Advent homily

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Sunday, 10 December 2017 : Second Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this second Sunday in the season of Advent, as we continue our preparation for the celebration of Christmas in a few weeks’ time, we listened to the words of the Scripture in which the focus is placed on the actions of the servant of God, the one who prepared the way for the coming of the Lord, namely St. John the Baptist.

In the first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard the prophecy speaking about someone who cries out in the wilderness, declaring the imminent arrival of the kingdom of God. This prophecy clearly refers to the time of grace, during which time God finally fulfilled the long awaited promise of a Saviour or Messiah, and His coming was announced and heralded by this faithful servant, St. John the Baptist.

St. John the Baptist as many of us are aware of, is the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the relatives of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ Our Lord. Since his youth, he has been dedicated to a life of service to God, and he went to the wilderness, wearing simple clothing, and did exactly as what was prophesied in the Book of the prophet Isaiah. He proclaimed the coming of the Messiah, and called on the people to repent from their sins and abandon their wicked ways.

He baptised the people with water, and through that baptism, called many to a conversion of life and a change in their way of life, that they would commit to a life worthy of God, for the kingdom of God was about to come. By doing this, this faithful servant has prepared the way for the Lord, just like that of a farmer tilling and preparing the soil, so that the soil will be ready for the sower to sow the seeds on it.

And what is the significance of what we have heard about St. John the Baptist and his works among the people? What is the importance of these on our own lives? First of all, we should heed the words of St. John the Baptist, who proclaimed the coming of the kingdom of God with the words, ‘Repent! For the kingdom of God is near!’ And reflect on his role as the voice in the wilderness who declares the coming of the Lord, preparing the way for His coming.

This means that, all of us should also spend time to reflect on our own lives, and think of what we have done in our lives thus far. Are we ready to welcome the Lord into our lives? Are we ready to enter into the kingdom of God? We know that the Lord has come into this world, and we have been taught His ways and teachings through the Church, and yet, if we see around us, there are still so many people who lack true faith in God.

And in how we are preparing ourselves for the coming of Christmas, we see for ourselves, how many of us Christians have not remembered the true purpose and meaning of our Christmas celebrations, preferring to follow the secular and worldly ways of celebrating Christmas, having been inundated with plenty of advertisements and temptations of materialistic and worldly celebration of Christmas, with shopping, lots of gifts, sparkling decorations and many other common things we see at Christmas, such as Santa Claus and many others.

But have we not forgotten why is it that we rejoice this Christmas? What is it about Christmas that is so worth to be joyful about? It is the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ which we celebrate every Christmas, but year after year as we celebrate Christmas, have we forgotten this true purpose of our celebration? Have we ended up going through motion as we celebrate yet another holiday? Is Christmas just another holiday period when we enjoy ourselves with parties and revelries, travelling or any other activities, but leaving out the One for Whom we should rejoice for?

It is time for us to look deeper into our second reading today, taken from the second Epistle of St. Peter. In his Epistle, St. Peter mentioned that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief, which means that it will be totally unexpected for all of us, and many of us will not be ready for His coming. That is why in this season of Advent, we have a two-fold preparation for us to go through.

First of all, we know that Advent is the season of preparation for Christmas, but it does not mean the time for us to go shopping and prepare for all the gifts and wrappings for those gifts, or planning how we should decorate our houses and conduct our Christmas parties, luncheons and all the sort. All these are secondary to the main celebration of Christmas, and in fact can become a distraction.

Instead, we should spend this time to reflect on the significance of Christmas, and why is it that Christians all over the world celebrate Christmas as one of the most important events of our faith, together with Easter. As I have mentioned last Sunday, Christmas and Easter are inseparably intertwined with each other, and one give meaning to the other. There can be no Christmas without Easter and vice versa. And although Easter is still more important than Christmas, Christmas does give an important meaning to Easter.

For in Christmas all of us celebrate the moment when God Who willingly took up for Himself a human existence, was born into the world, and therefore become the Light to all the nations. As what the book of the prophet Isaiah mentioned, that a people living in the darkness have seen a great Light. For Christ is the Light of the world, through Whom all mankind can finally find their way towards their Lord.

But without Easter, and all that happened preceding it, during the Passion of the Lord in the Holy Week, Christmas would be just the birthday of another person, no different or any special compared to any other birthdays. Instead, understanding the full mystery of Our Lord’s birth, life, ministry and later on His suffering, death and resurrection from the dead makes Christmas truly special, as Christmas marks then the moment when Our Lord’s plan of salvation comes to its fruition.

Let us all then, think carefully of how we should celebrate our Christmas in the coming few weeks. We need to prepare ourselves thoroughly and wholeheartedly in our hearts, minds, bodies and souls, that we may embrace the meaning of Christmas in our joy. It is not wrong that we should be happy, to rejoice and to be merry, but we must rejoice for the right reason and for the right purpose.

And as mentioned, our Christmas celebration is not just for us to reflect on the historical birth of Our Lord, but also to prepare for the future second coming of Our Lord, which He has promised to all of us, when He ascended to heaven in glory. He will come again at the end of time, to gather all of His faithful ones towards Himself, and as St. Peter mentioned in his Epistle, we will not know the timing when this will happen.

Are we able to do our best to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord? That is what we should think about, as we go through this season of Advent. Let us prepare ourselves by spending more time with God, through prayer and through charitable works. Let us all devote ourselves and do our best to obey the Lord in all His commandments, that when He comes again, He may find us all ready and prepared for His coming, and we will be worthy to receive the eternal glory He promised to all those who are faithful to Him.

May the Lord bless all of us and our endeavours, that we may draw ever closer to Him, and found to be worthy of Him. May our Christmas celebrations be ever more meaningful and fruitful, as we recognise the true joy of Christmas. May each and every one of us find blessings in all that we do, and receive God’s grace. Amen.

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Saturday, 9 December 2017 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the Scriptures that first of all showed us the nature of our loving God towards us, from the book of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah showed the prophecy of God’s love for His people, in how He will guide all of them back towards His grace, and will no longer be separated from them.

As we proceed through this season of Advent, approaching the time of Christmas, let us all use the time provided for us in order to reflect on our lives and on our actions. Many of us have fallen away from God’s grace and walked in the path of sin. We have not put God as the focus of our lives, but rather, we become distracted with the many temptations of life.

We have become like lost sheep, scattered and having no idea where to go, just like the people described by Jesus in the Gospel passage today, as ‘sheep who are without a shepherd’. And thus, at that time, because there were so many people who had become wayward in their ways and sinned, they have lost direction in their lives and sought the Lord to bring them back to the way of truth.

The Lord Who loves each and every one of His people had mercy on them, and had pity because He saw those people who would be doomed to damnation should they continue in their present path. Thus, if we read through the Gospels, the Lord spent a lot of time teaching the people and calling them to abandon their old ways of sin and embrace God’s ways.

But at the same time, He also mentioned how the labourers are few while the harvest is plentiful. This means that, while there are indeed vast potential for God’s work and grace to be done among the people, with many souls waiting to be saved, yet there are only few people who are willing to step forward and take up the mantle of the hard work of those who serve the Lord and preach His Good News.

What does all these mean for us, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that first of all, each and every one of us should do our best to turn towards the Lord, and especially during this season of Advent, we are constantly reminded of the need to prepare ourselves for the eventual coming of the Lord Jesus and also eventually the final Judgment. We should do our best to prepare ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually, by turning away from sin, resisting the temptations to sin, and by doing what is right in the sight of God.

However, that is not all that God had asked us to do. All of us are also called to heed what the Lord Jesus had mentioned in the Gospel passage, ‘Ask the Master of the harvest to send labourers to gather His harvest,’ and also, ‘Go, instead to the lost sheep of the people of Israel.’ All of these are set to remind us of the obligations we have as Christians to reach out to those who have not yet known God, or those who have lapsed in their faith.

How do we do that, brethren? We should not think that we need to do many wondrous and ambitious large-scale works. Rather, we should begin from ourselves, from our immediate family, friends and acquaintances. We should role model our faith through our actions and by devoting ourselves to God in everything. We should help the Church in its works of evangelisation, by becoming beacons of light through which many others can see God and His light through us and therefore believe.

We should also heed the examples of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. St. John Diego or also known as St. Juan Diego was a saint who lived a few hundred years ago in Spanish America, at the place where now the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is located at. St. John Diego was a native of the land, a convert from his previous pagan faith, who witnessed the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Guadalupe.

St. John Diego has always been a righteous person, living his life humbly and gracefully. Through him, Our Blessed Mother delivered her messages to the people, calling on them to repent from their sins and wickedness. And when they doubted St. John Diego and his accounts about the apparition, Our Lady showed him a sign through his cloak or ‘tilma’ in the local language.

It was told that Our Lady asked him to gather some flowers at the site of the apparition, and present them to the local bishop. When St. John Diego presented the flowers, which are not local or seasonal to the area, the bishop was amazed as the very likeness of Our Lady herself was imprinted on the cloak of St. John Diego. Many came to believe in this miraculous occasion, and many people repented from their sins and were saved.

The story of St. John Diego and Our Lady of Guadalupe should inspire all of us to do what we can in order to be faithful disciples of the Lord, by encouraging one another to live righteously in accordance with God’s ways. Let us all be good messengers of God, delivering the truth of the Lord through our righteous life, that we may convince more and more people, that less and less souls may be lost from God.

Let us be lost sheep no longer and help those who are still lost that they may find their way to the Lord, their Good Shepherd. Let us be His faithful labourers, to help Him gather the rich harvest of this world, that is the salvation of the souls of our fellow brothers and sisters. May God help us in these endeavours. Amen.

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Friday, 8 December 2017 : Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a great feast day of the Church, celebrating the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. This occasion commemorates the moment when Mary was conceived without any trace of original sin of man, and hence the Immaculate Conception, which is a dogma of the Church proclaimed by His Holiness Blessed Pope Pius IX a century and half ago.

The Church through its sacred tradition and teachings show that God has given a special privilege to Mary, in that she had been set aside from the rest of mankind, descendants of Adam and Eve. Unlike all men and women since the time of Adam and Eve, Mary was conceived free from the taint of original sin, the mark of disobedience which all mankind have received, from the time when our first forefathers disobeyed God and sinned.

In our first reading today, that was why we heard about the time when Adam and Eve sinned, because they disobeyed God and chose rather to follow the lies and sweet words of Satan, who persuaded them to eat from the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, so that they might become like God. Instead, they received rebuke and condemnation from God, and the truth about the lies of Satan was exposed. Ever since then, mankind had been tainted by the sin of their disobedience, and had to wander and suffer on earth.

That is also why, because of our sins, all of us mankind also faces death at the end of our earthly lives. All of us are to experience death as the just consequence for our sins, because sin has corrupted us, our bodies, our hearts, our minds and our souls, our whole and entire being, and as such, we are not worthy to be with God, as He Who is perfectly good, cannot tolerate sin to be in His presence. But this does not mean that God does not love us, or that He has abandoned or rejected us. Instead, God still loves us as He has always had.

Otherwise, God could have just destroyed us with the mere thoughts of His mind. He did not do so. He allowed us to endure the suffering for our sins and disobedience, but at the same time, He has also prepared the ultimate salvation for all of us, His beloved people, right from the time that we first fell into sin. In our first reading from the Book of Genesis today, God Himself prophesied that while there would be conflict between the descendants of man with the forces of Satan, but God will triumph in the end.

God promised that His salvation will come, and indeed as He mentioned, the Woman will crush the serpent under her feet, a prophecy about the time of salvation to come for mankind. And through the prophet Isaiah, again God made His intention clear, promising the salvation of the world, the Saviour, born of a Virgin, which surely we all know, have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, born of His mother, the Blessed ever Virgin Mary.

In the Gospel today, the Archangel Gabriel came to Mary in Nazareth, bearing the Good News of God’s salvation, which He would fulfil through her. He revealed to her through the Archangel, of the plan of salvation He Himself has long put in place, that the Son of God, the Divine Word of God Himself would come into the world, taking up upon Himself the human flesh, and born of a Woman, Mary herself, which became a reality through her humble obedience to the will of God.

And now, let us link all these back to the reason for our celebration today, that is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Why is it that Mary is so special? That is because God has prepared her to be part of His plan for the salvation of His people, as she was to be the one who would bear the Messiah, Lord and Saviour of the world inside her, as the Archangel Gabriel mentioned, ‘the Holy Spirit will overshadow you, and the Son born of you will be called the Son of God.’

For this special role, God is certainly able to give an exception to Mary among all mankind, that for her alone, she was conceived, and born of her parents without the taints of the original sin of man. And this special grace is related to the role she played in our salvation, as the one who bore God within herself. In order to understand this better, we must know that Mary is the New Ark, bearing the New Covenant of God.

The old Ark of the Covenant was built by Moses from precious metals and materials, and adorned to be worthy of bearing the Law of God and His Covenant, and the Ark came to represent God’s presence among His people, so much so that it is hallowed and no one may touch it without dropping dead, as what happened in one occasion when a priest touched the Ark by accident, and he was struck down.

That is why the Ark had to be carried on two poles born by four people. And if this old Ark is made by the hands of man, carved and designed by man, and bearing within it, two slabs of stone upon which the Ten Commandments were written, and was considered so holy and precious, then all the more that the New Ark bearing the New Covenant must be hallowed, pure and holy.

Thus, God has prepared Mary, who is to be the mother of God, and made her holy and pure, clean from any taint of the original sins of man. And this New Ark is all the more precious, far surpassing the old Ark, because Mary, as all men and women are, she was crafted and designed by the Lord Our God. And she bore within her womb for nine months, none other than the Lord Himself, Master of all the universe, Who has willingly come down upon us in human flesh, Jesus Christ, Son of God.

That is why today the whole universal Church rejoice together celebrating this wonderful mystery of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for through Mary, the final defeat of the devil and his forces have been made a reality, as the promises God has made about our salvation has been fulfilled in their entirety. And even more so, in Mary, the devil has encountered a great enemy, who is always thwarting his plans all the time.

That is because Mary is also the greatest of all the saints of God, and she is the one ever closest to her Son in heaven. She is, as the Queen Mother of heaven, a close advisor to her Son, and she is always active trying to help the people of God to return to Him. She appeared several times to us, in various places and ways, appealing to us mankind to repent from our sins.

Through her example of obedience and commitment to fulfil God’s will, walking faithfully in His ways throughout her whole life, Mary has become a great example for each and every one of us, on how we should behave and act in this life, in obedience to God. Ultimately, through our renewed obedience, and by believing in the Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved and redeemed from our past sins.

Let us today therefore, by following the examples of Mary, mother of God, conceived without sin, dedicate ourselves anew to the Lord. Let us abandon our sinful ways and put our trust in God from now on, striving to live worthily in accordance with God’s words. May the Lord be with us all, and may our mother Mary intercede for us sinners, that we may find our way towards God and His salvation. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 December 2017 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us heard from the Scripture passages, of what it means for us to be faithful in God and to put our trust in Him, as opposed to trust in our own human strength, intelligence and abilities and ignoring His teachings. Those who does not listen to God or listened to Him and yet does nothing will be judged by their lack of faith and they will meet their deserved end.

In the Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus spoke to the people with a parable, showing them the comparison between two people who built their houses on two different types of foundations. One built his house on a foundation of solid rock, firm and immovable, and no rain, or wind, or wave or any forces were able to dislodge or shake the house from its firm foundation. Jesus compared this with those who listened to the word of God and acted accordingly upon hearing it.

Then, He also mentioned about the one who built his house on a shaky foundation of sand, which has no strength, depth and cohesiveness. As a result, when rain, or wind, or wave, or any forces were exerted on the house, these caused the house to be destroyed and toppled over, because even though the house might be well-built, but no matter how good the house was, the foundation was weak and not firm. And the Lord compared this with those who listened to the word of God and did nothing with it.

The houses those men built represent our own respective lives, our livelihood and everything we experienced in this world. The foundations represent our faith in God, and how strong and steady that faith is. If our faith in God is not strong, then it will be shaky as the sandy foundation, which brought about calamity to the person who built the house on it. Thus, we should indeed spend the time now to reflect what it truly means for us to have a strong faith.

As the Lord mentioned in the Gospel passage today, not those who always call out ‘Lord! Lord!’ will be heard and be worthy to enter into the kingdom of heaven. To do that without a concrete expression of our faith means nothing, as our faith is not alive and existent, but dead. That is why, while we believe that we are saved through faith, it cannot be just any kind of faith, worse still, just something like, ‘Lord I believe in You’, and we are assured of eternal life and salvation.

What God requires and wants from each one of us is true and living faith, not a dead faith. And what constitutes a true and living faith? It is faith made real and concrete through our actions, words and deeds, which support our faith and all that we believe in God. If our actions and deeds are not representative of what we believe in, or worse still, contrary and in opposition to our faith, then we have scandalised ourselves in the eyes of God and men alike.

How do we, then, have a living and genuine faith in us? It is by strengthening the foundations of our faith, through which we resolve to do what the Lord has commanded us to do, which is to love. It may seem easy to be done, as we need just to show love through our actions and deeds. However, as we all know, loving someone is not as easy as what it seems. True love requires commitment from us, effort and the giving of oneself.

We are all called to love the Lord, Our God, with all of our hearts, minds, with all of our strengths and capabilities. This is the first and the most important of all of God’s teachings and commandments. Yet, many of us in our daily lives do not place God as the most important One in our lives. Instead, we tend to put Him aside, and forgot about Him, until the time when the need arise for us to seek Him, because we are in need, and we ask God to help us to get out of our predicament.

And then, we are also called to love one another, fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, not just those who loved us back, but all, even our enemies, those who hated us and persecuted us. This is again, not something that can be easily done, as it is in our human nature to bear grudges and to be angry at someone else, to be unhappy with others. Are we able to do what the Lord taught us to do? To forgive our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute us?

That is why we should put our trust in God, and follow His examples. There is no better example than Our Lord Jesus Himself, Who has shown His exemplary love. As St. Paul mentioned in his Epistle to the Romans, Christ died for all of us, out of His love for us, while we are all still sinners. He mentioned that few of us would want to lay down our lives for a good friend, less so, an enemy or someone so wicked or unworthy that we would loath to be even near the person.

But that is exactly the very reason why we must put our trust in God. Is it better to trust in men and all worldly things which are unreliable and are doubted in their ability to provide for us? It is indeed better to trust in the Lord, Who is ever loving and have been ever trustworthy, because He is faithful to His Covenant, which He had made with us, His people. Even though we have often been unfaithful, but God is ever faithful. He cannot deny the love that He has for each one of us.

Are we able then to follow the examples of Christ? Are we able to follow the example of His love and obedience to His Father? Perhaps then, we should also heed the examples from St. Ambrose of Milan, the renowned bishop and saint, who was a very influential Church leader at his time, and one of the original four Doctors of the Church, together with his protege and pupil, St. Augustine of Hippo.

It was told that St. Ambrose was born to an influential and Christian Roman noble family, who had an excellent education and upbringing, brought up in the various educations on law, rhetoric and law. Eventually, he rose up the ranks to become the governor of the province and region surrounding the city of Milan, then the effective capital of the Roman Empire in its western provinces. As such, he was a very influential and powerful person within the Empire.

At that time, there was a conflict between the factions of the Church, between those who held on to the Orthodox faith of the Church, and those who were swayed by the false heresy of Arius, the Arians. The dispute arose in deciding who was to succeed the previous bishop of Milan, who was an Arian. The different parties could not agree on a suitable candidate, until St. Ambrose’s name was brought up, and thus he was elected as the Bishop of Milan.

Initially, St. Ambrose was reluctant to take up the office, as at that time, he was not even baptised properly yet and was not a priest less so a bishop. Yet, after he has taken up his office, he pursued a very rigorous and zealous effort to rejuvenate the faith among his flock, devoting himself to many charitable works, and cared for the poor and the less privileged people in his diocese.

St. Ambrose was also known for his staunch defence of the true and Orthodox teachings of the Church, devoting much of his time and effort throughout his episcopacy, in trying to limit the influence of the heretical Arians, who had a lot of support among the Imperial aristocracy, even from the Emperor, Valentinian II and his mother, Empress Justina. He resisted for many years the efforts of the Arians in trying to gain possession of some churches in Milan for their use.

Eventually, after years of resistance, hard work and patience, St. Ambrose managed to steer his flock carefully and lovingly through those years of difficulties and challenges. The influence of the Arians and the other heretics greatly decreased from then on, and many more people repented from their heresy and turned back to the true teachings of the Church. St. Ambrose himself once said, “I am ready to submit (to the Imperial authorities), be it to prison or even to death, but I will never betray the Lord and His Church.”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we can see, St. Ambrose of Milan has devoted all of his energy and strength trying to love God and to devote himself to Him wholeheartedly. And he has also devoted his time and effort in loving his fellow brethren, those entrusted under his care as bishop, ensuring that these people did not fall into heresy and sin.

Let us all follow in his footsteps, brethren, and resolve to live our lives more attuned to the will of God, and obeying His commands, trusting in Him, building upon the solid foundation of God and not upon the uncertain foundation of worldly glories and temptations. May all of us draw closer to God, and may He bless us all each and every day, in all of our good and faithful endeavours. Amen.

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Wednesday, 6 December 2017 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the readings of the Holy Scriptures telling us all about the love which the Lord, Our God, has shown us all His people, and the coming of the time when He will bring us into an eternity of joy and grace, no more sorrows and tears, at the time of His own choosing. We believe that this time will come in the future just as He has promised us.

And we see God as a loving and caring God as He is, for He is Our Shepherd, Our Loving Father, Our Master and Creator. God did not create us mankind for no reason or purpose, or just for fun. God created each and every one of us in His image, because He loves us, and He wants to share the love that is in Him, for He is love, with all of us.

God has no need for our love in the first place, because He is already perfect in love. In the Most Holy Trinity He has been united with perfect love, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Yet, He wants to love us, and thus He created us and the whole world. But unfortunately, we mankind chose to follow the devil’s advice and temptation instead, and fell into disobedience and therefore, sin.

Yet, He still loves each and every one of us without exception. Sin is an obstacle that had to be overcome before we can be reconciled with Him, for sin brings about death, and also separation from Him, Who is the Lord and Master of life. And that is why, as the Lord Himself made it clear in the famous verse from the Gospel of St. John, chapter 3, ‘God so loved the world that He sent us His Most Beloved Son, that all who believe in Him will not perish but enter into eternal life.’

Thus, it is why a centre tenet of our faith is that God Himself has come down upon us and dwelled with us, as He has prophesied through the prophet Isaiah, that a Son would be born of the Virgin, and His Name will be Emmanuel, or ‘God is with us’. Jesus Christ, Our Lord, is the fulfilment of that prophecy, the Son of God, the Divine Word Who is God, with God since time immemorial, incarnate through His mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, to be the Son of Man.

And through Jesus, God showed His extraordinary love to us, His people, all of mankind. In the Gospel passage today, when the people who followed Jesus were hungry, four thousand men and many thousands more of women and children, He showed compassion and love for them, and wanted to feed them Himself. With seven loaves of bread and some fishes He blessed and multiplied, all the multitudes of them received food and were filled to satisfaction, with much excess to spare.

This, and another occasion of feeding of the five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fishes, and the many other miracles, healing wonders and all that the Lord had done among His people, showed His tender love and compassion for us, as our Shepherd, Who has been saddened by our waywardness, and in fact, He was angry also, at our stubbornness and refusal to believe in Him, as what He showed to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who persistently opposed Him and His works.

God wants us to be reconciled with Him so much, and He desires to love us so much to the point that, as we know, He was willing to lay down His life for us. He Himself said, that there is no greater love than for one to lay down his life for his friends, and that was exactly what the Lord Jesus had done. He accepted death willingly, death on the cross, to suffer torture, whips and lashes, the heavy burden of the cross, bearing all of our sins, and die on that cross, so that all of us may be saved through Him and in Him.

And this, brothers and sisters in Christ, is why we celebrate Christmas. Christmas is the celebration of the birthday of Our Lord Jesus, but it will have no greater meaning should it not be linked to the very reason why Christmas existed in the first place. Why did God choose to be born as a Man? No other gods in other pantheons and traditions, false as they are, chose to humble themselves in this manner. No, only God, the Lord and Master of the universe, Our God, chose to do so. And that is because of His pure love for each one of us as I mentioned.

But sadly, as we have been discussing in the past few days of Advent, in our celebrations and preparations for the celebrations of Christmas, God Himself has often been forgotten and put aside, replaced by the commercial and worldly ways of Christmas celebrations and revelries. We all know of the dramatic commercialisation, materialism and secularism that surround much of our Christmas celebrations today, throughout the world.

That said, there are of course still places where we can see the true meaning of Christmas being celebrated, as there are still those who truly place Christ at the centre of their Christmas celebrations. Yet, the temptations can be truly great for us to conform with the ways of the world, and all the excesses of partying and celebrations, the desires for Christmas gifts, joys and pleasures, forgetting about Christ, the true focus of our celebrations.

Take for example, the extensive commercialisation of the figure now known as identical and symbolic of our modern day Christmas celebrations, namely Santa Claus, whose origins in fact came about from the saint of the Church whose feast day we celebrate today. We always remember Santa Claus as the old man with big belly and dressed in red and white thick sweater, with a matching pointy hat, and a thick white moustache and beard, which is now ubiquitous throughout the world and immediately identifiable with Christmas.

And we see Santa Claus as a figure who delivers presents and gifts for people, especially children, riding on a magical carriage pulled by flying reindeers through the sky, entering through the chimneys of houses to put the gifts discreetly through the fireplaces. But do we all know, that Santa Claus is a horrible misrepresentation of a real person, and one who is a faithful and zealous defender of the faith, St. Nicholas (San Nicolaus – the origin of the name of Santa Claus) of Myra?

St. Nicholas of Myra was a bishop of the church in Myra, in what is now modern day Asian portion of Turkey, and he was known to be a loving and devout old man, always caring for his flock, and also known for his gifts to young children, through which the tradition of Santa Claus eventually came about through folklore and traditions twisted to suit what the world needs. But they choose what they want to see and believe, and not representing wholly who St. Nicholas of Myra truly was.

First and foremost, St. Nicholas of Myra is a staunch defender of the faith, who is a contemporary of the famous heretic, Arius. Arius was a very popular and charismatic preacher, who preached the heresy of Arianism, named after him, which basically stated the belief that Jesus Christ Our Lord, is not equal to God the Father, but was begotten and created by God. He denied the equality between each members of the Holy Trinity, a clear breach and break from the true teachings of the Church.

And unfortunately, many people were swayed to the teachings of Arius, and even quite a few priests and bishops as well. So much so that the heresy of Arianism lasted quite a few hundred years before it was finally defeated completely. And at the time of the inception of this heresy, the Church wanted to settle this issue once and for all, at the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, where the bishops of the Church, including St. Nicholas of Myra gathered to discuss about the many matters of the faith, including the teachings of Arius.

It was told that, when Arius spoke about his teachings and defended his ideas before the Ecumenical Council, St. Nicholas of Myra was so inflamed with zeal and righteous anger, that he went forward and punched the heretic Arius in the face for his blasphemy and false teachings of the faith, which had subverted and caused the loss of so many of the souls of the faithful.

Through what we have seen in the examples of St. Nicholas of Myra, we can see the real Santa Claus, and who he should have been, not the false image projected by the world as ‘Father Christmas’, engineered to further the materialistic attitude and distractions to keep us from finding the true focus and purpose of our Christmas joy and celebrations, that is Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Following in the footsteps of St. Nicholas of Myra, all of us as Christians should rediscover the purpose of our rejoicing and celebration this Christmas and from now on. We should indeed be happy and rejoice, together with our families and friends, but shall we now rejoice with the right purpose and intention, that is to remember just how much God has loved us, that He was willing to give us His only beloved Son, to be our Saviour and Redeemer?

Let us go through this season of Advent with a renewed faith and zeal, and prepare ourselves wholeheartedly, in our hearts, minds, souls, bodies, and indeed our whole beings, that we may appreciate much better from now on, the significance of Christmas to our salvation. For it was at Christmas, that God, Who had willingly made Himself to be like one of us, entered the world, and then later on, offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice on Calvary, on the cross, that through His loving sacrifice, all of us are saved through Him.

May the Lord bless each and every one of us, and may He empower all of us to live in accordance with His ways, so that in everything we do, we may always strive to bring glory to God and His Name. And may He also bless our Advent season, that for each one of us, this time will be fruitful and meaningful, for us to prepare ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually, to have a very wonderful and blessed Christmas in a few weeks time. St. Nicholas of Myra, the true Santa Claus, pray for all of us. Amen.

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Tuesday, 5 December 2017 : 1st Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard from the Scriptures first of all, from the prophet Isaiah who prophesied about the coming of the Messiah which was promised by God to His people through His messengers. The prophet Isaiah mentioned how the Messiah would come from the house of David, as a fulfilment of all the promises that God had made with His people, and with David, His faithful servant.

He also mentioned how the Messiah would be filled with the Spirit of God and with His wisdom, and He would reveal to all the people, the will and desires of God, and He would bring about a great era of joy and peace. He would reveal the light of God to a world darkened by sin and disobedience, and bring about a renewal of all God’s people. And as Christians, all of us believe that all of these have been perfectly fulfilled with the coming of God’s promised Messiah, Jesus Christ Our Lord.

And in this Messiah we do not just have a mere Man, but instead as He Himself had revealed, God Who has been incarnated in the flesh of Man, and both God and Man equally, He is the One through Whom the salvation of this world, and all of us His people have been brought to the hope of reconciliation and renewal. And in the Gospel today, we heard the joy of the Lord, Who proclaimed to all His disciples, the truth about Himself, and how He had brought salvation and joy to all of them.

In this time of Advent, as we continue to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christmas, we should reflect on what we have just heard and discussed. Let us ask ourselves, what is the meaning of Christmas to us? Is Christmas merely just another holiday and merrymaking period? Is Christmas merely just a time for us to rest from our work and to dress nicely, and to party and be merry with our friends?

Is Christmas a time for us to show off to our friends and relatives, by competing and showing who is able to decorate our houses the best, or who is able to give the most expensive gifts and make the best parties? No, our answers for all of these should be a resounding no. We may indeed be joyful, be merry and be happy as indeed we should. But at the same time, we must not let all these worldly celebrations to distract us from our true focus, that is Our Lord Jesus Christ.

For the essence of Christmas must be understood by all of us. Let us first of all remember that each and every one of us are sinners, who have been absolved and forgiven by God, because of His wonderful love and mercy, through none other than the provision of His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, by His sacrifice and death on the cross, and by His glorious resurrection from the dead.

If we can understand all of these, then we will surely rethink how we should be celebrating Christmas, with Christ Himself at the centre and as the focus of all or our joys and our merrymaking. That is how we should celebrate Christmas, and in this season of Advent, we should then prepare ourselves so that we may worthily celebrate it, with the right intention, with the right meaning, so that the Lord’s grace may truly work its wonders among us.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let us from today onwards, recommit ourselves to the Lord and seek to renew our efforts to live faithfully, by doing what He has commanded us to do, and by trusting in Him, Our Lord and Saviour, that the way He has shown us, is the way for us to go through, for our salvation and redemption into eternal happiness with Him. May the Lord be with us always and may He always grant us His blessings and graces. Amen.

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Monday, 4 December 2017 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard that story from the Gospel passage, relating to us the moment when the Lord Jesus healed the sick servant of an army centurion, and the Lord was impressed at the faith he has in Him. In order to appreciate this story better, let us all understand the context and situation in which the interaction between Our Lord and the centurion took place.

At that time, the land of Judea, as well as Galilee and Samaria, the places where the Lord ministered to the people, were all under the dominion of the Roman Empire. It was likely that this army captain or centurion is part of the Roman legion or army stationed in the region for peacekeeping and garrison purpose. As such, the army centurion mentioned in the Gospel today might not even be a Jew.

The Jewish people living in Judea were not happy living under the Roman rule, as they had to pay taxes and obey other obligations, although the Romans did respect the Jewish customs and faith, allowing them to carry on with their lives as normal. This was why if we read through the Gospels, the Jews despised the tax collectors and even called them sinners and traitors to their people, as these people collected the taxes for the Romans.

Therefore, the Jews despised all interactions with the Romans, as well as with the pagans, Greeks and all those who do not believe in God or obey the laws of Moses. A Jewish person should not enter the house of a pagan, or else he or she will be considered unclean and unworthy. As such, if Jesus entered into the house of the army centurion, He would be considered unclean, and His enemies would have a reason with which to attack Him, for conspiring with the pagans.

The army centurion must have been aware of this fact, and that was probably the reason why he uttered the now famous words to the Lord Jesus, “I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof. Just say the word, and my servant shall be healed.” This is what each and every one of us utter at every celebration of the Holy Mass at the Agnus Dei, when the Lord is His Most Precious Body and Blood is presented to us sinners.

Knowing that we are sinners, we utter the same words as the centurion had mentioned. The army centurion knew that Jesus is the Lord, and recognising that fact and truth, and how he, as a pagan, did not deserve Jesus, a Jew, and all the more, as the Lord and Master of all, from coming into his house. Thus, he believes that, because Jesus is the Lord and God, He needed only to just utter the words, and His will would be done, and the servants would be healed.

This faith should be contrasted with the lack of faith among those whom the Lord Jesus had performed His miracles and wonders, even among His disciples and followers. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law even demanded Jesus to show them heavenly and miraculous signs that they might believe in Him. Those people had seen the signs performed and yet still did not believe, because they have consciously chosen not to believe in God and harden their hearts against Him.

This is a reminder to all of us as Christians, that each and every one of us must learn from the faith of the army centurion. We need to be inspired by the pure faith and commitment that the army centurion showed to the Lord, believing wholeheartedly in Him rather than making excuses and doubting Him in what He is capable of doing. Many of us, unfortunately, often did not show the Lord the same faith that the centurion had shown.

Therefore, it is important that in this season of Advent, we should prepare ourselves well, heart, body, mind and soul, in our entire being, to welcome the Lord Jesus, not just merely celebrating His birth into the world, but instead, welcoming Him completely into ourselves, into our whole being. We have received the Lord in the Eucharist at the Holy Mass, but do we truly reflect on what we have received, that is nothing less than the Lord Himself?

Today we celebrate the feast of St. John of Damascus, a renowned saint who lived in Syria more than a millennia ago. St. John of Damascus was a priest who wrote extensively about the faith and whose devotion to God was truly remarkable. Despite the challenges he often encountered in his life, work and mission, he continued to devote himself day after day, to a life of prayer and charitable works, which encouraged many of the Christians in his area, living under difficult conditions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today make a renewed effort to live faithfully in accordance with our faith, following in the footsteps of the army centurion and our holy predecessors, the saints and blesseds of the Church. Let us all be true disciples of Our Lord in actions and deeds, and be genuine in our love for Him. After all, He has endeavoured to come to us, in the flesh, and even then, to suffer and die on the cross for the sake of our salvation.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to guide us on our path, so that eventually we may be faithful in the same manner as the army centurion, whose faith in Him is so great that he placed his complete trust in His words alone, and also in the footsteps of all the saints, particularly St. John of Damascus, whose feast we celebrate this day. May God bless us forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 3 December 2017 : First Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday marks the beginning of the season of Advent, the time of preparation before the coming of Christmas, when we will celebrate together the birth or Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Today as the First Sunday of Advent, we also begin a new liturgical year, as a new cycle of the liturgical celebrations begin anew.

We heard the passages from the Scriptures today speaking to us about firstly, from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, reminding us as God’s people that we have fallen from the grace of God when we sinned against Him, disobeying His laws and commandments. Yet, God is ever forgiving and merciful, and He is willing to forgive us our sins, as long as we open ourselves to His mercy and allow His grace and love to transform us from a being filled with sin into a being of light.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we embark through this season of Advent, preparing ourselves for the coming of Christmas, it is important that we take note, that this season is not about preparing our homes with decorations, or the time for us to do our pre-Christmas shopping and preparation for our lavish Christmas parties and celebrations. Instead, this time of Advent is designed for us that we may stop from whatever we have been doing throughout this year, and reflect on them, so as to prepare ourselves spiritually and mentally to celebrate Christmas properly.

Many of us do not understand what Christmas is truly about, and we ended up being drawn into the secular way of celebrating Christmas. In fact, if you look around the town, all the shopping malls and gathering places, and even along the roadsides, you can see plenty of Christmas decorations all over those places. We can see all the Christmas trees, the lights and all the beautiful messages wishing everyone a happy Christmas, happiness, peace and prosperity.

Yet, if we look deeper, except for some noteworthy exceptions we surely have encountered, there is something very important missing from all those Christmas celebrations. And what is that, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is Christ! Christ has been missing from Christmas, and the celebration which is primarily and indeed solely about Christ Our Lord, has lost its true meaning and purpose, hidden beneath layers of excess and revelry.

Many of us worry about what we are to wear during the celebrations, or what to cook or provide in our feasts, but for what purpose? Indeed, it will be good to wear something new and good looking for the festive seasons, but are we doing these for the right purpose? Are we celebrating the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, or are we being vain, trying to look good and beautiful in front of our guests and relatives?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are living in a world awash with many material excesses as well as materialistic attitudes. We are surrounded by all these things, that distract us from the true focus of Christmas. Imagine if in a birthday party, everyone is busy enjoying themselves, talking among themselves and be occupied by various activities, and yet, the person who is having the birthday is forgotten. Is that something logical or right? Surely it is not.

And that is exactly what happens when we come to celebrate Christmas, but not with the right purpose and intention. Instead of a celebration of our faith and rejoicing for the arrival of Our Lord and Saviour, the long awaited Messiah, we have made Christmas to be a celebration of ourselves, our ego and human ambitions, and we have left God out of these celebrations.

The Gospel passage today serves as a reminder for all of us the importance of this season of Advent, as a time of reflection and recollection, for us to think deep in our hearts what it truly means for us to celebrate Christmas, and indeed, what it means to be Christians. For we believe in the Lord Jesus, Our God, Who has descended to us assuming the flesh of Man, and died for us on the cross.

This is the fundamental tenet of our faith which we have to follow and understand, if we are truly willing to understand the true spirit and intention of our Christmas celebrations. For Christmas is not just like any other earthly celebrations and revelry. The very reason we rejoice is because Christmas itself is intimately and inseparably tied with another great event in our faith, that is of the Passion of Our Lord that we celebrate during Good Friday, and His resurrection in Easter.

Without the crucifixion, death and resurrection in Easter, Christmas has no meaning, as then it will be just the birth anniversary of yet another human being, no different from any one of us. Instead, it is because of Easter that Christmas has its meaning, because we believe that God Himself has become Man and entered into the world at the moment of His birth, celebrated as Christmas. And the very purpose of His coming into this world, which makes Easter also inseparable from Christmas, is so that He may lay down His life on the cross, as a perfect sacrificial victim, for the sake of our redemption.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to spend time to reflect on this, and see if we have done what we are expected to do, in preparation for the worthy celebration of Christmas. Otherwise, this time of Advent and eventually this upcoming Christmas season will just pass and go without meaning or purpose for us, year after year, again and again. Instead, all of us as Christians should become role models in our faith, and do our best to worthily welcome Christmas, celebrating the very important moment of the birth of Our Lord, God Who have willingly made Himself a Man, for our sake.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all do our best to prepare ourselves this season of Advent, by going for the Sacrament of Reconciliation, doing confession for our sins and conducting penance through our good works and charity, giving up our bad habits, and prepare ourselves, heart, mind, soul and body to be ready to celebrate Christmas in full faith, no longer focused on ourselves and all the revelries, but instead, returning to our true focus in Our Lord Jesus Christ, the birthday Boy, Whose birth we rejoice at.

May the Lord bless us always, and may He empower each and every one of us, so that we may live faithfully and walk in His ways, all the days of our life, persevering through the challenges of life and all the temptations of this world. May He guide us in this season of Advent, that day after day, we may come ever closer to God and His grace. Amen.

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Saturday, 24 December 2016 : 4th Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, finally, Christmas is almost upon us. After almost a whole month of preparation and waiting in Advent, tomorrow we shall finally come to the great joy and celebration of Christmas, the day when we all rejoice at the birth and the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ into this world. We have spent much of this Advent season preparing and reflecting upon the mysteries of this Nativity of our Lord.

And because tomorrow is the very day that we are going to begin our celebrations of Christmas, it is important that we have to enter it with the right mind and the right prepared state, that we all know firstly what we are celebrating about, who is it that we are celebrating about, and then how we ought to celebrate it with the spirit of being Christians, as disciples and followers of our Lord.

It is indeed easy for us to be distracted by the many forms of persuasions and the temptations of worldliness in the celebrations of Christmas, all the more given the amount of materialism and commercialisation that had surrounded the secularised version of Christmas, to the point that Christ had been forgotten from the very celebration that bore His Name, and instead celebrated worldly forms of happiness and joy.

It is not wrong for us to celebrate Christmas in that manner, as after all it is a season of rejoicing and time to celebrate together with our family and friends, but what is important is that we must not forget the essential meaning and purpose of the celebrations of Christmas, and that is about the Lord Himself, the celebration of He Who has come into the world bearing the salvation of God, so that all may be saved through Him.

And that is the essence of today’s Scripture readings, that God’s love for us was so great and He is ever faithful to His words and promises such that He fulfilled at Christmas, the promises and the covenant He had established with us mankind, with His servant Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the promise He had made with David the king, His faithful servant that He will bless their descendants forever.

Let us all spend some time to think and reflect upon God’s great love for us, which has been made manifest through Christ especially in this coming season of Christmas. And let us all take note that when the Lord Jesus came the first time, He did not come with pomp and grandeur, although the host of Angels did sing gloriously of His coming witnessed by the shepherds. He came instead very humbly in a mere stable even though He is a King.

This is a reminder to each and every one of us that our Christmas celebrations and joy cannot be exclusive but instead must be inclusive, that means we cannot forget about the many people who want to celebrate Christmas but are unable to do so because of various circumstances. We ought to share our joy with them, and whatever excesses we have, let us all be generous and share them with our brethren in need, so that our joy may be theirs too, and the Lord Who sees what we have done, will reward us for our charity and generosity.

Let us all also spend the time today to pray for our brethren who are persecuted for their faith, and give thanks to God for the graces He has blessed us with, that we may be able to celebrate Christmas with peace and joy. Let us remember our brethren who cannot even celebrate Christmas openly and joyfully or else they would be persecuted and made to suffer. Let us not forget about them as we enter into Christmas.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all prepare ourselves well and help one another that we may celebrate Christmas with each other and share the joy that we experience, knowing that because of the Lord Jesus and His entry into this world, all of us have received that new hope for eternal life and salvation through Him. May the Lord bless us all and keep us in His grace always. Amen.

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Friday, 23 December 2016 : 4th Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John of Kanty, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings speak in unison in honour of the faithful servant and messenger of God, St. John the Baptist, who is the Herald of the Saviour or Messiah, as the one whom God had sent into the world to precede the coming of His Saviour Jesus Christ. St. John the Baptist has been prophesied by the prophets of old to be the one who would prepare the way for the Messiah.

He was sent into the world to prepare and to straighten the path for the Lord Jesus, as many had fallen into crooked ways and sins as they were misled by the corruptions of the world, as well as by their wicked and self-serving, corrupt and unjust leaders, the elders and the Pharisees, all those whom God had entrusted with the governance over His people but they had not done what they had been expected to do.

And it was not an easy task, as there were many challenges and difficulties that he had to encounter during his mission. He had to face opposition and stubborn resistance from the Pharisees and the elders, who refused to believe in him and in his message, which called the people of God to repent from their sinful ways. Those elders refused to believe that they were sinners because they thought that their ways were righteous and that they were worthy of God because of all the supposedly pious deeds that they had done.

In their pride, they had brought about their downfall, and also because of their greed for power, privileges and worldly possessions. They were tempted with those things and therefore became resistant towards God and His approach. In the same manner, those in power like the kings and rulers, the Sadducees who consisted of these people, also opposed the Lord and His ways, as He had revealed through St. John the Baptist.

And we all know how King Herod, the son of Herod the Great lived in an adulterous relationship with Herodias, the wife of his deceased brother Philip, an unlawful and sinful relationship. St. John the Baptist did not fear for his life or for his safety, and he openly rebuked the king for his sins. And when that resulted in his arrest, he did not fear, but constantly continued to rebuke the king for his sinful ways and in the end, met his end in martyrdom.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. John the Baptist is a role model for all of us Christians, for he is someone who has lived obediently in accordance with the will of God, and he obeyed His will even though it might mean suffering and troubles for himself. He did not allow the temptation of fear and selfishness to distract him from following through with the mission which had been entrusted to him, and indeed thanks to his works, many had been reconciled with God and received justification because of their faith and repentance.

All of us should emulate the examples of St. John the Baptist in our own lives. And we should also heed the examples of another saint, namely St. John of Kanty whose feast we are celebrating today. St. John of Kanty or St. John Cantius was a Polish priest and theologian who was renowned for his bright intellect and mind, as well as his numerous works in teaching the faith through his many writings, works and compilations.

And at the same time, he was well known for his great charity and love for the poor, the sick and the dying. He gave generously to them, both in terms of his time, his love and aid, and he inspired many others to do the same. He should also become our inspiration for this Christmas season, in how we ought to spend our time meaningfully and with due consideration for our fellow brothers and sisters, especially those who are in need.

Let us all not forget about the poor, the weak and all those who suffer even as we rejoice in this coming Christmas season. There are many who are unable to rejoice because of their circumstances, because they were lacking in what they even need in order to survive their daily lives. Let us share our joy with them and help them, as St. John of Kanty himself had once done, and be open to the Lord’s will and obey Him as St. John the Baptist had been, and not harden our hearts as the Pharisees and the elders had done.

May the Lord bless us all and help us in all of our endeavours, so that the true joy of Christmas may be ours, and that we may also share it with our brethren who are in need of assistance and help. May the Lord be with us all and be with them too, now and forevermore. Amen.