Catholic Church

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Monday, 2 December 2013 : 1st Week of Advent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we begin the first of the weekdays of Advent, and appropriately, as we prepare for the coming of Christ, we are reminded on our humanity, and our frailty, one which needs help from the Lord. We heard this from the story from the Gospel, where Jesus healed the servant of the army captain, and the humility and faith of the captain, which he showed in all sincerity before Jesus.

We are all definitely too familiar with the words that the army captain had said, “I am not worthy that You, the Lord, should enter under my roof.” That is the statement that we always recite and repeat all over and over again every time we celebrate the Mass, just after the Agnus Dei, or the Lamb of God hymn. The other statement, “But only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” is certainly also a very familiar phrase to all of us, as this phrase is also used at the same time with the previous phrase.

These phrases were the words that the captain had said to Jesus, after he asked Him to heal his ailing servant, and he turned to no other help but Jesus the Lord. To some, the initial reaction of hearing these words would be that of detesting the captain’s arrogance. Some may even say, ‘How dare this captain say these things to the Lord when He had agreed to come and heal the ailing servant of the captain?’

This is our natural response, but we have to look beyond the surface into the true meaning of those words the captain had uttered. The captain in fact had so much faith in the Lord Jesus, that he knew even if Jesus did not come physically into his home, He, as the Lord of all and Almighty God has the power to heal his servant at that moment even there, where the two of them were far away from the captain’s home. Such was the faith of the captain, that he believed completely in Jesus without question.

But that is not all that there is in the faith and devotion of the captain. The captain’s response to the Lord also showed the quality and the truth about his faith and devotion. Not only that he is devoted to the Lord and placed his full trust in Jesus, but that he showed great humility and understanding of his own unworthiness as he sought the Lord for help with his servant.

All of us are sinners, brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all sinners ever since our ancestors first disobey the instructions and the will of the Lord, but we are not lost. Our Father and Lord loves us still, and He proved that to us by sending Jesus His own Son to us. Yet, many of us still deny our sinfulness and turn our back to the salvation which Christ has offered us freely.

That is how Christ praised the faith of the army captain. He may be an army captain, and to many people of his time, he may not be seen as someone who will do good deeds or have faith in God. Worse still, the army captain, as it was during the dominion of the Roman Empire, may well be a Roman centurion. And the people of Israel looked at them with disdain, treating them as pagans and unworthy of salvation.

Yet, you knew what happened. Jesus praised the faith of the army captain, not just because of his total dedication, but also because of his humility, a great humility indeed, to realise his sinfulness and unworthiness, to the point of saying it publicly that he was not worthy to have the Lord at his home. And compare this to the faith of the Pharisees, as you all notice that they are the ones considered holy and pious by the people. Yet, they were arrogant and proud, disdaining the sinful while not realising that they themselves were sinful too.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, now we all know the meaning of the words we always say at the Mass. From now on, every time we say those words the captain had once said, let us remember the faith of the captain, and also try to emulate the faith he had. We have to be aware of our own sins and unworthiness, while at the same time, trying our best to dedicate ourselves to the Lord without being taken in by the temptations of the evil one.

May the Lord who rewarded those faithful to Him, also reward us in the same way, and that we may realise the depth and gravity of our sinfulness, and therefore strive to draw ever closer to the Lord our God, seeking His generous mercy and love, that we may strive to be more like Him, and aspire to reach the heavenly glory that He had promised us. Amen.

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Monday, 2 December 2013 : 1st Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 8 : 5-11

When Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached Him to ask His help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralysed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.”

When Jesus heard this He was astonished, and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.”

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Monday, 2 December 2013 : 1st Week of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 121 : 1-2, 3-4a, 4b-5, 6-7, 8-9

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the House of the Lord!” And now we have set foot within your gates, o Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, just like a city, where everything falls into place! There the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, the assembly of Israel.

To give thanks to the Lord’s Name. There stand the courts of justice, the offices of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : “May those who love you prosper! May peace be within your walls and security within your citadels!”

For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be with you!” For the sake of the house of the Lord, I will pray for your good.

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Monday, 2 December 2013 : 1st Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 4 : 2-6

On that day the Shoot of YHVH will be beautiful and glorious; and the Fruit of the earth will be honour and splendour for the survivors of Israel. Those who are left in Zion and remain in Jerusalem will be called holy all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem, when YHVH washes away the filth of the women of Zion and purges Jerusalem of the bloodstains in its midst with the blast of searing judgment, the blast of fire.

Then will YHVH create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over its assemblies a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of fire by night. For the Glory of the Lord will be a canopy and a pavilion for all, a shade from the scorching heat by day, a refuge from the storm and rain.

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Sunday, 1 December 2013 : First Sunday of Advent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is coming soon, and He made it clear again to us today, as we hear the words of the Gospel. Christ will come again in His glorious Second Coming, and He will judge all creations, all mankind. There will be a scourging and separation of the righteous from the wicked, and the faithful from the apostates.

We must be ready for that time, because the Lord will come like a vengeful conqueror, to harvest the good wheat that He had planted and get rid of the weeds of darkness. He will not show mercy to those which have repeatedly showed rebelliousness and challenged His will at all times and did not change. He will gather those He regards as His own and discard those who are against Him or those who are not worthy.

We are like the people at the time of Noah, if you realised it. What happened during the time of Noah? You all know who Noah was. He was the one saved by the Lord by building an ark as the Lord instructed him to, in order to avoid the great Flood which covered the entire earth and destroyed all lives except all those which had been saved through the ark.

Why did the Lord do all this? Did He not love all of His children with all of His loving heart? Is He not love personified Himself? Yes, these are all true, and God is indeed Love that He is. However, mankind at the time of Noah had grown proud of themselves, and not just proud and filled with ego, but they also had grown to be very wicked. They disregarded all the laws of the Lord and lead a life entirely in abandon of the Lord.

The Lord grew angry at them and tried to bring them back to righteousness, and yet they did not listen, they turned deaf ears to His calling. And in that wicked world before the Flood, only Noah and his family remained righteous and obedient to the Lord. That was why the Lord called him to save him, by commissioning him to build a massive ark, to safeguard the righteous from the coming catastrophe and punishment that would befall the wicked ones.

The people of Noah’s time mocked him as he built the ark, and did not repent until it was too late. After the door of the ark had been closed, there was no hope left for them. They were left behind to perish, and perish they did. Noah was saved, as a righteous one, while the wicked were destroyed. And indeed, the same can be drawn as a parallel on the present day situation.

For our world today is also growing increasingly wicked. Wickedness does not necessarily mean doing things clearly defined as evil, such as murder, stealing, or adultery. Wickedness can also come about in even things such as greed and desire. Yes, for our world today increasingly distance itself away from the Lord and from the ways of the Lord. We are increasingly more and more engulfed in the corruption of evil and sin.

And the coming of the Lord is like the Flood, which came unexpected to those who ignore the warnings and heedings of the Lord. That is because many of us, like the people of Noah’s time, are hard-hearted and hardened our hearts towards the Lord and His love. We grew proud and arrogant, trusting in our power and achievements, and blasphemed more and more against the Lord our God. We had forgotten His love and the promise He has made for us.

The Lord comes at a time when we are most unprepared, when we are most deceived by the lies of the evil one through the world. He will come and judge us, for our actions and deeds, whether we are worthy of Him or not. And He will judge us not only based on our actions and deeds, be it good or bad, but also our failures, the failures to do things in accordance with His will and His ways.

Will we then choose to be like Noah? Or to be like those others who mocked and ridiculed Noah as he built that ark? We have a choice, brethren, and we have indeed been given the instruction on how to built our own ark of salvation, and the materials to do so. We have been well equipped by the Lord, with all these materials, that is none other than love, hope, and faith, and alas, many of us remain ignorant of our gifts and did not use them.

Hence, brethren, if we have not begun to work on towards our salvation in God, do not wait, and begin now. For the Lord does not wait on us to execute His will. He may come again any time, even in the next year, next month, tomorrow, or even in the next hour and even now! If He comes and we are caught wanting and unworthy, that is the end for all of us.

Do not fear, brethren, if we have done lots of bad and evil things in our lives. Our Lord hates sin and evil, but He is also rich in mercy and love. If we are truly sincere in our dedication to Him, to change our sinful ways and turn over a new page in our respective lives, the Lord will forgive us, and we will be well on our way towards salvation. Remember that many of the greatest and holiest saints were themselves once great sinners. What differentiated them from the condemned ones is that they change and were committed to changing their lives, to be in accordance with the will of God.

May the Lord our God, show us His everlasting mercy and love, giving us a new lease of life, one where we will once again walk in His ways, and be righteous and faithful. Amen.

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Sunday, 1 December 2013 : First Sunday of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 24 : 37-44

At the coming of the Son of Man, it will be just as it was in the time of Noah. In those days before the Flood, people were eating and drinking, and marrying, until that day when Noah went into the Ark. Yet they did not know what would happen, until the flood came and swept them away.

So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man : of two men in the field, one will be taken and the other left; of two women, grinding wheat together at the mill, one will be taken and the other left.

Stay awake then, for you do not know on what day your Lord will come. Obviously, if the owner of the house knew at what time the thief was coming, he would certainly stay up and not allow his house to be broken into. So be alert, for the Son of Man will come at the hour you least expect.

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Sunday, 1 December 2013 : First Sunday of Advent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Romans 13 : 11-14a

You know what hour it is. This is the time to awake, for our salvation is now nearer than when we first believed; the night is almost over and day is at hand. Let us discard, therefore, everything that belongs to darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

As we live in the full light of day, let us behave with decency; no banquets with drunkenness, no promiscuity or licentiousness, no fighting or jealousy. Put on, rather, the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Sunday, 1 December 2013 : First Sunday of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 121 : 1-2, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” And now we have set foot within your gates, o Jerusalem!

There the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, the assembly of Israel, to give thanks to the Lord’s Name. There stands the courts of justice, the offices of the house of David.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem : “May those who love you prosper! May peace be within your walls and security within your citadels!”

For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be with you!” For the sake of the house of our Lord, I will pray for your good.

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Sunday, 1 December 2013 : First Sunday of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 2 : 1-5

The vision of Isaiah, son of Amoz, concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In the last days, the mountain of YHVH’s House shall be set over the highest mountains and shall tower over the hills. All the nations shall stream to it, saying, “Come, let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and we may walk in His paths. For the Teaching comes from Zion, and from Jerusalem the word of YHVH.”

“He will rule over the nations and settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not raise sword against nation; they will train for war no more. O nation of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!”

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Saturday, 30 November 2013 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Brothers and sisters in Christ! Today we celebrate the great feast of one of the Apostles, that is St. Andrew, the brother of St. Peter, the leader of the Apostles and Vicar of Christ. St. Andrew is also known as St. Andrew the first-called, because he was known to be the first Apostle to be called out of the Twelve Jesus had chosen. It was St. Andrew who brought his brother Simon, who is St. Peter, to the Lord and introduced the Lord to him.

St. Andrew is the patron saint of the city and Archdiocese of Constantinople, or New Rome. It is known as such because the Emperor Constantine, who ended the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, established a new capital in the eastern part of the Empire, in the city he built and named after his own name, which is today known as Istanbul, after its fall to the evil and pagan forces of the Muslim Ottoman Empire.

Not much is known of the actions of St. Andrew in the New Testament, but the Church tradition showed that he established many Christian communities in today’s Greece, particularly in the area now known as Thrace, especially the Christian community of Byzantium, later known as Constantinople when the Emperor established his new city and capital there.

St. Andrew laboured hard for the sake of the Gospel and preached to the unbelievers in the area, earning many converts for the sake of the Lord. Despite difficulties and oppositions and rejections, he continued his ministry with faith, and the faithful communities under his care flourished. And as many of the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord, he followed the Lord into death.

St. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross, which from then on became known as the St. Andrew’s cross. His dedication and faith to the Lord did not make him hesitate to sacrifice even his own life for the sake of the Lord, shedding his blood and giving up his own life for the growth and spread of the Gospel, and for the salvation of more souls to God.

Today we rejoice with our brethren of the Eastern Orthodox Church, headed by the venerable Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the successor of St. Andrew the Apostle, who had first founded the see of that city. That is why today, we celebrate this great feast of St. Andrew, the patron of the see of our brethren in Constantinople, our brethren in faith, and One as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

It is lamentable and sad indeed, that due to petty political and personal ambitions of the corrupt Patriarch of Constantinople at that time, Michael Cerularius, that this very sad and preventable tragic division of the faithful had to occur, in what is known as the Great Schism of 1054, almost a thousand years ago. It is in the best interest of all the faithful that we all put aside our differences and throw far away the lies, rumours, prejudices, and misconceptions which keeps up the enmity and divisions in our One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

We are called today, as St. Paul has shown in the first reading, that we ought to preach the Good News to many people of many nations, and we have to reach out to them, and show them the love of God so that they will be converted to the cause of the Lord, just as St. Andrew himself had done. But we certainly cannot do this, if we ourselves are divided against ourselves.

Yes, first we must show our unity, the unity of the Church as one, the One and only Church of God, which Christ had established Himself on Peter, His Apostle, whom the Lord Jesus had appointed as the first Vicar of His will on this world. Sadly, many people, driven by ambition and human greed would like to see and keep the Church divided as it is, not for the glory of God, but for their own glory, for their own ego.

Following the footsteps of St. Andrew and the other Apostles, that of St. Peter, his brother, let us today, as we celebrate the feast of this great saint, as one Church, remember the mission that the Lord has given to us through His disciples, that we have to go out, and proclaim the words of the Lord, the Good News of Salvation, the salvation in Jesus Christ. And that before all these can be completely done, we must resolve to seek unity among ourselves, to avoid divisions and infighting among ourselves.

We are called to become the fishers of men, as we will catch mankind by thousands, tens of thousands, millions and more, bringing them closer to the Lord. That is why the Lord said to His disciples that they will become fishers of men. We too therefore have been called to be the same as they were, to be the witnesses of the Lord in this world. But fishermen cannot catch the fish if they first fight among themselves, instead of catching the fish and waste much energy, effort, and time in the process, and many fish will be lost.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today on the feast of St. Andrew, we rejoice and celebrate together with our brethren in the Church of Constantinople, that is the Eastern Orthodox Christians. We resolve that we will aim and seek for unity between us, that we will be able to soon once again be perfectly reunited in One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, the one and only Church that our Lord had built in this world, which He entrusted to Peter and his successors to lead and to be His Vicar in this world.

May the Lord continue to bless us and our loving Church, and bring it closer ever to unity, and with the help of the intercession of St. Andrew, may we be one again, as our Lord is One. Amen.