Almighty God

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Tuesday, 2 September 2014 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 144 : 8-9, 10-11, 12-13ab, 13cd-14

Compassionate and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in love. The Lord is good to everyone; His mercy embraces all His creation.

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your power.

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endures from generation to generation.

The Lord is true to His promises and lets His mercy show in all He does. The Lord lifts up those who are falling and raises those who are beaten down.

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(Usus Antiquior) Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 31 August 2014 : Introit and Collect

Introit

Psalm 69 : 2-3, 4

Deus, in adjutorium meum intende : Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina : confundantur et revereantur inimici mei, qui quaerunt animam meam.

Avertantur retrorsum et erubescant : qui cogitant mihi mala.

Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Incline unto my aid, o God. O Lord, make haste to help me. Let my enemies be confounded and ashamed, those who seek my soul.

Let them be turned backward and blush for shame, those who desire evils to me.

Response : Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Collect

Omnipotens et misericors Deus, de cujus munere venit, ut tibi a fidelibus tuis digne et laudabiliter serviatur : tribue, quaesumus, nobis; ut ad promissiones tuas sine offensione curramus. Per Dominum…

English translation

Almighty and eternal God, whose gift it is that Your faithful serve You worthily and rightly, grant us, we beseech You, that we may do without offense to hasten on to the fulfillment on Your promises. Through our Lord…

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Sunday, 31 August 2014 : 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the readings from the Holy Scriptures today all had a single and most important meaning as well as purpose, that is to remind us that, in all things and in all that happen in our lives, they are not within our control, and in everything, we should defer to the will of God, that is what God wanted for us to do in this life.

Brethren, God always means well for us, even when often it does not seem as such. That was exactly why the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading we heard today, while he grumbled for the difficulties, challenges and persecutions he faced, he eventually acknowledged that the Lord and His will had him in the best interest, and that God continued to help and support him amidst all the challenges, and thus Jeremiah continued on to preach the word of God to the people of Judah.

And St. Paul in the second reading, in his letter addressed to the Church in Rome, the great Apostle urged the people there to listen to and heed the will of God, understanding what the Lord wanted from them rather than following the ways and the norms of the world, which were filled with wickedness and injustice unworthy of God’s chosen peoples in the Church. And he also urged the people to live and bound themselves to God’s great mercy, making themselves a favourable sacrifice in heart and prayer to Him.

And lastly we heard how Jesus rebuked Satan, who entered Peter’s heart, to remind both St. Peter and all of us, by our listening and understanding of the message of that encounter, of the need and importance for us to follow and obey the will of God in all things. St. Peter commented on how Jesus should not have said that He would suffer persecution and rejection in Jerusalem by the Pharisees and the chief priests, because he was afraid and fear filled his heart.

And the same applied to us all, brethren, because we all also often feel fear and are afraid of many things. We are easily concern about many aspects of our own well-being, as we mankind are by our nature selfish. And the many things in this world served to fuel our insecurities further, often leading us to carry out deeds and works that often benefit ourselves but disadvantage and even hurt others. Often, this means that we are also frequently disadvantaged by others when others acted in self-preservation out of the same fear.

Some fears that we have, be it we are rich or poor, weak or strong, young or old are the fear of death, the fear of suffering and pain, the fear of loss of properties and material goods, and many others. We are insecure over these, and it is easy for us to think that when times are difficult, when things do not go our way, and when someone who loved are lost through various means, be it old age or even unexpected events such as accidents, we often feel such despair and anger in us over the loss that we often think and even say, where is God in all these?

Yes, brethren, it is very easy for us to blame God and put the fault at Him for such apparent ‘neglect’ of His beloved creations. However, this is because many of us did not understand the nature of God and the nature of our relationship with the Lord. If we look into our lives, we can often see that we frequently overlook the presence of God in our lives, and we often only turn to Him whenever we are in dire strait and in trouble. And many of us misunderstood our relationship with our Lord, thinking and expecting that the Lord will ‘listen’ to our petitions, prayers or even whining and demands.

That is because for many of us, prayer to God is nothing more than a litany of requests and even demands, which we bombard the Lord with, with the familiar, constant and ubiquitous phrases of ‘Lord I want that…’, ‘Lord I wish for…’, ‘Lord, please do something…’, ‘Lord, give me…’ and other similar phrases, without giving a chance for the Lord to speak to us in our hearts.

Yes, as we all should know, the essence of prayer is not for us to bombard the Lord with all these. We did these exactly because we feel insecure and fearful, and we think that God is someone who can just fulfill and admit all of our wishes. But He is not our slave nor our servant, in the sense that we can just order Him around for anything. On the other hand, we are the ones who actually should live according to what God wants from us, and yet many of us failed to do so.

We have to realise that we live in this world not just for ourselves, and we have to live with one another in faith, peace and love. We have to learn that the true meaning of prayer is for us to open our hearts and all sorts of our senses to the Lord, who will then converse with us in the silence of our hearts, in the deepest part of our selves, which we have often overlooked and forgot, in the midst of all the things we are so concerned about in life.

God is always there for us, and He always watches over us. He wants to speak to us all the time, and yet we always find our excuse or pretend to be ignorant, refusing to listen to His words. We always think that God does not listen to us, or that He does not care for or love us, and we even think that He had abandoned us to the forces arrayed against us, but we often never stop to think that the Lord is always with us and around us, and it is we who have often shut ourselves from. His care and love.

We are surely familiar with the story of someone who walked in the beach, on the seashore, where he walked with God. There were two sets of footsteps, one that belonged to the man and one that belonged to the Lord. Then the man encountered great difficulties in life and he suffered from it. He looked at the footsteps and realised that there was only one footstep there. The man complained and protested against God, alleging that God had abandoned him and did not care for him.

When the Lord asked him what he thought, he presented the evidence of the one set of footsteps to accuse the Lord of leaving him back there alone during his time of troubles. But the Lord patiently and lovingly told the man, that when the man was in his most difficult moments, the Lord carried the man on His own shoulders, and thus the footsteps that the man saw, actually belonged to the Lord who carried and guided the man in his difficulty, even without him knowing it.

Thus, brothers and sisters, learning from the Scriptures which we have heard today, and what we have reflected and pondered on this day, we have to keep always in our hearts. First, we mankind cannot presume what is in God’s mind, and we have to learn to trust in the Lord, as whatever He has for us in His will and mind, it is the best of the best for us. Second, we have to always trust in His providence and love for us, as God is always with us and He will never leave us even for a moment, and in fact it is men who left Him first.

And lastly, we all have to know that to follow the Lord means that challenges, difficulties and persecutions from the world and all in it will be part and parcel of our lives. What we need to do is to carry our cross and follow the Lord, as Jesus Himself said. If Christ had suffered and was rejected by the world, we who are part of Christ as His disciples and servants are bound to suffer in the same way as well.

Jesus told us to get rid of from our hearts all desires of self-preservation, selfishness itself and seek to be upright and righteous in all things. If we do so, we will save our souls, as the Lord who sees all and who knows all will reward us for our hard works. And we ought to do this by showing love, care and concern for our fellow men.

Those who are so concerned for themselves, fearing the loss of their properties, their other concerns in life will be paralysed by that fear, or act in ways that hurt or disadvantage others, and the Lord who sees this, will cast them out of His presence into eternal damnation, and hence, saving the world and their glory in the world but losing their soul for eternity.

We can do our part, brethren, by changing our lives if we have not done so, or do even better if we have indeed done as the Lord had taught us. Be courageous to defend the weak and the oppressed, and be courageous to defend our faith as well. Live our faith consciously and actively by loving acts and dedications to our brethren around us, especially those who are in need. And lastly, keep a good, vibrant and healthy prayer life, spending time with God whenever we are able to. And in our prayers, keeping silent and focused on the Lord, so that He may speak in our heart and that we may then know His will for us.

May Almighty God bless us, protect us and be with us always as He had always been all this time. May His light shine upon us that we may find our way to Him and may all souls in this world be saved, by following the only God and Saviour Lord, Jesus Christ, Saviour of all mankind. Let us all also bear our crosses of suffering in this life together, that in the end, the Lord may transformed those crosses into the crosses of His glory and power. Amen.

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Saturday, 30 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the word of God, in which we are reminded of the need to be proactive in our faith and in how we live our lives, depending also on the graces and wisdom which He had granted us mankind, so that we may grow further and develop what He had given to us and entrusted to us. Yes, so that we may be like the hardworking and good servants rather than becoming like the useless and lazy servant.

In each and every one of us, God had given many gifts in various ways, some more than others in certain things and some less than others in certain things, and while some have more, some have less than others. But regardless of the amounts, the Lord had given us something, blessings and graces He gave us, no matter how small or how big they are.

This is perfectly represented by Jesus through His telling of the parable of the servants with the silver talents. There were three servants who were given five talents of silver, two talents of silver and one talent of silver respectively, and they exactly represented all of us who had been given the gifts and blessings of God in the form of our abilities, talents and other gifts that we had been endowed with, no matter how great or small they are.

But what is important here is to reflect on the words and the true meaning of the parable which Jesus had told us through His disciples, on why it is so important for us not to be passive and be ridden with inaction, as these are great sins, the sins of omission. For it is not just the sin of action that is truly debilitating against the soul when we committed something evil and foul in the presence of God, but when we fail to do something when we clearly have the means and ability to do it, then we also commit a sin.

The key here is to understand that it is not when we have less then we deserve to be punished or anything of the sort. The servant who had been given the one talent could have been praised and be rewarded as well, had he not hidden his one silver talent in fear of losing it or in fear of retribution from his master and instead if he had invested it and worked on it, he would have received his due reward.

How does this relate to us then? We often fear to use our talents to be of use to others, and to work and do good works as well as good deeds using whatever abilities and gifts that God had given us. And when we were baptised and accepted as the member of the Body of Christ, the Church, God had given us even more gifts, the gift of faith, the gift of hope and the gift of love. However, these gifts are mere seeds that will only grow and become powerful tools for the Lord to works His wonders in this world if we take action and do something to use them for the good of all around us.

Remember the parable of the sower and the seeds that fell on different locations and conditions? The seeds will only grow well and produce bountiful returns of thirty, sixty, hundredfold and more if they fall on the rich soil. And this cannot be automatic for all of us. We have to work and toil hard just like all farmers do, so that the seeds may grow healthy and strong. A good heart and a favourable environment, represented by the rich soil is necessary, but even this require work on our part, and after that, we still need to toil and work hard till the harvest season.

That means, we have to be actively engaged in living our faith. We must be open to others, in terms of opening our hearts filled with this faith, hope and love so that others too may benefit from them and therefore stand to gain from what we are doing. Thus, in our words, our actions and deeds must reflect the nature of ourselves, that is as the children of God, who is Love, and thus we must have love, and hope, and faith in all of the things we do and say.

It is only then that we will be able to grow our faith, hope and love, and all of the various gifts God had given us, so that just like the faithful and good servants, their silver talents grow and multiply as they invested them, so do our gifts and our strength in God. And therefore, the Lord who sees all that we do will reward us and keep us in His love and grace.

May Almighty God bless us on this day, and strengthen us that we may continue to persevere amidst the difficulties of this world and commit ourselves to greater acts of faith, hope and love, so that all those around us may benefit from them and we too may be found worthy of the everlasting heaven. God be with us all. Amen.

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Friday, 29 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the memorial feast of St. John the Baptist and his passion, that is when he faced his sufferings and last moments on this world, enduring imprisonment and incarceration by Herod, the king of Galilee, son of Herod the Great, the king who once tried to kill Jesus in His infancy. St. John the Baptist was imprisoned as he spoke bluntly and harshly against the king’s adulterous behaviour with the wife of his deceased brother.

In the Jewish society and according to the laws of Moses, the wife of one’s brother is the same as one’s own sister, and this is related to how in marriage, the man and the woman are no longer separate peoples, but had been joined together by God to be one, and that what God had made one, let no one separate, as Jesus had said it. And even when the brother of king Herod died, that does not mean that the bonds of marriage and unity blessed by God had been broken. This is why the action of Herod in making her brother’s wife as queen is considered adultery.

But one may then ask, is not according to the laws of Moses that the brother of a deceased man ought to take care of and marry the deceased man’s wife, taking her as his own? This is what happens when people did not understand the purpose of the Law, as it is clear that Herodias and Philip, the brother of king Herod had a daughter, the one whom the king was pleased with in the festival and celebrations we heard in the Gospel today.

The Law stated that the allowance for this practice is such that the deceased man may have a child that will continue his name and inheritance even after he died, and that child will be his brother’s child biologically, but legally considered as the deceased man’s child. But this was created in fact to cater and accommodate to the obstinate and hard-headed behaviours of the people of Israel, who constantly and continuously complained against the Lord during their forty years journey in the desert.

Jesus came to perfect the Law of God and to reveal the fullness of truth about them, that the Law truly was meant for the good of mankind, and to guide them in the ways of the Lord, that they would not steer away from it, and thus fall into the corruption of sin and the flesh. And through this, it was why the actions of Herod and Herodias were truly abominable before the Lord, as not only that Herod and Herodias committed an inappropriate relationship before the Lord, but also that they committed many other sinful deeds on their own persons.

Today we are reminded that courage which was shown by St. John the Baptist in defending the truth of the Lord, by speaking up not just against the corrupt Pharisees and elders of Israel, but even against a king and his queen, who was engaged in adultery. St. John the Baptist did not flinch or be afraid to do and say what is right, and speak out against what is wrong.

It is exactly what the Lord had said to the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading today, where we heard how God called him out of the people of Judah, to be his spokesperson and representative, to be the one who spoke His words and judgments to the people of the kingdom of Judah. The kingdom of Judah was then a shadow of its former glory, and the people of God had not been faithful, often they worshipped pagan gods and did not remain true to the commandments and laws of God.

Hence, Jeremiah was called and sent to speak to this rebellious and unfaithful people, so that they hopefully might listen to the Lord speaking through Jeremiah and repent from their sinfulness. Jeremiah suffered and was persecuted, opposed and imprisoned for his works and devotions to God and His people. The people to whom Jeremiah had been sent to, continued to rebel and disobeyed the Lord ever more, which eventually led to their destruction at the hands of the Babylonians.

The same too had happened to St. John the Baptist, who was sent to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, who was none other than Jesus, the Son of God Himself. St. John the Baptist was sent to make straight the path for the coming of Christ, and He did his duties responsibly and filled with zeal and faith to God. He too was rejected and doubted by the Pharisees and the elders, and these people refused to listen to the word of God and repent, just as they would later refuse to listen to Jesus.

Yet, what we can learn from this is that, while those to whom these saints were sent to did not listen and persecute these holy servants of God, God did not leave these holy servants of His alone. He gave them strength and encouragement to continue to persevere through the difficulties and oppressions they had to go through in life. And in that, they become an example for us to follow.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all reflect on our lives, on whether we have been righteous and faithful in our actions, or whether we have erred and walked away from the path of the Lord. We should avoid the actions of king Herod who gave in to his desires and human weaknesses, submitting to the power of the temptation of the flesh. Instead we should strengthen our faith and solidify within us the faith that God had placed in our hearts, like what Jeremiah and St. John the Baptist had done.

May Almighty God bless us and keep us, that in all things we may be ever faithful, that we may be ever ready to defend our faith, this faith, devotion and love we have for God, that the Lord will find us worthy at the last day when the Lord will judge us for our actions and deeds, and bring us into the everlasting glory He promised for us. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 29 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 70 : 1-2, 3-4a, 5-6ab, 15ab and 17

In You, o Lord, I seek refuge; let me not be disgraced. In Your justice help me and deliver me, turn Your ear to me and save me!

Be my rock of refuge, a stronghold to give me safety, for You are my rock and my fortress. Rescue me, o my God, from the hand of the wicked.

For You, o Lord, have been my hope, my trust, o God, from my youth. I have relied on You from birth : from my mother’s womb You brought me forth.

My lips will proclaim Your intervention and tell of Your salvation all day. You have taught me from my youth and until now I proclaim Your marvels.

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Thursday, 28 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Hippo, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 144 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

I will praise God day after day and exalt Your Name forever. Great is the Lord, most worthy of praise; and His deeds are beyond measure.

Parents commend Your works to their children and tell them Your feats. They proclaim the splendour of Your majesty and recall Your wondrous works.

People will proclaim Your mighty deeds, and I will declare Your greatness. They will celebrate Your abundant kindness, and rejoice in singing of Your justice.

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Wednesday, 27 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Monica (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

2 Thessalonians 3 : 6-10, 16-18

We command you, beloved, to stay away from believers who are living in idleness contrary to the traditions we passed on to you. You know how you ought to follow our example : we worked while we were with you. Day and night we laboured and toiled so as not to be a burden to any of you.

We had the right to act otherwise, but we wanted to give you an example. Besides, while we were with you, we said clearly : If anyone is not willing to work, neither should that one eat.

May the Lord of peace give you His peace at all times and in every way. May the Lord be with you all. I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is my signature in all my letters. This is how I write. May the grace of Christ Jesus our Lord be with you.

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Tuesday, 26 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we continue what we had heard from the previous day’s theme on the sins and corruptions of the Pharisees and the elders of the people of Israel. The seven woes of the Pharisees as they are known, are highlighted in today’s Gospel, with Jesus continuing to rebuke these vile and corrupt leaders who brought their people into destruction.

It was greatly stressed, the importance of walking and doing the faith, and not just merely concerned about the externalities and the formalities of the Law, but also the teachings and the ways of the Lord must be lived within the soul, heart and mind, so that in all things, we may truly be representing the Lord to all those who see us, who hear us and who witness our actions and deeds in all things.

Indeed, the fundamentals of the Law of God are justice, mercy and faith as Jesus had said. The Pharisees, the scribes and the teachers of the Law are too preoccupied on the external applications and details of the Law so as to forget the true meaning and purpose of those laws in the first place. Rather than trusting in God and His truth revealed in Jesus, they persecuted the faithful and rejected He who came to save His people, preferring to trust in men, in their own power and wisdom than in the wisdom and truth of the Lord.

Why justice? Because the Law of God is indeed just, and it was not crafted to torture or make the lives of men difficult. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law continued on the expansions and the increasingly difficult application of the Law of God as revealed through Moses. In the Torah, the first Book of our Bible, also known as the Pentateuch, scattered through the Book of the Exodus, Leviticus, Number and Deuteronomy, are the laws of God given to Moses.

However, over the centuries and over time, the interpretation of these laws had become very rigid and extremely punitive in nature. The Lord Himself did not intend for these to be punitive and harmful in nature, but instead these were meant to lead the people of God to have a good discipline in life, particularly in the matter of their faith, so that they would always stick to the right paths in life. We know from our reading of those same Books, how unfaithful and difficult the people of Israel could be, both during their forty years journey and when they were already dwelling in the Promised Land.

But this should not become the kind of interpretation which the Pharisees had done to the laws, which ended up as a kind of leash and prison to the faithful who were forced to endure the numerous observations which apparently numbered as many as six hundred and thirteen laws, rules and regulations. Many of these observations ended up in the Pharisees abusing their authority and oppressing the people, losing the true meaning and intention of the Law.

And then, the Law is also about mercy. The Pharisees were so utterly convinced in their actions and deeds, that they believed that they were alone the most righteous and greatest among the people of God, as the only ones on whom the Lord cast His favour on. They believed that because they did as they had done, they were allowed to do what they thought was right on others, to the point of abusing others and casting judgments on others.

Remember what they did when the faced the man who was born blind and then was cured by Jesus? The Pharisees and elders of Israel tried to discredit the good works and miracles of Jesus, and when they failed to do so, they cursed and blamed the man who was born blind and healed, and they called him cursed and sinner, since the day he was born, a truly preposterous and horrible action indeed, one that is unworthy of these supposedly pious servants of God.

The Pharisees also condemned the woman who committed adultery, arguing that because she committed sin she deserved to die according to the Law. However, Jesus thought otherwise, and He highlighted the important of forgiveness and mercy, as the way for salvation. The Law was truly intended to guide mankind back to the Lord, so that the Lord might exercise His mercy, rather than punishing them.

And lastly, the Law is also about faith. This is not superficial and superfluous faith of the Pharisees who were concerned mostly with their own faith and their own piety, for the praise of the people rather than to help one another into salvation through faith. The Law must be obeyed with understanding and true sincerity and desire, or otherwise, it will do no good to us at all.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect together on this, let us all together help one another to grow in our faith and devotion to the Lord, and also in our love towards our fellow men, which also means love among ourselves. Let us not be discouraged or be distracted by the devil and his tricks and lies. Rather, let us all continue to believe in God and seek to understand further the power of His love. God bless us all and may we continue to obey His love with full understanding. Amen.

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Monday, 25 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Louis and St. Joseph Calasanz, Priest (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are urged to be faithful and to be upright in all of our actions and dealings, so that we all truly may be called the children of God. This is what Jesus said, when He rebuked the Pharisees and the elders of the people, in what is known the seven woes of the Pharisees. It is because these people who had been entrusted with the care of the people of God have failed to do as they were expected to do.

Instead, the Pharisees, the scribes and the teachers of the Law abused their power and authority which had been given to them. They twisted the Law and its various applications to suit their own purposes and to give them advantages and goodness at the expense of others, namely those whom they have been entrusted with. Those leaders and elders grew fat and rich at the expense of their sheep and flock which suffered and groaned under their oppression.

This misuse and abuse of authority and power is what Jesus was truly angry about as He talked about the actions of the Pharisees and elders, whose hearts and minds were not on the Lord and things heavenly and holy, but in things and matters of the world, of worldly goods and temptations, as well as things corrupt and unworthy of the leaders of the faithful. In this, they have failed miserably to become role models for the faithful, and instead they brought many to their downfall and ruin with them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what Jesus was angry about was because those Pharisees and elders cared only for the substance and for the material rather than for the souls of the faithful, and rather than things necessary for the salvation of these souls. They asked people to swear by the treasure of the Temple and by the offering on the Altar, because they cared not for the holiness and for the Presence of God, but for the material wealth and goods around which they conduct their daily duties.

This is also the prelude to when Jesus cleared the Temple itself of all the corruptions and impurities which the Pharisees had allowed to grow and develop under their care. These corruptions were the merchants and money changers who were allowed to setup their stalls in the courtyard of the Temple, selling various animals for sacrifice, and also established money exchange services for those who came from other countries, including Jews who lived far away from Jerusalem.

These merchants were corrupt, and they charged the people much more than they should have. They earned much profit at the expense of the pilgrims and the common people who sincerely came to worship the Lord. The Pharisees and the elders of Israel did not take any action because they gained profits and income by their cooperations with those merchants and cheaters, and therefore they maintained the corruption of the Temple, for their own benefits.

Today we celebrate the feast of two great saints, whose life and examples would show us the wickedness and inappropriate nature of the actions of the Pharisees and the elders of Israel. The first is St. Louis, King of France, also known as King St. Louis IX, one of the greatest medieval kings and leaders of Christendom. The other saint is St. Joseph Calasanz, a Spanish priest of the late Renaissance and early Enlightenment eras.

St. Louis IX was a great king, and he reigned well and with justice. However, he did not just do well on the matters of the world, as he also cared greatly for the spiritual growth and development of his nation and his people. A very devoted servant of God, he implemented numerous changes and reforms in the laws of the land, that the people may lead a more righteous and just lives, in accordance with the will of God and according to the teachings of the Lord through the Church.

St. Louis IX also worked hard to bring the faith to all peoples, including to heretics, the Albigensians, also known as the Cathars, bringing to them a harsh judgment and brought them to see the light of truth in God. And in the end, out of the will to defend the faith and the faithful, as well as to bring glory to God, King St. Louis IX led a crusade of the faithful to liberate the Holy Land of God, but before he reached his destination, he died. Nevertheless, his actions remained a great inspiration to all of us.

Meanwhile, St. Joseph Calasanz was a devoted Spanish priest, who dedicated his life in the service of the people of God, guiding, helping and loving them, and especially to the weakest and the poorest in the society, he gave them attention and care, and he helped established many schools and educational institutions run by the religious congregation he helped establish, the Piarists.

Even when he was called to move to Rome, the heart of Christendom, the works and dedication of St. Joseph Calasanz remained the same if not even greater than before. He helped victims of a flood, helped educate poor and young children, and he ministered faithfully to the people of God wherever he went to serve. He was truly exemplary, and together with St. Louis IX, he had indeed shown how we should live our faith life, pure and untainted by the greed and desires of this world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the examples had shown clearly the contrasts we need to be aware of, and we ought to take these seriously, as we should not follow the examples of the Pharisees and the elders who were corrupt and were concerned about only how to bring the best for themselves and cared only for their prosperity and glory, while the saints whose lives we celebrate today, truly exemplified the virtues of the Lord and gave us the examples of how we should live our own lives.

May we all be able to rid ourselves of our selfishness and human desires, as the Pharisees had demonstrated, that these are great obstacles for us to reach the Lord. May Almighty God guide us and bless us on our way, that we may truly be able to follow in His footsteps and grow to be better and more dedicated people whom He loves dearly. God be with us all. Amen.