Archbishop of Canterbury

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Friday, 27 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, listening at the passage which we heard from the Gospel today, surely many of us would feel kind of unsettled and fearful at what Jesus has said and done. After all, we heard how Jesus our Lord cursed the fig tree without fruits, and made it to dry up and die. And then, Jesus also showed His wrath on the merchants and money changers who set up stalls in the Temple grounds, chasing them out with whip and lashes.

In this passage therefore, we see the side of our Lord which we tend to forget or ignore, and an aspect which we tend to overlook when we think about God. We always tend to see God as a loving, kind, merciful and compassionate God, but then they forget that He is also a vengeful and angry God against those who have been unfaithful. He exacts judgment against those who disobeyed Him and refused to listen to Him.

We live in a world where many have forgotten about the consequences of sin, and therefore, as a result, we tend to become desensitised to sin, and we often ignore the consequences of our sins, to the point that we may just sin without even being worried about it, or being affected by it. And the main reason for this, is the lack of that understanding and the seriousness which we ought to have when we refer to sin and all the fruits of wickedness in our actions.

Indeed, it is just like the barren fig tree. We are the fig trees, and if we are without fruits, barren and dry, then we have truly not deserved the good graces and blessings of God. Instead, curses and destruction is our only share. And if we think that Jesus was being unreasonable because it was not the fig season, then we should understand how this is related to what Jesus spoke in another parable.

Jesus told us that the kingdom of God is coming to us in the manner like that of a thief, unexpected and sudden, without prior warning and without any signs to let us know that it is coming. It is just as Jesus came by suddenly to the fig tree, outside the fig season, and finding the tree to be barren and without any fruits. And thus it received only curses and not blessings, and it perished.

Thus, the same fate awaits all of us, if we do not learn from what the Scriptures are trying to tell us. And that is if we live like the merchants and the sellers, the money changers and all who filled up the sacred Temple grounds with their unholy transactions and dirty money. And as a result, they earned the wrath of God, Who whipped them and lashed at them, chasing them out of the Temple of God, the Holy residence of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must really devote ourselves to the Lord, in all things and commit ourselves to His ways, through our sincere devotion, and by all the loving acts which we should show to one another, caring for our brethren in need, and giving them the love which they ought to receive and which we ought to give. And in this manner, perhaps we should follow in the footsteps of the saint whose feast we are celebrating today, namely St. Augustine of Canterbury.

St. Augustine of Canterbury was one of the first bishops of the region known as England. His works there was instrumental in reestablishing the Christian faith and the Church in England. He was a religious monk from Rome, who was tasked by the then reigning Pope, Pope St. Gregory the Great to be the evangeliser of England and all of its neighbouring countries.

England had been Christianised by the preceding Roman era, when the Roman Empire still controlled the region. But with the invasion by the barbarian Saxons and Jutes, the Angles and others, Christian faith has largely died out in that country. As a result, there was a great need to reinvigorate the Church and reestablish the Church structure and hierarchy in England.

St. Augustine of Canterbury thus went forth to a region of unknown challenges, where he laboured hard for the sake of the faith, and he had to endure persecutions from the pagans and rejection from those who refused to accept the truth of God. But he persevered on, and showed them care, concern and love. And in teaching the people about the truths and wonders of God, St. Augustine showed them the path to God, and his actions bore many wonderful fruits, including the conversion of the king of the place where he ministered in, and many people who came to be baptised afterwards.

By his works, many people have been saved from the certainty of damnation and death, and these are truly the rich fruits of faith which St. Augustine had produced, and by which he was made justified and right in the presence of God. And that is why he is now counted among the holy saints of God. Brothers and sisters in Christ, we too can follow in his footsteps and be like him.

Let us all therefore renew our efforts to live our lives faithfully and renew our commitment to God, that we may give our all to the Lord and glorify Him through our actions. May He continue to bless us and keep us forever in His grace. Amen.

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Friday, 27 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Mark 11 : 11-25

At that time, Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. And after He had looked all around, as it was already late, He went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

The next day, when they were leaving Bethany, He felt hungry. In the distance He noticed a fig tree covered with leaves, so He went to see if He could find anything on it. When He reached it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. Then Jesus said to the fig tree, ‘May no one ever eat your fruit!” And His disciples heard these words.

When they reached Jerusalem, Jesus went to the Temple, and began to drive away all the people He saw buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the stools of those who sold pigeons. And He would not let anyone carry anything through the Temple area.

Jesus then taught the people, “Does not God say in the Scriptures : My house will be called a House of Prayer for all the nations? But you have turned into a den of thieves.” The chief priests and the teachers of the Law heard of this, and they tried to find a way to destroy Him. They were afraid of Him, because all the people were astonished by His teaching. When evening came, Jesus left the city.

Early next morning, as they walked along the road, the disciples saw the fig tree withered to its roots. Peter then said to Him, “Master, look! The fig tree You cursed has withered.” And Jesus replied, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and have no doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will happen, it will be done for you.”

“Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it shall be done for you. And when you stand to pray, if you have anything against anyone, forgive.”

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Friday, 27 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Psalm 95 : 10, 11-12a, 12b-13

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.

Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound; let the fields exult and everything in them.

Let the forest, all the trees, sing for joy. Let them sing before the Lord Who comes to judge the earth. He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.

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Friday, 27 May 2016 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

1 Peter 4 : 7-13

The end of all things is near; keep your minds calm and sober for prayer. Above all, let your love for one another be sincere, for love covers a multitude of sins. Welcome one another into your houses without complaining. Serve one another with the gifts each of you received, thus becoming good managers of the varied graces of God.

If you speak, deliver the word of God; if you have a special ministry, let it be seen as God’s power so that, in everything, God may be glorified in Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

My dear people, do not be surprised at the testing by fire which is taking place among you, as though something strange were happening to you. Instead, you should be glad to share in the sufferings of Christ because, on the day His Glory is revealed, you will also fully rejoice.

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Wednesday, 27 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard from our first reading, taken from the Book of Ecclesiastes, about the pleas and our begging for mercy from the Lord, that we hope that God would not hold our sins against us, and that He may be merciful to us and show us His mercy and forgive us our sins. By right, because of our sins, we have deserved death and to be destroyed and yet, by His infinite mercy He had opened for us the way to salvation.

But this does not mean that we should take God’s love for granted, for there is indeed a limit to God’s patience. Forgiveness will also come our way only if we have the commitment and dedication to changing our ways and abandoning all of our pride and ways of sin. God is merciful and kind, and He is willing to forgive our sins, but only if we are able to change and commit ourselves to His ways.

And God has given us so much help, so that we may be saved, firstly by sending reminders one after another, to keep us on His ways and not be lost, with prophets and messengers after another to preach to us the will of God and His message. And last of all, He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Saviour of us all, and by His suffering and death, by which He bore the combined weight and burden of our sins, He had brought us this hope of forgiveness and liberation from our fate that was death.

We have to always remember this fact, that the Lord died for us, so that we may live. In His death we have shared the death to our old selves, and we have abandoned our old ways of sin, and by His resurrection to life, we have also therefore shared in the new life, which is the path to our eternal joy and true happiness with Him in heaven forevermore.

But the path to a life faithful to God, and indeed the journey of our faith will not be easy. In the Gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ had told this fact to His disciples, of the cup of suffering that He was to drink. This cup of suffering was the burden of sin, the whole weight of our disobedience and our punishment, which our Lord Jesus had taken up upon Himself. And we are also going to share in the same cup of suffering, which is the rejection of the world, and the persecution, which our Lord had also encountered, being rejected and cast out by His own people.

It will be difficult to face all the challenges that will come our way, but if we persevere on and never gave up, then we should be rewarded richly by our Lord. Remember that our Lord also said that those who are faithful to Him ought to take up their own crosses in life and follow Him? These crosses in life are part and parcel of our journey as the disciples and followers of our Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, perhaps we can look up to the example of the saint whose feast we are celebrating today, namely St. Augustine of Canterbury. St. Augustine of Canterbury was the first to bring the Faith to England, and he was the first Archbishop of the See of Canterbury. Indeed, it is very unfortunate that because of the heresies committed a few hundred years ago, his successors have gone astray into the darkness, but indeed, in the first place, the works of St. Augustine of Canterbury remained evident even until this day, and it helps a lot in the reestablishment of the Faith in England until today.

St. Augustine was once a Roman priest and monk, who served the Pope in various capacities, and who was then summoned and tasked to spread the faith in the land of England beyond the sea. The Faith had once been established in that land by the Roman Empire, but after the fall of the Roman Empire in that region, the pagans have taken over the land, and the Church was in disarray. Therefore, the task and responsibility fell to the hands of St. Augustine, who then established the See of Canterbury, and became its first bishop.

Through his hard and tireless works, St. Augustine of Canterbury had managed to rebuild the Church and brought many people to conversion to the true Faith, and he never looked back on the past. He kept pushing forward and toiled hard to convert the masses of pagans and turn them from their faults and sins, and therefore to approach the throne of God’s mercy.

Therefore, let us all follow his examples and walk righteously in the path of the Lord. Let us no longer be distracted by the many distractions and temptations of this world, but let us all focus all of our attention to the Lord, devote ourselves to change our ways and do things righteously from now on. May Almighty God be with us all and protect us from the forces of evil, and bring us to the everlasting life He had promised to all of us who remain faithful to Him. Amen.

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Wednesday, 27 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Mark 10 : 32-45

At that time, Jesus and His disciples were on the road going up to Jerusalem, and He was walking ahead. The Twelve were anxious, and those who followed were afraid. Once more Jesus took the Twelve aside to tell them what was to happen to Him.

“You see we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be given over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn Him to death, and hand Him over to the foreigners, who will make fun of Him, spit on Him, scourge Him, and finally kill Him; but three days later He will rise.”

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said to Him, “Master, we want You to grant us what we are going to ask of You.” And He said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They answered, “Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left, when You come in Your glory.”

But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what You are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink, or be baptised in the way I am baptised?” They answered, “We can.” And Jesus told them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and you will be baptised in the way that I am baptised; but to sit at My right hand or at My left is not Mine to grant. It has been prepared for others.”

On hearing this, the other ten were angry with James and John. Jesus then called them to Him and said, “As you know, the so-called rulers of the nations act as tyrants, and their great ones oppress them. But it shall not be so among you; whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you shall make himself slave of all.”

“Think of the Son of Man, who has not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life to redeem many.”

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Wednesday, 27 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Psalm 78 : 8, 9, 11, 13

Do not remember against us the sins of our fathers. Let Your compassion hurry to us, for we have been brought very low.

Help us, God, our Saviour, for the glory of Your Name; forgive us for the sake of Your Name.

Listen to the groans of the prisoners; by the strength of Your arm, deliver those doomed to die.

Then we, Your people, the flock of Your pasture, will thank You forever. We will recount Your praise from generation to generation.

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Wednesday, 27 May 2015 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Sirach (Ecclesiastes) 36 : 1-2a, 5-6, 11-17

Have mercy on us, Master, God of all, and look on us; make every nation stand in fear of You. Take action against the pagan nations and let them see Your power. Give new signs, do fresh wonders, stretch out Your hand and be glorified in Your strength. Kindle Your fury and rouse Your anger, destroy Your opponents, crush Your enemy.

Have pity, Lord, on the people known by Your Name, on Israel whom You called Your firstborn. Show compassion to the Holy City, to Jerusalem where You rest. Fill Zion with the fame of Your wonders, and Your people with Your glory. Confirm the promises made to Your people long ago and fulfill the promises made in Your Name.

Reward those who wait for You and fulfill the words of Your prophets. Hear the prayer of Your servants, Lord; hear Your priests giving Aaron’s blessing to Your people. So that all on earth may acknowledge that You are Lord and everlasting God.

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Monday, 27 May 2013 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God is our Lord, and He is our Creator. He is everything to us, for without Him, we cannot live, and we cannot survive. Only by being with God can we be saved, and only by staying in His presence and favour, we can gain eternal life, which He rewards to all those who remain faithful in Him and who prove that they love Him with all their hearts, their minds, and their souls, with their entire beings.

If we want to follow the Lord, and become His disciples, we cannot be half-hearted, and we cannot be hesitant. Instead, we must be very certain in our hearts, and be very conscious that we choose the Lord over everything else in this world. We have to put God foremost in our hearts and in all our daily dealings, before other things that may corrupt our hearts and sway our attention away from the Lord.

Wealth and worldly material possessions are some of such things that most easily turn the hearts of mankind away from God who loves them. Countless people across the different ages had spurned the love of God, and the salvation which He had offered freely to all, all just for the sake of money and possessions.

But be careful brothers and sisters, because we cannot misinterpret the Lord’s true intention and desire for us. The Lord is not hostile against wealth or His children having worldly possessions and material goods, but what He warned us all against is the danger of excessive wealth and the corrupting influence such things can have on us, that it turn us away from the Lord and bring us damnation in the end.

Wealth itself is not evil, brothers and sisters in Christ, and when wealth is used correctly, it can be indeed a great tool for love and for the advancement of the cause of Christ in this world. For wealth can feed many who hunger for basic nutrition and food, and those who lack basic needs required for survival. Wealth also can sponsor many of our Church’s charitable actions spread throughout the world, dedicated to the service of the poor, the ones who hunger, both physically and spiritually.

The true evil itself lies in our weakness, ever since the day of our rebellion against God’s will and our disobedience since the day of Adam. We had been exposed to sin ever since in our hearts. Greed in particular is our weakness, and desire to have more goods, more money had caused mankind to do much evil in the history of mankind, even within the Church.

That is why brothers and sisters in Christ, do not shun wealth! and do not hate the rich! but instead do our own part to help those who are less fortunate, especially those among us who have more, in terms of goods, money, or even if we have particular skills or even love, which we can indeed share to those around us who need them more. Indeed, this world has many people who does not just need the food for our stomach, but also food for the heart, that is love. For there remains many who are unloved in this world.

Today, we commemorate the feast of a great saint, Saint Augustine of Canterbury, who first established the Church hierarchy in the chaotic England of the Dark Ages. He established the first diocese in that country, what is to be known as the Archdiocese of Canterbury, and Saint Augustine was its first bishop

Saint Augustine converted many of the Anglo-Saxons who ruled England and much of the rest of Britannia at the time, in the region we know now as the United Kingdom. He established the Church in England. He served the Lord with zeal and strong faith, and through dedicated service, especially to the weak and to the poor. He convinced the rich and the powerful to follow Christ and abandon their old pagan and sinful ways, including even the king, whom he converted to Christianity.

Sadly, now the Church in England had been divided, by irresponsible act of men throughout history, which had brought division in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. I am certain that Saint Augustine is sad that his successors have not kept the faith of the Apostles. Let us pray that the Church in England will be reunited once more, and be one with the Universal Church, keeping alive the faith of the Apostles, and fall not into the evils of the world.

Then for all of us, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all strive to do our own best in giving our all to our less fortunate brethren, be it through material donations, skill donations, and even more importantly, by donating the love that is within us. Not that it will lessen the love that is within us. On the contrary, if we share our love to others who lack them and long for love, our own love will grow and strengthen us. May God be with us, in all our deeds, and strengthen our resolve, to do good for the sake of all mankind. Amen.

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Monday, 27 May 2013 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Mark 10 : 17-27

Just as Jesus was setting out on His journey again, a man ran up, knelt before Him and asked, “Good Master, what must I do to have eternal life?”

Jesus answered, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments : Do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not cheat, honour your father and mother.”

The man replied, “I have obeyed all these commandments since my childhood.” Then Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him and he said, “For you, one thing is lacking. Go, sell what you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow Me.”

On hearing these words, his face fell and he went away sorrowful, for he was a man of great wealth.

Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were shocked at these words, but Jesus insisted, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

They were more astonished than ever and wondered, “Who, then, can be saved?” Jesus looked steadily at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God; all things are possible with God.”