Ash Wednesday

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Thursday, 15 February 2024 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all reminded again by the readings of the Scriptures that we should always follow the commandments and the Law of God in all things, and we should not allow the many distractions and temptations present all around us from leading us astray and down the path of disobedience and rebellion against God. As we continue to progress through this current Season of Lent that began yesterday on Ash Wednesday, we are called and reminded many times on the need for each and every one of us to resist the temptations of the world and all the allures of worldly comfort, pleasure and ambitions, and all the other things which may prevent us from coming ever closer to God and His grace.

In our first reading today, we are all reminded from the passage of the Book of Deuteronomy of the things which God had presented to all of His people through His Law and commandments, and all the words and the teachings which He Himself had made clear through His servant Moses, that He has expected all of His followers and people to do, that they should always be holy just as He is holy, and to be righteous and just in all things, in how they interact with one another, in doing His works and commandments. God told His people clearly that if they were to follow and obey His Law and commandments, and are righteous, good and worthy in their actions and way of life, they will be blessed and empowered, strengthened and they would receive true joy and happiness, while if they chose what was evil and wicked instead, then they would be condemned and destroyed in the end.

At that time, the Israelites often disobeyed the Lord and refused to truly obey the Lord wholeheartedly, as they were easily swayed and tempted by all sorts of worldly glory and temptations, which led them to turn away from the path which God has shown them through Moses, Aaron and the elders that God had chosen and appointed to guide them and help them in their path. The Lord has patiently guided them, cared for them and remained patient with them despite all the stubborn attitudes and disobedience which they had constantly shown, in disobeying His Law and commandments, and in worshipping pagan and false gods and idols throughout their journey. That was why, the Lord made it clear before all of them what He expected of them, and thus, all of us as well, in what we all have to do as His disciples and followers.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the moment when the Lord told His disciples clearly what would happen to Him, and what is expected from all of them as His disciples and followers. The Lord Jesus told His disciples clearly that they should be prepared to face hardships, trials and challenges in life, because the Lord Himself has faced the same kind of rejection and opposition, and He Himself would be handed over to His enemies, who would persecute and make Him to suffer a most humiliating and painful death, as a premonition to His Crucifixion, when He would suffer for the whole world, for each and every one of us, to suffer and die for our sake that by His death, and then by His glorious Resurrection, He might bring all of us into the certainty of eternal life and true happiness with Him.

In that same passage, the Lord also told His disciples that they all cannot be His true disciples and followers unless they also pick up their crosses and follow Him. This is a reference to the commitment and faith required of all those who have committed themselves to the path which the Lord has shown them, to be true and genuine disciples and followers of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, that in all of our words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions, we have to be always ready to stand up for our faith and to endure hardships and challenges associated with this Christian faith of ours, for our beliefs and our dedication to God in all things, against all the temptations and pressures from the world.

This is a reminder for all of us that being Christians may not be as easy and smooth as what we may think it may be, as if we have not truly lived our lives in the manner that is truly faithful and true to our Christian faith, then indeed, our lives in this world may have been that much easier and better. However, this is not what we are all expected to do, as being Christians means that often we may be required to make sacrifices of time and materials, or any other means, and to put the efforts in order to live our lives faithfully as followers and disciples of Christ. But this does not mean that we are then suffering it all alone, or enduring all these trials by ourselves, for the Lord is going through them all with us.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, when we pick up our crosses in life, we are all sharing it with Christ, and the Cross which He Himself has picked up and endured as a way to give us all the assurance of salvation, by bearing upon Himself all the consequences and punishments due for our sins, and being our Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God slaughtered and sacrificed on the Altar of the Cross at Calvary, He offered for us on our behalf a perfect and most worthy offering for the atonement of our sins, that through Him all of us may be forgiven and reconciled wholly with the Lord, our most loving God and Father. Through Christ, all of us have received this great love and grace of God, and we really should realise just how blessed and fortunate we all are because of that.

Let us all therefore strive from now on to live our lives worthily of the Lord from now on, doing our very best so that our every actions and words, our deeds and interactions with one another may be truly filled with God’s grace and righteousness. Let us all make good use of this penitential time and season of Lent to prepare ourselves well, wholeheartedly and sincerely, so that we may continue to deepen our relationship with God, and continue to strive to reject the temptations of Satan, all his false promises and dealings, and let us all be good role models and examples for others, helping each other in our journey of faith, assisting one another in picking up and carrying our crosses in life, and to endure them all with the guidance and help from the Lord, Whose love and compassion for us have saved us all from certain damnation and destruction.

May all of us continue to grow ever deeper in our conviction and desire to live our lives most worthily as Christians from now on, and may God bless us all in everything that we say and do, in all of our dealings and interactions each day, and bless our Lenten observances and practices in all occasions. Amen.

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Thursday, 15 February 2024 : 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, 15 February 2024 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

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

Blessed is the man 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 YHVH and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit 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 YHVH knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.

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Thursday, 15 February 2024 : 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 life for you and length of days in the land which YHVH swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

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Wednesday, 14 February 2024 : Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today marks the beginning of the Season of Lent, also known as Quadragesima, a time of preparation and reflection as we prepare ourselves well for the upcoming celebrations of Holy Week and Easter, the most important moments in our whole entire liturgical year. On this day, the day of Ash Wednesday, we have this imposition of blessed ashes on all the people of God as a clear and symbolic representation of our desire to be forgiven from our sins, and as a sign of our repentance and regret from all the things that we have disobeyed the Lord for, and which therefore brought us into the path of sin and evil, out of which we are seeking the Lord for His help and grace, so that, He may free us from the shackles of our sins and evils.

In our first reading today, we heard the reading from the Book of the prophet Joel in which we are all called to repent and turn away from our many sins and wickedness, all because of the great love and compassion, His mercy and forgiveness that He was willing to offer us all generously. The prophet Joel came to the people of God, to those who have been afflicted by hardships, trials, sufferings and difficulties because of their disobedience and lack of faith in God. They have committed all sorts of wickedness and evils, as they allowed themselves to be tempted by the pleasures of the world, its glory and fame, and all the other distractions that have pulled them away from the path of God’s righteousness and grace. That was why they fell further and further into sin and darkness.

Yet, the Lord never gave up on His beloved people, as He continued to send prophets and messengers, one after another, to call upon those people to return to Him, to seek His forgiveness and mercy, and to remind them all that He has always loved them and has always been willing to embrace them all once again with His love, and to bless them and give them all His grace once again, and that He is a merciful God, if only that each and every one of them would return to Him with contrite and repentant hearts and minds. Through the repentance and genuine regret that the people felt for their sins, they would receive the fullness of God’s love, kindness, compassion and forgiveness. Thus, the prophet Joel called on all the people of God to return to Him once again with love and faith.

In our second reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians, in which the Apostle St. Paul reminded the faithful there of the fact and truth that the Lord their God has saved their people and brought them all to His presence once again, through none other than His own Beloved Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Whom He has sent into this world in order to bring unto us the perfect manifestation of His love and salvation. This brings once again our attention into the great love and kindness which God has always had for us, and for which we really should be thankful for, as without this love and generosity, we would have been condemned into our downfall and destruction, because of our many sins which should have led us into the utter darkness.

God does not intend for that to happen to us, and He has always shown that His mercy and love are greater than the power of sin, and all the darkness that have surrounded us. He has sent us His Son so that through Him all of us may have and receive the guarantee of eternal life and true joy, by His loving sacrifice on the Cross, through which He has redeemed us all from the power and dominion of sin and death. Each and every one of us who have been defiled by the corruption of sin have been called to embrace God’s love and kindness found in His beloved Son, manifested perfectly to us, and shown to us, in His most glorious and wonderful act of love, bearing our many sins, all the consequences and punishments for them, on His Cross, so that He, as our Paschal Lamb, slain and sacrificed on the Altar of the Cross, may become the perfect and most worthy offering for the atonement of all of our many sins.

This is the truth which St. Paul, the other Apostles, the disciples and missionaries of the Lord had preached and proclaimed about. They have spoken about everything that God has done for our sake through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, and therefore, each and every one of us, as God’s beloved people, may be holy and filled with His grace once again, rejecting firmly the path of sin and evil, renouncing and resisting all the temptations and the false promises of Satan, and all the things which had led to the downfall of so many among our predecessors, and which we have been reminded about so that we ourselves will not fall into the same trap of sin, that we may find our way to righteousness and grace through our repentance and sincere desire to reject firmly the path of sin and evil.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the Lord’s discourse to His disciples and the people listening to Him regarding the matter of the practice of fasting, which is practiced by the Israelites as mentioned by the prophet Joel in our first reading today, and also by their descendants, the Jewish people. The Lord was teaching them about the right way how each and every one of them ought to be fasting, that is by doing so not because they wanted to be seen or witnessed, praised or honoured by others in doing that. In essence, the Lord reminded them and hence all of us as well, that our practice of fasting and abstinence which we always do today on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, abstinence itself which we practice on Fridays throughout the year, and other Lenten practices, like almsgiving and other devotions, should always be centred on God.

This is because if we fast or carry out our Lenten practices in order to be seen or be praised by others, just as how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law liked to do it during the time of the Lord’s ministry, then we are not really being sincere in our intention and purpose of doing such actions. We are instead feeding our ego and pride, desire and greed, among other things, and we fall short of doing our obligations and what we are expected to do as God’s followers and disciples. We ought to fast and abstain because we want to learn to restrain our desires and the demands of our bodies from worldly satisfactions and all the pleasures of the flesh, and not because we want to be praised and honoured, which is in fact contrary to the spirit of fasting and abstinence in the first place.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we enter into this Season of Lent today, being marked with the blessed ashes as a sign of our repentance, let us more importantly mark our hearts with the genuine sign of repentance and with the strong desire to seek God’s love and mercy, His compassion and forgiveness. The ashes should not be merely just an external symbol or formality, and it should not be the source of pride and ego, thinking that we are better or more righteous than others. Rather, it should remind us all of our sinfulness, and our weakness in our faith life, so that we may come to seek the Lord, to seek His loving compassion and mercy, that He may lead us all out of the darkness and into His light once again.

Let our fasting and abstinence today mark the beginning of a renewed desire to come closer to the loving and merciful Presence of God, and accompany them with the genuine change and conversion of hearts and minds, heeding the call which the Lord had made to each and every one of us, and be reminded of the great and most generous love, mercy and compassion that He has always had for us and which He has shown us from the very beginning of time. Let us not take for granted everything that He has always patiently and generously provided for us, and let us open wide the doors of our hearts and minds to welcome Him once again, this blessed time and season of Lent, so that we may prepare ourselves for the upcoming celebrations of Holy Week and Easter.

Let our whole lives, our whole existence, way of life, actions, words and deeds from now on be truly worthy of the Lord, and let God be our guide and strength, the source of our courage and inspiration, our power and our hope. Let us all live through this season of Lent, spending each and every moments as always, filled with the strong desire to purify ourselves from the corruptions of sin, evil, of all of our ego, pride, desire and greed, of all the things which have kept us away from the Lord and His path, and use this time and opportunity given to us so that we may continue to do our part in walking down this path that the Lord has guided us through, and be better Christians in all things. May the Lord continue to bless us and empower us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always, and may He bless our Lenten journey to come, that we will make best use of it. Amen.

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Wednesday, 14 February 2024 : Ash Wednesday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 6 : 1-6, 16-18

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Be careful not to make a show of your righteousness before people. If you do so, you do not gain anything from your Father in heaven. When you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted before you, as do those who want to be seen in the synagogues and in the streets, in order to be praised by the people. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.”

“If you give something to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift remains really secret. Your Father, Who sees what is kept secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not be like those who want to be seen. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.”

“When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father Who is with you in secret; and your Father Who sees what is kept secret will reward you. When you fast, do not put on a miserable face as do the hypocrites. They put on a gloomy face, so that people can see they are fasting. I tell you this : they have already been paid in full.”

“When you fast, wash your face and make yourself look cheerful, because you are not fasting for appearances or for people, but for your Father Who sees beyond appearances. And your Father, Who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.”

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Wednesday, 14 February 2024 : Ash Wednesday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

2 Corinthians 5 : 20 – 2 Corinthians 6 : 2

So we present ourselves as ambassadors in the Name of Christ, as if God Himself makes an appeal to you through us. Let God reconcile you; this we ask you in the Name of Christ. He had no sin, but God made Him bear our sin, so that in Him we might share the holiness of God.

Being God’s helpers we beg you : let it not be in vain that you received this grace of God. Scripture says : At the favourable time I listened to you, on the day of salvation I helped you. This is the favourable time, this is the day of salvation.

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Wednesday, 14 February 2024 : Ash Wednesday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 5-6a, 12-13, 14 and 17

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; what is evil in Your sight I have done.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me again the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. O Lord, open my lips, and I will declare Your praise.

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Wednesday, 14 February 2024 : Ash Wednesday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Joel 2 : 12-18

YHVH says, “Yet even now, return to Me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning. Rend your heart, not your garment. Return to YHVH, your God – gracious and compassionate.” YHVH is slow to anger, full of kindness, and He repents of having punished.

Who knows? Probably He will relent once more and spare some part of the harvest from which we may bring sacred offerings to YHVH, your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion, proclaim a sacred fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the people, sanctify the community, bring together the elders, even the children and infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his bed, and the bride her room.

Between the vestibule and the altar, let the priests, YHVH’s ministers, weep and say : Spare Your people, YHVH? Do not humble them or make them an object of scorn among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples : Where is their God?

YHVH has become jealous for His land; He has had pity on His people.

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Saturday, 25 February 2023 : Saturday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through the season of Lent, each and every one of us are reminded through the Scripture passages today of the need for all of us to heed the Lord’s call for us to return to Him, abandoning our sinful actions and stubborn attitudes, listening to Him calling us to follow Him and to return once again to His loving embrace. Each and every one of us as Christians have been given the privilege of receiving the truth of God and we have witnessed this same truth being delivered and passed down to us through the Church and by the Wisdom given to us through the Holy Spirit. That is why all the more we should be more obedient to the Lord and dedicate ourselves and our time more to Him, and being more faithful to Him. But the reality is that, many among us Christians are lukewarm in our faith.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah,we heard the prophet speaking to the people of God about how if they were to stop committing sins and wickedness in their lives, distancing themselves from the many actions they had done in the past which were unworthy of their status as God’s chosen people. Historically and contextually, the prophet Isaiah made this comment and reminder to the people of God during a time when the people had been facing a lot of hardships and trials, difficulties, challenges and troubles. Back then, the remnants of the people of God only remained in Judah, the southern part of the once great and glorious kingdom of David and Solomon, as the northern kingdom that had separated and then committed grievous sins against the Lord had finally been destroyed, and most of its people were brought away by their Assyrian conquerors to distant lands in exile.

Then, the same forces of the Assyrians came up against Judah and Jerusalem itself, and almost conquered the city and the kingdom, bringing the same fate to all of the people of God there if not for God’s most timely and loving intervention. God crushed the forces of the Assyrians upon the prayers of the faithful king of Judah, King Hezekiah and the people of Judah, and through the intercession of the prophet Isaiah himself. Through all these experiences and examples, the Lord wanted all of His people to know that if they chose to remain in their state of sin and rebellion against Him, they would suffer the same fate as those who had rebelled and sinned against God. The Lord reminded all of them that on the other hand, if they were to repent from their sins and turn back to Him, they would receive the grace and blessings, the wonderful things that their faithful predecessors had once received.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord calling one particular tax collector named Levi, whom He called to follow Him, to become one of His disciples. This Levi as we all should know, would become St. Matthew, one of the Twelve Apostles and the Four Evangelists. Back then, the tax collectors were greatly hated and reviled by most of the society, and especially by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who deemed them as irredeemable sinners, wicked and greedy, and even as traitors to the Jewish nation, as their roles in collecting taxes and money for the Romans and the other rulers of the land, made them complicit in the minds of the people in betraying their own people to these rulers and conquerers. They were therefore often ostracised and rejected, hated and despised by much of the community of the people of God.

It was exactly to these people that the Lord went to minister, reaching out to them and calling on them to follow Him, just as He had done with Levi. While those Pharisees and teachers of the Law shunned and reviled the tax collectors and others whom they deemed as wicked sinners and those unworthy of God, God came straight at those people and reached out to them, showing them His love and kindness, the desire to be reconciled and reunited with them. He showed that He loved us all equally, and everyone had the same chance to be reconciled with the Lord and be saved, and in fact, as the Lord Himself said, it was those who were seemingly the furthest away from His salvation who needed the most help. That was why the Lord went straight at them and called them to come back to Him, and the response was truly amazing, as those tax collectors and others came to the Lord, and for St. Matthew, he even dedicated himself wholeheartedly to Him.

On the contrary, many among those Pharisees and teachers of the Law refused to believe in the Lord, all because they were full of pride and ego, thinking that they were superior and better than all others, and that they could not have been wrong in their way and judgments, and as such, they viewed the Lord’s actions negatively, in line with their prejudices and biases that they maintained, and refused to let go. They hardened their hearts and minds against the Lord and His teachings, His truth and Wisdom and hence remained in the state of sin and darkness, being dragged down by their own pride and wicked desires and greed for power, fame and glory. All these are reminders for each one of us that we should not let ourselves be swayed by those temptations, and we should instead follow the example of Levi, in rejecting the wickedness of sin and return to the Lord with faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we continue to progress through this season of Lent, let us all therefore reflect and discern carefully on our lives so that we may learn to walk down the right path in life, and journey well in faith. May all of us continue to live our lives with renewed zeal and dedication to God, keeping in mind what we do and say, so that we do not end up walking down the path of sin and wickedness. Let us remind ourselves that sin and disobedience against God will lead us down the path of ruin, while obeying God and persevering in faith in Him will lead us to true justification and happiness with God. Let us choose the right path and commit ourselves to follow the Lord, becoming good and worthy examples of our faith for others to follow, so that more and more may be inspired to follow the Lord through us, just as St. Matthew and many other innumerable saints turned sinners had done to inspire us.

Let us all remember that the Church is truly a hospital for sinners, and that even the worst of sinners who turn to the Lord and repent sincerely from their sins will be forgiven, and can become the greatest of the saints. Let us all look forward to a life truly worthy of the Lord and journey well through this holy and blessed season of Lent. May God be with us always and may He empower and strengthen us so that we may always be true to Him, and be strong in facing and enduring the many challenges of this world. Amen.