Catholic homilies

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Tuesday, 19 June 2018 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the love and mercy which God shows us all, His people, whom He had created out of love. This is one fact which all of us should not forget, especially as we live our Christian life modelling ourselves on Our God Himself, Who has loved all, despite everyone having betrayed Him, disobeyed Him and He was filled with love and compassion for us.

In the first reading today, we heard about the prophet Elijah chastising king Ahab of Israel for his very wicked act in disposing of Naboth, the owner of a vineyard, whose land was desired by the king. Both the king and his queen, Jezebel, plotted to frame Naboth wrongly of blasphemy against God, and had him stoned. The king was then free to seize the belongings of Naboth, especially his vineyard.

This action, including Ahab and Jezebel’s many other wicked acts, and especially their persecution of the faithful people of God and promotion of the worship of Baal and other pagan gods that led Israel to sin, made God very angry against Ahab and his whole family, that the prophet Elijah pronounced today, the judgment of God on his family. Ahab and his whole family would perish in a tragic manner.

The moment Ahab heard this, as the Scripture mentioned, he immediately tore his royal robes, took it off and wore sackcloth as a sign of mourning and repentance. And God told Elijah that He saw his sincerity at wanting to be forgiven, and He withdrew some of His anger against him and his family. However, He would still mete out the punishment against them despite being postponed to a later time.

In this, as we heard from the Psalm 50 being sung today, we heard of God’s loving mercy and desire to forgive us our sins should we desire to be reconciled with Him. That psalm was the psalm composed by David when he sinned against God and regretted of his sin, and indeed, he repented and turned himself wholeheartedly to God. He was forgiven, and indeed, God’s promise to him was held.

What is the difference between Ahab and David? In David’s case, he was truly repentant, and made every effort to turn himself back to God. However, in Ahab’s case, although he was repentant, but it was likely that he did so out of fear for God’s anger and punishment, as he had experienced before through the prophet Elijah. Yet, Ahab and his family continued to sin and refused to fully repent their wickedness.

In the Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus told His disciples and the people whom He taught, that it is important that as His followers, we must be loving and forgiving just as He has loved us. He taught us to love even our enemies and pray for those who persecute and hate us. This is true Christian love, and one that we should be imitating from the Lord, Who Himself forgave His enemies and those who persecuted Him right from the cross.

But of course repentance is important for one to be forgiven, just as we have seen earlier with the contrasting examples of king Ahab and king David. Yet, it is indeed, right for us as Christians, to be generous in our mercy and forgiveness, for the Lord, Our God, Himself generously give us His mercy, and always extends out His hand to welcome us back into His embrace.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Philip Minh and his companions, the holy martyrs of Vietnam, who were persecuted over two centuries by the authorities, similar to how the early Christians were persecuted by the Romans. They were hated, made to suffer, arrested, and forced to abandon their faith on the pain of death. However, the Christians and the missionaries, both foreign and local ones persevered in their faith and continued to spread the Good News despite the dangers involved.

The actions of the missionaries and their love for everyone, including even those who persecuted them became exemplary among many, and in truth, even more people turn to the faith and became Christians, even among those who used to persecute the faithful. Despite the growing persecution against the faithful at that time, local clergy including St. Philip Minh and foreign missionaries alike stood together with the faithful flock entrusted to them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the courage and zeal, and the love shown by the holy martyrs of Vietnam should become inspiration to all of us, to live more and more faithfully day after day, and to turn ourselves to God and put Him at the centre of our lives. Let us all be forgiving and merciful, be compassionate in all of our actions and dealings with one another, that God’s love be truly shown in us, and many more would come to believe through us.

May the Lord bless us all, and may the holy martyrs of Vietnam intercede for us always, that all of us sinners still living in this world, may come to the loving embrace of God, and receive the fullness of God’s inheritance and grace. May God be with us all, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 18 June 2018 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the Scripture passages, beginning with the story of king Ahab and Naboth, as told from the Book of Kings. King Ahab was the king of Israel, who did not follow the way of the Lord, and instead, worshipped pagan idols and committed all sorts of sins and wickedness before God and man alike.

In the story today, Naboth was a vineyard owner, whose land was pleasing to the king of Israel. Ahab tried to persuade Naboth to sell him the vineyard so that he might be able to use the vineyard for his own purposes. But Naboth refused to do so, because the vineyard belonged to his ancestral land, and Naboth would not want to sell what his ancestors had passed down to him as inheritance.

The king was angry and felt dejected after his desire was not fulfilled. But his wife, Jezebel, made use of the opportunity to goad Ahab and persuade him to attain the vineyard even using wicked and underhanded means. As we have heard from the Book of Kings, false witnesses were set up, and they accused Naboth wrongly of blasphemy against God, and he was stoned to death.

King Ahab seized the vineyard for his own and later on, he was severely chastised by the prophet Elijah for this sinful action. Ahab was hurt by Naboth’s refusal to accede to his desire, and he was determined, under the influence of his wife, to inflict pain and vengeance against him. But as we can see, it caused him to fall further into sin and away from God’s grace.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what we mankind often like to do, to keep grudges, to be filled with anger, hatred and vengeance. That is because first and foremost, we have too much pride in us, so much so that we could not admit that we have erred or made a mistake. We are filled with greed and desire, again because of our pride, that led us to sin further against God.

That is why we sin, because we put our selfishness and ego ahead of everything else, and we place ourselves as the most important of all things in this world. And when we are given power, we do not know how to make use of it responsibly, and it corrupts us, just as it corrupted king Ahab. But today’s Scripture passage reminds us that as Christians, we must not let this happen to us.

Instead, the Lord has taught us that, for those who follow Him and become His disciples, whoever is greater and more powerful must become the servants of those who are weaker and placed under the authority and responsibility of those more powerful. And He Himself showed the example, when He, at the Last Supper, took His outer garments off and wore the garment of a slave, and washed the feet of His disciples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to follow the example of Our Lord? Are we able to throw away our ego, pride, greed and desire, all the things that keep us away from truly being able to follow God. If we are so full of ourselves, how can we put God at the centre of our lives? And that is why we lack faith, because we have not been humble enough to acknowledge that we need God in our lives.

And as long as we continue to cause hurt to others, or step on them on our path to attain good things for ourselves and satisfy our wishes, we cannot be true Christians. Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we make a difference in our lives from now on, by turning to God with all of our hearts? Let us all not seek worldly glory and desires, all of which cannot truly satisfy us.

May the Lord be our guide, and may He continue to watch over us day after day, that we will not succumb to the temptations of power, wealth, glory, fame and all sorts of things that keep us away from God and His path. Let us all turn wholeheartedly towards Him, and devote ourselves from now on, as true and devout Christians. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 17 June 2018 : Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday of the Lord, we gather together listening to the word of God through the Scriptures, hearing the readings from the Old and the New Testament, and from the Holy Gospel. In all of these readings lie important teachings and truth about our faith in God. And then, we listen to the priest speaking to all of us, explaining the meaning and the importance of the word of God we have just heard, and how we ought to apply it in our own lives.

This is in essence what we have heard in the Scripture passages we have for this Sunday. In the Gospel passage today, written by St. Mark, we heard the Lord Jesus teaching the people using parables. He told them about the kingdom of God, using the parable of the sowing of seeds and the parable of the mustard seed. But why did Jesus use parables in His teachings?

That is because we have to understand that most of the people during the time of Jesus was illiterate and uneducated. They were simple people, carrying out professions such as farmers, shepherds, fishermen, carpenters, servants, and many others. These occupations do not require them to be able to write or understand complicated philosophies or science. Yet, in each of their professions, they certainly have great knowledge and experience pertaining to their respective professions.

By using the parables, which is actually approximations and summaries of the actual content that the Lord wanted to deliver to the people, something like a metaphor, comparing those content with familiar concepts to each of the professions present at the time of Jesus, such as mentioned earlier, farmers, shepherds, fishermen, and many others.

The parable of the sowing of seeds for example must be familiar to the farmers, as is our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel. We should realise that even parts of the Old Testament showed us that God spoke to us through His prophets in terms that are just like parables! He spoke of the kingdom of God in both cases, comparing it to the growing of seeds and the prospering of its branches, bearing fruits and crops ready for the harvest.

The farmers among the people, and even shepherds and others who lived in the community where agriculture was for most, the main staple of the economy and livelihood, will be able to understand better what the kingdom of God is like, by using those parables that the Lord told them. The parable of the mustard seed is also similar in that sense, as they would be familiar to what kind of tree the mustard seed would grow into, a tiny seed that grows into a large and prosperous tree.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now let us all see how God made everything known to us, the truth He had brought with Him and now shared with us. It was mentioned in the Gospel passage today that while the Lord always spoke in parables to the people, but in private He explained everything to His disciples, the Apostles and many of the first leaders of the Church.

And through the Holy Spirit that He sent them, He reaffirmed His truth in them, and gave them the divine Wisdom, that they might be able to preach those same truth to many more people, even after He had died, risen from the dead, and ascended into Heaven, no longer physically walking among us. The Church of God, of which we are a part of, is the custodian of that truth, the Good News that God had revealed to the whole world.

Through the many generations of bishops and priests, the truth present in the Church is kept and passed on, from generation to generation. Our bishops and priests are the successor in the unbroken link of continuity from the disciples of Christ themselves, and therefore, they were the ones who in the Mass, explain the truth espoused in the word of God, the Scriptures, through the homilies as well as through various other catechetical opportunities.

Now, all of us know that the truth of God has been given to us. And we are part of God’s Church. This is in fact, the living and active kingdom of God that the Lord had mentioned in His preaching, that we are part of this kingdom of God. Let us now recall what He has taught us using the parables mentioned just earlier.

The seeds sown in the field represent this truth, the seeds of faith, hope and love that God had sown in us. We are the field of God, the whole race of humanity living in this world. However, seeds need good soil to be able to grow, or otherwise, they will not grow, or else, even if they manage to germinate and grow, they may wither, shrivel up and die.

This is a reminder to each one of us, that our lives must be fruitful and rich in faith. Yes, all of us are sinners, and we have committed in one way or another, deeds and actions that are against God’s teachings. But no one should be sinners forever, and no one was born a saint. Even saints were themselves sinners, but they made the commitment to turn away from their sins, and they repented from the wickedness that came between them and God.

If we are faithful to the Lord, then we will grow and prosper in our faith. This was shown by the Lord through the parable of the mustard seed, in which the small mustard seed could grow to be one of the largest trees in the garden. Sometimes we may be wondering if we are people of little faith, but remember, brethren, that whatever little faith we have in our hearts, we must treasure and cultivate.

How do we do this? First of all, we must show genuine Christian love and compassion in our daily lives. We must do what the Lord has commanded us, that is to love one another just as much as we love ourselves. The problem that many of us currently have, is that our selfishness and pride come in between us and the ability to love as true Christians.

We are often too engrossed in our career, in our pursuit of worldliness, of power, glory, wealth, influence, fame, and many other worldly things that we mankind often crave and desire. It is even quite often that we end up sidelining or cause harm to our fellow men just so that we can satisfy our own desires and wishes. And in the same manner, we end up sidelining God Himself, putting Him far away from our minds and hearts.

How can we then call ourselves as Christians? It is not enough for us to be Christians just by attending the Holy Mass every Sunday. For some of us, we even only come to the Holy Mass during Christmas and Easter. However, what is important is that, when we come to the Holy Mass, we fully immerse ourselves and participate in the Holy Sacrifice offered by the priest at the Mass.

This means that we must be fully centred and focused on God, first of all at the celebration of the Holy Mass, and then, to our own daily lives, every day of our lives. First of all, many of us were regularly present in the Mass, and yet our minds were not filled with the right thoughts and intentions. Some of us grumbled that the priest’s homily was too long, and we could not wait for the Mass to end, before continuing with our own routines.

Is this the love and the faith that God wants each and every one of us to have? No! God wants us to be filled with true and genuine love for God, and this means that we must put God as the priority and as the very focus and centre of our lives. And we do not have to be ambitious, as what is important is the progress we make. Sometimes we are too preoccupied with the results that we forgot to take into account good progress that we have made.

Once again, let us look at the parable, a seed does not grow into a tree in one day. The growth process is slow, but as long as we ensure that the right condition for growth is present, growth will take place for sure. Therefore, it is the same with our faith. We have to nurture our faith, step by step at a time, by doing things little at a time, by extending our love and also forgiveness even to those nearest to us.

We will be surprised at the kind of impact that our little actions may have, but the ripple effect can be enormous. Now, more importantly, let us make the effort to be better Christians, devoting ourselves, our time and attention to the Lord. May the Lord be with us in this journey, and may He strengthen our resolve, and give us the courage to be ever more faithful, day after day, despite the challenges and difficulties we may encounter. May God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 16 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the calling of the prophet Elisha, who was called by God through His prophet Elijah, to be the one who would carry on the works of Elijah among the people of Israel. Elisha responded to God’s call, and after he said his farewell to his parents and leaving behind everything he had, he followed the prophet Elijah from then on.

Then in the Gospel passage, the Lord Jesus continued His discourse to His disciples about the Law and how to be truly obedient to the Law and the commandments of God. In today’s passage, He focused on the aspect of making promises and vows before God. What He went through with the disciples and the people was that, one should not take vows or make oaths.

But then, how come is it that the Church practices the making of vows and oaths? At the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, a husband makes a solemn vow to be faithful and true to his wife, and vice versa, that the wife also makes the same vow to her husband. And then, for those who were called to Holy Orders of priesthood or consecrated life as a religious brother or sister, they also make solemn vows to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must keep in mind what the Lord intended when He said those words to the people. What He was saying must be put in the context that many of the people of Israel, even the priests and the Pharisees, made many grandiose and highly publicised oaths before God and man, and yet, they did not remain true to their faith, either secretly or even openly.

In that manner, whatever oaths or vows they made were meaningless and empty, as they did not mean what they have said. Nobody would believe in those oaths and vows anymore, just as I am reminded of the folktale child story about the young boy who cried wolf. That story, which may be quite familiar to many of us, is about a boy who liked to trick people, many of whom were shepherds, by scaring them with false alarm of wolves coming to hunt their sheep.

The shepherds were angry that the young boy tricked them, and in time to come, no one would believe in him. And when one day, wolves did actually come to the sheep which the boy was guarding, he cried out for help. But all the other shepherds refused to believe in the boy, since he had lied and tricked them many times. Such was the weight of his folly, by making himself untrustworthy.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord Jesus did not actually say that we cannot make vows or solemn oaths. Rather, He is reminding all of us, that as Christians, we must be honest, truthful and good in all of our words and dealings. We cannot be dishonest or wicked, and we cannot be untrustworthy with our words, since after all, do we remember that we follow Christ, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life?

And because Christ is the Truth, then we must also be truthful. We are called to be truthful in all things, and again, I would like to emphasise the importance of commitment. In the first reading, we heard how the prophet Elisha left everything behind and committed himself to a life of service to the Lord. Thus, we are also called to be committed, be it as husband or wife to one another, or as priests or religious in our dedication to God.

Are we able to give that kind of dedication and commitment in how we live our lives? Let us reflect on this question as we carry on living our lives in this world. May the Lord be with us all, and may He strengthen each and every one of us in our faith, day after day. Amen.

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Friday, 15 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the continuation of the passage from the Book of Kings, which saw the prophet Elijah coming into the holy presence of God, at the sacred site of the mountain of God in Sinai. It was probably the same place where the people of Israel made the Covenant with God through Moses, when He gave them His Laws and Commandments.

God reassured Elijah that He would be with His people, despite their constant rebelliousness and their descent into sin. Elijah was one of the few of the people who were still faithful to God, and he suffered greatly at the hands of the pagans who refused to believe in God, and instead chose to worship pagan idols and gods. They have forgotten about God’s love for them, and they had abandoned His laws and commandments.

In the Gospel passage today, we heard about the discourse from the Lord Jesus, Who told His disciples about how to be truly faithful to the Law of God. In that discourse, He told them about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who on one side appeared to be devout and even fanatical defenders and practitioners of the laws and rules that God had given them.

Why is that so? That is because they did all the observances of the Law and all the works of piety, all because they wanted to be recognised and glorified by other men, for their piety and dedication. But they have forgotten completely that the Law was not given to mankind for that corrupted purpose. Instead, God gave His laws to man so that they may turn away from their wickedness and from their rebellious behaviour, and follow the way of righteousness.

That is why, on the matter of divorce, as the Lord also mentioned in another part of the Gospels, the Lord made it very clear that divorce is something that is sinful and wicked, when it is done for the purpose of adultery, because a man cannot be satisfied with his wife and vice versa, and thus seeking ways to dissolve the sacred and sacramental bond of matrimony, and remarry again.

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law taught that the law according to Moses allowed the couple to enter into a divorce once they have completed the necessary administrative proceedings and satisfied the necessary documentations. In reality, it was likely that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the priests and all those involved in the process benefitted, as they were able to earn compensation for their work, and it is not surprising that they encouraged such practices to continue.

God made it very clear, that His laws are not for us man to misuse and abuse to our own preferences and desires. He intended it to be a guide for us, showing us the way and the path forward to take, in order to remain true and faithful to Him. This is what the Lord has shown us and taught us to do, and which He has revealed through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our very best to be obedient to God, by truly loving Him and devoting ourselves to Him to the best of our abilities, and not showing merely external piety and devotion as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done, but with true love, genuine faith and dedication. After all, the Lord Himself had been ever faithful to His Covenant with us, that He gave everything for our sake, not even withholding Himself from accepting death for us, on the cross.

May the Lord awaken in each and every one of us, the strong desire to love Him, just as He has loved us first, and may He help us to persevere in our faith, so that in everything we do, we will always persevere and strive to resist the temptation of pride, greed, ambition and all other things that have kept us away from God all these while. May God bless us all and our endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 14 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the word of the Lord Jesus, reminding us that as Christians, each and every one of us ought to remember our obligation to obey and follow the way of the Lord as He had taught us through His Church. The Lord reminded us that we must be loving towards one another, and we must not hold any grudges or hatred towards our brethren.

The reality is that, many of us have grudges against each other, especially when we have conflicting desires and wishes, when our human ambitions clash, and we do not want to give in to each other. This is exactly why we bicker and fight, even within our families and our closest relationships. If we think that close friendship and family relationship prevent us from having all these, I am sure that all of us who fought our close friends and families, our spouses, children or parents will be able to realise the truth.

In the first reading today, we heard about how Elijah spoke to king Ahab of Israel about God Who finally was going to give rain to the land after three long years of absence, and the rain did come as He had promised. In the first place, the rain was held from the land of Israel as punishment for the people’s sins, which were caused by the sins of their king, Ahab and his wife, Jezebel.

Both of them had acted wickedly and committed sins abhorrent to God, by acting tyrannically and abusing the power and authority which had been given to them. One particular occasion was the murder of the vineyard owner Naboth, who refused to sell his vineyard, part of his ancestral land and rightful possession to the king. The king desired the vineyard as he wanted to turn it into his own vegetable farm.

The king was very angry and was emotionally affected after that refusal from Naboth, but his queen, Jezebel, inflamed his heart and encouraged him to act tyrannically by reminding him that as king, he could do whatever he wanted, and he could have whatever he wished to have. To that extent, they arranged a sham trial where Naboth was wrongly accused of blasphemy against God, and was stoned to death.

That was how power, human greed and ambition led man to sin against God. And unless we make the effort to resist the temptation of those worldly desires and power, we will end up falling into sin as king Ahab had done, and in doing so, he led many more people down the path of sin. And that is also because he had no faith in God, and God was not at the centre of his life, but rather himself and his selfish ambitions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are called to a holier life in our daily lives. And what does this mean? It means that as the Lord Jesus Himself had said, that as Christians, we must strive to be exemplary in our actions, forgiving those who have hurt us and not to hold grudges against each other. We are called to love one another, and even those who have not loved us or even hated us and persecuted us.

Remember that the Lord asked us to pray for our enemies and those who persecuted us? This is what we must then do, or else we risk holding grudges and hatred against each other, which eventually leads to sin. Is this what we want to happen to us? Surely, it is not. The Lord Jesus Himself forgave His enemies from the cross, all those who have condemned Him to death. If He has done so, then why can’t we?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore devote ourselves, our effort and attention to be ever more faithful to the Lord, our God, by loving more generously, and placing Him at the centre of our lives. May God bless us all and may He be with us, all the days of our lives. Amen.

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Wednesday, 13 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Lord in the Scripture reminding us to be faithful and to have courage in the midst of difficulties and challenges that we may have encountered as we lived our lives filled with faith in God. In the first reading today, we heard of how the prophet Elijah stood up against the king of Israel, Ahab, and his four hundred and fifty priests, all serving and worshipping Baal, the pagan god of Canaan.

At the Mount Carmel, Elijah stood alone against those multitudes of people arrayed against him and against God, as the people of Israel have followed their kings and rulers into error and into worship of pagan idols. Only a handful remained in their faith in God, including the prophet Elijah, whom God had sent to call the people back to Him, and to reconcile those who had wandered away from His path.

Yet, despite all the persecution he had faced, having to flee many times for his life, and despite all the difficulties and the odds stacked against him, the prophet Elijah continued his ministry with zeal, and in a sense, it culminated in that great showdown at Mount Carmel, where before the people of Israel and their king, God showed His majesty and truth before them, against their false gods and idols.

Even though there were four hundred and fifty of them, none of the prayers of the priests of Baal were heard. There was no fire provided to them, to burn their offerings on the altar, showing to the people how false and useless their pagan worship had been. On the contrary, although Elijah was alone, but God was with him. And despite having poured a lot of water on the offerings and the altar, fire came down from heaven, so powerful and intense that it consumes everything including the water and the stones.

From this, we can see just how God is always faithful to His Covenant with us, and He will never abandon those who have always walked in His presence. He will always be with those who are faithful to Him, even during difficult and challenging times. In the end, despite all the sufferings, persecutions and difficulties, God will always triumph against those who have made themselves to be His enemies.

That is why, He sent us His own Son, Jesus Christ, to be the fulfilment of His long promised salvation to us, to be the One to fulfil the entirety of the Law He had given to us mankind. Unfortunately, as we heard in the Gospel passage today, and as we can see throughout the entirety of the Gospels, we see how the Lord Jesus was treated much in the same manner as how the prophet Elijah and the other prophets had been treated.

They had not been obedient to the true Law, and instead, twisted the Law to their own desires and to their advantage. They made use of the Law to serve their own selfish greed and pride, and as a result, they were no different from those priests of Baal who worshipped the devil and Baal, and not God, as they put their own selfish needs and desires ahead of their obligation to God, to the point that they opposed the Lord Jesus and made His works difficult.

But the Lord pointed out their errors and reemphasised how He came to fulfil the Law and complete what the Lord had promised His people, the salvation which He had vowed to give them. He still persevered regardless of the challenges He faced, just as the prophet Elijah had done. And today, another faithful servant of God is also remembered, that is St. Anthony of Padua, the renowned priest and Doctor of the Church.

St. Anthony of Padua was born into a wealthy and influential Portuguese family, but was attracted to the way of life of the consecrated religious orders, and eventually ordained to the priesthood and later on, joined the Franciscan order. He devoted his life to the service to God, and to a life of prayer and preaching the faith before the people. His sermons and preachings were so eloquent and inspired by the Holy Spirit, that many people came to hear him and were converted to the truth.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard the inspiring stories of faith from these faithful servants of God, and from the Lord Himself, in what they had done, let us all reevaluate our own lives, and seek to turn to the Lord with all of our hearts, and do our very best to be faithful to God in the same manner, by living our lives filled with love for God, as well as love for one another, even if we face challenges for who we are, as Christians, as God’s own people.

Let us all stand up together for our faith in God, and let us not let challenges and difficulties to hinder us or keep us away from loving God as we should. May the Lord be with us, and may He continue to watch over us, and bless all of our endeavours and good works of faith. Amen.

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Tuesday, 12 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the tale of the prophet Elijah who went to the region of Sidon while avoiding the land of Israel for the king of Israel and his forces wanted his death. There he met a widow of the town of Zarephath just as the Lord had told him. He was hungry and without food, for he was running away from his enemies, and the widow herself did not have much left, as the lack of rain had caused famine throughout the land.

She was hesitant to follow God’s will, as she was told to feed the prophet Elijah, while she and her own son had barely enough to eat for their last meal. They had almost given up hope, because the famine was truly very bad, and no food was left for them, leaving them to die in hunger. But the prophet Elijah reassured the woman and told her that God would provide for all that she and him would need.

In the end, God performed His miraculous deed, as the woman’s jar of oil and flour never ran dry, and as long as the dry spell and the famine continued, she had enough to provide for herself, for her son and for the prophet Elijah. That was God’s providence for His faithful servants. And then, later on, in another part of the Book of Kings, it was told that the woman’s son died, and the woman again struggled in her faith.

But the Lord showed yet once again, His love, providence and compassion. Through the prophet Elijah, He returned the son of the woman back to life, and I am certain that all of these, would have made the widow of Zarephath to be a believer in God. Elijah the prophet performed his work even during those difficult and hard times, when he was assailed and on the run.

In the Gospel passage today, the Lord Jesus taught the people using parables, and this particular parable mentioned in the passage today, is the parable of the salt and the light. He mentioned how all the faithful people of God and His disciples are called to be salt of the earth and light of the world. Why did He use these two items to teach to the disciples in such a manner?

That is because, at the time of Jesus, salt and light are much more important than what we deem them to be now. We live in a world where salt and light are in abundance, at any time of the day, that we do not appreciate just how important they are. Salt is a very important commodity used in the past to preserve fresh food, preventing them from spoilage, and this is still true even to this very day. We still use salt to preserve our food, as salt kills the germs and bacteria present in the food.

That is also why, salt was also used to purify water, as what the prophet Elisha, Elijah’s successor, done to a water source that was unfit for drinking. Salt is also used in our holy water, as a symbol of purification, as salt kills any unwanted microorganism present in the water that could have made us sick. And of course, salt also gives flavour and taste to food, that without salt, food might have ended up tasteless and bland.

Meanwhile, light was very important to us all, as without light, in the darkness, we cannot see anything. At night, when there was no sunlight, people depended on the light from the moon and the stars to guide their way, and they use candles and torches to provide them with light. With light, mankind could be active even at night, and the light made wild beasts and predators to back off from attacking our ancestors.

Now, as we have discussed, we can see just how important salt and light are to our lives, and all the more so during the time of Jesus. What the Lord told His disciples was in fact a calling to make them realise that each and every one of them, that is all of us as well, must have that commitment, that zeal and that living faith in us. Or else, our faith is empty and meaningless.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, our greatest obstacle is ignorance and indifference. We do not care to be truly active in living our faith, and indeed, sometimes we are fearful and hesitant. As a result, that is why we have not been salt of the earth and light of the world. But are we content with this current state of our lives? Should we not make a determined effort to make a difference now?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore, from now on, be salt of the earth and light of the world, as the Lord has called us to be. And this means that we should do our best, to show love and care for one another, and to be exemplary in our faith, devoting ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord, even when challenges and obstacles arise in our path. Remember, that the prophet Elijah remained faithful, even though he had to be on the run many times, just because he kept his faith in God.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He awaken in each and every one of us, the desire to serve Him and to love Him with all of our hearts. May He bless us and all of our endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 11 June 2018 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Barnabas, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of one of the Apostles of the Lord, namely St. Barnabas, the companion of the famed St. Paul the Apostle, during several of his missionary trips around the Eastern Mediterranean region. St. Barnabas accompanied St. Paul from cities to cities, preaching the Christian faith to the people in those places.

St. Barnabas and St. Paul were not among the Twelve Apostles, who were Christ’s chief confidants and followers. However, as an Apostle, St. Barnabas was a key component and part in the foundation of the early Christian Church. Together with St. Paul and the other Apostles, they worked tirelessly to establish the foundations of the Church and spread the faith to many places throughout the Eastern Mediterranean.

We heard about their exploits in the first reading passage today, and if we continued reading the entire Acts of the Apostles and the letters that St. Paul wrote to the various communities of the faithful, we can see how the works of St. Barnabas and the Apostles were crucial in the establishment of the faith in numerous places, despite the hardships and challenges that they had to endure.

Without their hard work and perseverance, we would not have the Church as it is today, and many souls would have been lost to damnation, as without the truth being brought forth to the masses by these faithful servants of God, they would have remained in the darkness and ignorance, and remaining in the state of sin, they would have been lost.

However, as we should have realised, that with the hard work that the Apostles had given, also came great perseverance and suffering that they had to endure. The Lord Jesus commissioned His disciples to go forth in their assigned works in our Gospel passage today, and then, He even told them of what to expect in their work, that there would be those who would refuse to believe them, and would reject them.

To the Apostles, this would mean suffering and persecution, and just as St. Paul had experienced many times, they had to go through suffering in prison, and died a painful martyr’s death. Some were crucified on crosses, while others were beheaded, shot with arrows, or thrown to the lions and wild animals in the gladiator arena, and many more were tortured to death.

Yet, they remained true to their faith and refused to give it up to secure their own lives. They would rather suffer and perish in faith rather than to betray and abandon their Lord. Their example should be our inspiration on how we should live faithfully in accordance to God’s ways, and stand up for our faith in Him, as all true Christians should. We should no longer be lukewarm in our faith, and begin from now on, to practice our faith in our lives.

That is how we can also take part in the work of evangelisation that the Apostles had begun, as preaching by word alone is just one way of evangelising the faith to others. In fact, if we do not act in the same manner as we have preached and spoken, no one will believe in us. The Apostles lived as they have believed, and they practiced the love that they had been shown in their daily lives and interactions, caring for the need of one another, and loving God with all of their might.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the works of the Apostles, as I have mentioned, are not yet complete. There are still many areas in which the faith can reach out to many more souls who are still lost from the Lord. Even within our Church there are still many of those who have lost their faith, or become lukewarm and apathetic in the living of their faith. This is where we can play our part, to be examples and inspirations to each other in faith.

May the Lord be with us all, and may through the intercession of St. Barnabas, all of us will draw ever closer to God, and be more faithful in our respective lives, day after day. May God bless us all and our endeavours. Amen.

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Sunday, 10 June 2018 : Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the account of mankind’s fall in the Scriptures, when Adam and Eve, our ancestors were tempted by Satan, in the form of a serpent, to disobey God’s commands, and ate from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Due to that disobedience, we have sinned against God, and the punishment for our sins, was exile from Eden, where we should have lived an eternity of joy with God.

And yet, God did not seek to destroy us. If He had wanted to destroy us because of His anger against us, He could have done so from the very beginning. After all, He Who has created us, could definitely also unmake us by His will alone. But, God loves each and every one of us, without exception, and therefore, as a result, God’s great love for us made our salvation possible.

Indeed, God is angry with us because of our sins, as sins are abhorrent and wicked in His sight. However, He did not hate us, as people as who we are, because He Himself has created us, out of love, and God desires to love each and every one of us, and share the love that He had within Himself. And love was why, God sent us His salvation, through none other than Jesus Christ, Our Lord, His own beloved Son.

Why do we need to be saved? That is because sin is truly a wicked thing, which corrupts everything it touches. Sin was born out of disobedience against God, and therefore, sin is caused by our pride, our ego, our desire that go against the Lord’s wish and will. And sin corrupts the body, the mind, the heart and the soul. Essentially, it makes us unworthy of God, just like our ancestors Adam and Eve.

When we sin, we cannot stand before God and we cannot be with Him, as God is all good, and sin is evil and wicked. Our sins will destroy us and crush us before God, and we will be judged for those sins. Sin separates us from God, and hell should have been our due, as hell is the complete absence of any hope of salvation and a state of total separation from God’s love.

But God desired otherwise, and He gave us Jesus, to be the One through Whom we all have a new hope in our lives. Through Jesus, a bridge has been established, spanning the gap between us and God, Our Lord and Father. He is the Mediator of a new Covenant that has been made between God and us mankind. He has shown us the perfect and selfless love that God has for each and every one of us.

Yet, many of us behaved like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who obstinately refused to believe in the Lord and opposed Him at every possible opportunity. They doubted and questioned Him, and this made the Lord very angry, especially when they doubted the work of God made through the Holy Spirit, when clearly God was at work. Instead, they alleged that the Lord had made His works through the power of Beelzebul, a prince of demons.

What we must realise here, brothers and sisters in Christ, is that God’s mercy and forgiveness is vast and great, and as long as we are willing to repent and to believe in Him, we shall be forgiven from our sins, and we will be reconciled with Him. Yet, if we constantly refused to repent and believe, and even reject the good works of God and considering them as falsehood and wicked, that is what the Lord mentioned as the sin against the Holy Spirit, which will not be forgiven.

God does not throw us mankind into hell, but rather, it is we ourselves who warrant ourselves hell for eternity, because of our pride, ego, greed, desire and all the things that prevented us from finding our way to the Lord, and from being forgiven of our sins. We falter in our ways, and we fell into sin, but it is up to us to accept God’s rich offer of mercy, turn ourselves to Him and be forgiven.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to love us despite our many trespasses against Him. Let us all renew the commitment to live worthily and to be devoted to Him, each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us all and our every endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.