Advent season

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Friday, 9 December 2016 : 2nd 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 heard from the Scriptures the contradictions from the ways of the Lord and the expectations of this world, as the Psalm we sung today show how different is the path of the wicked from the path of the just and the righteous. It is a reminder for us that as Christians, many of us should wake up to the reality that not all of the ways of our faith are acceptable and easily welcomed by the standards of this world.

But many of us often live our lives oblivious to this fact, and often it is because we are not living our faith in the manner it should be done. We are often lukewarm in our faith, and we are not practicing what we believe, but rather we follow the norms of this world, even though some of these ways and norms may be contrary to what we believe in our Christian faith.

It is a question that we should ask ourselves in this time of Advent, as we come to prepare for our celebration of Christmas. Are we living our lives in this world out of routine and just trying to do what this world is expecting us? Are we just following the motions and follow what this world has shown us? Have we ever stood up for our faith in the Lord and dared to be different by living our faith genuinely, even when others around us disapprove, ridiculed us and even rejected us?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to challenge ourselves in how we live our lives in faith. We cannot be lukewarm and ignorant any longer, for those who have professed to believe in the Lord and yet their actions showed otherwise, these will be found wanting by the Lord, as those whose faith are not living, but dead, for faith without good works, as St. James said in his Epistle, is as good as dead.

Perhaps, we should follow the example of the holy man whose feast we are celebrating today. St. John Diego or St. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin was one of the first saints of the Americas, then known as the New World. He was one of the first natives of the New World to convert to the faith, after it was brought there by courageous missionaries who delivered the word of God and His Good News to those people still living in the darkness and ignorance of God.

Through his newfound faith in God, he was inspired to live an upright and honest life in accordance with God’s ways, and he was devoted to good works and charity, caring especially for his sick uncle with devotion. And it was told that this upright and devout man received a vision and apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of God, what is now known as Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.

St. John Diego received the apparition of Mary at a hill known as Tepeyac, where now the great Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe is located at. He saw the Blessed Virgin clothed in the traditional cloth of the natives known as the tilma, and then related the experience to his local bishop. The bishop doubted this vision, and he did not believe at first that Mary had appeared to him.

For several times the apparition appeared again and again to St. John Diego as he went about carrying out his works among the poor as a lay member of the Franciscan religious order. And eventually the bishop asked for a sign that this vision is truly an authentic and trustworthy one. The Blessed Virgin appeared to St. John Diego with an instruction to go to the hill of Tepeyac, and there he found many white flowers that are not usually found in that region.

St. John Diego gathered the flowers in his own cloak or tilma and hurried back to the bishop to show him the flowers he had gathered. However, what surprised the bishop most was not the flowers, but rather what he saw was printed inside the tilma of St. John Diego, which is none other than the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe herself.

And ever since then, many people were saved because of the inspiration of St. John Diego, through the vision of the miraculous cloak or the tilma upon which the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is printed, which is now enshrined in the great Basilica, and through the messages that Our Lady passed on to St. John Diego, which he disseminated among the faithful.

From his example, we should be inspired by his dedication to the Lord, his upright and just ways, and despite the opposition and ridicule from others, in this case, from his own bishop and from his relatives, he nevertheless continued to persevere on nonetheless, and as a result, brought many others to salvation and liberation from sin.

May all of us be able to follow in his footsteps and be good and devoted disciples of the Lord ourselves. May He bless us and strengthen our faith, so that in all the things we say and do, we will always bring glory to Him and to His Name. Our Lady of Guadalupe, pray for us all sinners. Amen.

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Thursday, 8 December 2016 : Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together a great feast day of the Church, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. On this occasion, first of all, we have to understand what is it that we are celebrating about, and that is the moment when Mary was conceived in the womb of St. Anne, her mother, not her birth, but the moment of her conception, and she was conceived without any taint of original sin, and hence the term Immaculate.

And this fact has a special significance for all of us Christians, because although all of us are sinners, having inherited the sins of our forefathers and ancestors, who disobeyed the Lord and therefore sinned and then had to endure death and end of their earthly life, the sole exception have been made for Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, who due to her special role in our salvation has been set aside by God to be immaculate, pure and free from any taints of sin.

Why is this so? That is because, as she was about to bear the Lord and Master of the Universe Himself within her, He Who is perfectly good and without evil Himself, thus, it is not appropriate for Him to be carried through a vessel tainted by sin and wickedness. This is related to what we heard in the Old Testament about the Ark of the Covenant, which God instructed Moses to make, in order to contain the two slabs of stone on which the Ten Commandment was written, as a sign of God’s covenant with His people Israel.

Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant which God has established with His people anew through His Son, Jesus Christ, Mediator of the New Covenant between God and mankind. And just as God has hallowed the old Ark of the Covenant, thus He has also hallowed the new Ark, that is Mary. She bore the Lord and Saviour of the world for nine months, and through her, the Divine Word was incarnate and made flesh through the power of the Holy Spirit, becoming Man.

But today, we are not just commemorating the fact that Mary has been conceived without sin and set apart by God to be the Ark and Bearer of His salvation into the world. Rather, we also celebrate the fact that Mary is the new Eve, just as Christ is the new Adam and the new Man through Whom the Lord righted all the wrongs and mistakes of the past, and redeemed us all mankind.

In the first reading, from the Book of Genesis, we heard about the moment of mankind’s fall into sin, because Adam and Eve were tricked by the devil who disguised himself as a serpent, and persuaded them to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Both of them were also created by God perfect and good, without the taint of sin, but they fell into temptation, and therefore became marred and corrupted by sin.

Thus, that is why Mary’s role in our salvation became even more important, considering that she had surely been tempted in every way we mankind had been tempted and persuaded by the devil. As a human being, she was also vulnerable to the same weaknesses which we have and which are part of our very being. Yet, we can see clearly the contrast between Eve and her disobedience against God, and Mary and her obedience to the Lord’s will in the Gospel today.

St. Paul pointed this out in his first Epistle to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth, where he compared Christ with Adam, and as the old and first Adam had sinned and disobeyed God, bringing sin into the whole race of mankind, to all of us, thus through the perfect obedience of Christ, all of mankind have been redeemed and forgiven their sins and iniquities. And thus, in the same manner, while through one woman, Eve, all have received sin through disobedience, thus through another woman, whom God had promised, Mary, all have received the salvation of God.

While Eve disobeyed the Lord and followed her curiosity and greed for knowledge and power, Mary showed her obedience to the Lord, by her profession of faith in God’s will and her complete surrender to it. She did have her doubts and uncertainties, as it was unheard ever before, that a woman should bear a Son without a husband, but certainly, after God reassured her through the Archangel Gabriel, she put her full trust and faith in God and His plan.

And Mary did not just keep her faith and devotion until she gave birth to Jesus, her Son. She had been devoted to the Lord since when she was born and when she was young, but she carried on her devotion throughout her life, throughout the life of Jesus, bringing her up with her husband, St. Joseph with commitment and with the true love of a mother for her son.

It was under the loving and tender care of Mary that Jesus grew up as a Man, and it was under her supervision that He grew strong in the sight of God and men alike, ready for the mission which had been entrusted to Him. They often say, that behind every successful man is a committed and good woman, their wives, but I would say that, even more importantly, behind every successful individual is a loving and dedicated mother.

Therefore, Mary and her steady commitment to the very important role she had been placed in, is an inspiration to each and every one of us Christians, in how we ourselves should live our lives, with faith and commitment to the Lord. She is the greatest among all the saints and all the children of God, being closest to the Lord Himself, for she is at His side as His mother.

Our world today, and many of us are troubled with the problem of the lack of faith, dedication and commitment to the ways of our Lord. We face many temptations, persuasions and even coercions to abandon the ways of our God and instead follow the seemingly better and more convenient ways of this world. And therefore, many of us followed the path of our ancestors, diverging and pulling away from the path which God has shown us, and instead, following our own paths.

This season of Advent, and particularly on this day of the special Solemnity celebrated in the memory of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we should spend time to prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christmas, by reflecting on our own lives. Have we been faithful as Mary, the mother of our Lord and God had been faithful? Or have we instead chosen the path of Eve, that is to sin and to disobey the Lord for the pursuits of earthly and worldly glory and goodness?

Through Mary, God had brought into this world His new Covenant with each and every one of us, and through her also, He brought into this world a new hope through her own actions and devout ways, showing us all how we ought to be faithful in all the days of our lives. We should also be faithful as Mary has been faithful, and if we wonder why, that is because by the outpouring of His own Body and Blood, our Lord had dwelled inside each and every one of us who have received Him in the Eucharist.

Therefore, we too are like the Ark of the Covenant of God, and if we bear the Lord inside each one of us, as St. Paul had said, that we are the Temples of the Holy Spirit, then we should do our best and behave in all of our actions and deeds, so that we will not falter into sin and corruption, or else the Lord’s wrath will be upon us. We must keep ourselves free from sin and fornication as much as possible.

Let us all pray to the Lord, asking Him to help us and to give us courage to live our lives faithfully and with commitment, that we will not falter despite the challenges and difficulties we encounter in this life. May the Lord bless us all and keep us all in His grace, and may through the intercession of His Blessed Mother Mary, all of us will draw ever closer to Him and receive from Him one day, the blessed fruits of our faith. Amen.

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Wednesday, 7 December 2016 : 2nd 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 we heard that familiar word from the Gospel, “Come to Me all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” And also another one, “For My yoke is good and My burden is light.” In this we see God as One in Whom we can find rest and succour amidst our burdens of life and amidst the challenges and difficulties we often encounter in this world.

However, the problem lies in the fact that the devil is never tired of trying to pull us away from God’s salvation, by presenting to us temptations and persuasions, making it seems as if his way is more attractive and a better option for us, because it seems to be less challenging, lighter and easier on us as compared to the way that God offers to us.

As human beings, it is in our nature to be lazy and to be slothful, preferring the easier way out than the difficult ones. We tend to seek the path that is favourable to us, and most beneficial to us. But what we have to take note of is the outcome at the end. Are we going towards eternal life and salvation, or are we instead heading to damnation in hell for eternity?

The path of the Lord is light and yet we often perceived as difficult and troublesome, because we are often focused on the sufferings at the moment. We tend to focus on the challenges we encounter as a follower of the Lord, as His disciples and bearers of His Good News. We think that it is too difficult for us to carry on when we are faced with ridicule, rejection and even persecution because of our faith and because of what we believe in the Lord.

And therefore, there are several ways we can go ahead with this, that is either we conform with the expectations of the world, meaning that we choose instead the path other than the path God has provided us with, following instead what the world expects us to do, enjoying ourselves and living without restraint from sinning, or we can also pretend not to know the way of the Lord, which was exactly as what St. Peter did when he was asked three times by the bystanders on whether he knew the Lord. He denied Him all the three times.

The other way is for us to endure the path of the Lord, by being true to our faith despite the challenges and difficulties. This is the path followed by the saints and the martyrs, all those who have remained true to the Lord despite of the persuasions to do otherwise. They chose to remain true because they know that, while there are difficulties to be faced at present, what awaits them is an eternity of joy and happiness with God. The current challenges are only temporary.

The way that the devil offers us seems to be easier, less difficult to be done, with no opposition and challenge to us. However, if we follow this path through sinning and disobeying God, while now we enjoy the time and the present moment we have, we are looking forward to an eternity of despair, suffering and torment, when the Lord judges us for our failure to remain faithful to Him, and He will cast us all into hell where we suffer because of that eternal separation from God’s love and grace.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we have been given an opportunity to reexamine our lives, on our actions and deeds. Have we been truly faithful to the Lord amidst challenges and difficulties? Have we instead chosen to conform to the way of the wicked because we fear the repercussions or because we are ambivalent and lukewarm about our faith?

Today we commemorate the feast of St. Ambrose, the great and renowned Church father and Doctor of the Church from the early days of the Church, who was the Bishop of Milan and one of the most influential leaders of the Church of his time. He was a Roman noble who was renowned for his great piety to the Lord, who was an administrator and governor of the region now known as northern Italy.

But at that time, there was a great discord within the Church, due to the heresy of Arianism, a false teaching proclaiming that Jesus our Lord is mere Man and not God. And many of the faithful were swayed by this false teaching and followed the way of heresy, including even many of the priests and bishops, and also those in power, even the Roman Emperors themselves.

At a time when there was a dispute in the succession of the Bishop of Milan and disagreement of the two parties, the Holy Spirit guided the Church to elect St. Ambrose as Bishop by acclamation, and since then, he devoted himself wholly to the Church and his flock despite his initial doubt and uncertainty. And soon, St. Ambrose promoted the teachings of the true faith among his flock, and encountered many troubles with those in power, those who believe in the Arian heresy.

But St. Ambrose did not give up, and even it was said that he openly rebuked the Roman Empress for her Arian heresy and for her attempt to promote the Arian heretics to positions within the Imperial court and the Church. And later on, when the true faith returned to the leadership of the Empire, St. Ambrose was renowned for his courageous act of formally rebuking and excommunicating the Roman Emperor Theodosius the Great for his involvement in the massacre of the people of the city of Thessalonica.

The Emperor regretted his sins and openly repented for his sins before St. Ambrose and the faithful, and St. Ambrose welcomed the Emperor back to the Church. From all these examples, we see how St. Ambrose is such a great role model for us on how we should live our lives faithfully before the Lord. We must not be afraid to stand up to our faith and indeed, point out to each other so that we may help and guide each other that we may remain strong in our faith and stay on the right track towards our salvation in God.

Let us all ask for St. Ambrose to intercede for us, that he may ask God to strengthen our courage and commitment to Him, and in all that we say and do, we may be able to show all others that we are the disciples and followers of the Lord, and be examples for one another to lead us all towards the Lord. May the Lord bless us and help our endeavours. Amen.

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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 : 2nd 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 again to the words of the Scripture from the prophet Isaiah and from the Gospel according to St. Matthew about the coming of hope for mankind, and how God Who loves us all His children and His people, will not abandon us in the darkness, but indeed He will seek us all who have been lost to Him, like a shepherd looking for his lost sheep, even if there is only one who was lost.

That is the reason why Jesus our Lord came into the world, which we celebrate in Christmas. Many of us celebrate Christmas with joy and revelry, with dancing and partying, but without truly understanding what is it that we are really rejoicing about. And many of us are celebrating like how the rest of the world celebrate Christmas, with joy and happiness in the family, in the exchanging of gifts and presents, in our feasts and in our sumptuous dinner parties, but let us ask ourselves, have we put Christ at the centre of our celebrations?

If our answer to this question is no, that means those who have not put Christ at the centre of our joy and celebration this Christmas have not celebrated Christmas in the right way. It is easy indeed for us to fall into the temptation of this world, which constantly bombards us with many persuasions and temptations, and misleading us into seeking for a materialistic and Christ-less Christmas rather than a Christmas joy centred in Christ.

Perhaps in this, we can be inspired by the example of a holy servant of God, whose feast we celebrate on this day, namely St. Nicholas of Myra, a Bishop of a small diocese in what is now Turkey, in the region of Asia Minor in the early years of tolerance of Christianity in the Roman Empire. This same St. Nicholas of Myra is what the secular world had adapted and became the legend of Santa Claus, which image is certainly ubiquitous especially as Christmas approaches.

Many of us would know of Santa Claus as a bearded old man who is kind and who like to give many gifts to young children at Christmas. And many of our youths recognise Santa Claus, and are indeed waiting for him to give them presents. We hang red and white coloured socks at the fireplace or at the window hoping that Santa Claus would come and put some gifts inside of them. And indeed, everyone always look forward to our Christmas gifts and presents, but let us all ask ourselves, are we really not missing something from all of that?

St. Nicholas of Myra was indeed a kind and loving bishop, who always showed tender love, mercy and care for his flock, and he liked to give gifts to children who came to him for his blessings. And it was from this that it was likely the twisted legend of Santa Claus was born, one that was sadly not focusing on another aspect of St. Nicholas of Myra that we all really need to know.

For all of his loving and kindly ways, St. Nicholas of Myra is an ardent defender of the true faith, which happened at that time came under great threat from the heretical ways of Arianism, as taught by the false prophet and heretic Arius, which unfortunately divided the Church in many places and swayed countless souls away from the true way leading to the Lord and His salvation. Arius preached that Jesus our Lord is merely Man and not God, while the truth is that He is both Man and God at the same time.

Many people were swayed by the false teachings of Arius, even among the priests and bishops. But St. Nicholas of Myra were among those bishops who refused to listen to the falsehoods of Arianism and fought hard to restore the true faith to the many people who had been lost to the false and heretical ways. At the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in the year 325 AD, convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine to resolve the issue of Arianism and the true teaching of the Church about the divinity of Christ, it was told that St. Nicholas of Myra even punched the heretic Arius at the face.

Eventually Arianism was condemned by the decision of the Ecumenical Council, and defeated after many years of long struggle. Yet all of us must not overlook and forget the role of St. Nicholas of Myra in trying to defend the true faith from all these aberration and heresies. He acted as a true shepherd, a good shepherd modelled after the Lord Himself, the Good Shepherd, who are concerned about the well-being of his flock, especially those who have been lost.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, there are two things which all of us must understand and appreciate, so that our preparation in this Advent will be fruitful, and our Christmas celebration will be meaningful. Firstly, we need to return Christ to Christmas, putting Him back at the centre of our effort and our joy in Christmas. Whenever we plan for Christmas, let us all remember that we rejoice because of Him, because of the love He has shown us.

And thus it brings us to the second point we need to take note of, that we have to appreciate how God wants us to be redeemed and be forgiven our sins, for as what St. Nicholas of Myra had shown, the fate of our souls is indeed very important. Since if we fell into damnation and are lost from God, what await us is nothing but despair and eternal regret. The Lord has sent His servants to help and guide us through the turbulent world, so that we will be able to persevere through and avoid falling into temptation.

Therefore, let us all as Christians renew our faith and renew our effort to help one another to prepare ourselves, by deepening our relationships with God, and by seeking repentance and forgiveness for our sins. Let us all make use of this time of Advent to prepare ourselves, not just preparing how we will celebrate Christmas, but also prepare ourselves in our hearts and minds, that we will be ready to welcome the Lord with joy at Christmas, and share this joy with one another. May the Lord bless us and keep us in His grace. Amen.

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Monday, 5 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of hope, as we just celebrated yesterday the first aspect of Advent, that is hope. For in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ we have gained a new hope in the Lord, and received from Him a new encouragement and strength, that where once our situation seemed to be hopeless.

In the Gospel today, we heard about the Lord Jesus and how He healed the man who was paralysed, through his faith and the faith of all those who lifted him and the mat up through the roof to bring him down in front of the Lord. Through this, we see how the Lord brought healing and new hope to all those who had been downtrodden, those who had been sick and afflicted.

And most importantly, through what Jesus had said, He heals all of our afflictions, not just of the bodily and physical afflictions, but even more importantly, the afflictions of the heart, mind and soul, that is sin. If sickness can be cured by doctor’s prescriptions and medicine, by certain diets and abstinences from certain unhealthy foods, sin cannot be cured except by the forgiveness from God.

And Jesus is God, His Divine Word made incarnate into flesh, taking up the shape and reality of Man. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law refused to believe this fact, despite that the prophets and messengers having declared this throughout many centuries beforehand in their messages and the Scriptures they wrote. They refused to believe that Jesus could forgive their sins, even though He forgave even them their sins from the cross.

Of all the sickness, as I have mentioned, the disease of the soul, that is sin, is the most dangerous of all. And the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, even though they were free from the disease of the body, but their refusal to admit their sins and their refusal to believe in Jesus have left their souls diseased with sin, and if left uncured, this will lead them into damnation in hell.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, sin has separated us from the love and grace of God, and because of our disobedience against God’s will, we have been sundered and made unworthy. Yet, God loves each and every one of us, and by His generous will, He wants to heal each and every one of us from our afflictions, our sins that separated us from Him.

And that was His coming into this world is about, that by His love, God has sent to us His only Son, so that through Him and by the works He had done, all of us may be made worthy, all who accepted His offer of love, mercy and forgiveness. In this season of Advent, all of us are given the opportunity to take a step back and reflect on our own lives as we prepare ourselves for the celebration of Christmas.

Let us ask ourselves, how do we really celebrate Christmas? Do we celebrate Christmas by following what the secular world is always doing? Do we celebrate in revelry and in partying without end, rejoicing with our friends and families, but forgetting Who it is that we really need to celebrate about this Christmas? Christmas is about the Lord, brethren, for it is a celebration and a joyful time to remember that because He came into this world, we all have hope once again.

We should spend our time this Advent to pray, to reassess and indeed re-strengthen our relationship with God. It is a time for us to realise and understand just how sinful and wrong we have been, and prepare ourselves by seeking God with faith and devotion just as how the paralytic man and his four helpers had faith in Jesus. If we seek Him with faith and genuine desire to repent, certainly God will hear us and forgive us our sins.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all pray that each and every one of us may draw ever closer to the Lord, and be forgiven our sins and trespasses, so that we may truly rejoice and be happy with true joy this Christmas, welcoming and thanking God Who have come into the world because of His love for us, and by His love, we have been healed. Do not harden our hearts like those of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 3 December 2016 : Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Priest and Patron of Missions (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate together the feast of St. Francis Xavier, a renowned Jesuit priest and missionary, whose hard work in evangelisation throughout especially South, Southeast and East Asia had led to the foundation of the roots of the Church in the many countries existing there today, where many millions upon millions of the faithful now live, a growing and thriving Church.

And for what he had done, he was named as the Patron of Missions, as the patron saints for all missionaries and their mission areas, for his pioneering work and dedication in establishing many of the buds of the faith in those far flung areas. And he did not have it easy, because such a task at that time was indeed very monumental and challenging to be done.

First of all, St. Francis Xavier lived during a time of great difficulties in the Church, a time of turmoil, both within and outside the Church, where conflicts and wars were rampant. At that time, from outside, the Turks who reigned in the Ottoman Empire were resurgent and powerful, seizing lands after lands from Christendom, putting many of the faithful under the rule of these pagans. As a result, great suffering occurred and also a great fear arose to threaten the Church, as then, there was a real threat that the Ottoman Turks would be able to overcome all of Christendom.

And at the same time, from within, there were divisions among the faithful, where false prophets and heretical teachings arose in the population, heresies such as Hussites and later on, during the time of St. Francis Xavier, the heresy known as the Protestant ‘reformation’, where many people rebelled against the authority of the Church and established splinter groups on their own, with their own teachings that are deviant and in contradiction with the teachings of Christ through His Church.

And within the Church itself, there was plenty of corruption and immorality, where many of the members of the clergy, even to the higher ranks were corrupt and wicked. They engaged in corrupt practices, demanding money and worldly goods for the absolution of sins, a practice known as indulgence, but which was twisted and corrupted by these irresponsible Church leaders and officials.

Amidst all of these challenges and difficulties facing the Church at that time, St. Francis lived through a time of great change and renewal within the Church, known as the Counter-Reformation, spearheaded by his contemporaries, and which he was also part of, through the Society of Jesus or the Jesuit religious order which was established by St. Ignatius of Loyola. Through their hard work, the Church began to purify itself from all its excesses and corrupt practices, and brought back many to the true faith.

It was told that at first, St. Francis Xavier was reluctant to join the effort, and he had aspirations of worldly glories and achievements. Initially St. Ignatius of Loyola and some other of these saints also had similar condition, where they sought for personal glory and achievement and ignored God’s calling at the beginning. But through persistence and constant guidance, who was said to quote to St. Francis Xavier at one time the saying of Jesus, “What would it benefit a man if he gains the whole world, but lose his own soul.” Eventually, he became convinced and decided to dedicate himself to the Lord.

Henceforth, St. Francis Xavier together with the saints of the Counter-Reformation, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Peter Canisius, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Philip Neri and many others, St. Francis Xavier helped to rejuvenate the faith in many people, and he led the efforts to spread the Good News of God to those areas of the world which have yet to hear it. For at that time was a time of great discovery, the Age of Exploration, where new lands were discovered, and the Christian nations have the opportunity to evangelise to the peoples who have for the past one and a half millennia no chance to listen to the teachings of the faith.

But at that time, travel was not as convenient and easy as it is now. If it is now possible to go from one end of the earth to the other end in a mere day or less, and with relative comfort and little risk, at that time, the only available method of travel was either by land or by sea. The sea route was the faster route, but it was rife with danger, as storms and strong gales could cause the ships to be broken up and sink, and at the fastest, the journey took many months to complete.

Amidst all of these challenges, St. Francis Xavier was one of the first pioneers of the works of evangelisation in that time, bringing the Good News of the Gospel to many countries along the route of his travel, from India to the Malayan Archipelago, to the region of China and the Philippines, and as far as Japan to the furthest part of East Asia.

St. Francis Xavier visited all of these places, sometimes by himself, and sometimes with his fellow brother priests and missionaries, planting the seeds of the faith among the indigenous population, sowing the seeds for the growth of the future Church that would be established in those areas. Some welcomed him openly and willingly, while some others viewed his teachings and the Christian faith with suspect, and still some others outrightly banned the faith and persecuted its followers.

But amidst all these difficult challenges, nevertheless St. Francis Xavier persevered on, visiting many places and countries on his way, preaching to the people wherever he landed on and stopped by on, guiding the priests and missionaries and helping to delegate these faithful servants of God in their mission to bring the salvation of God to these people.

It was told that one time, St. Francis Xavier travelled in a boat with some others, and a great storm occurred, with huge waves that threatened to sink the boat. All of the people in the boat feared for their lives, save for St. Francis Xavier who prayed to the Lord fervently asking for His help. He put a crucifix into the water and the waves and the wind calmed down. But the crucifix was lost as it slipped through his fingers.

When he landed in one of the islands of the Moluccas Islands, it was told that a crab appeared from the water, with a crucifix marked on its back, and holding onto the crucifix which St. Francis Xavier had used earlier on and lost. And St. Francis Xavier thanked God and blessed the crab. This crab does exist and is indeed prevalent in the Malayan Archipelago where St. Francis Xavier once did extensive works.

There are many other miraculous works attributed to St. Francis Xavier, and this is related to what we heard in the Gospel today, that the Lord Jesus said that all those who do His work and bring the Good News to others will perform wondrous works, not necessarily be miracles, but most importantly, as St. Francis Xavier had proved and done, many millions upon millions up to this day have been saved from hell, and many among them were saints and martyrs themselves.

Today, as we all commemorate the feast of this holy and courageous, hardworking and diligent Patron saints of all missionaries and the Mission itself, let us all look again at all the examples which St. Francis Xavier had done, some of which we have discussed earlier on, and then let us ask ourselves, are we able to do what he has done, and contribute to the good works of the Church in preaching the faith to many others?

We may be thinking that in this world today, where all the peoples are easily connected to each other and where travel is so commonplace and easy that everyone would have heard of the Good News, but the reality is that, there are still many people outside the bounds of the Church, either because they rejected the Good News, or were ignorant of the Good News, or received the wrong messages because of false prophets and messengers in our midst.

And within the Church itself, there are many who have slipped away from their faith, because they were lukewarm and also for some, lazy, as they did not live out their faith with zeal, but instead, were what we often call as nominal Christians, those who call themselves as Christians, and they are indeed Christians, but in their actions in life, they do otherwise.

If we look at it, the situation today is pretty much just as how it was five and six centuries ago, at the time of St. Francis Xavier and his fellow saintly contemporaries and martyrs, all the holy missionaries who went through a great deal of suffering and persecution, difficulties and inconveniences to bring the Good News and the truth of God to many people. But because of their dedication, many were saved.

Shall we not then do the same, brethren? Shall we not follow in the footsteps of the Apostles and these saints? Jesus our Lord has given all of His disciples and followers that final command before He left them to ascend into His heavenly glory, that all of us should go to the nations, and preach the Good News to all the peoples, that all may believe in God and give themselves to be baptised in the Lord’s Name. And it is also important that we have people who have that quality in their faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what shall we do then? How do we do what the Lord had asked us? We do not have to start from very big things. We can and indeed should begin from ourselves. Live our lives faithfully with real care and mercy for our brethren, showing concern for our neighbours and those who are suffering. Let us all through our actions show one another and all the people of God, that the Lord Jesus calls all to repentance and to turn our hearts towards Him, that in the end, all may be saved through Him.

May God bless us and help us in all of our endeavours. May He strengthen our faith and show our commitment to Him, that like St. Francis Xavier and all the good workers of the faith, missionaries of the Good News, we may continue the works that they have started, and by our works, we may awaken the faith in many people who are in need of God’s salvation. May the Lord be with us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 4 December 2016 : Second Sunday of Advent, Memorial of St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the second Sunday in the season of Advent, a time for preparation and anticipation for the celebration of the Nativity, of our Lord’s birth at Christmas. On this day we heard about the life and works of St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Messiah and servant of God, and also of the promise of the time of His Second Coming, a time of true peace and harmony.

The readings hearken us to the meaning of Advent, which is anticipation and preparation, not just to celebrate the first coming of our Lord Jesus which happened two millennia ago, but also that of His expected and promised Second Coming, which many of us are currently not aware of and are ignorant of. This is a time for us to prepare ourselves for the coming of our Lord, so that when the Lord comes again, we will be ready for Him.

It is therefore related to what we heard in the Gospel today, when we heard about St. John the Baptist, who came before the Lord to proclaim His imminent coming and arrival into the world to prepare the people, so that when the Lord comes again, they will be ready to welcome Him. It is therefore important that we should heed what he said in the Gospel today, so that we will be able to make full use of this Advent season for our benefit.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are looking for the time of the Lord’s coming, when He will herald peace, justice and harmony among all the peoples, as we heard in the First Reading, a vision that the prophet Isaiah had seen at that time of the coming of the Messiah or Saviour of the world. But before He comes, we have to prepare ourselves, heart, mind, body and soul, so that we will not be caught unprepared when the Lord comes again.

Otherwise, what St. John the Baptist said to the Pharisees and the elders would also be said to us by the Lord. At another occasion in the Gospel, Jesus told His disciples and the people about the Last Judgment, where the good and wicked will be separated from each other. Those who are wicked are rejected by God because they have not done what the Lord had asked them to do.

They have ignored the plight of the needy, the needs of those who are hungry, thirsty, imprisoned and without love, and thus God rebuked them and rejected them. Those who have done what they could to help these needy brothers and sisters of theirs have been rewarded by the Lord with the gift of eternal life and joy in the kingdom of God.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the elders and the scribes, all of these liked to show off their faith to the people, showcasing their piety to the people to see, but at the same time, they strictly enforced the tenets and practices from the laws of Moses, and made it difficult for the people of God, and they condemned people like tax collectors and prostitutes, whom they deemed to be unclean and damned, without hope of salvation.

And in their hearts, they did not place God as first in their priorities, but instead, they put themselves and their ego first. Why is this so? That is because in all the things they do, not only that they had made it difficult for the people to remain faithful, they also closed the door of salvation to those whom they deemed to be sinners and unworthy, and they did all that they have done in order to be seen by the people and receive praise and fame.

Let us all ask ourselves, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we like the Pharisees in our faith? Have we considered ourselves as Christians and yet, in our actions, we tend to exclude and condemn others because of their supposed sins and wickedness? Have we all acted to enhance our own self-prestige and glory amongst men? Have we gone to the Mass intending to boast of our own piety and look down on others.

First of all, we have to realise that all of us are sinners, from the ones with the least sins to those who have committed great sins. But all of us are equal in the manner that all of us have disobeyed the Lord at one point of our life or more. Some have committed more and some committed less sins, but nevertheless, all of us have been separated from the love and grace of God by our sins.

And that is why this Advent should be a time for us to contemplate our actions and deeds, and remember the moment of our own baptism, even as we listened to St. John the Baptist and how he baptised the people at the Jordan with water to bring them to a turning and conversion of the heart that they abandon their sins and wickedness, be washed through and through and made clean, and begin a new path towards God.

At our own baptism, we have made the promise to reject the advances and the false promises and lies of Satan, and we have made that profession of the faith committing ourselves to God and His ways. But along the way, we have encountered many persuasions and temptations, and some of us fell into the temptation and sinned.

Nevertheless, God always gives us the opportunity and chance to repent and to turn our back away from our sins. As long as it is not too late for us, and as long as we still draw breath in this world, there is always a chance for us to change our ways. Let us all not be like those who always procrastinate, thinking that they can always delay their repentance and do whatever they want first, and delay their conversion and repentance to the last minute.

After all, who among us are able to tell when is the exact time we will meet the end of our earthly life. It is only God Who will know the time. Many people who were condemned and met their end in hell were those who kept delaying their repentance even unto their last breath. They waited and waited, and when the time comes they realise that it is too late for them.

Let us all think about how we have lived our lives so far, and let us reflect about our actions in life. Have we been procrastinating about turning towards the Lord? Have we waited and delayed in our repentance? There is always time before it is too late, and therefore, let us wait no longer. Let us use this opportunity given to us this Advent season to reexamine our lives, devoting ourselves to new actions for each other, founded in love and mercy.

Let us all show mercy, compassion and love in all of our dealings. Let us forgive each other our mistakes and whatever had caused hurt in our hearts and bodies. Let us show love and care for our brethren who are in need of these, those who are unloved, ostracised and abandoned by the society, and all those who are poor, oppressed and weak.

May each and every one of us be able to show true Christian values in our lives, being selfless and caring for one another, and do as what the Lord had taught us to do. Let us not be hesitant and delay no longer, for the Lord is coming, and surely we will not want us to be caught unprepared when that happens. Do not tarry and wait until the moment when the Lord is before us and He cast us out of His presence and we are condemned to suffer eternally because we have ignored all the reminders and opportunities given to us thus far.

May God help us all in our endeavours, and may He strengthen our faith and our resolve to live our everyday life filled with commitment and love for each other and for our Lord, so that when the time comes, we will be welcomed into the life everlasting filled with harmony, peace and true joy as what we have heard in the first reading today, the vision of the prophet Isaiah. May the Lord be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 2 December 2016 : 1st Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all reminded that everything we need will be provided to us by the Lord our God. He will provide for us and bless us, and relieve from us the oppression and pressure by those who have harassed and persecuted us. But we must stand firm by the Lord and put our complete faith in Him.

In this world today, there are many occasions where people no longer put their trust in God. They were drawn away by all the distractions and temptations that the devil laid on their paths, so that they lacked faith and trust in the Lord. These are those who have slipped away from the faith and from the Church. Many of them no longer regularly attended the Mass, and some of them even stopped going to church altogether.

This is a problem which all of us in the Church must realise and understand, so that we will not fall into that dangerous and slippery path, to lose our faith and commitment to God because of oppression that brought fear to us, of persuasions and temptations that pull us away through distraction, and for some others, because of laziness and inertia, the refusal to move away and wake up from our slumber to be true disciples of our Lord.

That is why this season of Advent, is a very important time for us, as a time to prepare and to get ready for what we know as going to be a challenging time and finally the moment of joy and relief when our Lord comes again to save and liberate His people from destruction. We must learn to have hope and trust in our Lord, despite all the challenges and other matters that tend to distract us.

We live in a time where people tend to seek convenience, the easy way out of their troubles. We live in a time when what matters to us is our own convenience, always looking to take care of our own needs first and to advance our cause first, fulfilling what we need and want before anything else. That is why many of us slip and fall into the temptation of the devil who seeks our downfall and destruction.

He is offering us many tempting and more convenient ways, those that are easier, less troublesome and more appealing for us. He offers us what seems to be a better path, because it seems to be less difficult, more appealing, and it seems to satisfy our wants and needs more. He is trying to play and make advantage of our weaknesses, as we crave for worldly things, and he therefore lures many to our downfall.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important therefore, during this season of Advent, we should prepare ourselves carefully for the preparation of our interior outlook, that in our hearts and minds, and deep within our souls, we are drawing closer to the salvation of God by preparing ourselves spiritually through prayer and devotion.

Many of us slipped away from the faith and fell into temptation because we were unable to resist the devil and his many advances through the world. Many of us do not have a strong relationship with God because we do not pray and spend our time in contemplation with our Lord. Through prayer we are connected to our God in our hearts, and it is through prayer made with sincerity that we will be able to listen to the will of God, as He speaks in our hearts, and we also may speak to Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all spend this time of Advent meaningfully, and help one another to persevere the challenges of this world to our faith, so that not only we can be prepared and ready to celebrate Christmas meaningfully, but we may also get ready for the eventual coming of our Lord, and so that at the end of time, we will be judged to be worthy of God and His inheritance. May the Lord bless us and keep us in faith to Him. Amen.

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Thursday, 1 December 2016 : 1st Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard a reminder from God through His parable of the wise man who built his house on solid rock foundation and the foolish man who built his house on the shaky foundation of sand. It is a reminder for us on how we should live out our faith, not just by words or empty promises alone but also through real dedication, action and commitment.

Brethren, we are in the midst of the season of Advent, a time of preparation for us to prepare for the coming of the season of Christmas, when we will commemorate the anniversary of the Nativity, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ into this world. The season of Advent is a time of discernment, of spiritual preparation and also of anticipation, because we are preparing for Christ, not just in the memory of His first coming, but also of His future and promised Second Coming at the end of time.

When someone builds a house, there are a lot of considerations to be made. If we want that house to be long lasting and strong, then many things must be carefully considered, calculated and prepared beforehand. We cannot just put brick upon brick, or wood upon wood and hope that all those will make up into a strong house that will stand and last again rain and wind.

Architects and designers need to be brought into the picture, especially if the building is larger in scale. Even so, no building can last and remain strong, no matter what material it was made from, if the foundation is weak and unstable. Even if the building is made from the strongest marble, or the hardest wood, or even from solid metal, but the foundation is weak, the whole building will eventually collapse.

What our Lord Jesus spoke about in the parable is actually about our faith. Our faith is the foundation of our life, for if we have no faith, then we have no foundation at all in this life. God is the foundation of our lives, for He created us and gave us life out of His love for us. Without God, we are nothing, and without God, we cannot survive.

And yet, if we look at our world today, we may realise that it is indeed sad to notice how many people are distracted away from their focus on the Lord, and instead, they put their trust in various worldly distractions instead. They put their trust in money, in fame, in human and worldly glory, and in all sorts of other things they made to be the foundations of their life.

And that is why, even many of the faithful were not able to survive and persevere when times of difficulty and when tribulations came to them. When they were challenged to be true to their faith, they gave up and made excuses, because their faith in God was not firm. They put rather their trust in other things and not in God, in Whom they should have depended.

Thus, on this day, let us ask ourselves, how have we lived our lives so far? Have we practiced what we believed in our own daily lives, in how we interacted with each other thus far, and in how we look upon our less fortunate brethren around us? Have we shown love, mercy and compassion to those who need them? Have we done anything to bring happiness and joy to each other? Or have we instead acted in our own self-interest and bring about sadness and division?

In this time of Advent, we have to prepare ourselves for the eventual coming of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Thus, we should spend more time in prayer and in quiet conversation with our God. Be with Him, and devote ourselves to Him. We should spend more time to talk with Him and do more good in order to help those who are in need of our help and attention.

May God bless us all in our works and may He empower us to be better disciples and better Christians, that in all the things we do, we always do it for the sake of the Lord and for His people. Amen.

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Wednesday, 30 November 2016 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle of Jesus Christ and the brother of St. Peter the Apostle, who were among the first ones that Jesus our Lord called, and in fact St. Andrew was also known as St. Andrew the First-Called as he was first to be called by Jesus, and then he called St. Peter to the service of God.

St. Andrew and his brother St. Peter were fishermen at the lake of Galilee, together with St. James and St. John. When you think of what fisherman does and what is their standing in the society, certainly you would not have thought immediately that these people would later on become great and called the Apostles of our Lord. But that is precisely how God works, for He calls simple and ordinary people, and transforms them by the power of His grace and love.

St. Andrew was among those whom the Lord had chosen to be the principal servants of His, to be the bearers of His Good News and His teachings, His words of salvation and liberation from sin for all mankind to hear, to see and to witness, that through what the Apostles had witnessed from the Lord, and which they shared to others, they might bring all these people away from the darkness and from the brink of death into a new life blessed by God in His grace.

And certainly, their work would not be an easy one, for many challenges were facing them at that time. First of all, the Jewish authorities were against them, in how the Pharisees, the elders, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and even secular authorities like the Sadducees and Herod’s supporters were against them. Many of these people had viewed Jesus and His ways and teachings as threats to their own authority, and just as they had persecuted Jesus and condemned Him to death, the same they had done for His followers as well.

Indeed, given such an opposition, especially from a stubborn and hard-hearted people, it would be easy to just throw in the towel and give up everything. We may be thinking that it is not worth the effort to suffer, to toil and even to die for the sake of our Faith, and for the sake of the Lord, but let me tell you, the Apostles would have thought completely otherwise.

The Apostles brought the Good News of God to all mankind, going to faraway places and converting the people into the light of God. What is at stake there was none other than the fate of many, countless souls, all those who had not heard of the words of the Lord and His ways, and thus lived in sin and darkness. Had the Apostles not be brave, courageous and had they not gone out of their way to preach the Good News, many, millions and more souls would have been lost, including that of ours.

Why is that so? That is because if they had not preached the Good News to others, then the Good News would only remain with them, and others would not have heard of it. And if these others would not have heard of it, then the knowledge of God and His salvation would have ended there and then, and no one would be there to instruct people throughout the many years following Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension in the Faith, and therefore, neither would we have heard God’s salvation.

It was thanks to the hard work of the Apostles and their fellow disciples of the Lord, who have labourer hard, toiled hard, and persevered earnestly for their faith in God, for the evangelisation of the peoples, as what we have heard in the first reading today from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome. Through the works of the Apostles, many have heard of the Lord, and many have been turned from their sinful ways.

Divisions have been healed, and no longer were there distinction between Jews or Greeks, free or enslaved, for all have been freed and made equal in God. At that time, the Jews viewed themselves as superior to all the pagan peoples, the Gentiles, or non-Jews. They thought that because they were the direct descendants and heirs of Abraham, they deserved to receive God’s promise and not the other people.

But God made it clear through His teachings and through what the Apostles then disseminate among the people, Jews and Gentiles alike, that everyone are beloved by God and all who believe sincerely in Him will be saved. What matters is their love for God, their sincere devotion and their faith. And this was what the Apostles had laboured for, working tirelessly, suffering for persecution for our sake.

St. Andrew himself travelled to many places, including what is now Turkey and Greece. It was told that he helped to establish the See of Constantinople, the second in preeminence among all the dioceses in the world. It was there that he became the first bishop of the community of the faithful there, and spread the word of God to many people, and in the end, was martyred through crucifixion on an X-shaped cross, bringing glory to God.

Today, as we rejoice in the memory of the glorious Apostle St. Andrew, let us remember that as Christians, we still have that very same mission which our Lord has entrusted to His Apostles and disciples all those years ago. There are still yet many who have not heard of the word of God, His ways and His promised salvation. There are indeed many souls to be saved and many opportunities for evangelisation.

We are called to be the disciples of Christ, to be like His Apostle in our world today. We are called to serve Him through sincere faith and through zeal, that by our good works and by our courageous witness of the Lord and His teachings to others, we may be the source of eternal life and salvation for many others, that the salvation God has promised will not be ours alone, but also will belong to many, countless other souls.

Let us all ponder on this, and discern on what we can do, as Christians, as those who believe in Jesus our Lord, and of course, as those whom He had called to be the bearers of His Good News to the nations. As it had happened to the Apostles before, persecutions, challenges and difficulties will be part of our lives, but we should never fear, brethren, for God will always be with us, as He had been with His Apostles and all the martyrs and saints who have laboured and even gave up their lives for His sake.

May the Lord awaken in us the spirit and the strength to carry out His will and good works in our respective communities, that by the examples of St. Andrew and the other Holy Apostles, we may be inspired to serve Him with ever greater zeal and commit ourselves to works of redemption, calling all sinners to repentance in God, and thus make ourselves worthy of Him. May God bless all of our endeavours. Amen.