Ash Wednesday week

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Saturday, 21 February 2015 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 58 : 9b-14

YHVH said, “If you remove from your midst the yoke, the clenched fist and the wicked word, if you share your food with the hungry and give relief to the oppressed, then your light will rise in the dark, your night will be like noon. YHVH will guide you always and give you relief in desert places.”

“He will strengthen your bones; He will make you as a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters never fail. Your ancient ruins will be rebuilt, the age-old foundations will be raised. You will be called the Breach-mender, and the Restorer of ruined houses.”

“If you stop profaning the sabbath and doing as you please on the holy day, if you call the sabbath a day of delight and keep sacred YHVH’s holy day, if you honour it by not going your own way, not doing as you please and not speaking with malice, then you will find happiness in YHVH, over the heights you will ride triumphantly, and feast joyfully on the inheritance of your father Jacob. The mouth of YHVH has spoken.”

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Friday, 20 February 2015 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the days of Lent, and the readings call us all to remember our true purpose of celebrating and going through this sacred season of Lent, the forty days of preparation for the coming of Easter. In this season, we go through fasting and abstinence on certain days, as a public and concrete way of showing our sincerity in following the Lord, by preparing ourselves body, mind, heart and soul for the celebration of our Lord’s Passion, death and resurrection.

But are we fasting and abstaining in the right way and for the right purpose? That is the essence of today’s readings. Are we fasting and abstaining for show so that people may be awed at what we are doing and therefore praise us greatly for doing so? Are we fasting and abstaining because our parents said that we must do so, or because the Church is teaching us to do so? Are we merely following the teachings of the Church without understanding them?

When we fast we have to realise that we are not doing it for ourselves, but for God. We fast and we abstain ourselves from eating meat and controlling our earthly and human desire, these are all to suppress our human emotions and desires, which often lead us to sin and to wickedness before the presence of God and men alike. Fasting and abstinence are meant for us to realise our frailty and our sinfulness, that we are truly unworthy sinners, given grace and forgiveness by our ever loving God.

Fasting and abstinence are meant to help us to restrict ourselves from the worldliness and things that often lead us away and distract us from following the teachings of our Lord with the wholeness of our hearts. This is why, even though the rules on fasting and abstinence involve food that we consume, but they should not be limited to this only.

Yes, fasting and abstinence can come in the form of restricting and limiting ourselves from our favourite hobby and activity, which often took so much time from us that we end up wasting our time and being unable to contribute positively and in a good way towards those who are around us. There are truly many things we can do and we can choose from many options.

We can abstain from computer gaming, watching our favourite television programmes and videos, from the sin of gluttony and sloth, from the pleasures of the flesh, and something as simple as stirring ourselves from laziness when we see someone around us who are suffering, not having enough food, enough love or respect by others as a fellow mankind.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the readings remind us that this Lent is a time for us to focus on the right things and fast as well as abstain for the right purposes. We fast because we know that by our sinfulness, we have been separated from our Lord by a certain degree. The more we sin, the further we have been separated from our loving God. And this is what all of us should be aware of.

We fast and abstain to remind ourselves on our own sinfulness, and it is also a kind reminder for us all who have more in terms of food, care, love and the goodness and graces of the world, we should share them with those who are less fortunate. That is the kind of fasting and abstinence that our Lord truly wants from us, and not those done for the sake of human praise and appearances as the Pharisees had done.

May the Lord awaken in us all the desire to love one another and to share the joy and grace we have, that no one will ever be in need again. May this Lent be a blessed season for us to reflect on our sins and therefore seek God’s forgiveness and repent in total sincerity. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 20 February 2015 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 9 : 14-15

At that time, the disciples of John came to Jesus with the question, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not Your disciples?”

Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The time will come, when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.”

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Friday, 20 February 2015 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 5-6a, 18-19

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

For I acknowledge my wrongdoings and have my sins ever in mind. Against You alone have I sinned.

You take no pleasure in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, You would not delight in it. O God, my sacrifice is a broken spirit; a contrite heart You will not despise.

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Friday, 20 February 2015 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 58 : 1-9a

YHVH said, “Cry out aloud for all you are worth; raise your voice like a trumpet blast; tell My people of their offenses, Jacob’s family of their sins. Is it true that they seek Me day after day, longing to know My ways, as a people that does what is right and has not forsaken the word of its God? They want to know the just laws and not to drift away from their God.”

“‘Why are we fasting,’ they complain, ‘and You do not even see it? We are doing penance and You never notice it.’ Look, on your fast days you push your trade and you oppress your labourers. Yes, you fast but end up quarrelling, striking each other with wicked blows. Fasting as you do will not make your voice heard on high.”

“Is that the kind of fast that pleases Me, just a day to humble oneself? Is fasting merely bowing down one’s head, and making use of sackcloth and ashes? Would you call that fasting, a day acceptable to YHVH? See the fast that pleases Me : breaking the fetters of injustice and unfastening the thongs of the yoke, setting the oppressed free and breaking every yoke.”

“Fast by sharing your food with the hungry, bring to your house the homeless, clothe the one you see naked and do not turn away from your own kin. Then will your light break forth as the dawn and your healing come in a flash. Your righteousness will be your vanguard, the Glory of YHVH your rearguard. Then you will call and YHVH will answer, you will cry and He will say, I am here.”

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Thursday, 19 February 2015 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we progress through the season of Lent, and as we recall yesterday’s imposition of ashes on our foreheads, we continue to prepare ourselves to welcome Christ into our lives and celebrate with full joy and attention, and earnestly seeking to reconcile ourselves with the Lord, so that through this perfect opportunity during this Lenten season, we may be fully prepared to rejoice together with Him at the coming of Easter.

What is the significance for this, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is that we have been given a great opportunity to redeem ourselves, despite all of our wickedness and sins, so that we may be made clean and worthy once more. God is loving and forgiving and He desires for us all to be reconciled with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ, who had offered Himself in exchange for the consequences of our sins.

By dying on the cross He destroyed our death, and freed us from the bonds of death and from the chains of sin, and by rising from the dead, He restores us to life and give us the hope of a new and eternal life, one that is no longer tainted by sin, but filled forever with grace and the light of God. But if we think that this is going to be easy or to be a honeymoon period, then we have to really think it through very carefully.

For as we heard in the Gospel today, following Christ our Lord means taking up our cross and follow on the path of the cross of Christ. And if Jesus was rejected, mocked and spat upon during His arduous path towards Calvary, then the same will also happen to us all who decided to follow Christ. All the followers of Christ will also suffer as our Lord had suffered.

We must be ready to make a commitment and to devote ourselves to walk righteously on the path towards the Lord. Otherwise, if we are not able to commit and to show genuine devotion, and continue in our sinful ways, then we will not be able to receive the fullness of God’s grace, or even worse, that is to be rejected by God and receive condemnation.

Our faith must be real and concrete, and we all must be dedicated in our actions to show the faith we have to God. We have to practice what we believe in, or otherwise, our faith is useless and has no meaning. This season of Lent is therefore a time for all of us to look back into our own actions in the past and reflect on them. Have we been acting in accordance with our faith? Or have our actions proved otherwise instead?

This is the season of forgiveness, and it is also the best time for us to return to the Lord and ask for His mercy. And having been given this great chance, let us not waste it and make best use of the time available. Do you know that the souls suffering in hell wish that they are able to relive their existence on earth even if just for a single second?

Why is this so? In that single second, they wish that they would have been able to repent and change their ways before the Lord, and they wished that the Lord would have forgiven them. It is too late for them now, and nothing can save them from the fiery and painful suffering of hell, a total separation from God from where there can be no escape. That will also be our fate if we decide to do nothing and ignore our Lord’s call for our repentance.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, let us all be proactive in this season of Lent. Forgive one another and do not be in conflict anymore with any of our brethren. If we are angry with anyone or hold any grudge upon someone, let us quickly seek to restore the relationship between us and forgive each other. Love all those who are around us, and love also those who have hated us and persecuted us.

May Almighty God bless us all in this holy season of Lent, that we will find our way in getting closer and closer to Himself. May He forgive us our sins, just as we have forgiven the faults of those who had hurt us and caused trouble to us. Let the grace and love of God fill us in this time onward, so that from now on, the community of the people of God will grow greater ever in grace. God be with us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 19 February 2015 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 9 : 22-25

At that time Jesus said to His disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the Law, and be put to death. Then after three days He will be raised to life.”

Jesus also said to all the people, “If you wish to be a follower of Mine, deny yourself and take up your cross each day, and follow Me! For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for My sake, you will save it. What does it profit you to gain the whole world, if you destroy or damage yourself?”

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Thursday, 19 February 2015 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the one who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the Law of the Lord, and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruits in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.

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Thursday, 19 February 2015 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Deuteronomy 30 : 15-20

See, I set before you on this day life and good, evil and death. I command you to love YHVH, your God and follow His ways. Observe His commandments, His norms and His laws, and you will live and increase, and YHVH will give you His blessing in the land you are going to possess.

But if your heart turns away and does not listen, if you are drawn away and bow before other gods to serve them, I declare on this day that you shall perish. You shall not last in the land you are going to occupy on the other side of the Jordan.

Let the heavens and the earth listen, that they may be witnesses against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life that you and your descendants may live, loving YHVH, listening to His voice, and being one with Him. In this is life for you and length of days in the land which YHVH swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.