Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Psalm 55 : 10, 11-12, 13-14
My enemies turn back when I call on You for help; now I know, that God is for me.
In God, Whose word I praise; in God I trust, without fear. What can mortals do against me?
I am bound to You by vows, o God; I shall offer my thanksgiving. For You have rescued my soul from death and my feet from stumbling; that I might walk in God’s presence, in the light of the living.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
1 Corinthians 15 : 35-37, 42-49
Some of you will ask : How will the dead be raised? With what kind of body will they come? You fools! What you sow cannot sprout unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body of the future plant, but a bare grain of wheat or any other seed.
It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in decomposition; it will be raised never more to die. It is sown in humiliation, and it will be raised for glory. It is buried in weakness, but the resurrection shall be with power. When buried, it is a natural body, but it will be raised as a spiritual body. For there shall be a spiritual body, as there is, at present, a living body. Scripture says that Adam, the first man, became a living being; but the last Adam has become a life-giving Spirit.
The Spirit does not appear first, but the natural life, and afterward comes the Spirit. The first man comes from the earth and is earthly, while the second One comes from heaven. As it was with the earthly one, so is it with the earthly people. As it is with Christ, so with the heavenly. This is why, after bearing the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the Heavenly One.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we listened to the words of the Lord through the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for us all to imitate Him in just how forgiving and merciful He is towards each and every one of us. For despite all of our sins and disobedience, our wickedness and rebelliousness, God still loves all of us very dearly ever since He created us. And as a loving Father, He will always stand by us and provide for us.
God will always be merciful and be ready to welcome us back to His presence, but all of these time, it is us who often make things difficult by being stubborn and refusing to accept God’s love and mercy because we are so proud and filled with ego, thinking that we know it better and that we could not have been wrong or mistaken. We often accuse others instead of being wrong or less perfect than we are and we blame them before we blame ourselves.
That is what we have heard especially in our Gospel passage today, in which the Lord Jesus during a dinner in the house of a Pharisee named Simon, was anointed by a woman who was known in the town for her sinful reputation. When that woman knelt before the Lord and humbled herself before everyone, pouring expensive perfume over His feet and anointed it, and wiped it dry with her tears and hair, the Pharisees who were there looked down on her and criticised both the Lord and the woman.
They looked down on the woman and condemned her as a sinner while failing to realise just how they themselves were sinners much like her. And while they thought that the woman was immoral, sinful and less worthy than them in the eyes of God, they did not realise that their own actions and attitudes towards their own faith and their responsibility as those who have been entrusted with the guardianship of the people of God were equally if not more lacking than that of the woman.
It is this attitude that is always preventing us all from finding God’s forgiveness and mercy. The stubbornness in our hearts and minds, our ego and pride close the doors of our heart to the truth, and this causes us all to continue to live in sin and refusing God’s forgiveness. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law often insisted on their superior position and piety as compared to others, when in reality they were themselves still struggling with sin.
It often takes a lot of effort to be like the woman, being looked down upon, humiliated, losing one’s pride and ego, face and status totally, and yet, receiving the fullness of God’s forgiveness, mercy and ultimately love and grace. That was what the Lord made clear before all those who heard and saw Him and the sinful woman, that the woman’s faith and dedication have saved her and her sins have been forgiven.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day therefore each and every one of us are reminded to look deep within ourselves and reflect, whether we have been like that of the sinful woman or like that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. Have we opened our hearts and minds to God or have we instead closed them tight up against Him because of our ego and pride? We need to examine our hearts and minds and think how we should go forward in life from this.
Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Januarius, a renowned bishop and martyr venerated especially in the region of Benevento in southern Italy, where he was bishop during the years of terrible persecution of Christians. He was also venerated in Naples and the relic of his blood miraculously liquefies every time his feast day is celebrated annually, that is this day. St. Januarius was remembered especially for his dedication to God and to the flock entrusted to his care.
St. Januarius remained strong in his faith and in his dedication even amidst the great persecution which eventually led to his arrest, suffering and finally martyrdom. And this is just possible if St. Januarius truly had great and genuine faith in God, a heart that is centred and focused on God, and by not letting the ego and pride in his heart and mind to be distractions that kept him from God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to follow in the footsteps of St. Januarius, and be ever better disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ from now on? Are we able to humble ourselves enough like that of the sinful woman, knowing just how sinful we are, no matter who have more or less sins, but that all of us need God to forgive us and to heal us from this terrible affliction of sin?
Let us all reflect on this and think of how we can better live our lives from now on, with renewed faith and commitment towards God, and with hearts that are contrite before God, always constantly seeking forgiveness for the multitudes of our sins and with the desire to sin no more and live righteously before God. May God be with us all, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Luke 7 : 36-50
At that time, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus to share his meal, so He went to the Pharisee’s home, and as usual reclined at the table to eat. And it happened that, a woman of this town, who was known as a sinner, heard that He was in the Pharisee’s house. She brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and stood behind Him, at His feet, weeping. She wet His feet with tears; she dried them with her hair; she kissed His feet and poured the perfume on them.
The Pharisee who had invited Jesus was watching, and thought, “If this Man were a Prophet, He would know what sort of person is touching Him; is this woman not a sinner?” Then Jesus spoke to the Pharisee and said, “Simon, I have something to ask you.” He answered, “Speak, Master.”
And Jesus said, “Two people were in debt to the same creditor. One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other fifty. As they were unable to pay him back, he graciously cancelled the debts of both. Now, which of them will love him more?”
Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, who was forgiven more.” And Jesus said, “You are right.” And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? You gave Me no water for My feet when I entered your house; but she dried them with her hair. You did not welcome Me with a kiss; but she has not stopped kissing My feet since she came in. You provided no oil for My head; but she has poured perfume on My feet. This is why, I tell you, her sins, her many sins, are forgiven, because of her great love. But the one who is forgiven little, has little love.”
Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The others reclining with Him at the table began to wonder, “Now this Man claims to forgive sins!” But Jesus again spoke to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace!”
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 110 : 7-8, 9, 10
The works of His hands are faithful and just, trustworthy are all His precepts, ordained to last forever, bearers of truth and uprightness.
He has sent His people deliverance and made with them a Covenant forever. His Holy Name is to be revered!
The fear of YHVH is the beginning of wisdom; prudent are those who live by His precepts. To Him belongs everlasting praise.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
1 Timothy 4 : 12-16
Let no one reproach you on account of your youth. Be a model to the believers, in the way you speak and act, in your love, your faith and purity of life. Devote yourself to reading, preaching and teaching, until I come.
Do not neglect the spiritual gift conferred on you with prophetic words, when the elders laid their hands upon you. Think about it, and practice it, so that your progress may be seen by all. Take heed of yourself, and attend to your teaching. Be steadfast in doing this, and you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scripture the difficulties and challenges that we all will encounter on our way as we live out our lives in faith in the Lord. It is important for us to take note that to have faith in the Lord, it is likely for us to encounter challenges, opposition, ridicule, rejection and bad treatment, even from those whom we considered to be good friends and relatives.
It will not be an easy life for us if we decide to walk the Lord’s path and follow Him to His salvation. Those who think that becoming the disciples of the Lord Jesus is easy will find that they are mistaken. This is because to become a member of God’s Church, as His disciples and children, it is necessary for us to make sacrifices and to let go of certain things that prevent us from achieving what God seeks from us to be saved
And this is the attitude of rejecting oneself, one’s own ego, needs, desires and all the temptations of the flesh, the temptation of worldly glory and fame, and the temptation to be ignorant and exclusive towards the sufferings of the world around us, our brethren who need our help. If we are able to accomplish all these, then we are indeed one step closer to be good and devoted disciples of our Lord.
God Himself mentioned through the parable of the dishonest and wicked steward, who cheated his master of his possessions, and when he was discovered and fired from his position, he used his power to safeguard himself, by using his trickery to cheat out of his master’s debts owned by several people, where he gained favour by reducing those debts and so, while he lost his job, he hoped that those whom he had helped would help him in return.
That is the way of the world, the way of the wicked, the way of those who serve themselves and are servants of money and possessions, and not servants and followers of the Lord. This is what the Lord mentioned, when He said that those who follow one master will not be able to obey another master, for either he will despise one and love the other, or vice versa.
In that way therefore, to reinforce what I have mentioned earlier on, that all those who want to follow the Lord faithfully shall suffer and face numerous and various challenges and obstacles on their way, that is their lives. There are many differences between the way and customs of this world as compared to the ways taught to us by our Lord, that is faith, righteousness, justice and love. The world on the other hand, prioritises selfish desires, money and pleasures of the flesh.
It is not necessary that the two ways should clash with each other, but what is to be expected is that it is inevitable that conflicts between the two will arise in time, as we will be made to choose between our Lord and His ways, and with the world and its ways. There will be moment when the difficult choice will be presented to us, or it might even have happened to us in the past, when we have no choice but to choose between appeasing the world and displeasing the Lord, or appeasing the Lord but displeasing the world.
Do not be surprised that one day people will scold us, rebuke us, reject us and ostracise us because we decide to do what is right for the Lord but considered wrong in the eyes and perception of the world. For example, if we have been aware of the state of the world so far, we would already know how far the culture of death is spreading throughout the world and into all echelons of society. And it is worrying indeed how our faith and the Church are under increasing pressure to give up our struggle and fight in the defence of the faith.
For instance, many people around the world, and even regretfully even counting among those who are in the Church, who believe that committing something as heinous and unthinkable as abortion and euthanasia, and many other actions that trample on the sanctity and dignity of life is not wrong or considered morally acceptable to do so. And there are many of those who pushed and lobbied for the acceptance of such sinful things, and claim that they are representing and defending our human rights to be able to do as we please with our bodies and with ourselves.
But they did not realise that such abominations are wicked and evil in the sight of not only men, but in the sight of God as well. Life is sacred and holy, no matter under what circumstances it is. Instead of honouring and protecting life in all the means they are able to contribute, we mankind instead strive to destroy them, whenever we think of them as obstacles to our own selfish desires and wants.
Indeed, the pressure is great for many of us to accept and acknowledge the legality of such vileness, but as those who truly believe in the Lord, if we really are faithful to the Lord, then all of us should persist in our resistance against such injustice and wickedness committed against innocent lives. Let us all not ignore or shy away or be afraid from standing up for our faith, as it is better for us to suffer and be rejected, and yet receive God’s approval and salvation, rather than to be accepted by the world but we lose the grace and favour of our Lord.
Let us all then reflect on the lives of the holy saints and martyrs whose feast we are celebrating today, the martyr saints of Korea. There were many of them, and all of them had had different lives and came from different periods of time spanning about two centuries, but they all share one thing in common, that is they gave their lives up in the defence of their faith, or that they were martyred and killed on the frontline of their works as the servants of the Lord and His Church.
Today there are many Christians, our brethren in faith in Korea, and the numbers are continuing to increase rapidly over the years. But if we look at the current situation, in comparison with how it was in the past and what it meant to evangelise to the people of Korea about the Lord Jesus, then we certainly will find it difficult to understand the kind of challenges and sufferings these faithful servants of the Lord and the faithful encountered there.
St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon was the first indigenous Korean who was ordained a priest of the Church, and he and many of his other Korean brethren who have believed in the Lord encountered great persecutions by the government of Korea at the time, which was intensely against the Faith and persecuted these people whom they considered as traitors to their nation.
And counted among these martyrs were also the missionaries from different countries, but many came from France as part of the missionaries to Asia. Among them were St. Laurent Imbert, the Vicar Apostolic of Korea, one of the first bishops of Korea, and St. Jacques Chastan with many other priests and missionaries who braved rejection, cultural and linguistic barriers, and even the threat and real risk of death to bring the Lord Jesus and His truth to the people who have yet to hear of Him.
And they did their works faithfully, carrying out all the missions which had been entrusted to them without worry or fear. And when many of the faithful were under the threat of death and suffering, and the government was offering an exchange, allowing the faithful to live and to go unpunished if the missionaries and the leaders gave themselves up, St. Laurent Imbert as the bishop of the faithful gave himself up willingly, saying in his now famous words, which he took from the words of Jesus, that ‘the good shepherd lay down his life for his sheep.’
He and the other missionaries could have continued to hide themselves or to run away and abandon their mission, and in the process saving their lives, but they did not do so, because they know that if they try to preserve themselves and to put themselves first before the needs of others, as the world advocated them to do, then they would not preserve their lives in the world that is to come.
Remember that Jesus Himself said that those who tried to preserve their lives on earth would lose them, and those who lost their lives for God’s sake, in the defence of their faith would gain eternal life? This is precisely what it meant, and all of us ought to heed it as well and learn our lesson from what we have talked about on this day, or else we risk falling into sin and darkness yet again.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have to realise that suffering is a part of our faith, and rather than fearing it or running away from it, why not we embrace it with full faith and full trust in the Lord, that He will be with us through it all? Running away from the problem does not resolve it, and indeed made the matter even worse. Instead, we really should face it with faith and trust in the Lord, and make a solid stand for our faith and for what we truly believe in.
May Almighty God bless us all and keep us always in His grace, and may we all learn to put our trust in Him and know that He will be with us as long as we are faithful to Him, and He will not let harm that lasts to come to us. Let us all realise that at the end of the difficulties and the sufferings we are to endure as the followers of our God are our crosses that we carry together with us, that in the end, just as our Lord is risen in glory, we too may rise with Him together into the glory of eternal life. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 9 : 30-37
At that time, after leaving the place where He drove out demons from a young boy, Jesus and His disciples made their way through Galilee; but He did not want people to know where He was because He was teaching His disciples.
And He told them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, but three days after He has been killed, He will rise.” The disciples, however, did not understand these words and they were afraid to ask Him what He meant.
They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they did not answer, because they had been arguing about who was the greatest. Then He sat down, called the Twelve and said to them, “If someone wants to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all.”
Then He took a little child, placed him in their midst, and putting His arms around him He said to them, “Whoever welcomes a child such as this in My Name, welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes not Me but the One who sent Me.”
Liturgical Colour : Green
James 3 : 16 – James 4 : 3
Wherever there is jealousy and ambition, you will also find discord and all that is evil. Instead, the wisdom that comes from above is pure and peace-loving. Persons with this wisdom show understanding and listen to advice; they are full of compassion and good works; they are impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow peace reap a harvest of justice.
What causes these fights and quarrels among you? Is it not your cravings that make war within your own selves? When you long for something you cannot have, you kill for it and when you do not get what you desire, you squabble and fight. The fact is, you do not have what you want because you do not pray for it.
You pray for something and you do not get it because you pray with the wrong motive of indulging your pleasures.
Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 53 : 3-4, 5, 6 and 8
By Your Name, o God, save me; You, the Valiant, uphold my cause. Hear my prayer, o God; listen to the words of my mouth.
Strangers are against me – the ruthless seek my life; they have no regard for God.
See, God is my Helper; the Lord upholds my life. Freely will I offer sacrifice to You and praise Your Name, o Lord, for it is good.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 