Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4
Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him
The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.
The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.
Liturgical Colour : White
1 John 2 : 22-28
Who is the liar? The one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is an antichrist, who denies both the Father and the Son. The one who denies the Son is without the Father, and those who acknowledge the Son also have the Father.
Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you too, will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise He Himself gave us : eternal life.
I write this to you thinking of those who try to lead you astray, you received from Him the anointing, and it remains in you, so you do not need someone to teach you. His anointing teaches you all things, it speaks the truth and does not lie to you; so remain in Him, and keep what He has taught you.
And now, my children, live in Him, so that when He appears in His glory, we may be confident and not ashamed before Him when He comes.
Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Priests)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord provides and He cares. He is our loving Father, the One who protects and blesses His children. That is what we witness today in the Gospel, where Jesus feed the four thousand men, not counting women and children. He fed them out of His love for us. He knows that the people hunger for His love and for His words and teachings, but He is also aware of their biological need for food, as they devoted themselves so much to Him that they followed Him for days without providing for themselves.
Is there anyone with such love for us? Not only that He cared for us, He even gave His own life in sacrifice for us, that we may live. Indeed just like a shepherd who cares for his sheep and gave his life to them to protect them. He prepares for us a feast everlasting, that we will not want anything again, because He provides for us and feed us food that will never end.
He gave us food, but not just the loaves of bread and the fish that He had given the four thousand men, and women and children. He gave us His own flesh and blood to eat and drink, the Food that sustains us without end. We receive them and be fulfilled. He came into us and dwell within us, and we are marked as His possessions.
We have been well fed by the Lord, and well provided for. But how many of us remember to give thanks to Him? How many of us actually even spurn His offer of kindness and love? The Lord gave us so much, and yet we are often ungrateful. And especially that He had given His own life for ours, to take us out from the realm of death.
Today we celebrate the feast of St. John Damascene, a pious and holy saint, who lived in turbulent times, at the region known today as Syria, which was under the rule of the Christian Roman Empire, but fell to the hands of the pagan and evil Muslim forces, who proceeded to conquer much of the then known world. St. John of Damascus however persevered on and remained faithful to the Lord, and was still in the employ of the Muslim rulers just as he was in the governance of the land during the Christian Roman times.
St. John of Damascus was a learned man who wrote extensively and published many writings, songs, hymns, and many other riches of the faith, many of which are known to us even today. He was firm in his faith and never wavered even once. He put his full trust and faith in the Lord who has provided for him, cared for him, and loved him even unto death.
St. John of Damascus was particularly fierce in his defense of the true faith, when the Roman Emperor, the secular head of Christendom, erred in his views on the faith, adhering to the heresy of iconoclasm. This was when the belief that the Lord should not be represented in graven images spread wildly, likely to be influenced by Islamic beliefs, especially on their mistaken outlook on the Lord, in their misguided ways. They smashed images of the Lord and His saints and persecuted those who believe in the true faith.
St. John of Damascus did not make any compromises on the faith, and keep firmly in the true and orthodox faith, despite the resistance and even threats from the Emperor himself. St. John of Damascus feared not human power and opposition in his love and total dedication for the Lord who loved him and fed him with grace.
Eventually the true faith won, and many souls were saved from damnation by the efforts of St. John of Damascus and many other holy people, the disciples of the Lord who kept true faith in God, the same God who fed the four thousand men, living and burning in the heart of many. To them, the Lord is real, and He is real in Jesus, who was God incarnate into Man, the One who came to save all mankind and bring them to perfect reunion with God.
For the Lord Himself gave us His own flesh and blood, His own Body and His own Blood, for us to consume, that each of us share in His presence and in His being, that He dwells from then on within each one of us, without exception. That was the reality of our faith, the reality of Jesus, the Son of God who lowered Himself to become one of us, and yet still full of divine perfection and love, for the compassion He felt for the hungry people, those who hunger both for food, and for the spiritual food of the Word of God He provided, is truly great.
For there is no love greater than the love that Jesus our Lord has for each one of us, and this is what we have to realise, brothers and sisters in Christ. And that was what drove St. John of Damascus to fight on for the truth, because of God’s everlasting and undying love. For God so loved the world, that He gave us His only Son, that all those who believe in Him will not die, but will enjoy life eternal.
Therefore, brethren in Christ, let us today, and from now on, renew our resolve to love the Lord, and to seek Him to the best of our abilities. We should not turn away from the love and grace that God poured for us in His care and compassion towards us. Instead, let us face Him and look upon His heart, a heart filled with love for us.
And of course, brethren, do not forget to share that love with one another, that all of us may enjoy together, the love of our Lord, the perfect love He had shown through Jesus, through His feeding of the people, and ultimately, through His sacrifice on the cross. Jesus, be with us, always. Amen.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Acts of the Apostles, in the first ever creation of the office of deacons in the Church, which became the primary servants of the apostles and the Church, in providing for the community of the faithful in Christ.
It was because the task of leading worship and ministering to God’s people in spirit, and at the same time, having to provide and minister over distribution of food amongst the disciples was too tough for the apostles to do on their own, due to the rapidly growing number of the believers. Therefore, they would require helpers who would aid them in their ministry, and in this, the office of deacons was created.
Deacons then were men chosen by the apostles, and then filled with the Holy Spirit and commissioned by the apostles through the laying of hands. This laying of hands is the method through which the authority that Christ had given to the apostles is passed down to our present day priests and bishops, who received their laying of hands from their consecrators, in an unbroken chain from the apostles themselves.
Deacons today are also ordained ministers just like priest, with a prime difference that they are not allowed to celebrate the Mass and the Eucharist, as they do not have the full faculties of priesthood. Deacons are indeed helpers of priests, who were then represented by the apostles, who needed help in their ever growing ministry and service to the growing number of the people of God.
Deacons today proclaim the Word of God in the Gospel, and also assisted the priests in the Mass. They also help the priests in ministering to the people, presenting an outreach to many people whom the priests alone cannot reach effectively. They complement the priests and make the Church ministry ever greater for the praise and glory of God.
Today, we also commemorate another holy man of God raised to the holy priesthood, that is Pope St. Martin I, elected as the Successor of St. Peter as the Bishop of Rome in the seventh century. Pope St. Martin I was a holy man, and a man of strong faith and principles, standing his ground against the Emperor of the Roman Empire at the time, who was technically his superior, but espousing heretical ideologies, which the Pope refused to give assent to.
Pope St. Martin I stood his ground and remained steadfast to the faith, even if that meant going against the Emperor, who was the most powerful secular leader of Christendom at the time. He condemned the Emperor and his beliefs, which deviated from the orthodox Christian faith of the Apostolic Fathers. He suffered abduction, incarceration, and persecution for his opposition to the Emperor, and until his death in exile, he remained faithful to God without fear.
Deacon St. Stephen, the first martyr too faced death with joy, testifying his faith in Christ in front of all the Sanhedrin and the Jewish priesthood, even though in doing that he faced certain death. He chose death rather than betraying Christ and his faith in Him. This was the quality of men chosen to be deacons by the apostles, to assist them. Holy men indeed, men of principles, which was again shown in Pope St. Martin I in his steadfast faith. Men who placed their faith and fear in God ahead of the fear and praise of man.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Today, let us pray and indeed pray hard for our deacons, priests, bishops, all the ordained and chosen ministers of Christ, who worked hard for the sake of the Gospel, for God, and for our sake, that we too can be saved in Christ, and share in His love through their hard labour and their shining faith. Let us pray that their faith in God will remain firm, and that they will ever be courageous in defending their faith against attacks just like St. Stephen and Pope St. Martin I had done.
St. Stephen and the holy deacons of God, pray for us. Pope St. Martin I, pray for us. Pray that we too can follow in your footsteps and defend our faith to the best of our abilities. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 