Almighty God

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Tuesday, 13 August 2013 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Saints Pontian, Pope and Martyr, and Hippolytus, Priest and Martyr (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord our God is a loving and merciful God, who is quick to forgive and slow to anger. He cares deeply for all of His children that is all of us. He gave His all to save His lost ones, likened by Christ Himself as the shepherd who went out to seek for the one lost sheep. Yes, brethren, so great is God’s love for all of us, that He was willing to come down to us, as a man, to be one of us, that He may save us all through His great sacrifice, a sacrifice for all our sins and our unworthiness.

The good shepherd gives his life for his sheep and is willing to die in exchange for the life of his sheep. That was exactly what Christ had done for the sake of us all, that is to die on the cross for us, to give up His life, that we may have life in us, through Him and through His action in His saving Passion. In order to look for us, the lost sheep, He was willing to go through painful suffering and rejection, so that He may find us, and not just find us, but also gather all of us, and return us into His most loving embrace.

We have been lost ever since our ancestors disobeyed the will of God and forsook His love, preferring the devil and the pleasures of this world instead of the love of our God. If our God does not love us or care for us, then He could have easily blasted us into oblivion, erasing us from existence. Remember, He is the Almighty God, who is all-powerful and almighty, and He is the God who created the universe. Just as easily as He created us, He can as easily erase us from creation, and therefore eliminate the evils present within us.

Yes, we have been dirtied by the evils within us, and the evils of this world, that we are unworthy for the Lord who is all good and perfect. Yet, He troubled Himself and went all the way, even to incarnate Himself as one of us, through the Blessed Virgin Mary, that He became one of us, sharing our sufferings, sharing our troubles and pains, even though He certainly was not obliged to do that. He was truly like a shepherd who shared the sufferings and experiences of his sheep, be it in the sun or in the rain, in safe times or in times of danger, when wolves are threatening to eat the sheep the shepherd is guarding.

Our loving God protects us from harm and shield us from pitfalls and from our enemies. That was evident in His great providence to His people, Israel. He blessed them, smote their enemies, and gave them food to eat and drinks to satiate their thirst. He brought them through the desert into the land He promised all of them. In His love and kindness, He had poured His love to His people, and protected them as He always had. Yet, the people lacked gratitude, and they made complaints after complaints against the Lord, chiding that He had not done enough good for them.

God kept His patience and continued without end to provide help to His people, by sending them His prophets and messengers. The people hardened their hearts and they rejected God’s messengers, casting them out of their cities and even killed them in cold blood. The Lord thundered His wrath on the rebellious ones and casted them out of His presence, but He kept on hoping in us mankind, that we will find our way back to Him our Father and our Good Shepherd.

To this end He sent us a great new hope, in Jesus Christ, part of the Most Holy Trinity, who became our connector to the Lord our Father, as the bridge that bridged the uncrossable and infinite chasm created as a result of our rebellion against God and His love. Christ is that shepherd who went out of his way to look for the lost sheep, and when the lost ones are found, great rejoicing happens, to the shepherd and the whole flock of the sheep, because the lost ones are no longer lost, but reunited as one once again, with the saved ones.

We have been saved, brothers and sisters in Christ, because we have believed in Jesus our Lord and Saviour, and accepting His offer to salvation, which He granted freely to all who trust in Him and all who put their faith in Him. We have been saved because we have been joined to that One Body of Christ that is the Church, the One and only Church that God had established, to be the united body of His faithful ones, that is the flock of the Lord’s sheep. We have been baptised in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, and we have been taken away from this world and its evils, and brought together with other faithful ones, into the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, out of which there is no salvation.

Today, brethren, we commemorate the feast of two great saints and martyrs of the early Church, namely Pope St. Pontian or St. Ponziano, Bishop of Rome and successor of St. Peter the Apostle as the Vicar of Christ, and St. Hippolytus, a priest of the Church of God, also known as St. Hippolytus of Rome. Pope St. Pontian lived through the turbulent times of the third century Rome, when the Roman Empire went through a series of military and political upheavals. Pope St. Pontian initially led the Church in a relatively peaceful state, but soon faced a tough persecution of the faithful when a new Emperor came into power and began to persecute Christians once again.

St. Hippolytus lived in the same era, a contemporary of Pope St. Pontian, and in fact they clashed over certain issues during the time prior to their martyrdom. They were bitter rivals, and their rivalry even threatened to split the Church under factions led by each of them respectively. However, over time, they reconciled their differences, and worked together to bring back the lost sheep of the Lord caused by the divisions in the Church and among the faithful. Both St. Hippolytus and Pope St. Pontian were captured and exiled together by the Emperor who persecuted Christians harshly.

Eventually both of them met their end in death, in sacred martyrdom, in the defense of their faith, and in their courageous and vibrant love, which they showed to their fellow men, the flock of the Lord that they have been appointed as shepherds for. They did not fear death, because the Lord who had conquered death through His own death on the cross, has been triumphant, and death will not have the last word. Through their actions and deeds, many of the lost sheep of the Lord, and those who have yet to hear the Lord’s word were inspired to seek the Lord and find His truth, bringing to them the salvation of our Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, even though both Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus had died a long time ago, but the spirit of their hearts and their works are still evident even until today. They have inspired all of us to also be shepherds for one another, to take care for one another, dissolving the differences between us, and seeking for what unites rather than what divides.

Let us seek our God the Good Shepherd, and if we are lost, let us find He who looks for us day and night. Let us not to forget to ask the assistance and help from His faithful servants, the saints, Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus, all the other saints and martyrs, and the holy angels of the Lord. Last but not least, let us also seek the help of the greatest saint of all, the mother of our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Let us continue to walk in the path of the Lord, and not to be led astray by the temptations of evil, that we will be reunited by the Lord our God in complete and eternal happiness. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 12 August 2013 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear about the obligations we have in our lives, the obligations we have to this world, to our nations and our states, and most importantly, the obligation we have to the One True God, our Lord in heaven. Today’s Gospel reading is related to the similar case when the chief priests and the Pharisees attempted to trap Jesus in His own words, by asking whether the people should or should not pay tax to Caesar as the Romans imposed on all their subject peoples.

Christ answered the Pharisees aptly, and similarly in this case, when He showed His great wisdom and understanding, which shows the same kind of answer presented to the challenge and test made by the Pharisees aimed at trapping Jesus in His own words. Christ showed that we should obey the law be it divine law or the law of the world, by respectively paying what is due to us to each of these laws and fulfill our obligations respectively.

Yes, that means, as in Christ’s own words, what is due to Caesar, give it to the Caesar, and what is due to the Lord, give it to the Lord. If the people of Jesus’ time are obliged to pay taxes to the Romans because of their position as subject of the Roman Empire, then so be it. But even more importantly, they are also at the same time, the subjects, the servants, and the people of the One, True God, and therefore, they too, should serve the Lord their God and give to Him what is expected by the Lord from all of them.

If we pay taxes to our world authorities, our nations and our governments, the analogues we have today with the Roman Empire of Jesus’ time, with money, with gold and silver, with worldly possession, then how do we pay our due to the Lord our God? We pay our God with our love, with the love that we pour out of our hearts towards Him, and towards our fellow brothers and sisters, the same children of God. That is what He truly wants from us, the love and dedication from us, and not just mere sacrifice or words.

Our nation, our government had given us much, through money, goods, security, care, and many other ways that they can make our lives in this world more comfortable, more convenient, and more relaxed. Through their works and services we had benefited much, just as what had happened during the time of the Roman Empire. Indeed, the Jews did suffer under the rule of the Romans, but they also enjoyed much from the rule by the Romans.

The Romans brought stability to the region and better livelihood to the Jews, who had been living in a turbulent time, in a region fought between the successor kingdoms of Alexander the Great’s Empire. Those who read the Book of the Maccabees will certainly know of the difficulties and struggles faced by the people before the time of Jesus, when the region of Judea was under constant warfare and conflicts. The Romans gave stable livelihood and relative peace to the people that the society of the Jews during the time of Jesus was roughly at peace.

Then, without delving too much into the history of the land, why then do we pay tribute to our Lord and God, the way that we had given tribute to the secular and worldly authorities? That was because just as the governments, authorities, and nations had taken care of us and done good things for us, the Lord our God had done even greater things for our sake, brothers and sisters in Christ.

Yes, He had given much to mankind, and He had poured out His love and grace to His beloved people, and not least of all, the descendants of Abraham His servants, that is the people of Israel themselves, whom He cared for and watched from generations to generations. He gave them all that they needed, and He delivered their enemies into their hands to be destroyed, as well as bringing them from the land of their slavery into the land He had promised their fathers. And even when they disobeyed Him and rebelled against His will, He remained faithful and loving to them, and even gave then a new hope, the long-awaited Messiah, the Saviour of the world.

It is therefore to this wonderful and ever-loving God that we give thanks and our wholehearted dedication. It is truly to The Lord that we must give our true allegiance and obedience, to His laws and commandments, superceding any other laws even those of this world. However, this does not mean that we should disobey any kind of worldly authorities that our governments and nations have over us. Instead, just as Christ had done Himself, in advocating to pay taxes to the Emperor and to the Temple, He taught all of us to obey our caretakers in this world as well as our Lord, as long as those caretakers do the duties entrusted to them by God dutifully and do not veer away from the path of the Lord.

Today, brethren, we commemorate the feast of a wonderful and holy saint, that is St. Jane Frances de Chantal. She left all that she had after the death of her husband at the end of the sixteenth century France, and joined the religious life, eventually setting up a religious order on her own, and opened many chapters and branches which works extended to the poor and the unloved ones of the society, giving them love, care, and compassion.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal gave her all in loving her fellow brethren in faith, and she wholeheartedly gave her full dedication to them, and therefore, at the same time, showing her own love and dedication to the Lord our God. That is her way of showing her gratitude and ‘paying her due’ to the Lord. She gave the Lord the wonderful offering of her love, both for Him and for His children, particularly the least of all of them. Yet, she was also dutiful to her own dedication to the society, remaining faithful to the laws of the land, that is the laws of the world.

Through the example set by St. Jane Frances de Chantal, let us be more inspired to do more for the Lord, for our fellow brethren, and for our society, giving our heart, our love, and our dedication to all of them, and in the process making sure that we always put the Lord our God before everything, and always keep Him in our hearts as we proceed with our daily lives and activities. May the Lord who bless us daily and protect us with the power of His hands strengthen us, and renew our faith, our hope, and our love for Him and for all of His people, that is all of us. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 11 August 2013 : 19th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 12 : 32-48

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms. Get yourselves purses that do not wear out, and an inexhaustible treasure in the heavens, where no thief comes and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Be ready, dressed for service, and keep your lamps lit, like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding. As soon as he comes and knocks, they will open the door to him. Happy are those servants whom the master finds wide-awake when he comes. Truly, I tell you, he will put on an apron, and have them sit at table, and he will wait on them. Happy are those servants, if he finds them awake when he comes at midnight or daybreak!

Pay attention to this : If the master of the house had known at what time the thief would come, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.

Peter said, “Lord, did You tell this parable only for us, or for everyone?” And the Lord replied, “Imagine, then, the wise and faithful steward, whom the master sets over his other servants to give them wheat at the proper time. Fortunate is this servant if his master on coming home, finds him doing his work. Truly, I say to you, the master will put him in charge of all his property.”

“But it may be that the steward thinks, ‘My Lord delays in coming,’ and he begins to abuse the male servants and the servant girls, eating and drinking and getting drunk. Then the master will come on a day he does not expect, and at an hour he does not know. He will cut him off, and send him to the same fate as the unfaithful.”

“The servant who knew his master’s will, but did not prepare and do what his master wanted, will be soundly beaten; but the one who does unconsciously what deserves punishment, shall receive fewer blows. Much will be required of the one who has been given much, and more will be asked of the one who has been entrusted with more.”

 

Alternative reading (Shorter version)
Luke 12 : 35-40

Be ready, dressed for service, and keep your lamps lit, like people waiting for their master to return from the wedding. As soon as he comes and knocks, they will open the door to him. Happy are those servants whom the master finds wide-awake when he comes. Truly, I tell you, he will put on an apron, and have them sit at table, and he will wait on them. Happy are those servants, if he finds them awake when he comes at midnight or daybreak!

Pay attention to this : If the master of the house had known at what time the thief would come, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.

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Saturday, 10 August 2013 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we are urged by none other than our Lord, that we should invest and go to work, in order to make use the gifts that God had given us through the Holy Spirit that He had planted in each one of us the faithful ones in God. He had given us much gifts, abilities, and power, through the Spirit, which if we utilise them, we will truly be able to make a great difference in ourselves, in our neighbours, our fellow men, and in our society, through those gifts given to us.

Yes, brothers and sisters, within us all is the Spirit that God had given us when we were baptised, and when we were confirmed in our faith, given with the Holy Spirit that strengthens and nurtures. We have been given with the seeds of faith, hope, and love, as well as compassion, kindness, care, patience, and devotion, that all of us ought to utilise and nurture in our hearts, as well as in our own communities, that they will not remain just a seed, but will germinate and grow to become healthy and fruitful.

The love that is in us will never grow if we just keep it within ourselves, and the other gifts of the Spirit will also just languish in us and be wasted, if we keep them unused and sealed within our hearts. In order to let them grow and prosper, effort is required, and not just any effort, but strong, dedicated and purposeful effort, with strong contribution from our side, and a significant investment of our attention and our sweat. We do not gain anything from slacking up or resting.

Just like farmers, brothers and sisters, the farmers who worked hard day and night, ploughing the land, planting the seeds, and putting manure or fertilisers on the land, that the seeds will be provided with enough nutrients and therefore can grow to healthy and strong plants, that will in the future bear much fruits. The farmers cared for their plants with love, and give them their full attention, that they grow big and laden with much flowers and therefore, much fruits.

The fruits that are juicy and sweet cannot be born, if the plants are not taken care of carefully and with great dedication, and neither can they be produced, if the farmers have slackened off in their works, and let the plants to their own in growing up. They carefully removed the weeds and the pests, preventing them from eating up the fruits and threatening the health and survival of the plants. In the end, they reaped much fruits, an abundant and bountiful harvest, the sweet products of harvest, which bring them happiness and joy.

That is how, brothers and sisters in Christ, we should also do for the seeds of faith, love, and hope planted by the Lord, the Sower, in each of us, within our hearts. These seeds need our attention, our dedication, and our great effort, in order to grow, bloom, and prosper. As I have mentioned, the seeds need good soil and manure or fertiliser, to ensure that they have the right nutrients and sufficient ones in order to grow properly into healthy and vibrant plants. So, how do we then ensure this to what the Spirit had planted in us? That is faith, hope, and love?

It is by our actions, our deeds, and our words, that we contribute to the growth of the gifts of the Lord within us. How we act and what we say, the words that we utter, determine the growth, the health, and the survival of the ‘plants’ in us, that is what God had given all of us, the gifts, the talents, and skills we have been endowed with in our lives. Each of us do have our own unique skills and talents, but none of these will be useful nor beneficial if we do not practice them and use them.

We give the nutrients and fertilisers to these gifts, by our actions and our words that reflect the goodness that is the Lord, or in short, by following the Lord and His laws, all of His commandments, just as Christ had told His disciples in the Gospel reading today. We have to made evident the commandments of the Lord in our own lives, through our acts of love, words that promote love, and our loving embrace for one another, for our brothers and sisters especially those who are rejected and without love.

It will not be easy, and our path will be littered with dangers and threats, but our God will walk with us through all these obstacles, and if we remain strong in our faith and in our bond and dedication to Him, we will make it through, and at the end, lies the reward, the eternal reward of everlasting life in the glory of heaven, which God had reserved for His holy saints, the people who had persevered through fire and through the test of life, and had been found worthy of God’s Kingdom.

Today, brethren, we celebrate the feast of a great saint, that is St. Lawrence, a deacon of the early Church and a martyr of the faith. He was also known as St. Lawrence of Rome because he was one of the seven deacons serving the Diocese of Rome under the other great saint Pope St. Xystus II (Sixtus II) whose feast day we had just celebrated a few days ago. He met his martyrdom almost at the same time with the saintly Pope during the height of the persecution of Christians under Emperor Valerian in the mid-third century after the birth of Christ.

St. Lawrence was the disciple of Pope St. Xystus II and helped him in the governance of the Church in the times of difficulty, with extreme persecution and hunts against the Christians by the pagan Roman Emperor and the entire Roman military at the time. He helped to manage the Church and the Diocese of Rome in the midst of that difficult times, and he bravely defended the faith and the Church after the death of its leader the Pope in martyrdom, by standing up to the Roman authorities and proclaiming the sanctity of the Church and the greatness of God.

St. Lawrence was asked by the prefects of Rome after the martyrdom of Pope St. Xystus II to gather the wealth of the church, because of a law that required all Christians and others to surrender their wealth to the church if convicted of any act of treason to the state, which was exactly the situation given to St. Lawrence, in that he was to gather the riches of the Church to be confiscated by the state. He gathered the poor people of God, and bravely proclaimed to the prefects, that those are the wealth of the Church, its true wealth, and in all its glory, the Church is even richer than the Emperor himself.

In such courage of defending his faith, his Church, and his God, St. Lawrence brought upon him the wrath of the Emperor and he was martyred. But as we all know, brothers and sisters in Christ, to all of us who believe in Christ and become a part of the Church, accepting our Lord and God and our Saviour, death has no power over us, and indeed, St. Lawrence was raised in glory to the heavenly kingdom of our God, as one of the holy men and women who along with the angels praise the Lord and intercede for our sake on earth.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us follow in the footsteps of St. Lawrence, the great deacon and martyr, and in all the holy saints and martyrs of the Lord, that we will make use of the gifts and talents God had given to all of us, that we will nurture it through love and love in our actions and our words, that the love in us will grow and grow to encompass everyone, every one of God’s children, our brothers and sisters. In doing that, we follow Christ, His laws and commandments, and at the end of time, He will raise us up, and be given our reward of eternal life with Him in heaven. May God bless us always and remain us at all times. Amen.

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Friday, 9 August 2013 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyr)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we once again hear from the readings on the greatness of the Lord our God, and His might that He had brought into the world, to bring His beloved people from slavery and suffering, into a blissful new life, blessed by God. He had also sent us His Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Saviour, the Messiah who would free us from the slavery of sin and death, and deliver us into a new life, an eternal life with God.

He showed His might and power through things manifest in this world, through miracles and glorious things, and also through secret and unseen methods. He brought His people Israel out of the slavery in Egypt with the power of His hand, punishing the Egyptians and their Pharaoh for their stubbornness, and He guided His people through the long journey towards the very land that He had promised them and their forefathers.

He gave His people His laws and commandments, that they will follow those laws and abandon any wickedness and evil they had committed in their past lives, and therefore begin a new life filled with love and good works, in tune with the way of the Lord. This is so that they will leave behind whatever evil that made them unworthy of being with God, and therefore allow them to truly taste the fruits of salvation and the fruits of eternal life, which God had promised us, and brought to all of us, through Christ His Son.

Yes, our Lord sent His Son to us, so that He will reveal to us, the true meaning of His laws and His commandments, that is love, and that love is none other than the infinite love He has for all of us, without exception, even the greatest sinners. Yes, especially the greatest of sinners! To the great sinners He had come, to heal us and to bring us all back into His presence and His embrace.

He is willing to look away from our faults and our sins, and instead forgive us from our sins, He made us whole again. He wants us to be with Him and follow His ways. However, the path of the Lord is not easy, and it is full of challenges and difficulties, that all of us must face, if we are to be the disciples and the people of the Lord our God. The same had happened with the people of Israel, who were led through the desert towards the Promised Land. Our lives are full of trials and tribulations just as those that Israel had faced when they were in that desert.

If we follow through and persevered through the tribulations and trials, our reward will be great, because we will be regarded highly by the Lord our God who loves us, and our faith and love in Him will be made evident for all to see. Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ, as told to us in the Gospel reading today, who will come again in His glory at the end of time, will reward us greatly for our faith, for our dedication and love for Him and His beloved people.

Today, brethren, we also celebrate the feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, also known as Edith Stein, a great martyr of the faith and a religious nun of the Discalced Carmelites who lived in the era of uncertainty, during the two World Wars, and eventually met her martyrdom in glory during the persecution of the Jews by the Nazi Germany, and because of her Jewish roots, she was martyred in 1942 along with many of the faithful people of God.

St. Teresa Benedicta was a convert from the Jewish faith into the Catholic faith, and she became a well educated and devout person who through her exposure and experience with the Catholic faith, eventually influenced her to join the Discalced Carmelites as a nun. During that time, the Nazis under the leadership of Adolf Hitler had increased their influence in Germany and took over the government, and began to persecute the Jews and many other people the Nazis had deemed as subhuman and unworthy of their ‘Germany’.

St. Teresa Benedicta strongly opposed the Nazi regime and sent letters to the Church and even the Pope, asking them to publicly condemn Hitler and his inhumane regime. She opposed the tyranny of the Nazis and their persecutions, and even though she was initially protected because of her Catholic faith, her constant opposition and standing up for the cause of the righteous eventually led to her and many of her companions, especially the Jewish converts, to be imprisoned, and eventually gassed to death by the Nazi regime.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Teresa Benedicta had stood up for the cause of the right, for justice, and for love. She had born the cross that she carried daily with her, even to her imprisonment and finally her martyrdom. Her commitment to justice and right of the oppressed is truly an example to all of us the people of God. She receives her glorious reward in heaven, and now, she as a saint, is in heaven in the glory of God, and yet she continues to pray for us, for our sake, that we too may be found worthy and join her and all the saints in heaven for eternity.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have received Christ and His teachings which are passed down to us through the Apostles and their successors. Through them we have learnt of the things and the commandments that God had given to us, that we can follow and practice, in order to ensure that all of us truly have faith in God, made alive and vibrant through frequent and constant acts of charity and good works done for the sake of our fellow brethren who are in need, for material goods, and even more importantly, for our love and God’s love, channelled to them through our deeds, our words, and our actions.

May all of us follow the example of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, and stand up for our faith and all the things that we believe in, opposing all forms of evil and impropriety, be it by the weak or the powerful, be it by the people outside the Church or inside the Church, and indeed, let us bring those who had gone astray and commit much evil in this life, back to the path of goodness, back to the path towards salvation, that not only that we will receive our eternal and heavenly reward, but even the greatest of these sinners, who through our work and actions, have new hope of eternal life in Christ. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 9 August 2013 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyr)

Matthew 16 : 24-28

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If you want to follow Me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me. For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life for My sake will find it. What will one gain by winning the whole world if he destroys his soul? There is nothing you can give to get back your soul.”

“Know that the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels, and He will reward each one according to his deeds. Truly, I tell you, there are some here who will not die, before they see the Son of Man coming as king.”

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Friday, 9 August 2013 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyr)

Psalm 76 : 12-13, 14-15, 16 and 21

I remember the deeds of the Lord; I recall His marvels of old. I meditate on all Your work, and consider Your mighty deeds.

Your way, o God, is most holy. Is there any god greater than You, our God? You alone are the God who works wonders, who has made known His power to the nations.

With power You have redeemed Your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. You led Your people as a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

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Friday, 9 August 2013 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyr)

Deuteronomy 4 : 32-40

Ask of the times past. Inquire from the day when God created man on earth. Ask from one end of the world to the other : Has there ever been anything as extraordinary as this? Has anything like this been heard of before? Has there ever been a people who remained alive after hearing as you did the voice of the living God from the midst of the fire?

Never has there been a God who went out to look for a people and take them out from among the other nations by the strength of trials and signs, by wonders and by war, with a firm hand and an outstretched arm. Never has there been any deed as tremendous as those done for you by YHVH in Egypt, which you saw with your own eyes.

You saw this that you might know that YHVH is God and that there is no other besides Him. He let you hear His voice from heaven that you might fear Him; on earth He let you see His blazing fire and from the midst of the fire you heard His word. Because of the love He had for your fathers, He chose their descendants after them, and He Himself made you leave Egypt with His great power.

He expelled before you peoples more numerous and stronger than you, and He has made you occupy their land : today He has given this to you as an inheritance. Therefore, try to be convinced that YHVH is the only God of heaven and earth, and that there is no other.

Observe the laws and the commandments that I command you today, and everything will be well with you and your children after you. So you will live long in the land which YHVH, your God, gives you forever.

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Wednesday, 7 August 2013 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Saints Xystus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs; and St. Cajetan, Priest (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Saints Xystus II and Companions); White (St. Cajetan)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today, the case of the Canaanite widow and her daughter, and how the daughter was healed by Christ our Lord because of her mother’s faith, should stir all of us, all of our hearts. That the woman had shown her great faith and trust in God, placing all of her heart and faith in the power and ability of our Lord, recognising Him as the heir of David, the awaited Messiah of Israel, the Saviour of the world.

Yes, brothers and sisters, the woman, the Canaanite woman, not of the chosen race and the chosen people of Israel, had recognised the Lord and put her entire heart and full faith in Him when so many other people of Israel had failed to do so. Not only that many of these people had failed to put their full attention and faith in the Lord, but they even complained against Him and grumbled against Him, when He had shown them so much love, compassion, care, and kindness.

So great is His love that He listened to their complaints, giving them food, the bread of heaven in the form of manna for them to eat in the morning, and quails for them to eat in the evening, as well as crystal-clear and sweet spring water from rocks for them to drink and satisfy themselves when they complained that they have not enough to eat or drink.

Yes, the Lord even promised them, as He had promised Abraham their forefather, the Promised Land of milk and honey, where the land is so rich that it will yield fruits manyfold and bring with them great riches for God’s people, that is Israel to enjoy for eternity. He fulfilled that promise and brought His people to the land that He had given to them and their descendants.

And yet, they still complained, and they did not truly love the Lord their God, nor did they give Him their full dedication and faith. When the explorers sent by Moses reached the Promised Land and saw the warlike peoples of Canaan living in the land, with giant men and powerful warlords, the people chose to follow their own human instincts and immersed themselves in their own human fear, that they again complained against the Lord for having brought them to that ‘dreaded’ Promised Land filled with enemies and prospects of death.

Despite all the good things that the Lord had given them and would have given them in perpetuity, for eternity, they rejected the kindness of the Lord, because they trusted themselves more, in human power and fear, and not in divine power of our God. And therefore, because of their rebelliousness, they deserved death. The Lord rejected them from His presence and denied them from entering the Land He promised them.

Then we can contrast this, to the widow, the widow who does not belong to the people of Israel, the Canaanite woman dismissed by many in Israel in Jesus’ time as pagans and people doomed to hell. Yet, she proclaimed the Lord and recognised in Him the salvation that is to come for her and the whole world. She asked humbly for His mercy and showed her faith to Him, even when Christ seemingly rebuked her and mentioned that He was only sent to the people of Israel. She answered well and proved her faith to God, and as a result, she received her due reward, the same reward promised to the people of Israel of old, but which they rejected because they trusted more in the power of man rather than in the power of the One and almighty God.

It does not mean that the people of Israel are bad or that they are rejected by God. Remember that Jesus Himself is a Jew, and He belongs to the House of David, because He is His heir, and the widow rightly proclaimed that He is the Son of David, the One to whom God will give eternal kingship, glory, and power over not just Israel, but over all mankind, over all the world. Instead, the readings today highlight that, first, we must be always faithful and trusting in the Lord our God, and we should be fast to praise and slow to complain.

It is our nature to feel that we do not have enough when we actually already have more than enough. It is part of our natural greed and desire for things and material goods. And it is also our nature to first think about ourselves and our needs before that of others, and we are quick to praise ourselves in general, whenever we achieve something, but it is generally considerably more difficult for us to give due thanks and praise to others, when they have done something that had benefited us in one way or another.

This happened to the people of Israel in the desert, that despite the freedom God had given them from the backbreaking and hard labour under slavery in Egypt, despite that He had showed them His might and power in opening the sea, giving them His own Laws and commandments, making sweet and crystal-clear water to gush out from rocks and even giving them food from His own table in heaven in the manna, they did not feel that they have enough, and indeed, complained that their previous life in Egypt had been much better, and even brought the Lord to the test, in doubting whether God could provide for them in their journey in the desert.

Yes, brethren, the path of the Lord is not an easy one, and there will certainly be numerous obstacles lying in our path if we choose to follow the Lord. The evil one certainly does not stay idle and let us, the followers of God, His disciples to just go free without any difficulties. This is why, it is often much easier and much more pleasurable for us, to settle on things that seem to be easier and more relaxed, even though to do that means that we sin against the Lord our God.

We cannot have this mentality, brothers and sisters in Christ, because to settle for such a thing would mean that we prefer the slavery under sin and Satan, instead of the freedom God had offered all of us through His suffering and death on the cross. Do not follow the path of the Israelites who chose to rebel against God and complained against His love and kindness. Our Lord knows what we truly need, brethren, and He will not leave us without love or care, because He always watches over us, at all times.

Today, brothers and sisters in Christ, we celebrate the feasts of Pope St. Xystus II or Sixtus II, as well as St. Cajetan. Both of them are holy and pious men dedicated to God in their own ways. Pope St. Xystus II lived in the middle era of the Roman Empire, and reigned as the leader of the Universal Church during the height of the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire in the middle of the third century. He reunited the divided factions of the people of God after healing the rifts that existed after heresies wrecked the faithful, and brought them back to God, once again as one people. He was martyred along with several of his companions following a brutal repression and persecution of the faithful by the Emperor Valerian.

St. Cajetan on the other hand was a priest who lived in the middle of the Renaissance Italy, during the sixteenth century. He helped much in the Church’s attempts to combat heresy of the Reformation which spread like wildfire during his lifetime. He dedicated much of his efforts and works to love and serve the poor, the lonely, and those without love, committing himself towards caring for all of them. He founded a religious order, the Theatines, which has a similar vision to him, that especially focus on the virtue of service and committing acts of love to others, as part of the faith.

Therefore brothers and sisters, today, let us be resolved to have the faith of the widow, to seek the Lord with great humility and persistence, and ask Him to show mercy and love upon us sinners. Let us not harden our hearts the way the people of Israel had done when they journeyed through the desert. Let us reflect on ourselves and our own weaknesses, and seek the Lord to enlist His aid, in helping us to overcome these weaknesses.

Let us also follow the example of Pope St. Xystus II in his commitment to the cause of the Lord, and the faith and love, as well as the dedication he had shown him, just as the widow had shown her faith to God, by her recognition of the good that the Lord had done for us. Let us also follow the example of St. Cajetan, in his own devotion to the Lord, which he showed through his love and service, and all the care he had given to all the children of God in need, in need for love, care, and compassion. In doing those things, St. Cajetan showed his love and faith in God. We too can do the same, brothers and sisters in Christ. Show Christ our love, just as He had shown us His love from the cross.

May the Lord bless us all with strength, faith, and perseverance to go on in our lives, no longer complaining but from now on putting our whole and complete trust in the Lord our God who loves us. May Pope St. Sixtus II and St. Cajetan, and all the company of saints and angels in heaven intercede on our behalf before the Lord who is loving and merciful, that He will forgive us our trespasses and deem us worthy of His presence and His kingdom once again. Amen.

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Tuesday, 6 August 2013 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Daniel 7 : 9-10, 13-14

I looked and saw the following : Some thrones were set in place and One of Great Age took His seat. His robe was white as snow, His hair white as washed wool. His throne was flames of fire with wheels of blazing fire. A river of fire sprang forth and flowed before Him. Thousands upon thousands served Him and a countless multitude stood before Him. Those in the tribunal took their seats and opened the book.

I continued watching the nocturnal vision : One like a Son of Man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age and was brought into His presence. Dominion, honour, and kingship were given Him, and all the peoples and nations of every language served Him. His dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; His kingdom will never be destroyed.