheshan began and many more people would flock to this Basilica in the years and decades to come. And at the same time, for those period, the Church and the Christian faithful continued to face lots of obstacles and hardships, persecutions and challenges.

That is why today in particular we remember first of all the Catholic Church in China, which had been under a lot of persecutions and trials in the past few decades, facing threats to its existence and also persecution from the officials and government who wanted to take over and control the Church and all the faithful, even to the extent of separating the Church from the greater Communion with the Universal Church by operating under close supervision and attachment to the communist and officially atheistic government. All these had led to a lot of grievances to the Church and the faithful people of God in China over these many years, and yet, many if not most of the members of the Church of God in China still continued to be faithful and dedicated to the Lord regardless of the sufferings that they would have to face.

Throughout the world, there are also many challenges and trials that our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord have to experience in each and every moments of their lives. If we are able to celebrate our faith and live our lives as Christians openly and freely, then we must consider ourselves very fortunate as there are many places where to be Christians, as it was in the past and now in the present world, may include hardships and sufferings, and there are also many who has to brave through dangers and even martyrdom in order to be able to worship the Lord and to proclaim Him in their communities and groups. And yet, our faithful brothers and sisters persevered on and they continued to hold on to their faith in God despite the challenges facing them.

Hence, brothers and sisters in Christ, inspired by the great examples of our brothers and sisters who have to go through great trials and hardships to faithful to God, let us all strive to be truly faithful to the Lord in our own lives. Let us all not be merely faithful on the exterior but dead in faith on the inside. Let us all live our lives worthily and faithfully in the manner how we have believed in the Lord, proclaiming the glory of God and revealing His truth and Good News to all the people through our own exemplary and faithful lives. May the Lord bless us all and our every good efforts and endeavours, and may His Blessed Mother, Mary, Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan, continue to intercede for us all, her beloved children, especially for those who suffer daily in living up to their Christian faith and missions. Amen.

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Friday, 24 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan, and World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan)

Mark 10 : 1-12

At that time, Jesus then left that place and went to the province of Judea, beyond the Jordan River. Once more crowds gathered around Him and once more He taught them as He always did. Some (Pharisees came and) put Him to the test with this question, “Is it right for a husband to divorce his wife?”

He replied, “What law did Moses give you?” They answered, “Moses allowed us to write a certificate of dismissal in order to divorce.” Then Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you, because you are stubborn. But in the beginning of creation God made them male and female, and because of this, man has to leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body. So they are no longer two but one body. Therefore let no one separate what God has joined.”

When they were indoors at home, the disciples again asked Him about this, and He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against his wife, and the woman who divorces her husband and marries another also commits adultery.”

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Friday, 24 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan, and World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan)

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 8-9, 11-12

Praise YHVH, my soul; all my being, praise His holy Name! Praise YHVH, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

YHVH is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger; He will not always scold nor will He be angry forever.

As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins.

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Friday, 24 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan, and World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Mary Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan)

James 5 : 9-12

Beloved, do not fight among yourselves and you will not be judged. See, the Judge is already at the door. Take for yourselves, as an example of patience, the suffering of the prophets, who spoke in the Lord’s Name. See how those who were patient are called blessed. You have heard of the patience of Job and know how the Lord dealt with him in the end. For the Lord is merciful and shows compassion.

Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth, or make a habit of swearing. Let your yes be yes and your no be no, lest you become liable for judgment.

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Thursday, 23 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are again reminded just as yesterday through the readings from the Sacred Scriptures that we should always be vigilant against the temptations of the world. We must always be careful as the evil one and all of his forces are always ever ready to strike at us with all their might, as they are looking for the opportunity to snatch us away from God and His salvation, trying to pull us into our destruction and downfall through the various worldly temptations and desires, just as they had done many times to us and our predecessors in the past. We must keep in mind that each and every one of our actions, words, deeds, interactions and all that we say and do, all will be held accountable by the Lord our God, at the time of our reckoning.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. James, in which St. James the Apostle continued to speak against the wickedness of those who have allowed themselves to be swayed by the temptations of worldly ambitions and glory, those who have allowed the allure of wealth and worldly possessions to lead them to bring about actions that hurt others around them. Many people throughout time and history had acted in manner that bring about suffering and hardships to others, through exploitation and manipulation of those who were weaker, so that those who acted in this selfish and wicked manner could enrich and empower themselves at the cost of those people whom they had stepped on amidst their pursuit for power, riches and worldly glory.

It was against all those people and all those temptations that St. James the Apostle had been speaking out about, an important reminder for all the faithful not to be corrupted by wealth, power and glory that they end up committing things that are against God’s ways and teachings. Too often throughout time and history mankind had been swayed by all those worldly temptations and end up benefitting from the sufferings of others, or even purposefully causing harm to others just so that one could gain profit and benefit to oneself from such heinous and selfish action. St. James also reminded the faithful that all those worldly things and ambitions ultimately would come to nothing as none of those things would last forever or remain amidst the passing of time and none would also bring their worldly wealth and glory beyond the world.

That is why he urged the faithful people of God not to follow that same path to ruin and damnation. He reminded the people that if they allowed themselves to be swayed in such a manner, they would be in serious danger as the temptations of wealth, worldly glory and ambitions are indeed slippery slope that many had found hard to escape from, and if we are not careful, we may find ourselves in a most precarious situation, falling ever deeper into the traps of sin and evil that lead us into our destruction. This is not what the Lord wanted to happen to us, and this is what we all should always be wary of, as we continue to live our lives in our world today. We should also remind one another not to live in such a wicked manner.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord telling His disciples very bluntly about the dangers of sin and the many temptations to sin, and what they ought to do in order to achieve that. As His disciples, the Lord expected those who followed Him and believed in Him to walk faithfully in the path of righteousness and virtue, to be truly committed to this path and to distance themselves from all sorts of temptations and sins that could prevent them from living their lives righteously, or worse still, could pull them ever deeper into the path of sin and destruction. The Lord told them to cast aside whichever things and obstacles, metaphorically referring to tearing their limbs, eyes and other body parts that could lead them into sin.

Of course we must understand that the Lord did not mean to cripple us or to cause us harm. Rather, His intention by using such a graphic message and delivery to His disciples was to highlight firmly how dangerous sin can be, and how harmful sin can be to our soul, leading us to eternity of suffering and damnation in Hell. Such a fate is far worse than any injuries or hardships, sufferings and pains that one could experience from losing parts of their bodies, or from other forms of sufferings. The Lord warned the disciples that Hell is truly real, and we must not delude ourselves thinking that everyone will get to enjoy the fullness of God’s love and compassion, His blessings and graces. If we are separated from Him because of our sins and wickedness, then there is nothing else for us other than an eternity of suffering, regret and despair.

The Lord has given us all many opportunities and means for us to do what He has taught us to do in our lives, to resist the temptations of worldly pleasures and evils, and to embrace once again the path of His grace and love. With our bodies, all the means and blessings that He has given us, He wants us to use them for good and worthy purposes. All these things are not themselves evil, be it money, material possessions and other things in life which we have, as they can be used either good or evil uses and purposes. There are a lot of good things that we can do with whatever blessings which we have received, as well as evil things, and the choice is ours on what we want to do with them. Unfortunately, it was our excessive and unhealthy attachments to those worldly goods and things which had led to us falling into the traps of the evil one, losing our sight on the light and truth of God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard of the reminders from both the Lord Himself and from St. James the Apostle, let us all continue to live our lives from now on with ever greater love and commitment to the Lord. Let our lives by the inspiration and strength to everyone all around us, to be the beacons of the light of God and His Good News to all the people of all the nations. May the Lord continue to bless us all in our endeavours and efforts, and may He empower each and every one of us to always be faithful to His path, to shun evil and wickedness in our lives and to be worthy Christians at all times. Amen.

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Thursday, 23 May 2024 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 9 : 41-50

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone gives you a drink of water because you belong to Christ and bear His Name, truly, I say to you, he will not go without reward. If anyone should cause one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble and sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a great millstone around his neck.”

“If your hand makes you fall into sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a hand, than with two hands to go to hell, to the fire that never goes out. And if your foot makes you fall into sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter life without a foot, than with both feet to be thrown into hell.”

“And if your eye makes you fall into sin, tear it out! It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, keeping both eyes, to be thrown into hell, where the worms that eat them never die, and the fire never goes out. The fire itself will preserve them.”

“Salt is a good thing; but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.”