8th Sunday of Ordinary Time

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Monday, 24 May 2021 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady, Mother of the Church, World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, Feast of Mary, Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the Feast of Mary, the Mother of the Church that is celebrated on the day following the Solemnity of the Pentecost. The Feast of Mary Mother of the Church is a reminder to all of us that Mary is indeed the Mother of all of us, God’s beloved people, whom God had entrusted to us to be our own loving Mother, and to whom we have also been entrusted as her own beloved adopted sons and daughters, through Christ, her Son, Who shared with us His humanity, and His death on the Cross.

Since the very beginning, Mary had been with the Church, and she has always been with the Apostles and the other prominent leaders of the Church, and according to Apostolic tradition, Mary herself as depicted in numerous artworks of faith, has received the Holy Spirit like the other Apostles and disciples, and she, being full of grace and Mother of God, occupies an even more important position being the one who had borne the Lord Himself within her, and because Christ Himself is the Head of the Church, that is His Body, thus it is indeed fitting that Mary is honoured as the Mother of the Church, or Mater Ecclesiae.

It was Mary who fulfilled the Lord’s own prophecy at the very beginning, as we heard in our first reading from the Book of Genesis, how the Lord proclaimed that Satan’s defeat would come from among the descendants of mankind, whom he would oppress and persecute, tempt and tried to lure away into their downfall through sin. And while he had been successful with Adam and Eve, the first of our ancestors, who fell for Satan’s ruse and sweet lies, and succumbed to the temptations of their desires, but Mary as the New Eve would resist those same temptations and remained completely faithful to the Lord, even as she followed her Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour as the New Adam, to the foot of the Cross.

Yes, as we can see, there are also obvious parallels between the moment of mankind’s fall and the moment of mankind’s salvation. When mankind fell into sin, Satan tempted and made them to eat of the fruits of the Tree of knowledge of good and evil, tempting Eve who then persuaded Adam to eat of the fruit of the tree, disobeying God’s specific commands that they were not to eat from the tree, as they wanted to become like God, to know all things good and evil. Their desire and pride became their undoing.

Meanwhile, at the crucifixion, the moment of our salvation, Mary, as the New Eve, stood by the ‘Tree’ of the Cross, made from the wood of the tree, as her Son, Christ, the New Adam, was hanging on it, pierced and bared before all, stripped of all glory and power, humiliated and made to endure the most painful and bitter of all punishments for the sake of all of us, obeying completely and perfectly the will of His heavenly Father, to the point of accepting death, a most loving death on the Cross, borne out of love for each and every one of us. Though He is God, He emptied Himself and humbled Himself for us, in an obvious contrast with mankind’s fall.

It was therefore Mary’s obedience and faith, as the New Eve, which allowed her to partake in the Lord’s great mission, in accepting wholly her role as the Mother of God, as the one to bear the Saviour of the world in her womb, and to remain free from sin throughout her life, full of grace, and resisting the temptations of Satan, that unlike Eve who fell to those temptations, her steadfast faith and obedience brought salvation and liberation to all of us, indeed the Woman prophesied to crush the head of Satan, and to destroy all of his wicked plans and deeds.

And, as mentioned earlier and in our Gospel today, Mary has been entrusted to us as our Mother, as symbolically presented by the Lord in our Gospel today, as He entrusted His mother Mary to His disciple, St. John the Apostle, who was then similarly entrusted to Mary as her own adopted son. St. John the Apostle represents all of us Christians, the members of God’s Church, who therefore become the children of Mary, God’s own beloved Mother, and she is indeed, the Mother of the Church, the Mother of all Christians, all who believe in the Lord.

Today, we also celebrate the Feast of Mary, Help of Christians, and in particular with respect to China, the Church in that great country and its faithful, who are still being persecuted daily and oppressed, we also celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Sheshan, and the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China. For many decades, the Church and the faithful in China had been constantly under oppression and pressure from the government and other authoritative figures, that many of the faithful and the bishops and priests had to go into hiding, and persevered in maintaining the faith against the corrupting influence of the government and its intervention in the affairs and matters of the faith.

That is why today indeed, as we remember Mary, the Mother of God as our Mother, the Mother of the Church and the Help of all Christians, we put into our particular intentions, our brothers and sisters in China, as well as any other Christians all around the world who are suffering from persecution and challenges, trials and difficulties daily, having to hide themselves and hide their Christian faith, at times, in order to remain faithful and yet survive through the turbulent times and challenges. There are still so many of our brethren out there who are suffering and even dying, as modern day martyrs for their faith.

We must never take our faith for granted, and if we find it difficult going for the Holy Mass or any other celebrations of our faith just because we are lazy or even too busy with our work, then let us realise and spare some thoughts for all our brothers and sisters who desire to be with the Lord and celebrate the sacraments, receive the Eucharist and yet, are unable to do so, much like the early Church martyrs and saints, all the faithful who had to celebrate in the catacombs hidden from view in secret. There are also so many workers of the faith, priests and bishops who are persecuted daily for their ministry and works, especially in China, but also in many other parts of the world.

Therefore, today, let us all ask for the intercession of our beloved Mother Mary, Mother of the Church and Help of All Christians, Our Lady of Sheshan, that she will extend her wonderful and loving protection to all of our brethren who are suffering for their faith in her Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. Let us also spend our time to pray for the sake of all these brothers and sisters of ours who are not as fortunate as we are, and do not have the relative freedom that we have in being Christians, and in celebrating the Holy Mass and the Sacraments.

Let us all ask the Lord to be merciful and kind, and to help our brethren who are suffering, and through His mother, that we pray asking her to intercede before her Son, the case of our own brothers and sisters, that they may be helped and protected, and brought out of their troubles, and most importantly, that they all will remain faithful and strong in faith despite all the sufferings and trials that they are experiencing now. And let us all also grow to appreciate our faith and the blessings that we ourselves have received, and not to take our faith for granted ever again.

May God be with all of us, and in particular with His Church and all those who are suffering just because they are Christians, as followers of the Lord. May God be with them and protect them, and may His mother Mary, Mother of the Church and Help of all Christians, Our Lady of Sheshan, continue to intercede for their sake, and watch over them, all the time. Amen.

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Monday, 24 May 2021 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady, Mother of the Church, World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, Feast of Mary, Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 19 : 25-34

At that time, near the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister Mary, who was the wife of Cleophas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw the mother, and the disciple whom He loved, He said to the mother, “Woman, this is your son.” Then He said to the disciple, “This is your mother.” And from that moment the disciple took her to his own home.

Jesus knew all was now finished and, in order to fulfil what was written in Scripture, He said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of bitter wine stood there; so, putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a twig of hyssop, they raised it to His lips. Jesus took the wine and said, “It is accomplished.” Then He bowed His head and gave up the Spirit.

As it was Preparation Day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross during the Sabbath, for this Sabbath was a very solemn day. They asked Pilate to have the legs of the condemned men broken, so that the bodies might be taken away. The soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other man, who had been crucified with Jesus.

When they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead, so they did not break His legs. One of the soldiers, however, pierced His side with a lance, and immediately there came out Blood and water.

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Monday, 24 May 2021 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady, Mother of the Church, World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, Feast of Mary, Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 86 : 1-2, 3 and 5, 6-7

He Himself has built it in His holy mountain; YHVH prefers the gates of Zion to all of Jacob’s towns.

Great things have been foretold of you, o city of God. But of Zion, it shall be said, “More and more are being born in her.” For the Most High Himself has founded her.

And YHVH notes in the people’s register : “All these were also born in Zion.” And all will dance and sing joyfully for you.

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Monday, 24 May 2021 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady, Mother of the Church, World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, Feast of Mary, Help of Christians and Our Lady of Sheshan (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Genesis 3 : 9-15, 20

YHVH God called the man saying to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard Your voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree I ordered you not to eat?”

The man answered, “The woman You put with me gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.” God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.”

YHVH God said to the serpent, “Since you have done that, be cursed among all the cattle and wild beasts! You will crawl on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will make you enemies, you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel.”

The man called his wife by the name of Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

Alternative reading

Acts 1 : 12-14

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olives, which is a fifteen minute walk away. On entering the city they went to the room upstairs where they were staying. Present there were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alpheus; Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James.

All of these, together, gave themselves to constant prayer. With them were some women, and also Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.

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Tuesday, 5 March 2019 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we listened to the words of God reminding us that to be faithful to God, we must give everything to the Lord, not in terms of offering money or certain forms of offerings or gifts, as what some of us would think wrongly, but instead, the total gift of ourselves, our whole hearts and minds, our whole beings, loving God with everything we have, with all of our strength and might.

That is what the prophet Sirach told us in his Book, as we listened to him speaking about the matter of offering and giving of oneself before God. We are told to come before the Lord with offerings and gifts to Him, and not to come before Him empty-handed. But to God, the offering He desires from us is not the fattiest and the best animal offerings, as how it was understood at the time of the prophet Sirach, but rather, the offering of ourselves, God’s beloved children.

And this is in conjunction with what we have heard in today’s Gospel passage, when we heard the disciples of the Lord, led by St. Peter, who told Him how they had given up everything in order to follow Jesus. The context of this statement is that, just prior to the disciples speaking up about their commitments, the Lord encountered a young and rich man who said that he wanted to follow Jesus, but only to leave in sorrow when the Lord asked him to leave everything behind to follow Him.

Given this context, the disciples wanted to contrast the rich and young man’s inability to separate himself from his great wealth and his greater love for his worldly possessions than his love for the Lord, with their own commitment, and how many of them have left behind families, wealth, status and every worldly goodness in order to follow Jesus. And the Lord affirmed them in their dedication, by saying that no one who has devoted himself or herself to the Lord will be disappointed, for God Himself will take care of them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all reminded that we have been called by God to serve Him with all of our hearts, and to give of ourselves, from the depths of our whole being. The disciples of the Lord have left behind everything to serve the Lord, because God has called them to be missionaries to preach the truth and the Good News, to call more people to accept the faith. They have dedicated themselves to the service of God, offering the best they could offer to the Lord.

But each and every one of us have also been given unique gifts in all of their varieties. As St. Paul said in his Epistle to the Corinthians, not everyone is called to be an Apostle, and neither is everyone called to be a miracle worker or a healer, or a preacher or a missionary. Instead, each and every one of us have been given unique gifts, that we may offer them and commit ourselves to the Lord in our own unique calling in life.

The problem is such that many of us are unwilling to dedicate ourselves, that we do not make use of our talents and gifts for the sake of the Lord’s glory. And the main reasons for this is that, we are either too focused on our own desires and our own self-gratification, that we end up not using our talents and gifts for the right purpose. And then, many of us are also like the young and rich man, whose attachments to worldliness prevented him from devoting himself to God.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able and are we willing to dedicate ourselves to the Lord, offering the best that we can give from ourselves, be it our time, our effort, our support and our devotion? Are we able to respond to God’s call in our lives with a resounding commitment from now on? Let us all respond to God’s call with a positive attitude, and with a desire to love Him and to serve Him and His people, our fellow men, with sincerity and genuine faith, from now on and always.

May God bless each and every one of us in our efforts, and may He continue to strengthen us that we may always be faithful to Him in all the things we do in our daily lives. Amen.

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Tuesday, 5 March 2019 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 10 : 28-31

At that time, Peter spoke up and said, “We have given up everything to follow You.” Jesus answered, “Truly, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or children, or lands, for My sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive his reward.”

“I say to you : even in the midst of persecution, he will receive a hundred times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and lands in the present time, and in the world to come eternal life. Do pay attention : many who are now first will be last, and the last, first.”

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Tuesday, 5 March 2019 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 49 : 5-6, 7-8, 14 and 23

Gather before Me My faithful ones, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. The heavens will proclaim His sentence, for God Himself is the Judge.

Hear, o My people, for I am speaking. I will accuse You, o Israel, I am God, your God! Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you, for your burnt offerings are ever before Me.

Yet offer to God a sacrifice of thanks, and fulfil your vows to the Most High. Those who give with thanks offerings honour Me, but the one who walks blamelessly, I will show him the salvation of God.

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Tuesday, 5 March 2019 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Sirach 35 : 1-15

Keeping the Law is worthy many offerings. Being faithful to the commandments is like a peace offering. Returning kindness is an offering of fine flour; giving alms is a sacrifice of praise. Renouncing sin pleases the Lord, and shunning injustice is a sacrifice of atonement.

Do not appear before the Lord with empty hands. The commandment requires that you bring an offering. When the offering of the righteous is burnt on the altar, the fat drips down and a fragrant aroma rises to the Most High. The sacrifice of the just man pleases God and will not be forgotten. Honour the Lord with a generous heart and do not be stingy with the first fruits of your harvest.

Offer your gifts with a smiling face and when you pay your tithes do it gladly. Give to the Most High as He has given to you; give generously to the Lord according to what you have; the Lord will repay, He will reward you sevenfold. If you attempt to bribe Him with gifts He will not accept them; do not rely on offerings from dishonest gain.

The Lord is Judge and shows no partiality. He will not disadvantage the poor, He Who hears the prayer of the oppressed. He does not disdain the plea of the orphan, nor the complaint of the widow. When tears flow down her cheeks, is she not crying out against the one who caused her to weep?

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Monday, 4 March 2019 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Casimir (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture speaking to us about the fact of how difficult it is for us to enter into the kingdom of God, and how we cannot be idle in our lives as Christians as we have plenty of expectations for us in living as true and devout Christians. At the heart of it all is the love that we must have for the Lord, our commitment and dedication towards Him.

In the Gospel passage today, we heard about the encounter between the Lord Jesus and a young, rich man who professed his intention of wanting to follow the Lord Jesus. When the Lord asked the rich young man whether he had done everything that the laws of Moses had specified for him to do, the young man responded that he had been faithful in everything that the law prescribed. Yet, when the Lord asked him to leave everything behind and follow Him completely, the young man left in sorrow.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what actually happened in that encounter between the Lord and the rich, young man? The Lord did not intend to condemn or treat the rich with contempt, but instead, He wanted to make a point before His disciples and the people who followed Him, that in order for us to be true disciples of the Lord, we must have that love and commitment in us, to be ready and to be able to do everything for the Lord.

We must be careful here not to understand the Lord’s words and actions literally at the surface level, or else, we will misunderstand His intentions, thinking that He is asking all of us Christians must sell everything that we have and give everything we have to the poor. This is not what He intends for us to do, for then, if everyone is accounted under the same rule, then who should we give all the proceeds to in the end? For those who are poor and receive the possessions will become richer in turn, and then they too have to sell theirs and it will end up in endless cycles of passing on of possessions and wealth from one to another person.

And neither did Jesus condemn the rich or those with possessions and power. Instead, what He warned us all is the dangerous attachments we can develop to these worldly things, that can prevent us from being true disciples of His, for our hearts and minds are not centred and focused on Him, but rather on those wealth, power, fame, glory and other forms of worldly temptations and attachments we have.

As in the case of the young and rich man, who left in sorrow after the Lord has asked him to sell everything that he had possessed and follow Him, we can see that his love, his concern and attachment to his possessions is much greater than his love and commitment to the Lord. That was why he immediately left in sorrow, and not even giving a reply to the Lord’s request for him. He could not bear to part with all the riches and glory he had.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, God has blessed us all with these riches, blessings and all the goodness of the world. Some of us have more while some others have less. God has given all these to us, for us to make good use of them, to share them with those who are less fortunate and suffering, that we do not ignore their pleas for help. We should not be selfish or be overly attached to those possessions, for it is not that God does not want us to possess anything, but instead, He does not want us to idolise and be overly attached to them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to overcome our often unhealthy attachments to worldly materials and goods? Are we able to look beyond worldly matters, and refocus our attentions in life to the Lord, that we can overcome our greed and pride, ego and desires within us, and therefore, be able to redirect our efforts to serve the Lord in various ways, and be generous in giving and in sharing our love and blessings with each other?

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Casimir, a royal prince of Poland and Lithuania, who despite of his wealthy and noble upbringing and birth, did not hesitate to show his love and compassion for the needy, the sick and the poor, being known for his generous dedication of money as well as effort and time to care for the poor in the kingdom. St. Casimir was also renowned for his great piety and love for God. When he died at a young age of twenty-five, everyone remembered him for his love both for God and for his fellow men.

Let us all dedicate ourselves anew to the Lord just as St. Casimir has shown us, that from now on we will no longer live our lives for the purpose of self-gratification and self-glorification, but instead, strive for the greater good of all, and for the greater glory of God, through our every words, actions and deeds in life. May God be with us always, and may He bless all of our good works. Amen.

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Monday, 4 March 2019 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Casimir (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Mark 10 : 17-27

At that time, just as Jesus was setting out on His journey again, a man ran up, knelt before Him and asked, “Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments : Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat, honour your father and mother.” The man replied, “I have obeyed all these commandments since my childhood.”

Then Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him and He said, “For you, one thing is lacking. Go, sell what you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow Me.” On hearing these words, his face fell and he went away sorrowful, for he was a man of great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God” The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus insisted, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

They were more astonished than ever and wondered, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God; all things are possible with God.”