Catholic homilies

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Friday, 11 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the miraculous apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God in Lourdes, a small secluded area in the southern part of France. Mary in her apparition as Our Lady of Lourdes appeared to the young girl named Bernadette in a grotto where today the great Basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes now stands, and that young girl eventually became known as St. Bernadette Soubirous.

At that time, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the young girl Bernadette as a lady dressed in white with beads of rosary on her, girdled in blue and with flowers by her. That supernatural vision startled the young St. Bernadette at first, and scared her, but Our Lady reassured her and asked her to pray the rosary together. She made her appearance a few more times even as St. Bernadette’s parents and others were skeptical of what had happened. Some of them even thought that she had hallucinated, seen an evil spirit or simply was lying to cover up some misdeeds.

But St. Bernadette kept on visiting the grotto where she met the apparition of Our Lady despite the opposition from her parents and others, and Our Lady revealed to St. Bernadette a hidden spring of water which would soon became truly famous as the source of many miraculous healings, of which some of them were certified as truly miraculous in nature. Initially this was received with much skepticism both from the Church and from the secular authorities, which resulted in attempts to prevent further spread of the devotion.

It was then that Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette, revealing to her who she truly was, the Blessed Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception. This revelation brought a shock to a local priest who immediately believed in what St. Bernadette told him about the Marian apparition. That is because the illiterate St. Bernadette living in the secluded village that is where Lourdes was located could not have known about the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception which at that time was just recently declared by the Pope in Rome, and at that time, it would have taken a long time for the message to be propagated throughout the Christendom.

It was therefore the beginning of the growth in the popularity and the attraction of the Shrine at Lourdes, which grew to became an international phenomenon drawing millions annually as many people who are sick sought to seek healing and recovery through the miraculous occasions and reassurances from the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Lourdes. The Church also designated today, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes as the World Day of the Sick as a reminder that there are many people who are suffering from physical and even mental maladies and sickness all around the world.

Today, as we celebrate this Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes let us all therefore remind ourselves to put our trust in the Lord, He Who has sent to us His blessed Mother, Our Lady of Lourdes to be our intercessor and to help guide us to His loving embrace. The miraculous healings were not due to superstitions and the quality of the waters of the grotto of Lourdes, but rather, it was the faith that the sick had in the Lord which brought them to healing and the miraculous things that happened there, just as at the time of the Lord, He healed the sick and how if we remember a woman with haemorrhage problem was healed by her faith in Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are also reminded that we are all people who are sick and are in need of God’s help. I know many of us may wonder what we are sick from since we are in such good health. We may indeed be perfectly healthy in the body but we are all suffering from the sickness due to our sins. Yes, all of us are sinners and sin is the sickness that is actually eating us from within, corrupting us and affecting us adversely by its corrupting nature. Through sin we have been made sick in our spirit and soul, and the only healing we can get is through God and His loving mercy.

Therefore today all of us are reminded of how sinful we are and regardless how big or small, or how significant those sins may be, all of us are in need of healing from God, as unlike any other physical ailments and maladies, God alone can heal us from our sins. It is through Him alone that we can be freed from the clutches and tyranny of sin and evil. The Lord offered us His healing and forgiveness freely, and He gave us all His mother to care for us and to help guide us in our journey towards Him, so that by the intercession and guidance of Our Lady of Lourdes we may come to be fully healed body and soul.

Let us therefore ask Our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Lourdes to intercede for us sinners, who are sickened by sin, and who are suffering the consequences of our infidelity and weakness. Let us ask her to pray for us and guide us in our path to seek the healing from the hands of her Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. May God also look kindly upon us and show us His mercy, love and compassion, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 10 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Scholastica, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture, we are all reminded to be vigilant in our lives and to keep strongly to the faith that we have in the Lord, entrusting ourselves to Him and believing in His providence. We have to be careful and do not easily allow sin to creep into our hearts and minds, corrupting us and our conscience and thoughts, our actions and efforts. In order to do so, we must have strong faith in the Lord.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Kings of the account of the unfortunate downfall of King Solomon of Israel who allowed his many wives to distract and mislead him into sinful ways, as they established pagan worship and placed idols in many parts of the kingdom, which led the people into the worship of those false idols and they ended up falling deeper and deeper into sin as their descendants later did.

King Solomon did not remain faithful to God unlike his father David, who remained faithful throughout his life to the very end. Solomon was very wise and rich, powerful and mighty, and while we do not know exactly what led him to his choice of actions, but it might have to do with him trying to secure his power, reign and rule through worldly means, just as he married many wives from different states and neighbouring countries likely with the aim to gain diplomatic recognition and building relationships with those countries, gaining trade agreements and making arrangements to enrich themselves more.

However, the negative impact of such an arrangement and effort is that likely that would have required accommodation and changes in religious policy, including the toleration and even promotion of the pagan faith and worship as done by King Solomon and his wives. And that led him and the kingdom down the slippery slope towards sin. The Lord certainly did send reminders to Solomon through his prophets and messengers, but it was likely that these reminders fell on based on circumstances and the information we have in the Scriptures, he might have been tempted by the power and glory he had, to lose sight of what truly mattered.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord and His interaction with a Syro-Phoenician woman, a woman who came from the region of Phoenicia north of the traditional lands of the Israelites. As such, according to the Jewish viewpoint and customs at the time, she was considered as part of the Gentiles, or the non-Jewish people. The Jews always took great pride of their descent from the people of Israel, the chosen people of God, and the name Jew itself came from the word Judah, representing all those who have descended from the people of Judah, who remained faithful to the House of David and to God, at least for part of their history.

Therefore, as we heard the Lord speaking to the Syro-Phoenician woman, we may indeed be surprised to hear the tone and the harshness in the words He had chosen to use against the Syro-Phoenician woman. We may have thought that the Lord had reacted so uncharacteristically in His words and replies against the woman. However, if we try to understand the context of what happened back then and the societal aspects of the interaction, then we will quickly realise that the Lord in fact intended the exact opposite of what He had spoken to the woman.

Through what He had said to the woman, the Lord wanted to highlight to all of us the folly and the ugly nature of the sentiments and the opinions then prevailing among the Jews regarding their superiority and the exclusivity of their status as God’s chosen people, especially as interpreted by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, to the exclusion of others, even among the Jews themselves who were deemed to be less than worthy, and even less so the Gentiles, like that of the Syro-Phoenician woman, who as a non-Jew and as a woman must have been viewed very much less favourably.

And yet, despite all of that, the Syro-Phoenician woman held on to the faith she had in the Lord and kept firm in asking Him to heal her sick daughter, and she remained resolute in believing in Him despite all the harsh words and replies that she had gotten from the Lord. This proved that her faith in God was truly genuine and no amount of hardships and challenges were going to change that. The Lord knew it all already without Him even needing to ask her, as is He not an Almighty and all-knowing God? But yet, He still asked it from her, as He wanted her to proclaim the truth about her faith to all, to the shame of all those who claimed to be more faithful and yet, refused to believe in God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in our readings today, we are reminded that we need to have that strong and genuine faith in God, and we have to resist the temptations of our personal desire and ambitions, the temptations of wealth and worldly pleasures that can easily mislead and misguide us in our journey of life. We have to heed the example of how King Solomon, the wise and great king of Israel had fallen into sin and disobedience against God because he failed to heed these, and resulted in great trouble and anguish for the people of God later on.

Today, we should look upon the good examples set by one of our holy predecessors, namely St. Scholastica, who was renowned for being the fraternal twin of St. Benedict of Nursia, another great and famous saint, and who herself helped to establish a community of religious and monastic sisters much as her brother was one of the pioneers of religious and monastic brothers and monks in Western Christendom at the time. St. Scholastica became one of the pioneers of female religious life in the Church.

And not only just that, as St. Scholastica was also exemplary in her faith as well, in the virtuous life she lived in, and in all that she had done in contributing to the good of her religious community and to the wider Christian community, of all the faithful people of God. She and her fellow religious sisters were also involved in charitable works and education among other things, and their commitment to the service of God should become our great inspirations, as role model for us to follow in our own lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore seek to glorify God by our own lives and let us do whatever we can to serve Him through our actions and deeds, our words and interactions throughout our lives, even in the smallest things we do. Let our lives and faith be like that of St. Scholastica and like the faith of the Syro-Phoenician woman, distancing ourselves from sin and being vigilant against worldly temptations just as the example of King Solomon and his downfall ought to have taught us. May the Lord be our Guide and may He strengthen our resolve and commitment to live faithfully in His presence, always and at all times. Amen.

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Wednesday, 9 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to reflect on what we have just heard and discern how each and every one of us can become more dedicated and faithful followers of Our Lord. We heard of the story of the visit of the Queen of Sheba to the court of King Solomon of Israel, renowned for his great wisdom, and then in the Gospel we heard of the Lord’s words and rebuke to the Pharisees for their insistence and stubbornness in enforcing a very strict interpretation of the Law of Moses.

In our first reading today, as mentioned, we heard from the Book of Kings about the coming of the Queen of Sheba from faraway land visiting King Solomon of Israel and his court, bearing many gifts of gold and other precious items, enthralled and desiring to hear of his words and wisdom. Solomon had been blessed with great wisdom from God, as he prayed for wisdom when the Lord told him to ask of Him everything that he desired. God gave Solomon not just great wisdom, but also great riches, wealth and glory, prosperity, peace and safety for his kingdom and for the people of God.

King Solomon showed the Queen of Sheba all the achievements he had gained, the wealth and power he had amassed, engaging her with all of his wisdom, and amazed her with all that God had blessed him and his people with. All that impressed the Queen of Sheba greatly and left a legacy that lasted till this day as it was told that the nation of Sheba is where the land of Ethiopia in East Africa now is, and the people there began to believe in God and later on, when Christ came and His disciples spread the truth of God, their descendants were the same ones to accept the Christian faith early on.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord spoke to the people who were listening to His teachings, and as He also spoke out against the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who had always tried to thwart His works and efforts among the people, by saying that in not following the very strict set of rules and commandments as required by the Law, which in fact was their own overly zealous and misunderstanding of the true purpose of the Law, that they actually unjustly accusing the Lord and His disciples of wrongdoing.

And the Lord went on by saying that it was folly to think that anything from outside can make one impure, dirty and unworthy. Instead, it is something that comes from within, from our hearts and minds, from our own conscience that leads to sin and corruption of our body, mind, heart and soul. And that was what the Lord wanted to convey to the people, and He also must have hoped that the same Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, despite their stubbornness and rigid ways, might come to see the truth in His words as well.

The Lord reminded us all as well that wicked desires from our hearts and minds, born out of greed and jealousy, from personal ego and ambition among many other things can lead us all into sin and into doing things that are contrary to the good works that God wants each and every one of us to do in our lives. Hence, through what we have heard today in our Scripture readings, from the tale of Solomon and his wisdom and then the interactions between the Lord and His people, all of us are called to reflect on what it truly means for us to call ourselves as Christians.

As Christians, we are all called to be virtuous and righteous, to be filled with love for God and the wisdom that He has given to us just as He has blessed Solomon with great wisdom. However, we also have to make good use of those gifts and also for the right purpose. King Solomon faltered later in life as in his old age he wavered and let his many wives to distract him and to do things that are not in accordance with the will of God. And the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law have also allowed their own desires and personal ambitions to lead them astray from the path of God and misleading others in the process.

Let us all therefore instead strive and do our best to serve the Lord and to do His will, to follow His commandments and Law with true understanding and sincere love for Him, doing what He has told us to do because we love Him wholeheartedly and not just because we want to look pious and good to others, and not because we want anything in return from doing so. We are all called to be good and to be inspiration to one another. Let our lives be shining beacons of God’s light and truth, inspiring many others to follow in our footsteps as we we continue to live our lives in faith, making use of all the gifts that God has given us.

May God be with us always, and may He bless each and every one of us, that we may always be ever more faithful to Him, and may God empower us all to live ever more worthily in His presence, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 8 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jerome Emiliani, and St. Josephine Bakhita, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints and Holy Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all called to serve the Lord wholeheartedly and to love Him from the deepest depth of our hearts, to be genuinely faithful and filled with love for Him and not just an empty gesture or paying lip service to Him. We have to dedicate ourselves thoroughly and completely to walk in His path, to obey His will and commandments, and to answer His call with firm resolution in our hearts. That is our calling as Christians, what we need to do in our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard the prayer of King Solomon made on behalf of the people of Israel at the time of the dedication of the Temple of God in Jerusalem, the great Temple and House that Solomon had built and established for the glory of God and to be His dwelling place among His people. King Solomon had completed the House after seven long years of construction and brought the Ark of the Covenant with great fanfare and celebration, placing it in the Holy of Holies within the Temple, and God’s glorious Presence filled up the entirety of the Temple.

King Solomon prayed on behalf of the people giving thanks to God for His constant love and care for them, and for all that He had done, and for willingly coming to dwell with His people. He humbled himself for the unworthy House that he has built, no matter how grand it might have been, as no House could ever contain the great glory of the Almighty and Infinite God. He asked the Lord for His protection and continued guidance for himself and for the people so that they might remain faithful and dedicated to Him in their lives.

Then, in our Gospel passage today we heard of the confrontation between the Pharisees and the Lord as they scrutinised Him and how some of His disciples did not wash their hands in the manner that the Law of Moses had prescribed. They criticised the Lord and His disciples at the apparent failure to obey the commandments which were prescribed for all the people to follow, and which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law enforced with great emphasis and even bordering on obsession.

The Lord then reminded them how foolish their preoccupation and obsession with their way of obeying the Law. This must be understood in the context of how the Law of God had grown very cumbersome with plenty of rituals and rules over the centuries as the Law was passed down from generations to generations, and the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law being those who expanded on the rules and requirements of the Law, making them extra stringent on the people of God. They placed a lot of emphasis on the details of the rules and regulations, and with regards to the matter of the washing of hands, they had a certain prescribed manner and steps to wash their hands before they were to eat or to do other activities.

It was not wrong for one to wash their hands prior to a meal, as we all know that hygiene in fact required us to do so. However, the issue was not about the washing of hands, but rather with the obsession and preoccupations which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had on the extensive details and rituals required in each activities and in each of the requirements regarding that washing. All of these distract us from truly understanding why the Law is present in our lives. The people ended up doing the Law for the sake of fulfilling the requirements rather than because they love the Lord.

Today we also have two saints, our holy predecessors whose lives and works can become great source of inspiration for us to follow in how we ourselves should live our faith as Christians. They are St. Jerome Emiliani, a renowned holy man of God who was prominent for his works among the people of God particularly among the sick and the orphans, and then also St. Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese slave who became a Christian and who upon her escape and freedom became a member of the Canossian religious order, and was exemplary in her conduct in faith and life.

St. Jerome Emiliani was a very renowned humanitarian, dedicating a lot of time and efforts to reach out to the poor and the orphans. He spent a lot of effort helping orphans and the needy, even taking out from his own expense to help them. St. Jerome Emiliani rented houses for taking care of these people in need, helping them as much as he could, and he inspired many others to join in his efforts, and eventually this came to be the foundation of the Congregation of the Regular Clerics, also known as the Somaschi Fathers who are dedicated for the same work initiated by St. Jerome Emiliani.

Meanwhile, St. Josephine Bakhita was a freed slave, who was abducted from her birth family in what is today Sudan, during her early youth in one of the many slave raids. She suffered throughout her period of enslavement, but by God’s grace, she ended up in the possession of a former Christian who was touched by her life, work and virtuous character, and in the end, both her and her master went back to Europe and St. Josephine Bakhita gained her freedom. St. Josephine Bakhita went to join the Canossians and worked hard for many years in serving the community of the Canossians as well as the local community.

Through the examples showed by St. Jerome Emiliani and St. Josephine Bakhita we can learn how we should follow the Lord wholeheartedly through our love for our fellow brothers and sisters, through our genuine care for those who are needy, and not to focus only on our own needs and wants, or only on our own personal piety and righteousness, just as how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law often spent a lot of their time and effort on. We are all called to be genuine followers of Christ, to be full of love for Him and to have that dedication and commitment to Him.

Let us all therefore seek the Lord with renewed zeal and faith, and let us all do our best to follow Him by modelling ourselves on the virtues of our predecessors, and remind ourselves that we are called to be holy. Let us devote our time and effort to serve the Lord and to be exemplary in our actions. May the Lord be with us always and may He empower each and every one of us to walk ever more devotedly in His path, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 7 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to remember God’s presence in our lives as He has reminded us through his Ark of the Covenant in our first reading today, and later on, more concretely through Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, His own beloved Son, in our Gospel passage today. We heard how the Lord has come to dwell among His people, and how He has reached out to us and extended to us His love and compassionate mercy.

In our first reading today, we heard of the story of what happened at the time when King Solomon of Israel brought the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark containing the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, the manna and the staff of Aaron as the symbol of God’s Presence among His people, to the Temple, the House that Solomon himself had built for the Lord in Jerusalem. The Temple of God had been completed after about seven years of construction, and as the final part of its completion is the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant to the Holy of Holies built at the centre of the Temple.

In that occasion, the Ark of the Covenant which had long rested in the Holy Tent of Meeting from the time of the Exodus from Egypt was finally taken to the House that Solomon made which surpassed any other temples and houses of worship in its majesty and glory. That God Himself came to dwell among His people, His Presence coming down upon the Ark of the Covenant is significant and King Solomon built that great Temple as the physical symbol of God’s House and Presence among His people, to be a reminder of God being with His people.

We heard how the Glory of God came down to the House that Solomon had built for Him, and the Ark of the Covenant became the Seat of His Presence, as He came down enthroned on the Cherubim crafted on the Ark. The Glory of God filled the Temple and the people rejoiced altogether because God Himself had dwelled among His people and He has shown His great love and compassion to them, remembering them and caring for them, bringing them many blessings and graces during the glorious reigns of David and Solomon as the kings of Israel.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of how the Lord Jesus came among the people, and how He and His disciples cared for all those who have come to the Lord seeking for His healing and teachings. The Lord reached out to them and touched them, healing many among them and taught amongst them, bringing the words of His truth and His salvation, showing the love of God manifested to them, that through Him all may come to know of just how beloved and fortunate they are to have been graced by the loving presence of God in Christ, His one and only begotten Son.

Through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Whom the Lord had sent into this world to be our Saviour, God has revealed His love in the flesh and His Presence dwells among us even far surpassing that of the Old Ark of the Covenant. For while the old Ark of the Covenant was made from gold and other precious metals crafted by the hands of man, the New Ark of the Covenant that is Mary, Mother of God, was crafted by God Himself, and while the old Ark contains the tablets of the Law and the manna, the New Covenant that God established with us through His Son is sealed by the gift of Himself as the Bread of Life, the Law and the Commandments of God in the flesh.

Thus, as the Lord walked among us and showed us His love through His Presence, all of us are called to remember the great grace and kindness that we have received through Christ, His Son, by His dwelling in our midst. God has come down to us so that He may bridge the unbridgeable chasm that existed between us and Him. God has always wanted us to be reconciled to Him but it is always us who delayed and dragged our feet, not being truthful to ourselves and continued to deny His love and kindness. Many of us have preferred to remain in the state of sin rather than to obey the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore ponder carefully what we have discussed and what we have heard from the readings of the Sacred Scriptures. Let us therefore seek to embrace God’s love and kindness, and open ourselves to allow Him to dwell within our hearts. Let us realise just how fortunate we are that God has endeavoured to walk alongside us and to guide us in our journey of faith through life. May the Lord be with us always and may He empower each and every one of us to love Him ever more genuinely from now on. Amen.

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Sunday, 6 February 2022 : Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are called to realise our calling and mission in life as Christians, as those whom God has called and chosen, to be the ones to carry out His will and to be the witnesses of His truth and love to all the people. As we heard from today’s Scripture readings, we are all called to follow in the footsteps of our courageous and faithful predecessors, those who have dedicated themselves and their lives to serve the Lord, to follow Him and to do their best for the greater glory of God.

In our first reading today, we heard the calling of the prophet Isaiah in a vision which he received, and in that vision he saw the Lord Himself seated on His Throne in Heaven, attended by the great Angels of God, the Seraphim who served the Lord at His presence. He saw all the great glory and majesty of God and was terrified at what he had seen. He was struck with great fear because not only that one ought not to look at the great glory of God, and as a sinner, Isaiah feared God’s wrath and retribution. He humbled himself and abased himself before the Lord.

But God reassured Isaiah and sent His Seraphim to bring the hot coal from the Altar of the heavenly Temple and touched that coal onto Isaiah’s mouth, his lips and tongue. Through that symbolic act, God sanctified and purified Isaiah, considering him worthy of seeing His glory and being there, and through that, God also reassured him and sent him to be the one that He had chosen to be the bearer of His truth and message, His Good News to the people of Israel. Isaiah answered firmly with faith, and henceforth, he did the works of the Lord wonderfully among His people.

In our Gospel passage today, we kind of see a similar story in which the Lord Jesus came to the Lake of Galilee and encountered the fishermen there who were busy with their works and among them were the brothers Simon and Andrew, as well as the two sons of Zebedee, James and John. It was this moment, which is also mentioned in the other Gospels, that the Lord called His first disciples, and those four would become four of His closest confidants, the Twelve Apostles. At that time, they were just simple fishermen at the Lake of Galilee.

Having gathered little or no fish despite a great effort over the night, they would not have hoped to gain much and they must have been disappointed. But the Lord Who was then teaching the people told them all to go again and gather the fishes, this time to put their nets just as He told them to. Simon was hesitant at first saying how their efforts all night long had borne little results, but he obeyed nonetheless, going forth into the deeper waters just as the Lord had told him to, and true enough, immediately they caught so many fishes that it almost sank the two boats they were on.

We heard how Simon and the other fishermen all bowed down before the Lord and especially Simon uttered how unworthy he was before the Lord, and how he was a sinner that was unworthy and not deserving of the Lord’s presence. But this did not stop the Lord from calling them to be His disciples, and in fact to be the closest ones to Him. He called them all to become the fishers of men, as those whom the Lord had chosen to be the ones to gather all the people to Himself. Through them, God would establish His Church and build the many Christian communities all around the world.

We can see the parallel in these two stories, and also in our second reading today taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. In that occasion, St. Paul mentioned to the faithful in Corinth how he himself had received the faith, as he received it through the Holy Spirit that he had been given, and through the hands of the Apostles, those same Apostles that God had called, and from them, St. Paul, who as Saul was once the greatest enemy of all Christians, gained great insight of the faith and of what he had been called to do, as fellow disciples of the Lord.

Therefore, today’s Scripture readings serve as very important reminders for each and every one of us that all of us have been called to follow the Lord and to be His disciples. All of us as Christians who have received and shared in the baptism, and having been initiated in the faith, all of us have a share in the mission that the Lord Himself has entrusted to His Church, to all of His Apostles and disciples. And yes, the same mission that God has given to His Church, we too have a part to play in that as well.

And what is this mission, brothers and sisters in Christ? If we recall in the Gospels, we will remember the Lord’s Great Commission to all the whole Church. He entrusted it to all of us to make disciples of all the nations and to baptise all in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is the mission that God has given and entrusted to us, and we should embrace this mission wholeheartedly and be inspired by the examples set by our holy predecessors, those whom God had called and chosen, and whom He had made worthy for that purpose.

It means that we should not be hesitant or worried that we are not qualified, capable or worthy of doing what the Lord had called us to do. We have to remember first and foremost that it is not us who decide whether we are worthy of God’s calling and works or not. It is God Himself Who will decide that, and He had frequently chosen His disciples and servants from among those whom many of us may consider or deem to be less than worthy. The four fishermen, Simon, Andrew, James and John for example, they were likely poor, illiterate and uneducated, and yet, God called them to do His great works.

Through many occasions in the history of the Church and the world, God had chosen those who were considered to be unworthy. He made them worthy and sent them forth, reassuring them of His guidance and strength, much as how He had sent out Isaiah to His people Israel. The same went for the Apostles themselves as mentioned, as well as for St. Paul mentioned in our second reading today, who was a great persecutor of Christians, as someone most unlikely to become a follower of Christ, and yet, in the end, became among the Lord’s greatest champion.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called to ponder carefully on our lives, and discern what we are going to do with our lives to come. God has called on us to follow Him and to do His will, to be part of the efforts and works of His Church in proclaiming His Good News and salvation, His truth and love to more and more people all around the world. This is what we have been called to do, and we really should ask ourselves if we are willing and able to do what we can to serve the Lord to the best of our abilities.

We do not need to be afraid or to worry whether we are worthy of such a task. The Apostles themselves as I mentioned were simple, ordinary people, who were most likely even less educated and less worthy than us in the eyes of the world. And yet, we all know of the great deeds that they had done, of the great courage and faith that they had shown, in doing their best to serve the Lord, even to the point of laying down their lives for the Lord, in the midst of their ministry. Many of them suffered greatly for the Lord, but they took all those sufferings with fullness of faith and love for the Lord.

Let us all therefore be inspired by their examples, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we too may walk in their footsteps and doing whatever we can to glorify the Lord by our lives. Let our every actions, words and deeds be guided by our love for the Lord and let our every breath proclaim the glory of God from now on. May the Lord be with us all, and may all of us walk in His path with ever greater zeal and commitment, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 5 February 2022 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of God in the Sacred Scriptures we are reminded to put our faith in the Lord and to trust in Him, asking Him for strength and guidance in our respective journeys of life. We are all called to follow Him and to walk in His path, modelling ourselves and our lives based on all that He has taught us through His Apostles and disciples, and through all the holy men and women, all those who have dedicated themselves to walk in the path of the Lord.

In our first reading today, we heard of the time when King Solomon of Israel, the son of King David who succeeded him as the king over all the people of God, the Israelites. We heard how Solomon, who was then still young and inexperienced, asked the Lord for wisdom and guidance so that he might be able to follow in the great examples set by his father. He prayed for wisdom to be a good leader for the people of God, asking the Lord to show him the path forward as he took over the kingship and leadership from his father.

The Lord did not just grant Solomon what he had asked for, because he did not ask for more wealth, power or glory unlike what most people would have asked for. He humbly asked for wisdom and guidance to be a good leader for the people of God, and God gave him just that, a wisdom unsurpassed by others, which made him famous beyond the lands of Israel. At the same time, God gave Solomon wealth, power and glory unsurpassed and unmatched, and this made the kingdom of Israel to be a great kingdom at the height of its power.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the works of the Lord and His disciples as they went from place to place ministering to the people, proclaiming the truth of God and the Good News of His salvation. There were so many people following them and desiring to listen to the Lord that the disciples were often overwhelmed. They could not even have a proper time to rest. As we heard in our Gospel today, even when they finally managed to get away to a secluded place on their own, the people managed to figure out where they were going and went there ahead of them.

There, despite the tiring works that He had done earlier, the Lord still ministered to the people, teaching them and speaking to them, spending a lot of time with them. It was at that time when the disciples were likely given a time to rest while the Lord continued to work tirelessly, reaching out to His people. We saw in that occasion just how beloved each and every one of us are to God, and how fortunate we are to have been beloved in such a manner by the Lord. God has sent to us His only begotten Son to be our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Through what we have heard today, we have seen how God loves us, wants to be reconciled and reunited with us, that He reached out to us and bestow upon us His blessings and graces. However, more often than not, we are not able to grasp His love and efforts because we are too busy with our many preoccupations and worldly desires. We are often too busy thinking about our many concerns and plans in life to notice God and His presence in our lives, only remembering Him when we have need of Him, and forgetting Him when we do not need Him.

Today, all of us are called to be like Solomon, in humbling ourselves before the Lord and asking for His guidance and wisdom, so that we may discern carefully our path in life going forward from now on. And we also should model ourselves based on the examples set by one of our holy predecessors, whose feast we celebrate today. St. Agatha of Sicily, a renowned martyr and saint from the time of the Great Persecution of Christians by the Roman Emperors can indeed inspire us to be better Christians in true deeds and actions.

St. Agatha was born into a noble Roman family and she made a vow of holy and perpetual virginity, which she offered to God freely and wholeheartedly. Her great beauty was noted by a pagan Roman prefect named Quintianus, who did all he could to try to persuade and coax her to marry him. But despite his best efforts, his pressure and even threats, all those could not sway St. Agatha from abandoning her vow of virginity and her faith in the Lord. She remained resolute in her conviction and desire to follow the Lord.

As that time coincided with the intense persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Decius, which was a particularly brutal period of intense persecution against Christians, the displeased and disappointed prefect reported St. Agatha to the authorities, and as the prefect Quintianus himself presided over the trial, he hoped that the threat of suffering and death would make St. Agatha to give up her stubborn resistance and refusal to abandon her faith in God. Instead, St. Agatha remained even more ardent in her faith and refused to give up.

She prayed to the Lord saying, “Jesus Christ, Lord of all, you see my heart, You know my desires. Possess all that I am. I am Your sheep: make me worthy to overcome the devil.” And despite the efforts the prefect tried to incarcerate, torture and make her life difficult, St. Agatha would not be swayed and she remained faithful to the very end. She was tortured with all sorts of punishments, and had her breasts cut, surviving a burning at the stake before eventually dying in prison, remaining faithful to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all be inspired by the great examples set before us by the young King Solomon and by St. Agatha, the great Holy Virgin and Martyr. Let us all follow their examples in faith and commit ourselves to walk in the path of faith and grow ever stronger in faith and loving God more and more with each and every passing moments. Let us all seek the Lord with ever greater conviction and ask Him for guidance and strength that we may draw ever closer to Him, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 4 February 2022 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we heard the words of the Sacred Scriptures all of us are reminded yet again on what each and every one of us ought to be doing as those who believe in God and walk in His path. Today we are all called to remember the great examples set by two of our holy and dedicated predecessors, namely King David of Israel, the great King of all Israel who ruled the people of God justly and defeated Goliath the great enemy in his youth, as well as St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Messiah, the one who proclaimed the coming of Christ into this world.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Sirach regarding the story of David, the faithful servant of God, how he followed the Lord in all that He had called him to do, all the way from the early years of his youth. David had loved God and was a kind and righteous man from the very beginning, and he allowed God to lead him in whatever he did. He followed the Lord and when he was chosen to be the new King over all the people of God, he entrusted himself to God wholeheartedly.

He was the one whom God blessed and protected, and when he courageously answered the mocking calls of the Philistine champion, Goliath, David stood before the people of Israel and the Philistines who mocked and ridiculed God. He stood against the mighty giant, clad in just his shepherd’s cloak against Goliath’s fully armoured might. David completely trusted in the Lord, and through Him, he brought Goliath down, defeated the Philistines and restored the glory of God’s Name and the glory of Israel.

David was not a perfect person and neither was he blameless. He was a sinner just like us, who made mistakes and committed sins such as when he coveted the wife of Uriah, his own loyal commander, whom he led to his death in order to hide his affair from becoming known to the public. He also sinned against God when in his moment of pride desired to know the power and the glory he possessed and ordered the census over the entire land of Israel on his own accord, not in accordance with the will of God.

Yet, what was remarkable about David was that although he had sinned against God at times, but he genuinely loved God and His people, and he atoned for his sins many times over, admitting his sinfulness, humbling himself and stripping himself from the trappings of glory to be a penitent on more than one occasion just as recorded in the Book of the prophet Sirach and in the Book of Kings and the Chronicles. He desired to be reconciled with God and remained faithful and true to his dedication to Him to the end of his days.

Meanwhile, we have also heard the good examples of St. John the Baptist, the one whom God had sent into this world to be the one to proclaim the coming of His salvation. St. John the Baptist was the Herald of the Messiah, the one to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. In today’s reading, we heard how this faithful servant of God was martyred because of his commitment, so much so that he was not afraid to speak out against the king, Herod as well as his unlawfully wedded wife, Herodias, who was still in the eyes of the Law, the lawful wife of Herod’s living brother Philip.

St. John the Baptist spoke out against the king’s immoral action, and this led to Herodias in particular holding a grudge against him, which eventually led to the plot in which Herodias used her own daughter, historically named Salome, to seduce her own stepfather, king Herod, in the middle of the party and then in the end, forced him to order the execution of St. John the Baptist in prison just as we heard in our Gospel passage today. Thus was how the life of this great servant of God ended, he who had gone and stood up against the vices of the Pharisees and the king, all for the truth and the greater glory of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore now discern carefully the path that we are going to take in life from now on. Are we going to live our lives from now on following the good examples of King David and St. John the Baptist? Or are we still going to continue to disobey the Lord and remain in the state of sin? The choice is ours, and we should make a firm decision to walk down the path of righteousness and faith, rejecting the temptations and the allures of sin, and doing our best to dedicate our lives to God. We may not be perfect, as no one is perfect, but following the examples of our holy predecessors, we can draw ever closer to God.

May the Lord be with us in our journey of faith through life. May He strengthen each and every one of us, and empower us to walk ever more faithfully in His presence, now and always, forevermore. May God bless us all in our every deeds and works, in our every moments. Amen.

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Thursday, 3 February 2022 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr, and St. Ansgar, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the Word of God being spoken to us through the Sacred Scriptures, we are called to remember the love which God has shown us His beloved people and the mission which he has entrusted to each and every one of us in reaching out to our fellow men and women, and we have to do our part to reach out to others and to proclaim to them the truth of God by our own exemplary actions and life. That is how each and every one of us are expected to do as the Lord’s disciples and faithful followers.

In our first reading today, we heard from the first Book of Kings relating to us the story of the transmission of rule, power and kingship from David, the famous king of Israel to his son, Solomon, whom God had chosen to succeed him in leading the people of Israel. King David reminded Solomon of the obligation and the expectation for him to follow in the path of the Lord and His Law. David reminded Solomon how God has shown His kindness and blessings to the people of Israel and how He has blessed David himself and promised to be with His family and house forever.

The Lord will continue to bless His people and Solomon and his rule and kingdom, just as David has been blessed. But, if they fell into sin and disobeyed God, then they would have to endure the consequences of their sins. God will however forgive them if they are to repent from their sinful ways and desire to return to His loving embrace. He has always loved us and desired for us to be reconciled to Him, sending His servants and messengers to reach out to us and to help us find our way to Him. That is what we have also heard in our Gospel passage today.

For in the Gospel today, we heard the Lord sending out Apostles two by two out to visit the various places that He wanted them to minister in, and often that these were the places where He Himself would come to visit. He sent them to those places just by themselves and told them not to take excessive equipments and preparations with them, and instead asked them to depend on the goodwill of the people they visited because God wanted them to depend not on their own power or might, on their own resources and goods that they could achieve success in their ministry.

Instead, God reminded them all that it is because of Him and His presence guiding them throughout the way, that the Apostles had achieved great accomplishments and successes throughout their work. It was by the power of God that they had healed the sic, cast out the demons and it was by the love and mercy of God that they had touched the hearts and minds of many who had seen the works of God and His servants, answering the Lord’s call that they too have come to believe in Him and became His followers.

Through what we have heard in today’s Scripture readings, we are all reminded that we have been entrusted with the gifts and talents from God, for us to use for the good cause of the Lord and to follow His commandments and Law. We are all called to be righteous like how David reminded Solomon to be obedient to God and righteous in his actions, and just as how the Lord told His Twelve Apostles to do His will and to depend not on their own strength and power, but rather by trusting in God and His love and providence throughout their ministry.

And each one of us have also been entrusted with the same mission by the Lord, to be the witnesses of Our Lord’s truth and resurrection in our communities today. We have been called to follow the Lord and serve Him wholeheartedly, and we have a lot of good examples to follow on, based on the inspirations from the saints. We should therefore do what our holy predecessors, namely St. Blaise and St. Ansgar, whose feast day we are celebrating today. St. Blaise was a martyr and bishop of the Church, while St. Ansgar was remembered as a great bishop and missionary of the Church, the Apostle to the Germans.

St. Blaise was the Bishop of Sebastea in Asia Minor during the late era of Roman Empire, living during the time of the reforms and upheavals among Christians under the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian and his successors. The Christian faithful endured a particularly brutal persecution, the last of the great waves of persecutions against Christians, which culminated in the last round of persecution after the time of the Emperor Diocletian, when the Emperor Licinius in his rivalry with the Emperor Constantine the Great persecuted the Christians in his territory, which led to the martyrdom of many including that of St. Blaise.

St. Blaise was a great bishop, wholly dedicated to his flock, spending a lot of time and effort through his virtues and works, and in the many miracles accorded to him, to whom a lot of people flocked seeking physical and spiritual healing. Later on, he was arrested, tortured and eventually martyred by the local Roman governor, beheaded for his faith. Through this martyrdom and his earlier care for the ailments of the people, St. Blaise has been well known to this day for the special ‘Blessing of St. Blaise’ for the ailment of the throat.

Meanwhile, St. Ansgar was a renowned missionary who was sent to the lands of the Saxons in the northern parts of Germany which was then still mostly following pagan ways. He converted many among the pagans through his works and devoted his life to the flock entrusted under his care. He helped to build a strong and firm foundation of the Church in that region, and did a lot of work to reach out to the people who have yet to believe in Christ. His efforts earned rich dividends although he had to endure a lot of trials and challenges in doing so. But he never gave up and kept on doing his best, and many came to God’s salvation through him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be inspired by these many good examples and inspiration in faith. Let us do what we can in our daily lives to be role models for each other. May the Lord bless us in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 2 February 2022 : Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, World Day of Consecrated Life (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the great Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, also known as Candlemas, because of the tradition of bringing candles to the Mass for them to be blessed and brought home, as a reminder of the Light of Christ that came to this world bringing a new hope and a new path towards God’s salvation and eternal life. Today is the fortieth day of Christmas in the tradition of the Church marking the forty days that have passed since the great celebration of Christmas.

This is the day that marked the moment back then when the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God was welcomed back into the community of the faithful people of God after her giving birth. According to the tradition of the Jewish people, a woman who had given birth was unclean until the fortieth day during which time the new mother was put in confinement. On the fortieth day, the mother ought to be brought to the Temple of God and then the priest would welcome the mother back into the community through a ritual of purification.

That is why today we traditionally also celebrate the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is now highlighted as the Presentation of Our Lord. That is because as mentioned in the Scriptures, both events happened at the same time as it would not have been possible for Mary to bring the Baby Jesus to the Temple unless she has been purified according to the Law. There, as Mary was purified and welcomed back into the community of the faithful, at the same time, her firstborn Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour was presented to the Lord according to the Law.

In the Presentation of the Lord, we heard how God was revealed to the people of Israel through His Son, born into this world in the flesh, the One begotten from the Father and not made, consubstantial and co-eternal with Him. This same Son, Our Lord and Saviour was presented before His Father, to be the Sign for all the Israelites of the coming of God’s salvation and grace at long last. At that time, the people had been waiting for a very long time for the coming of God’s salvation and the fulfilment of everything that He had promised through the prophets.

He came into this world, sharing in our human essence and existence so that He may bring unto us the salvation that He has promised. He was offered and consecrated at the Temple, the House of God, to be the High Priest of all the people of God, as a prefigurement of what He was to do for the sake of all mankind. As the High Priest of all, He would be the One offering the worthy sacrifice on our behalf, the offering for the atonement of our sins, and not just any offering but the perfect offering which He made on the Cross, the offering of His Most Precious Body and Blood.

Thus, today’s celebration of the Presentation of the Lord serves as the bridge that connects between the celebrations of Christmas and Easter, reminding us that the same Child born into this world and which we celebrate in Christmas is the same One Who would bear the burden of our sins on His Cross, as He ascended the Hill of Golgotha at the time of His Passion, as Our High Priest, offering His prayers and His oblations, the gift of His own Precious Body and Blood freely offered and given for the perfect atonement of our many and innumerable sins.

Today therefore we are reminded in our lives that we should live our lives faithfully as Christians following what Our Lord had taught and revealed to us. He has shown us all the path to eternal life, and He has done so many wonderful things for us because He loves each and every one of us, without any exception. He has provided for us all these while and given nothing less than His own Beloved Son to be Our Lord and Saviour. Are we not appreciative of all that He has done for us? Are we still going to be stubborn in our refusal to follow His path and in our own attachments to sin and evil?

These are the questions that we should ponder carefully in our hearts, and which we should consider as we continue to walk our path through the respective journey of our lives. Today we also celebrate the World Day of Consecrated Life, praying for all those who have given themselves and consecrated themselves to the Lord, following His very own examples, in becoming those who entered into consecrated life, as religious brothers and sisters, all who have committed themselves to a life of holiness and sacrifice, giving themselves for the greater glory of God, in serving us and many of their fellow brothers and sisters through prayer and works.

Let us all therefore seek the Lord with a renewed heart filled with hope for God’s salvation, and let us renew our faith in Him, our trust in His love and providence, and do whatever we can to glorify Him by our actions and deeds, through our every interactions and works in each and every moments of our daily lives, following the good examples of the many people who have given themselves to the service of God. May the Lord, our most loving God and Saviour, our Eternal High Priest, continue to love us and be with us throughout our long journey of life, that we may draw ever closer to Him and be worthy to find eternal life through Him. Amen.