ad maiorem dei gloriam

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Wednesday, 29 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martha (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 11 : 19-27

At that time, many Jews had come to Martha and Mary, after the death of their brother, to comfort them. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house. And she said to Jesus, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.” Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection, at the last day.” But Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, shall live. Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Martha then answered, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, He who is coming into the world.”

Alternative reading

Luke 10 : 38-42

At that time, as Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He entered a village, and a woman called Martha welcomed Him to her house. She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet to listen to His words. Martha, meanwhile, was busy with all the serving, and finally she said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the work? Tell her to help me!”

But the Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you worry and are troubled about many things, whereas only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.”

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Wednesday, 29 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martha (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 33 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11

I will bless the Lord all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.

Oh, let us magnify the Lord, together let us glorify His Name! I sought the Lord, and He answered me; from all my fears He delivered me.

They who look to Him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame. When the poor cry out, the Lord hears and saves them from distress.

The Lord’s angel encamps and patrols to keep safe those who fear Him. Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!

Revere the Lord, all you His saints, for those who fear Him do not live in want. The mighty may be hungry and in need, but those who seek the Lord lack nothing.

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Wednesday, 29 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martha (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 4 : 7-16

My dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Those who do not love have not known God, for God is love. How did the love of God appear among us? God sent His only Son into this world that we might have life through Him.

This is love : not that we loved God but that He first loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if such has been the love of God, we, too, must love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love comes to its perfection in us.

How may we know that we love in God and He in us? Because God has given us His Spirit. We ourselves have seen and declare that the Father sent His Son to save the world. Those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in them and they in God. We have known the love of God and have believed in it. God is love. The one who lives in love, lives in God and God in him.

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Tuesday, 28 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scripture readings, firstly in the Book of Exodus, on how God instructed Moses to set up a Tent of the Covenant or the Holy Tent of Meeting where God would periodically descend upon it to meet with Moses and the people, where His holy Presence would dwell and fill the whole place with His glory.

Then in the Gospel, we heard of how Jesus spoke of a parable to the people and to His disciples, namely the parable of the sower, between the good sower and the evil opponent, who sowed weeds between the wheat in the field. In the end, the wheat and the weeds will be harvested, and separated from each other, and while the wheat goes into the granary to be stored, the weeds go into the fire and are destroyed.

In the first reading God mentioned how He is filled with mercy and forgiveness to all who sincerely look for His forgiveness and love, and are willing to commit themselves to change and repentance, genuine and sincere, that they turn their back to sin and past wickedness. God will overlook their past mistakes and receive them back into His loving embrace.

But those who refuse to be forgiven, who repeatedly reject His love and mercy, and those who continue to sin even despite the reminders and messages sent to them through His servants will receive great punishment and the fullness of the brunt of the anger and wrath of God. We have to remember that as much as God loves us all, giving us opportunity after opportunity, He also hates all forms of sins and wickedness, all of which have no place in His presence.

This is a reminder for us, that we who live in this world are like the field which God had tilled and sowed in. He had sowed His seeds of faith, hope and love within us, and these are in us, but the devil too, ever since he tricked and tempted our ancestors since the time of the fall at Eden, he had also sown in us the conflicting seeds of hatred, of jealousy, of greed, and of many other vices and malice inside us.

Both of these are growing within us, and with each of our actions, we cultivate either the good seeds of the Lord, or the evil seeds of Satan. Whenever we love, care for one another, devote ourselves to God and follow in His ways, seeking the poor and helping them, caring for the sick and the downtrodden, we cultivate the good seeds and allow them to grow and prosper.

On the other hand, whenever we commit something evil, slandering against one another, coveting what others have in jealousy, be greedy over worldly things and desires, and giving in to the temptations of the world, we cultivate the seeds of evil, that will grow to be weeds that will choke the good seeds growing in us. Therefore, in this, we should see how if we dwell in our sins, then the way ahead will be dark for us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all today reflect on our own lives. Have we been faithful to the Lord and walk in His ways, or have we instead been wicked in our ways? Have we loved one another or be jealous towards what our brethren have and we do not have? There are many things which we have to see in ourselves, and if we are still walking in the path of darkness, then truly we have to begin to change ourselves.

Indeed, before the time of judgment and it is too late for us, when God will sunder the righteous from the wicked and separate them, one to enjoy everlasting life and happiness, and the other to suffer eternal suffering and darkness. Shall we want to find ourselves on the side of happiness and true joy, or shall we find ourselves a place among the wicked? The choice is ours. May Almighty God help us all, that we may commit ourselves to the path of righteousness. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 28 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 13 : 36-43

At that time, Jesus sent the crowds away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” Jesus answered them, “The One who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed are the people of the kingdom; the weeds are those who follow the evil one.”

“The enemy who sows the weeds is the devil; the harvest is the end of time, and the workers are the angels. Just as the weeds are pulled up and burnt in the fire, so will it be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will weed out of His kingdom all that is scandalous and all who do evil.”

“And these will be thrown in the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. If you have ears, then hear.”

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Tuesday, 28 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 102 : 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13

The Lord restores justice and secures the rights of the oppressed. He has made known His ways to Moses and His deeds to the people of Israel.

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

He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve. 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. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him.

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Tuesday, 28 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Exodus 33 : 7-11 and Exodus 34 : 5b-9, 28

Moses then took the Tent and pitched it for himself outside the camp, at a distance from it, and called it the Tent of Meeting. Whoever sought YHVH would go out to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp. And when Moses went to the tent all the people would stand, each one at the entrance to his tent and keep looking towards Moses until he entered the tent.

Now, as soon as Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance of the tent, while YHVH spoke with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud at the entrance to the tent, they would arise and worship, each one at the entrance to his own tent.

Then YHVH would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his neighbour, and then Moses would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua, son of Nun, would not leave the tent.

And Moses called on the Name of YHVH. Then YHVH passed in front of him and cried out, “YHVH, YHVH is a God full of pity and mercy, slow to anger and abounding in truth and loving kindness. He shows loving kindness to the thousandth generation and forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin; yet He does not leave the guilty without punishment, even punishing the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

Moses hastened to bow down to the ground and worshipped. He then said, “If You really look kindly on me, my Lord, please come and walk in our midst and even though we are a stiff-necked people, pardon our wickedness and our sin and make us Yours.”

Moses remained there with YHVH forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the slabs the words of the Covenant – the Ten Commandments.

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Monday, 27 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard how the people of Israel rebelled against the Lord who had led them out of Egypt, by establishing among themselves a wicked idol, a pagan sign of the golden calf, which they all held to be the one who had saved them and led them out of Egypt, truly an abomination in the sight of God.

That came about just right after God had established His covenant with His people, a renewal of the covenant which He had made with Abraham and his descendants. They have disobeyed the Lord and aroused the great wrath of the Lord, who was truly displeased at the behaviour of this unruly and rebellious people. God would have obliterated His people right there and then, but it was Moses who interceded for the sake of the people to calm the anger of God.

Those who have sinned and disobeyed the Lord would meet their just punishment, for God indeed does not tolerate sins and wickedness in His presence, although at the same time, He also gave them chance after chance to redeem themselves and to turn their back against the evils and sins which they have committed. Those who have not been repentant shall not share in the goodness and graces which God had promised all those who are faithful.

In the Gospel today, the Lord Jesus spoke of the parables of the kingdom of heaven, talking in stories and approximations to help the people to understand the concept of God’s coming kingdom. It is an abstract concept that people would not have easily understood, but Jesus made it easy for them to understand by revealing to them the mysteries of the kingdom of God by comparing it to real life examples such as a tree with its branches that grew out of a small seed.

In what we heard in the Gospel today, they all spoke of the kingdom of God as a process of growing, with the tree just mentioned and with the approximation to the process of baking, when the kingdom of heaven is likened to yeast placed in a measure of flour, without which the bread would not rise up and it would remain a flat bread.

Thus, all these would point us to the fact that Jesus and the Lord’s servants had given us all the words and teachings, the laws and commandments which God had given to us all, but which as shown in the first reading today, we often rejected them out of our rebelliousness and inability to listen to the Lord and follow His ways. Instead, we often follow our own idols, the idol of money, the idol of earthly and worldly pleasures, and many others that distract us from our true goal.

The kingdom of heaven is in fact a situation where all of us would come together and through our actions based on the love of God, where righteousness and justice would reign, we would therefore make this world a place like heaven on earth. It is through our own lives and our own actions that we would make the kingdom of heaven a reality.

God has given us many things and gifts, and it now depends on us to do what is right to cultivate the gifts which had been given to us. If we make use of God’s gifts and allow them to grow, then truly, just as what Jesus had said, that the seed will grow to a huge tree where birds of the sky may shelter in it, and the bread will rise from the yeast and flour mixture.

Thus this is a lesson and a reminder for us all, that we have to grow deeper in faith, and practice that faith in our own works and actions, so that people who see us may believe too in God, because they see what we have done and know that we truly belong to God. Therefore, let us all do this, and bring the kingdom of God into reality through ourselves, obeying the Lord in all of His ways and not to be like His rebellious people, which we have heard today.

If we remain faithful, God will bless us and keep us, but if we go astray from His path and refuse to change or repent, then His punishment and anger will be upon us. May God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Monday, 27 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 13 : 31-35

Jesus offered them another parable : “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, that a man took and sowed in his field. It is smaller than all other seeds, but once it is fully grown, it is bigger than any garden plant; like a tree, the birds come and rest in its branches.”

He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast that a woman took, and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole mass of dough began to rise.”

Jesus taught all this to the crowds by means of parables; He did not say anything to them without using a parable. So what the Prophet had said was fulfilled : I will speak in parables. I will proclaim things kept secret since the beginning of the world.

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Monday, 27 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 105 : 19-20, 21-22, 23

They made a calf at Horeb and worshipped the molten image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of a bull that eats grass.

They forgot their Saviour God, who had done great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Sea of Reeds.

So He spoke of destroying them, but Moses, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him to shield them from destruction.