Advent homily

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Thursday, 1 December 2022 : 1st Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded that the Lord our God is our Rock and Foundation, and in Him alone we will find a firm and steady support for ourselves, regardless of whatever trials, hardships and struggles we may encounter throughout life. The Lord alone is the source of our true strength and without Him we shall have nothing and our existence has no meaning at all. Yet, many of us still chose to build our lives upon unstable and shaky foundations, based on worldly things, resources and matters, and not on the Lord and His providence. We have often left the Lord out of our lives and put Him aside when in truth He should have been at the very centre of our lives.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the words of the Lord speaking to His people through Isaiah regarding what He will do to them, in providing for them, protecting them and leading them into glory, rescuing them from their troubles and their enemies. They shall once again see happiness and true joy through God’s providence and love. Back then, during the time of the ministry and work of the prophet Isaiah, the people of God left in the land of Judah, the southern half of the once united kingdom of Israel, were facing great trials and challenges, as their enemies rose up all around them, threatening them and drowning them by their great power. Yet, the Lord reassured them that if they remained firm in their faith in Him and trusted in Him, God will always be by their side and they will be saved in the end.

At that time, the kingdom of Israel, the northern domain of the people of God, north of Judah had just recently been destroyed by the conquering and rampaging Assyrians who crushed the entire kingdom of Israel, subjugating its people to humiliation and exile, bringing many of them to the distant lands away from their homeland. Their constant refusal to listen to the Lord, their sins and wickedness had brought about that consequence, as they were all humbled from their haughty attitude against the Lord’s faithful, His many prophets and messengers whom they had persecuted and rejected. However, it did not mean that God did not love His people or forsake them. He still loved them, but those wayward ones indeed had to face their consequences first, and know that what they had suffered, came because of their own actions and choices.

Then, the Assyrians also came up against Judah after they had crushed the Israelites. King Sennacherib of Assyria brought a massive and powerful army against the kingdom of Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem itself. Conventionally, by the wisdom and understanding of the world, the people of Judah and Jerusalem were doomed, and they should have shared the fate of their northern brethren. Yet, while Sennacherib uttered blasphemies and nasty words against God and His people, the people of Judah, who had been faithful to the Lord by the leadership of their king Hezekiah, remained firm in their faith and were not swayed by the persuasions, coercions, threats or ridicule by the king of Assyria. The Lord did not abandon His people and He stood by them, exactly just as what we have heard in our first reading today.

That is because while Sennacherib boasted in the greatness of his worldly power, the might of his army and his vast armaments, the Lord reminded him and humbled him, telling him just how futile his boasting and how fleeting his power and glory actually were. The Lord sent His mighty Angels to stand guard over His City, and He sent them to crush the armies of the Assyrians, where the whole vast multitudes of Sennacherib’s army was destroyed, and the king of Assyria had to return back to his lands in shame. According to the Scriptures and historical evidence, he was assassinated by his own sons soon after, marking the most ignominious end for this king who had boasted against God and uttered blasphemy against Him. Meanwhile, the people of Judah and Jerusalem were saved and triumphant, under the power of their Lord and true King, God Himself.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard then of the Lord’s parable of the houses, in which He highlighted two houses built upon two different foundations, one of insecure and shaky sand, and the other of solid and firm rocky foundation. In that parable, the Lord Jesus highlighted how all those who had no real and genuine faith in Him are like those who built their houses upon the unsteady foundation of sand, and gave examples of those who called on Him and claimed to know Him, and yet in their hearts and minds, they had no place for God and God is not at the centre or the focus of their hearts and minds. The Lord reminded us all therefore that if we are truly to call ourselves as Christians, then we must indeed have genuine faith in Him, and we cannot merely be faithful on the outside, but is empty of faith inside.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we enter and progress through this season of Advent in preparation for Christmas, let us all therefore reflect on our faith and life, whether we have indeed been true believers of Christ and His truth, and whether we have made Him the firm foundation of our lives, or whether we have chosen to make other worldly things and matters as the foundations of our lives instead of God. We do not have to go and look far beyond what we can see in how many people celebrate Christmas. Christmas has become so secularised and focused on many worldly forms of pleasures and joys that we end up losing sight of what Christmas is all about, and what we are in fact celebrating. We must not forget that the Lord Jesus is truly the reason why we rejoice as we prepare for the glorious celebrations of Christmas.

That is why, let us all purify our hearts and minds, and clear our thoughts and discern carefully our way of living, and our preparations for Christmas in particular so that we may indeed be worthy to celebrate it with proper disposition, understanding and faith. Let us all lead by example through our lives so that we may help others to see the truth of God, and anchor our lives firmly on Him, our Rock and our Strength, our Foundation and our Salvation. May the Lord continue to bless and guide us in our journey of faith, and may He empower us all to remain faithful and committed in our Christian living, now and always, evermore. May all of us have a truly blessed and fruitful Advent. Amen.

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Wednesday, 30 November 2022 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of one of the great Twelve Apostles of the Lord, namely that of St. Andrew the Apostle, also known as St. Andrew the First-Called because he was indeed one of the first if not the first one among the Twelve Apostles to be called by the Lord to be one of His followers. St. Andrew the Apostle was once a fisherman of the region of the lake of Galilee, together with his brother St. Peter, the chief of all the Apostles and first Vicar of Christ, as well as the sons of Zebedee, St. James and St. John, another two of the Twelve Apostles. Altogether, the four of them were the first of the Twelve Apostles to follow the Lord, and were the Lord’s first disciples, leaving everything behind in order to follow Him.

St. Andrew according to the Gospel of St. John and tradition was also one of the disciples of St. John the Baptist, and was one of the two disciples who became first followers of Christ because St. John the Baptist at the moment when he baptised the Lord Jesus at the River Jordan proclaimed, ‘Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world’, revealing that the One he had just baptised, was truly the One Whom God had promised, the Messiah and Saviour of the whole world. St. Andrew and the other unnamed disciple of St. John the Baptist therefore decided to follow the Lord from then on, and it was likely hence that St. Andrew was the one who introduced the Lord to his fellow fishermen, his brother St. Peter as well as the brothers St. James and St. John as mentioned.

St. Andrew the Apostle was often present at many important events in the Lord’s ministry as mentioned in the Gospels. He continued to carry out his ministry amidst the challenges and trials of the world, and all the persecutions facing the faithful after the Lord has suffered, died on the Cross and risen from the dead, and sent out His disciples and the Apostles to the many distant parts of the world to proclaim the Word of God and the Good News of His salvation to all the people in those places. St. Andrew himself according to Apostolic and Church traditions, went to the various regions in the distant north from the Holy Land, in places like Scythia, which corresponds to the modern day parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. He also ministered to the people in other places like the Balkans, establishing the See of Byzantium, which would later on became the principal See of Constantinople of his successors, and Greece among others.

St. Andrew later would suffer martyrdom as described by the traditions of the Church, as he was arrested and condemned to death in the region of what is now Greece. He was crucified on an X-shaped cross, which henceforth would be known as St. Andrew’s Cross. He remained firm in his dedication and faith in God, doing his best in fulfilling God’s missions and calling entrusted to Him. St. Andrew continued to persevere in the mission which the Lord has given him, to the very end. He chose to suffer and die rather than to abandon His mission and to endure the hardships of this world rather than to stay silent amidst proclaiming the words of God’s truth against the falsehoods and evils of this world. His examples, faith and convictions should inspire us in our own way of observing the Law of God and in following His path.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect together on this Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle upon the actions and life work of this Apostle and holy man of God, let us all discern our own actions and way of life, in how we live our lives as Christians in our world today. Have we placed the Lord our God as the centre and focus of our lives, or have we instead allowed ourselves to be swayed by the many temptations and allures of this world that we end up being drawn further and further away from the Lord and His salvation? It is important that we reflect upon these today as we continue to progress through the season of Advent in preparation for the great celebrations at Christmas. That is because we must not be ignorant of our calling and mission as Christians, to be the beacons of God’s light and hope in our world today.

Often we may think that we are unworthy or incapable of doing what the Lord has entrusted to us to do, but this is because we do not realise or understand that it is not we who make ourselves worthy of the Lord or decide whether we are worthy or not. Instead, it is God Himself Who calls and has called upon all those whom He deems to be worthy. After all, He knows everything in us, all in our hearts and minds, even to the deepest of our secrets. Nothing is hidden from His All-Knowing might, and hence, He knows perfectly what we are capable of, and He empowers each one of us with unique and variety of gifts, blessings and opportunities to do His will, and to be fruitful in the missions that He has entrusted to each one of us. All of us should follow in the footsteps of St. Andrew the Apostle, and the other Apostles and saints.

The works that the Lord had entrusted to His Apostles and disciples are still far from being completed, brothers and sisters in Christ. There are still many areas where there are people who have not yet known the truth, wisdom and salvation in God, and there are many of those who can be called closer to God and His truth, His salvation and grace by our lives and actions. We have been entrusted with many things by the Lord, and sometimes we ourselves do not realise this, as we are often too preoccupied with worldly matters, our desires and ambitions that we end up being blindsided and unable to realise what a great opportunity that we have been given by God, and how we often squandered those opportunities and gifts, in ignoring and not answering to the call that the Lord has made upon us to follow Him.

Let us all therefore entrust ourselves to the Lord, following the examples that saints like St. Andrew the Apostle had done. Let us all allow the Lord to lead and guide us in our lives so that we may truly walk faithfully down the path that He has prepared for us. Let us all be active in the faithful living and carrying out of our Christian duties and obligations, in being true and shining beacons of God’s light and truth in our world today. Are we willing to commit ourselves to this path? And are we willing to commit our effort, time and attention to do what the Lord had called us to do and entrusted in our care? Let us ask St. Andrew to intercede for us, that God may always be by our side and strengthen us in whatever struggles and paths that He has called us to walk through, now and always, evermore. May our lives, and especially this time of Advent be a truly fruitful one. Amen.

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Tuesday, 29 November 2022 : 1st Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of how fortunate we are for having received the revelation of truth from God, of the coming of His future return, and how we shall all be partakers and inheritors of His glorious kingdom, when He comes again at the end of time. We are reminded that God will deliver us into a new existence and life free from the bondage and sufferings due to our sins and wickedness. The Lord has reassured us that He will never abandon us to the darkness, and all of us who are faithful to Him shall receive from Him the gift of everlasting grace and life, freedom from the darkness of sin and death. No longer shall we have to fear the threats of evil and the attacks of Satan, the evil one, because our Lord will lead us to His great triumphant victory in the end.

However, along the way there will indeed be plenty of challenges, trials and obstacles facing us. Hence, we really have to be patient and committed to the Lord, with all of our hearts and minds, so that we may remain firm and true in our faith in Him, and not be tempted to walk away and abandon Him for other comforts and pleasures in the world. And that is why we have to remind ourselves in this season of Advent of what we are expecting in the coming Christmas, as we approach the time of rejoicing because we see the coming of the hope and new life in Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We are reminded that we rejoice greatly as we have seen the light of Our Lord’s glory and all that we shall enjoy in Him, the eternity of perfect bliss and happiness in His presence.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus Himself praised His heavenly Father for all that He had planned for the salvation of all mankind, and how everything had indeed been fulfilled and accomplished perfectly through His coming into this world, He, the Son of God and Son of Man, incarnate in the flesh and born of His blessed Mother Mary. Through Christ, all that God has promised all of us and our ancestors and predecessors, all mankind from the beginning of time had come to a full circle and perfect accomplishment. He has shown us the fullness of God’s love manifested before our own eyes, where God became tangible and approachable, and hence, showing and proving to us that whatever He has promised us all and our predecessors are not merely empty promises.

Indeed, it was not just that the love of God has been made manifest in this world and tangible to us, but through His actions, especially by His suffering and death on the Cross, Christ has delivered us the ultimate expression of God’s ever enduring love for all of us. As He Himself said that there is no greater love than for someone to lay down one’s life for a friend, that was exactly what the Lord had done for our sake. The Lord has shown us just much beloved we are and how precious we are to Him, that despite of our constant stubbornness and rebellion against Him, He still reached out to us and loved us nonetheless. His salvation has been extended to all mankind, even those who have hurt and persecuted Him. He is the one Lord of all, and all of us are His people, His beloved ones.

If God has loved us so much then we really need to ask ourselves, why then we have often neglected and ignored Him in our preparations for Christmas? Why have we spent so much time and effort in preparing and immersing ourselves in the festivities and merrymaking and yet, Christ is nowhere near the centre or the focus of our celebrations? The Lord has given us the wonders and riches of His love, and yet, we have not responded to His love with openness and willingness to embrace that love. How often is it that we remain stubborn in our refusal to embrace God’s love and mercy despite Him having patiently cared and reached out to us all these while? We have been busy preparing for Christmas, but is it the true Christmas that we are truly preparing for? Or is it the Christmas of our fancy and desires that we are actually looking forward to.

Let us all consider all of these very carefully even as we continue to progress through this season of Advent. We should not let the distractions and temptations of the secular and worldly Christmas from misleading us down the wrong path this season of Advent. Instead, we should do better in deepening our understanding of God’s love and compassion for us, and how we can do better in our respective lives to do what God has called on each one of us to do. We should this time of Advent to reflect on everything that God had done for us, in loving us and in showing us mercy and forgiveness, even when we have repeatedly disappointed Him and disobeyed Him, betrayed and rejected Him. Such pure love that God has shown us should be reciprocated and responded with our own love and devotion towards Him. But many of us realised it only too late that God has loved us so much.

Too many times we have been too busy with ourselves, our desires and pursuits in this world, blinded by our ego and pride, and as a result, we end up falling deeper and deeper into the path of worldliness and sin, and distracted away from the path of God’s righteousness and truth. Unless we keep this in mind and do our best to steer ourselves away from worldly temptations and resist their influences, we may likely end up going down the wrong paths, and end up being found unworthy to receive the Lord’s glorious inheritance on the Day of Reckoning. Is that what we truly want, brothers and sisters in Christ? To gain the temporary and short-term pleasures and happiness of the world, we sacrifice and forgo our assurance of eternal life in God?

May the Lord continue to guide us in our journey, and may He strengthen our faith, resolve and commitment to follow Him wholeheartedly in our way of life. May God be with us always and may He encourage us to walk down the path of righteousness and justice, and be ever vigilant against the allures, coercions and pressures of worldly corruptions, evils and temptations, as well as by deepening our relationships with God. May God bless our every actions and interactions, and give us the strength to carry out our calling and duties faithfully in life. Amen.

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Monday, 28 November 2022 : 1st Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we enter into this season of Advent, the time of preparation for Christmas, through the words of the Sacred Scriptures we heard today, all of us are being reminded that there will be the time when the Lord comes again in His glory, to gather us all, His beloved people and all of His faithful ones, that all of us may find rest and true happiness in Him. And we are reminded too that we should have faith in God and in His providence, and that in Him we shall have sure hope of eternal life and salvation, and we should believe in Him wholeheartedly and sincerely, devoting ourselves, our time, effort and attention to serve Him in each and every moments of our lives. Especially also during this Advent season, we are all called to rediscover our connection and strengthen our relationship with God, Whose coming celebrate this upcoming Christmas.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah regarding the promises that God brought to His people regarding the coming of the time of glory, joy and liberation for all of them, as He will deliver them from the hands of their enemies. The Lord never forgets all of them and has always put them in His thoughts. The Lord proclaimed of the future coming of His eternal and righteous dominion over all, when He will rule over all the people and the nations of the world, and where the old wickedness, evils and filth of this world will all be swept away and replaced with the righteousness and justice of God. They will all live in the presence of God, enjoying the fullness of His love and grace, and they will not suffer or have any more need any longer, because they will find perfection with and through God.

And that is what we are looking forward to as we journey through this season of Advent, in preparing ourselves for the joyous and glorious celebration of Christmas that is coming soon. We all know that Advent is a time for preparation for us so that we can celebrate Christmas worthily but how many of us truly know what it is that we are really celebrating in Christmas and its significance to us? Christmas marks the birthday of Our Lord and Saviour, the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has dwelled in His mother’s womb for nine months, and then appearing to us in the flesh, as He was born into this world, that the Saviour of this world finally made His appearance and became tangible and approachable by all of us. In Christ is the culmination and the completion of all that God had proclaimed and reassured His people with, all the promises of salvation and grace.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard a seemingly different narrative, that of an army captain or centurion whose beloved servant was very sick to the point of death. This army centurion, which by the conventions of the time was most certainly not a Jew, and might likely be a Roman, a pagan and outsider by the standards of the people living in the land of Judea and Galilee back then, came to the Lord with great faith, one that the Lord Himself praised before all. For this army centurion, although one of high rank and therefore would have been expected to demand assistance from the Lord, instead humbled himself before everyone who might have witnessed the encounter between him and the Lord, and he had so much faith in the Lord that he went all the way to Him by himself, asking Him personally for the favour for his servant’s sake.

Peculiarly, we may also notice that the army captain also said to the Lord that He should not come to his house when the Lord was making a move towards there, because he was unworthy to have Him enter under his roof. This is the same phrase that we mention every time the priest in the Holy Mass raised the Most Holy Eucharist, the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord before us after the Agnus Dei or Lamb of God, saying, ‘This is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world, blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb’, and we respond with the exact same words that the army centurion had spoken. This is the profession of our faith and also our humility, realising just how unworthy we truly are for the Lord to come into our midst, and yet that is what He had done for our sake.

Back then, what the army centurion had done was also very shrewd and right, as it was considered taboo and wrong for a Jew to enter the house of a pagan. According to the strict observance of the Law by the Pharisees and the elders, that would have made the Lord Jesus and His disciples unclean by merely stepping into the army centurion’s house. Hence, the army centurion might have wanted to prevent that unfortunate circumstance, which would have generated more reasons for the enemies of the Lord to attack and persecute Him all the more. But nonetheless, what matters is that the army centurion had such great faith in the Lord that essentially he did not have to witness the Lord actually performing His miracles before his own eyes in order for him to believe in Him.

Contrast this to the attitudes of the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and all the elders who continued to doubt and question the Lord, refusing to believe in Him and His truth, and even accusing Him of blasphemy and colluding with demons when they themselves had seen many miracles and wonders performed before their own eyes, and heard all the wisdom and good things that the Lord had spoken before them, and which had fulfilled the prophecies and predictions made by the prophets, a fact that they were all certainly familiar with. What is the reason then for the contradiction and contrast, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because for all of those people, they had no faith in them, and in their pride, ego and self-righteousness, they had closed the gates of their hearts and minds against God.

Hence, today as we continue our journey through this blessed season of Advent, let us all reflect on our attitudes in life, in our way of life and in how each one of us have responded to God’s call in our lives. In our preparation for Christmas in particular, have we realised and understood the true meaning and importance of Christmas to us? Or have we allowed the extreme commercialisation and secularisation of Christmas to affect and influence us? It is not wrong for us to celebrate Christmas the way that we are familiar with, but we must not allow that to distract us from appreciating and celebrating the true meaning and importance of Christmas. We should do our best to observe Christmas with the true spirit and understanding of what we are celebrating, and we should maintain our focus on the light of truth and salvation that Christ has brought into our midst.

May the Lord, our God and Saviour, born into this world and incarnate in the flesh, revealed to us and through Whom we have been made sharers in God’s most generous love and inheritance, continue to guide us in our journey of faith through life, and may He strengthen each one of us in our resolve so that we may always be ready to follow Him and walk in His path at all times. May God bless us and our every good endeavours and efforts, all for the greater glory of His Name, and may He help us to prepare ourselves well so that we may indeed welcome the season of Christmas worthily with faith and true joy, in Christ, the One in Whom we truly should be celebrating and be rejoicing about. Amen.

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Sunday, 27 November 2022 : First Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday the Church marks the beginning of both the new liturgical year cycle as well as the season of Advent. This season of Advent marks the time of preparation and spiritual discernment for all of us as we are getting ourselves ready to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour at Christmas. Thus this season of Advent is meant to be a time of recollection and realignment in our lives that we may truly be ready and worthy to celebrate Christmas, not the worldly ways of how Christmas is celebrated but rather the true Christmas, the celebration of the birth or Nativity of Our Lord Jesus, as we welcome Him into our midst, to dwell among us and be with us, God made manifest and tangible. Through Him we have seen the love that God has for each and every one of us.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, the Lord spoke through Isaiah, His prophet to the people of the southern kingdom of Judah, speaking of what will happen at the end of time, when God will raise Jerusalem and His people to the highest of the highest, where He shall rule over them forever, and the people from every nations and every ends of the Earth will come flocking to Him, referring to how God will rule not just over Israel or Judah, but also over the whole world, over all of mankind. Through His prophecy made via Isaiah, we all heard how the Lord reassured His people, and hence us all, that He will be with us, and will raise us up on the last day, when He will judge all the living and the dead, from all time, and those who are worthy will be brought into His everlasting kingdom while those who are found unworthy will be cast out into eternal damnation.

Contextually, this message was presented by the Lord to His people at a rather low time in the psyche and experience of the people of God then, the descendants of Israel and Abraham. That was because at that time, the northern kingdom of Israel had just recently fallen to the conquering forces of the Assyrians, who had destroyed the kingdom and its capital city of Samaria, and brought many of the people of the northern kingdom into exile, scattering them off in distant lands away from their ancestral homeland. Not only that, but the Assyrian king Sennacherib even almost destroyed Jerusalem as well if not for God’s mighty intervention. All of that happened because of their constant disobedience and rebellion against God, and they had to face the consequences for their lack of faith and their betrayal against God. But the Lord still reached out to His people and wanted them all to be reunited with Him, and hence, He gave them this reassurance through His prophets like Isaiah and many others.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the words of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples and all the people assembled that the Son of Man will come again at the end of time, at the moment when no one will expect and when many will be caught being lax and unaware of the fact that they have to account for their lives and existence before God, and answer for their failures to follow Him and obey His Law and commandments. St. Paul speaks of the same thing in his Epistle and letter to the Church and the faithful in Rome in our second reading today, as he reminded the faithful there to remember their obligations and missions as Christians, and not to be lax or complacent in how they live their lives. They were reminded to uphold their faith in God most faithfully, and to do their best to live righteously as Christian believers, behaving and doing things in the manner that they had been shown and taught to do by the Lord and through His Church.

After hearing from the Scripture passages today, we are all reminded that on this First Sunday of Advent, we focus one of the aspects of Advent in the anticipation of the coming of Our Lord and Saviour, that is Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. This Sunday therefore we are focusing on the Theme of Hope, the Hope that we have in Christ, our Lord, Whose birth we commemorate this coming Christmas season. Throughout the Scripture readings we heard this Sunday, we can clearly see this Hope being presented, as the Hope for the people of God Who were expecting the coming of God’s Saviour and liberation, just as He has proclaimed and promised to them, throughout time, again and again, from prophets to prophets, and messengers to messengers. It is this Hope that the people were holding onto firmly even as they suffered throughout all those years, humiliated and enduring hardships.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us therefore at the very beginning of this season of Advent reflect carefully on our way of observing it and how we are preparing ourselves for the coming of the joyful season of Christmas. Let us ask by asking ourselves, what is it that we await for in Christmas? And what is it that we rejoice for in Christmas? We may not realise it but the ways that many of us and this world are using in preparing to celebrate and celebrating Christmas are not reflecting and showing what the true meaning of Christmas is all about. In whatever we see all around us these few weeks and in the next upcoming few weeks, what we see is all about excessive secularisation of Christmas, and all about glamour and merrymaking, but one that is lacking the true reason why we ought to rejoice in the first place.

We rejoice because of the Hope we have received and been reassured of by the Lord Himself, the Hope of salvation, eternal life and liberation from the chains and bondage of sin and death. Yet, in many of our celebrations, we place excessive emphasis on the many secular practices, customs and observances of Christmas, where the birthday Boy Himself was often sidelined, put aside and ignored, and instead we spent a lot of time and are spending a lot more time on the festivities, glamorous displays, of Santa Claus, Father Christmas, all the reindeers, glitters and snow, and all those things that should be merely accessory and accompanying the joy we have in the Hope in Christ we gained through Christmas. Yet, those things have often occupied the centre stage, and the Lord is often forgotten, ignored and laid aside on the festivities that bear His very own Name, Christmas.

Therefore, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate Christmas appropriately and worthily, let us all reflect on what Christmas is truly all about, and think of how we can do better in making our Christmas celebration a truly genuine and worthy one, which reflects the true meaning, importance and significance of this event. Let us all focus on that great Hope we have seen in Christ, the Light of God and His salvation that has appeared in the midst of our darkened world filled with sin and evil. That way we will realise that whatever we plan for Christmas, if we have been following the customs and habits of the world, are really excessive and unnecessary. We have to remember that we celebrate Christmas because we are grateful, full of joy and happiness because of what our Lord and Saviour had done for us, in restoring Hope to each and every one of us.

Let us also keep in mind that there are those brothers and sisters of ours who cannot celebrate Christmas the way we often celebrate it. There are Christians all around the world who are still being persecuted, and who endure daily sufferings just because of their faith in God. There are places where Christians have to be very careful or lest they may be persecuted, or even lose their lives if they are found out to be believers of Christ. This was just like how it was during the early days of the Church, and how it was also during the many times throughout history when the Church and faithful Christians endured a lot of trials, challenges and many martyrdoms happened. But they all remained firm in their faith in God because of the Hope which they have seen in Christ, their Lord and Saviour.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all restore the true dignity and meaning of Christmas by restoring our focus on the true reason for Christmas, that is Christ Himself. Let us all focus our attention on Him and embody the true spirit and joy of Christmas in ourselves, in how we act and in how we prepare ourselves during this season of Advent. Let us all bear the Hope of Christ, His light and truth in our every words, actions and deeds, and be the beacons of His light and hope to the nations, especially to those who have been bereft and denied of hope and courage, of comfort and strength. But we can be their encouragement and strength, brothers and sisters, and if we can, through our actions and support, in whatever way we can do to bring the Light and Hope of Christ to our suffering brethren, then we truly have understood the true meaning and significance of Christmas, and are ready to celebrate it worthily.

May all of us progress through this season of Advent with the right spirit and motivation, and do our best to stay focused on the true meaning of Christmas in all of our preparations and expectations. Let us remind each other of the Light and Hope that we have received from Christ Himself, Our Lord and Saviour, and bear that Light and Hope in our own lives, that we may inspire many others to find their way to the Lord and to His salvation. May God bless us always and may He grant us the strength and the courage to do our best in glorifying Him ever always by our lives. Amen.

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Friday, 24 December 2021 : 4th Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is the last day of the Advent season, marking the end of our almost month-long preparation for the coming of Christmas, and we are reminded of the coming of the long-awaited salvation of the world through what we have heard in our Scripture passages today. The Lord has always held His promise and kept His part in the Covenant He has made with each and every one of us.

The Lord has revealed His plans for us, from the beginning, as He revealed from the very moment that mankind fell into sin, how He would send His Saviour through the Woman who would bear a Son, and through that Woman, the power and dominion that Satan, the evil one, had over us would be totally crushed and destroyed. He would send His salvation through the descendants of Man, through Abraham His servant and the House of David, the one He had chosen to be King over all of His people.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel of the account of what transpired at the time when King David had been secure in his reign and power over the land of Israel and beyond, and had settled in his kingdom and dominion, and wanting to build a house for the Lord, just as he has already built and established his palace in the city of Jerusalem. The King spoke with the prophet Nathan who then relayed God’s message and words to him afterwards.

God told David that it was not him who would build a great House for His sake, and instead, it would be his own son that would build that House, the great Temple that would be built in Jerusalem, by the hands of King Solomon, David’s son, as God Himself had spoken and promised to David himself. God reassured David that his kingdom and house would be forever secure and firm, and this was firstly a reference to the succession of his own Solomon to rule after him, at the zenith of the power and majesty of the old kingdom of Israel.

However, it was also an indirect reference and revelation to David and also to the rest of the people of God, that He would send His Saviour, the Messiah, to be born into the House of David, as His rightful Heir and Son, to gather back the people of God once again, and to rebuild the glorious kingdom of God, with all of God’s people reconciled and reunited to their Lord and Creator. Little did the people know then that, it was the Lord Himself Who endeavoured to come to us.

He willingly embraced us and by His incarnation in the flesh, as the Son of Man and Son of God alike, in the person of Jesus Christ, He has fulfilled all the promises that He had made to all of us His beloved ones, from the very beginning of time. Christ has come into this world to restore His people and to reunite all of them, not just the Israelites but also including all the rest of the children of Adam, all of mankind who have been sundered from God through sin.

Zechariah in our Gospel passage today, in his famous Canticle of Zechariah, full of the Holy Spirit, singing a great hymn of thanksgiving and praise, for all that God had done for him and for all mankind. He has become a father after a long wait for a son, and God gave him a son, and not only that, but that son was the one to be the Herald of the Saviour of the whole world. St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Messiah was the one to proclaim the coming of Christ, and Zechariah, seeing all of these glimpses of the glory of God to come, sang in great glory praising God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore spend some time to reflect today, as we prepare for the great celebration of Christmas beginning this very night. Let us remind ourselves again why we are celebrating Christmas, and what Christmas truly means to each and every one of us. Is Christmas merely just yet another holiday and celebration? Is it merely another time for feasting and merrymaking, but forgetting about Christ Our Lord, our Saviour, Whose coming into this world is the reason for all of our joy and celebrations?

Let us all therefore seek the Lord anew, with a new faith and love for Him, and let us all enter into the season of Christmas and celebrate it with full understanding and appreciation of God’s love, which has been manifested in Our Lord, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of us all. Let us all bear the Light and Joy of the true Christmas spirit, and proclaim the truth and salvation of God to all the nations. May God bless us all, and may He bless our wonderful Christmas celebrations to come. Amen.

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Thursday, 23 December 2021 : 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, on this day as we are almost at the end of the Advent season and the start of the Christmas celebrations, through what we have heard from the readings of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all called to reflect on the life, work and faith of St. John the Baptist, whom the Lord had sent into this world just before His coming and revelation to the world, to prepare His way and to proclaim His coming to everyone, so that all may know of the Lord’s salvation.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Malachi, we heard the words of the Lord revealing to His people that He would send His messenger ahead of Him to prepare the way for His own coming. This was a prophecy of the coming of God’s Messiah, the Saviour Whom He has promised to all of His people for a very long time. And the coming of this Messiah would be preceded by a Herald, the one sent to prepare the way for the coming of the Saviour. This Herald is none other than St. John the Baptist.

St. John the Baptist came into this world to prepare the way for the Lord, which happened through the miraculous pregnancy of Elizabeth, who was Mary’s relative, and that happened despite Elizabeth having been in an advanced age and had been barren, unable to bear a child at all. The Angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, his father in the Temple and proclaimed to him the Good News, that the son he would soon bear through his wife Elizabeth would be the one prophesied to proclaim the coming of the salvation of God.

He was born into this world and was dedicated to God from his infancy and youth, to be the servant of God Most High, and became the instrument through whom God prepared the revelation of His great plan of salvation to all of us. God sent St. John the Baptist into the midst of His people to call them all to repentance, to call them to remember their sins and wickedness, and resolve to overcome all those evil and wicked deeds that they had committed. The Lord called on all of them to embrace His mercy and love, and through his baptism, St. John the Baptist prepared the hearts and minds of many to welcome the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having been reminded in the same manner, as we are all now about to celebrate Christmas, have we prepared ourselves well in order to be ready to welcome the Lord, the One Whom we are celebrating this Christmas for, into our hearts and minds? Or have we instead been too busy and distracted by the many concerns, the many busy commitments and tight schedules we have, our work and preoccupations that we ended up forgetting God, ignoring and sidelining Him in our busy lives and shutting Him out from ourselves.

Then, many of us have also been too distracted with the many distractions and temptations of the secular Christmas, and how it has been celebrated all around us. Many people have forgotten the true reason and meaning of Christmas, and this sadly include many of those who have called themselves as Christians. We do not have to look far, brothers and sisters in Christ. For example, let us all just look at ourselves and our attitudes towards the Lord and our faith in Him. How many of us can confidently say that we have truly devoted ourselves to Him?

Today, all of us should spend some time to reflect on how we can be better disciples and followers of our Lord, in living our faith in a more genuine and committed manner in our lives. Let us all also look for inspiration from the saint whose feast we celebrate today, namely that of St. John of Kanty, also known as St. John Cantius, who was a Polish priest and theologian renowned for his great piety and dedication to the Lord. He was involved in theological teachings and many other works among the people of God.

But what is most remembered from his actions were his compassionate nature and the efforts he put in reaching out to the poor and the people suffering all around him in his community. He also helped to support the students in the university he was teaching in, providing support and assistance whenever and wherever he could, while at the same time doing his best to do many other good works for the Lord and His Church. St. John Cantius devoted his life to follow the Lord and to live out the Christian faith in his daily living.

Are we able to do the same too, brothers and sisters in Christ? Let us all reflect on this, and spend the remaining time on these last two days of the Advent season to reorientate our lives if we have not yet done so thus far, so that we may once again focus our attention and our lives towards the Lord. May God be with us all too, and may He strengthen us in our resolve and faith to live our lives ever more faithfully in the service of His greater glory. Amen.

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Wednesday, 22 December 2021 : 4th Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the great love and providence by which God had generously and marvellously cared for us since the very beginning. God has never looked away from us or ignored us when we are in our hour of great distress. Through various ways, He has always reached out to us and wanted to bring us all back to His embrace, to be reunited with us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Samuel in which the mother of Samuel, Hannah, was about to dedicate her firstborn son to the Lord as she herself had promised. At that time, Hannah was one of the wives of Elkanah, who also had another wife named Penninah. Hannah had not been able to have any son or child with Elkanah while Penninah had borne many sons and children to Elkanah. Children back then were highly regarded as symbols of fertility and prestige for the women, and the apparent barrenness of Hannah was often seen as as sign of someone being cursed or unworthy, and Hannah experienced exactly just that.

Penninah also often bullied Hannah and took pride at the fact that she had borne many children for her husband, while Hannah had none. Although Elkanah did love Hannah more than Penninah, but the fact that she did not have a child and could not bear one still weighed very heavily on her mind. It was at that occasion then that Hannah came seeking the Lord at the House of God, in the presence of the Judge Eli, praying before God and seeking His help and providence. She begged the Lord for His assistance and for her to be rescued from her predicament.

The Lord heard Hannah’s prayer and answered her, and she miraculously bore a child, whom she had promised to the Lord if she were ever to bore one. Her firstborn son was named as Samuel, and was offered to God to be His servant forever. Hannah was very grateful to the Lord for all that He had done for her, praising Him and thanking Him for all that He had blessed her with. Through Him, her shame and predicament had been overcome, a light and hope had returned back to her face and heart once again.

The Lord had done the same to all of us through Mary, as we heard in our Gospel passage today. The Psalm today is Hannah’s song of rejoicing and thanksgiving, for all that the Lord had done for her in removing from her the stain of humiliation and suffering due to her earlier barrenness. And after having offered and entrusted Samuel to the Lord, she was blessed with more children with her husband Elkanah. And in the Gospel passage, we heard Mary, great song of rejoicing that is similar to Hannah’s great song of rejoicing, the Magnificat.

In the Magnificat, Mary, full of the Holy Spirit sang a great song of praise, thanking God for all the wonders He had done for His beloved people, ever since the very beginning of time. God has always ever been faithful to His people and He has always showed His kindness to them, and to all those who have devoted themselves to Him, He has brought them His grace and blessings, as He had done to Abraham and David, fulfilling His promises to them, and bringing into this world its salvation, through none other than Christ, Who was then in Mary’s womb.

As we listened to those words and recalled God’s great and amazing deeds done for our behalf, and as we progress ever closer to Christmas in just a few days’ time, all of us are encouraged to spend the time to deepen our relationship with God, to remember His love and all the blessings He has given us all these while throughout our lives. We are also called to rediscover the love which we should have for the Lord, and to be thankful for everything that He had done for our sake, and foremost of all, for His coming into this world which we celebrate this Christmas.

As the famous words in the Gospel of St. John mentioned, God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son, to be born into the world, the Divine Word Incarnate, to be born of His mother Mary and revealed to the whole world, to all of us, so that through Him, all of us who have lived in darkness may come to see the great light and hope that God alone can bring to our midst. Through Him, the world has the reason to rejoice again, and all of us can finally see hope at the end of our earthly journey, to look up to the hope of everlasting joy and peace in God’s presence.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore focus our attention on the Lord, and do our best to make our upcoming Christmas celebrations a more wholesome and meaningful one. Let us make this Christmas a time of renewal of our faith in God and a rejuvenation of our love for Him. May God be with us all and may His light and hope rekindle in our hearts to continue to desire to seek Him in each and every moments of our lives. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 December 2021 : 4th Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures and as we come ever closer to the celebration of Christmas in just a few more days, all of us are reminded that God loves us all, and we are all precious and cherished by Him. We should be grateful and feeling very fortunate to have been treasured in such a way by our loving God, and to have experienced His most wonderful love and grace. God has always ever been patient in loving us despite our many transgressions and mistakes, as He wants us to return to Him and rediscover the love that we all should have for Him.

The Lord has promised us all His salvation, and has always proved His love for us from the very beginning, never abandoning us even in the moments of our greatest distress. He has always put us all first and foremost in His thoughts, and He always endeavoured to reach out to us, trying to find us and to redeem us so that we may not be forever lost to Him. And that was why He came down into our midst, through His most Blessed Mother Mary, the Blessed Ever-Virgin Mother of God, who went to visit Elizabeth, her cousin in our Gospel passage today.

Elizabeth recognised Mary and the One inside her womb, the Saviour of the whole world and the Lord Himself, the Divine Word Incarnate, Who has taken up the human existence and form in the flesh, to bring His salvation into our midst. The Lord has revealed Himself to us, the fullness of His love, through His incarnation and then His birth into this world. The world that was once in the darkness and in the shadows of evil and wickedness has finally seen the truth, love and salvation from God.

That is the true essence of Christmas, which often sadly had been forgotten by the world, by many of us, even we who called ourselves as Christians. We have forgotten what the Lord had done for us and sidelined Him because we have little faith in Him. We are easily distracted by the many temptations and worldly desires present in this world. These had misled us down the wrong path and caused us to be separated further and further away from God.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to these words of the Scriptures, we are therefore reminded of the need for us to respond to God’s love and to answer His call. He has called all of us to follow Him and to entrust ourselves completely to His care and to believe in His hope and light, in His truth and way. But in order to do so, first of all, we need to reject firmly the temptations of our worldly concerns and desires.

Today, all of us are celebrating the feast of a great saint whose life, works and devotion to God and His Blessed Mother Mary can be great source of inspiration and strength for all of us. St. Peter Canisius was a renowned Jesuit priest and teacher of the faith, who dedicated his life in serving God. Born as Peter Kanis in what is today the Netherlands, the future saint would come to join the Society of Jesus together with other famous saints like St. Francis Xavier and its founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola.

St. Peter Canisius dedicated himself in the many efforts of Counter Reformation in what is today Germany, seeking to undo and repair the damages caused to the Church and the communities of the faithful by the false teachings of the heresy of Protestantism back then. He laboured hard among the people, teaching the faith and revealing the truth about Church teachings and tenets, in a way that is both understandable, respectful and conciliatory.

He once remarked that the right manner and attitude must be used in persuading the lapsed ones to return to the Holy Mother Church, saying that if a forceful method is used, then it may end up preventing the healing of the division within the Church of God. To that extent, he continued to work hard to bridge the divisions among the people of God, and managed throughout his efforts to convert and convince many to abandon their rebellion and return to the true Church of God.

St. Peter Canisius was also well known for his Catechism, which was widely published and reproduced, which resulted in the great rejuvenation of faith among the people and the increase in the number of people who began to appreciate the true teachings of the Church more, and many others deepened their under his guidance and through their understanding and exposure to his works. He was also known for his Mariology and devotion to the Blessed Mother of God, and was credited with the last line in the Hail Mary prayer, ‘Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.’

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all follow in the footsteps of St. Peter Canisius in his faith and dedication to the Lord. Let us all devote ourselves ever more to Him and His Blessed Mother, while reminding ourselves of what we are celebrating this Christmas, of Christ Our Lord, Whose love for us and His generous mercy and compassion has saved us from certain destruction. May God be with us always, and may He continue to love us, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 20 December 2021 : 4th Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as today we listened to the readings from the Sacred Scriptures, we are continually reminded of the truth of what we are going to celebrate in the upcoming Christmas season, as we await the day of the celebration in honour of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Who willingly came down to us in the human flesh and existence, born as the Son of Man, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, fulfilling the promises that God Himself had made to us through His prophets and messengers.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the encounter between Isaiah and king Ahaz of Judah, in which the king refused to ask for a sign from God, which might be seen as a sign of humility, but in truth was more likely a sign of lack in faith in God’s power and providence, considering that Ahaz was one of the kings of Judah who had not obeyed the Lord and His precepts, and instead, misled the people into the path of sin. The prophet Isaiah therefore spoke prophetically of the Lord’s words, of the great Sign that He would reveal before all, showing the truth about His love for all of His people.

As spoken by the prophet, this now famous prophecy was a direct reference to the coming of the Lord through Mary, the Virgin who would bear a Son, and be a sign to all the nations. It is the revelation of God’s plan of salvation for His people and everything that He had willingly done for our sake, out of His ever most generous love for each and every one of us, without exception. He willingly became incarnate in the flesh, to be born as a Man, in Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and Son of God, to offer on our behalf, as our Eternal High Priest, the perfect and worthy offering for the atonement of our sins.

And all of these came to be thanks to the cooperation and the willingness of Mary, who listened to the wonderful Good News revealed by the Archangel Gabriel, revealing before her what she would become, that is to be the Mother of God herself, to be the bearer of the Holy One of God, God’s own only begotten Son. By the power of the Holy Spirit, she would bear the Son of God Himself conceived in her womb in the flesh. Through her, God’s love become manifest, tangible and visible to us, and by her active cooperation in the works of God’s salvation, Mary brought the Saviour Himself into this world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard of these words from the Sacred Scriptures, we are yet again reminded that all of our preparations this Advent is a time for us to rediscover the true meaning of Christmas. This is something often forgotten even amongst us Christians, as we are often inundated and overwhelmed by the over commercialisation of Christmas all around us. We have seen so many evidence of how secular Christmas has been distracting us from the true meaning and significance of Christmas.

It is not wrong to celebrate Christmas, and indeed, all of us should celebrate Christmas with great joy and revelry. But at the centre of all those celebrations and revelry, there must be Christ, Our Lord and Saviour present, or else our Christmas celebrations are meaningless and empty, and are merely a celebration of our human greed and desire for pleasures and worldly excesses. Many of us sought to outdo each other in the glamour and the details of our Christmas celebrations, and yet we forgot that Christmas is all about Christ and all that He has done for us, so that through Him we may indeed rejoice and be glad because we have been saved.

As we approach ever closer to Christmas, let us all come ever closer to realise just how important Christ is to all of us, the Love of God made manifest and tangible. By being born in the flesh, He has made us all glimpse the Eternal Light and Joy of heaven, and through Him, we who live in a world of darkness are finally able to see the Light of Hope, and a way out of our predicament and sufferings. All these are thanks to the love that God has generously and patiently showed us all throughout time and history, even to this very moment, and to the unforeseeable future.

Then, what are we going to do about it, brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we going to continue to ignore Him and put Him aside in our lives? Are we going to celebrate Christmas with a lot of festivities, but Himself as the One Whom we ought to be celebrating being sidelined and forgotten? Remember how He had loved us and did everything for us, even to stripping Himself of all dignity and glory, of power and majesty, to suffer and die for us on the Cross, so that by His sacrifice and death, all of us may have life through Him. May the Lord be with us all, and may He strengthen us all in each and every moments of our lives, that we may always remain ever faithful to Him, now and always. Amen.