Catholic homilies

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Friday, 13 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the matter of the forgiveness of sins, as Jesus our Lord healed the paralytic man, telling him that He has forgiven him his sins, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law refused to believe that He was capable of forgiveness of sins, as to them, only God could forgive sins, and they did not believe that He is truly God.

This was precisely pointed out in the first reading today from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews, how two different types of people heard and received the Good News of the Gospel, but they acted differently, and thus different outcomes were recorded. In one group, the people who heard the Gospel believed in the message of the Lord, and they welcomed the truth of God in their hearts, and therefore they were saved.

However, in the other group, they refused to believe, and therefore the Word had no place in their hearts. They closed their hearts against the truth of God, and in their stubbornness, they had brought about their own downfall. God had freely offered His mercy, love and forgiveness, but if those people refused to accept them, then they would not be forgiven their sins and trespasses.

That was why the paralytic man was healed from his afflictions, because of his faith in God, Who made His good works true through Jesus His Son. He had sent His Son into the world in order to save it, and thus through Jesus, He had brought about His healing and forgiveness into the world. The paralytic man had been made whole in body and spirit, healed from his sickness and also forgiven from his sins.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law on the other hand, even though they were perfectly fine in the body, not afflicted by human diseases and weaknesses, but in their hearts, their sins remained. Sin is the disease of the soul, which gnaws away at our very being, and corrupting us from the inside out. This is why Jesus often rebuked them, at their impurities of their interior beings, while they insisted on outward appearances and exterior piety.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us ask ourselves, are we open to receive God’s mercy and forgiveness? Or are we more like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who in their pride and greed refused to believe in the truth that Jesus our Lord had taught to all of them. They refused to acknowledge their sinfulness and wicked ways, and they adamantly refused to change their ways.

That is the attitude of those who have condemned themselves to an eternity of sufferings. Rather, as Christians, all of us should learn to be more like Christ, our Lord, following Him in His humility and obedience to the will of the Father. We should erase from our hearts all sorts of human pride and all the things that prevent us from finding the grace and forgiveness in God. And most importantly, we should be concerned for each other, helping one another to reject false ways and adhere to the true faith in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, each and every one of us should also follow the examples of today’s saint, St. Hilary of Poitiers. St. Hilary of Poitiers lived during the waning years of the Roman Empire, with the Christian community troubled by the heresy of Arianism, which had gained much traction amongst the people. The false teachings of Arius had misled many into the wrong paths, and there were many who adamantly refused to see the truth in the orthodox and true faith.

St. Hilary of Poitiers worked hard among the people, through his preaching and outreach to them, telling them the truth about God, and dispelling the falsehoods and the lies of Arianism and the other heresies of the faith. He devoted his time to bring the people who had been lost in the darkness that they may find their way back to the light of God, and to those who were still adamant against repentance, he rebuked them and cast them out from the Church.

He did not have it easy as he worked among the people to bring them back to the Church, as it was often that he faced rejection and ridicule, and he was even persecuted and people plotted against him. He had to endure humiliation and even exile in his life. As Christians, we should follow his good examples, and be inspired by his dedication to the Lord, and be like him in his desire to bring his brethren in faith back to the true way towards the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be good and faithful Christians like St. Hilary of Poitiers, devoting our life to the Lord, believing in Him and placing our complete trust in Him. Let us not be blinded by our pride and let us not be distracted by our human desires, but instead, let us do our best to help one another to remain true to our Lord and to His truth. May the Lord bless all of our endeavours. Amen.

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Thursday, 12 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about Jesus our Lord healing the lepers, who came to Him asking to be healed and to be made whole. Jesus healed them from their leprosy, and asked them to present themselves to the priests that they might be reconciled officially with the rest of their communities and be welcomed back by them.

We also heard about the rebellion of Israel of old, at the time of Massah and Meribah, at the time when the people of God grumbled against Him and disobeyed Him because they complained that they did not have enough of what they desired, and they lamented that their lives in slavery in Egypt was better than what they received from God in the desert.

The link between these two readings from the Scriptures is that we mankind have been afflicted by many wickedness and by the diseases of the body, the flesh and the soul. Leprosy is the disease of the flesh, where the affected parts and limbs of the body would eventually become numb, necrotic and fall off. It was very feared at that time as there was not yet any cure discovered for leprosy. It is a disease which many thought would spread easily by contact, and therefore those who suffered were shunned by the community and were cast out to live in the desert.

In the same manner, sin is the disease of the soul, which corrupts everything, beginning from the inside to the outside, affecting our very beings. Sin causes us to be separated and estranged from God, to enter a spiritual desert, through which we suffer and long for liberation and salvation. It was like the people of Israel at Massah and Meribah, who have disobeyed the Lord and doubted Him, and as a punishment, God made them to wander for many years in the desert before allowing them to enter the Promised Land.

But if we worry because of that, let us no longer worry, for God Himself loves us all, each and every one of us, and He is concerned about us. He wants us all to be saved and to be liberated from our sins, and He wants us to be purified, cleansed and made worthy of Him once again, just as He had healed the lepers as mentioned in the Gospel passage today.

The important question is that, are we willing to be healed from our sins? Are we willing to let go of our past lives and our wickedness? Or do we prefer indeed to follow the path of the Israelites, who grumbled and complained against Moses and God even though they had been blessed with many things? Let us open our hearts and not be stubborn, brethren, or else the fate of those sinners will be ours as well.

It is important that as Christians we should care for one another, and indeed be concerned about the state of each other’s souls. We should not abandon our brethren who are living in sin, by tolerating their sins and allowing them to continue to be sinful. Let us also not fall into the temptations of the devil, and learn to resist the pleasures of the flesh and all sorts of things which the devil are using against us to bring about our downfall.

Let us help one another to walk on this path towards the Lord, and repent sincerely in our hearts, and be converted in our way of life and in our deeds, so that in everything we say and do, we will always remember to be faithful to the Lord, and be able to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him. Let us no longer hesitate, but seek Him out and His mercy and love. And let us all begin it from ourselves, by changing our own way of life to follow the way of the Lord, and then inspire others to follow our footsteps as well.

May the Lord be with us all, bless us and keep us in His grace. May He empower us all and give us the strength to carry out His will in this world, through our actions and deeds. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we have heard about our Lord Jesus Christ being told to us both from our first reading, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews, from our Psalm and from the Gospel according to St. mark, where we were told about the good works of Jesus our Lord, the One Who had come into the world, God became Man, so that through Him all of us may be saved from our fate of eternal damnation because of our sins.

We heard in the first reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews, how Jesus our Lord came into our world sharing our nature of flesh and blood, that the Divine Word and Son of God took up the raiment of human flesh and blood, through His mother Mary was born as the Son of Man, so that, by sharing in all the human nature we have, save for our sinfulness, He might unite all of us to Himself, and by offering Himself as the High Priest of all mankind, He might save us all.

Jesus is indeed the High Priest of all of us, and just like the priests of the ages old, He offered sacrifice for the sake of the sins of the people, but unlike those priests who offered sacrifices of animal fats and blood to the Lord, burnt offerings and sin offerings, Jesus offered Himself, His own Most Precious Body and Blood, the perfect and unblemished Lamb of God, the perfect offering and sacrifice, the only One which is worthy for the absolution of all of mankind’s countless sins.

And why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? Why did Jesus do so much for our sake, even to sacrifice Himself on the cross for us? That is because He loves each and every one of us. God loves us all, as He created all of us out of His great love for us. He did not create us to abandon us and to see us destroyed because of our sins. Yet, it was we ourselves who have rejected God and rebelled against Him, we refused His offer of mercy and love.

And yet, amongst the stubborn people, our Lord had endeavoured to come and to heal them from their afflictions. He went among them and walked among them, showing gentle love and mercy to those who were sick and dying, healing them from those afflictions of the flesh. And more importantly, He also healed from them the afflictions of their souls, that is sin. He welcomed sinners back into His embrace and called them to repent from their sinful ways.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, sin is a disease of the flesh, one that will eventually devour us whole if we do not do anything about it. Sin corrupts our souls, hearts, minds and also our bodies. While the diseases of the flesh can be healed by doctors and by medical technology available today, but sin can only be healed by One, that is God Himself. No one else has the authority to forgive sins but God.

But are we willing to be forgiven? Are we willing to be healed from the affliction of our sins? It is our reluctance and refusal to be forgiven, because of our pride and our desires that led to our downfall. Are we the ones who place obstacles on our own path? The Lord wants to heal us and to forgive us our sins, but are we willing to accept His offer of mercy?

All that He asked of us is for us to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him, and to give our full commitment to repentance and to change our ways. We may think that this can be easily done, but in reality, it has been proven many times that mankind found it hard to commit themselves to God, and they kept getting distracted and tempted on their journey towards the Lord.

Let us spend some time to contemplate this matter, and think about what we can do in order to bring ourselves ever closer to God’s mercy and love. And let us also help one another to reach out to the Lord and let us make sure that none of us are lost to Him along the way. May God bless us all and all of our endeavours. Amen.

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Tuesday, 10 January 2017 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we begin the celebration of the Ordinary Time of the Liturgical Year, which will continue until the beginning of the season of Advent on Ash Wednesday. Today from the Scriptures, we heard about the Lord Jesus, our God and Master, to Whom the authority belongs, to make all things and all creations, good or evil, to bow down before Him and obey Him.

In the first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul written to the Hebrews, the Apostle wrote about Jesus, Who have come into the world as the Messiah and Saviour, but He was not just like any other prophets or any other human beings, in that He was special, for He was not just a mere Man, but also the Almighty God, Lord and Master of all. He was the Son of Man Who is also the Son of God.

To Him, the Father has given the dominion over all things. For it was also through Him that everything in creation was created, from beings of the flesh to the beings of the spirit, of Angels and fallen angels, good and wicked spirits, even the evil spirits that were told in the Gospel today to have inhabited the man in the synagogue. That was why Jesus was able to cast out the evil spirit from the man, since He is the Master even over that evil spirit.

He taught with true authority, for power and authority truly belong to Him. That was why all were amazed at His teachings just as they were amazed at how even demons and evil spirits had to obey Him. Satan might boast of his might and power in the world, being once the mightiest of the Angels of God, as Lucifer, but he was still a creation, and nothing compared to the One and true Master of all. Even he had to obey the Lord, and in Jesus, Satan knew that his fate would be sealed.

But in his pride and desire to rule over all things, the devil supported by his angels and fellow evil spirits wanted to see us destroyed, and if he is to be defeated and destroyed, then he would want us to also suffer the same fate as well. And that was why he had always been at work, trying to undermine us and our efforts to seek the Lord. He placed many obstacles and temptations on our path, that we may falter and fall into sin.

That was also why, even though the Lord Jesus had clearly shown Who He was, what He was sent into this world for, and what He has done, to all the people to see, there were always those who refused to believe in Him, as most of the Pharisees and the elders, the teachers of the Law and the chief priests did. They refused to believe in Him because in their hearts which they had hardened, they followed the whim of the desires and pride.

They certainly knew that the words of the Lord Jesus were true, as they were certainly well versed in the matters of the Scriptures and the prophecies of the prophets. They were the ones who should have welcomed the Lord and recognised Him the first among all others, and then proclaimed Him to the other people. Yet, they did not do that because they were afraid that this Man would be their undoing, that they would lose their influence and the privileges they have enjoyed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us should learn from all of these, and learn to be humble and to follow the examples of Jesus our Lord. He obeyed the will of His Father, and by His obedience we have all been saved, all of us who believe in Him and in His words. And although He has power and authority, dominion and control over all of creation, He did not boast of them, and neither did He become vain and proud in His ways.

Let us all Christians devote ourselves, our time and our efforts to serve the Lord humbly and with genuine faith. Let us not give in to the temptations of Satan and free ourselves from all forms of wicked deeds, from all pride and human greed. May the Lord help us in this endeavour, that we may live with Him filled with His grace and blessings. May He keep us in His love always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 9 January 2017 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ, which falls after the Solemnity of the Epiphany, the moment when Jesus was revealed to the world for the first time through the actions of the Three Wise Men or the Magi. These events mark the ending of the season of Christmas today, as the readings of the Scripture shift from the events surrounding the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, into one that begins His earthly ministry.

The baptism of our Lord Jesus at the Jordan River by St. John the Baptist was a momentous event which marked the beginning of our Lord’s work on earth, to fulfil the mission which He had been sent into this world for. Jesus was then thirty years old, fully grown as a Man, endowed and blessed with all the good human upbringing that His mother Mary and His foster-father St. Joseph had given Him throughout all those years.

Thus the baptism of our Lord Jesus can be seen as the coming of age event, through which a formal beginning of the ministry of the Saviour of the world was marked. After the baptism, the Lord went on to prepare Himself through fasting for forty days and nights before He was ready to set forth and teach the people the Good News of God.

It is indeed a reminder of our own baptism that we celebrate this feast of the Baptism of our Lord today. Let us ask that simple question, which answer has often stunned many of us Christians until today. What does our baptism mean to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? What is its significance to us, to our faith and to our respective lives? And indeed, can we remember the day of our own baptism?

If we cannot remember the day of our own baptism, then it means that we do not care how important is baptism and the moment of baptism to all of us. Baptism is very important and indeed crucial to us, as Jesus Himself had demonstrated through His own baptism, that each and every one of us, through baptism, received the grace to become the sons and daughters of God. For God, through His Son Jesus Christ, have made us to share in His baptism, as His brethren.

And what is baptism about? There are many symbols used in baptism, primarily which is blessed and holy water. It is a symbol of cleansing and healing, representing how Jesus was baptised by St. John the Baptist at the Jordan river, and also how the people of Israel passed through the waters of the Red Sea, when God brought them out of Egypt, and also later on when He brought them to the land of promise, opening up the Jordan river for them to pass through.

It is a symbol of the destruction of our past and sinful lives. We have been immersed in the water just as our Lord Jesus was, and we share in His death together, His death on the cross. And water is also a symbol of life, for water is needed for us to continue living. Thus, it is also a symbol of our sharing of the Lord’s glorious resurrection from the dead, that each and every one of us who have been baptised now have in us the promise of everlasting life Jesus had made to His disciples.

The holy oil of chrism is a reminder of the anointment which our God had given us, just as He had anointed His Messiah or Saviour, to be the One through Whom salvation would come into this world. We receive the Holy Spirit through Him, and the Spirit of God Himself lives inside of us. And therefore all of us have been made the Temples of the Holy Spirit, the Temples of God. For God Himself is amongst us, and He resides within us.

We received the candle lighted with the flame from the Easter Candle, and this is the representation of the Light of Christ, the Risen Lord, through Whom we have seen the true Light and rejoice, because we have been living in the darkness, and He has come to save us all from the darkness of this world, and bring us into a new world of light.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all today remember the day of our baptism, and if we were still then too small and too young to remember what happened, then at least let us all reflect on all the significance of our baptismal ceremony and what it means for us all Christians to become the sons and daughters of God by our baptism, which we share with the Lord Jesus, our Lord and God.

And most importantly, we have to remember that just as Jesus began His earthly ministry by His baptism, each and every one of us as Christians have been entrusted with the divine ministry by our Lord Himself, Who tasked us all to go forth and to bring the Good News to all the peoples of all the nations. And we need to do this by being genuine disciples and followers of our Lord, and by practicing our faith through real actions, through our good works.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He also strengthen our faith, which we have with us ever since the day of our baptism. May we all grow stronger in our conviction and desire to serve Him, our Lord and Master, and be more courageous and dedicated in the mission which He had entrusted to all of us. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 8 January 2017 : Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the great Solemnity of the Epiphany of our Lord Jesus Christ. Many of us will remember that this Solemnity of the Epiphany is related to the Three Wise Men, or the Three Magi or Three Kings, which figurines are always accompanying the Christmas crib, bearing gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense for our Lord Jesus. But then, what is the true meaning and significance of this Epiphany feast?

The word Epiphany came from the Greek word ‘Epiphaneia’, which means the manifestation or appearance, coming from the word ‘Appear’. This feast is also sometimes known as the Theophany, also from the Greek word ‘Theos’ which means God. Thus, this Solemnity of the Epiphany is truly a celebration of the revelation and manifestation of the Lord God, Who made Himself apparent to the whole world through the means of the Three Wise Men or the Three Kings.

It was a feast originally celebrating the Baptism of our Lord Jesus, as at Baptism, when St. John the Baptist baptised Jesus, many people who were there could witness the Holy Spirit descending as a Dove and landed upon the head of Jesus, and the voice of the Father speaking, revealing to all, particularly to St. John the Baptist, that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He is the long awaited Messiah and Saviour of the world.

But over time, especially in the tradition of our Faith, the focus shifted to the moment surrounding the Nativity of our Lord, the moments surrounding His birth. The Angels had appeared to the shepherds of Bethlehem and proclaimed to them the great joy of the coming of the Lord and Saviour, the Good News which mankind had awaited for long, and which God had promised to them for many ages through His prophets and messengers.

Yet it was at the events celebrated this Epiphany when the Lord revealed Himself to His people who were of non-Jewish origin, namely the Gentiles, people from faraway lands, who also came to worship God, and who wanted to believe in Him and in His ways and messages. The Three Wise Men, or the Magi, represented these people, who came following the Star of Bethlehem and came bearing gifts to Jesus our Lord, paying Him homage as their one and true King.

There are many symbolisms surrounding the event of this Epiphany, and which we should try to understand so that we may make use of them as best as we can in order to benefit ourselves in our developing faith in our God. For in the Epiphany, we should be able to relate to ourselves and our journey in faith to God, and in the identity of the One Whom we worship, the Lord God of all creation.

The Three Kings or the Three Wise Men are representatives for us all, people from every nations, from every languages and origins, from all the ends of the earth, who came to worship the Lord and who want to believe in Him. They were following the Star of Bethlehem, which represented the coming of the Lord, Who is indeed the Light of the world. Amidst the darkened sky, the star shone brightly, visible from afar, all the way to the lands where the Magi lived in.

That was just like how we saw the Lord, the Light of our lives, amidst the darkness of this world, and we see in Him, the Light which we ought to follow, and which we indeed want to follow. It is also because of faith that they have travelled long distances, enduring difficult conditions of their journey to come and pay homage to the King of kings. That is why the star of Bethlehem is also a sign of faith, the same faith which we share in our own journey of faith. We may have different stories of how our lives had developed, but nevertheless, all of us believe in God and want to look for Him.

Through this event, we know how the Lord wanted to save us all from the threat of our destruction. He did not intend just for the salvation of certain group of people, but all of mankind, including Jews and non-Jews alike. At that time, there were those who thought that being the chosen people of God, the people of Israel were the only ones who were worthy of God’s salvation, particularly among the Pharisees and the elders of the people.

These people shunned the pagans and foreigners, whom they called as Gentiles. They thought of these people as unclean and unworthy of God and His love, and even considered coming into contact and entering their houses as being defiling and brought impurities upon them. But it was God Himself through Jesus Who broke the barriers and the perceptions, proclaiming to all that God loves all people, all of His children, both Jews and Gentiles alike.

We can see the contrast in many occasions throughout the Gospels, when the supposedly pagan Gentiles, from the Greeks to the Samaritans, actually welcomed the Lord and His teachings through Christ, while the Jews themselves were not always receptive to Him, and in some occasions they even rejected and opposed Him, as what the teachers of the Law, the Pharisees and the elders of the people did.

God, through His revelation in this Epiphany wanted to show all of His people, that He is God, Who had come into the world in the form of Man in Jesus Christ, through Whom He would bring His salvation to all of His people without exception. It will not be based on the birth or background of His people that He would save them, but instead, He would save them through faith. Those who believe in Him and place their trust in Him will be saved.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now that we have discussed about how and why God revealed Himself to the whole world, then now let us all discuss how God revealed Himself to the world through the Three Wise Men. They brought to Jesus our Lord three different and truly unique gifts. Do we all know the significance of those gifts? Each of them had a meaning, and each of them indeed are parts of the revelation of Who Jesus truly is.

The gift of gold, frankincense and myrrh are indeed strange gifts to be given to a newborn Child. Now let us go through each one of them. Gold is a precious metal which since long ago have become a source of wonder and amazement to many people around the world, and it has long become a symbol of wealth and power. And it was often that gold are fit only for the rulers, the royalty and all those who were endowed with power and authority. Not just any person were able to afford t possess gold.

Thus gold represented Jesus Who came into this world as a King, and not just like any other kings, but as the King, the one true King, from Whom all power and authority came from. All the other rulers of this world ultimately derived their authority and power from the Lord, Who blessed them and granted them the guardianship over His people on earth.

Yet we can see just how amazing our Lord and our King is, for although He is a great King, Lord and Master of all the Universe, He is humble, loving and caring for all of His people. And He is showing all by His own examples. He is a leader, a King Who does not sit above everyone else and oppress those who are under Him. Instead, He is a servant leader, Who went through the lowest and the most difficult things a leader had to do, that is to actually go and do the works in order to help His people.

And indeed, even as God, He is not a distant and fearsome God Who oppresses His people. The frankincense is the best quality incense which are both rare and expensive, and are only used for the most solemn of purposes for worship. Incense had been used for a long time as well, in many religious purposes, for the worship of deities and gods, as well as an aromatic perfume because of its aroma and good smelling smoke.

Thus the frankincense represents the divinity of Christ, that Jesus, while He was a mere Baby, weak and fragile, born in a dirty and cramped stable fit only for animals, not for a man, less so a king, and even less so for the King of kings and as the Creator and only God of the whole Universe, was and is indeed God, the only One Who deserves to be worshipped and adored by all of creation.

Through those two gifts, the story of the Epiphany, the visit of the Three Magi or Wise Men has inspired in the hearts of many people about the birth of our Lord, Who has willingly come down upon this world as a Man, taking up the flesh of Man, and born in the worst possible condition, in a poor and dirty stable, and yet, He is indeed the God and King of this world, and this universe. He is both God and Man at the same time, all united in the person of Jesus Christ, Who had two natures, the Divine Nature of God, and the Human nature of Man.

But all these would not be complete, neither would it make sense without the third gift of the Three Magi, which revealed to us all, the very purpose of why Jesus came into this world, why God would want to enter into this world as a mere Man. Myrrh is an aromatic compound commonly used in the past for the purpose of embalming dead bodies, to preserve the dead bodies from decomposition and from emanating foul odours.

It would indeed be weird for someone to give the gift of myrrh to a baby, and less so, to the King of kings and the Creator God of all. But that myrrh represent nothing other than the Passion of our Lord Jesus, what we are celebrating at every Holy Week, of Jesus Christ our Lord, Who willingly took upon Himself the burdens of our sins, the sins of our forefathers, and indeed of all mankind. And He bore it all upon Himself, bearing His cross to Calvary, where He laid down His life for all of us, that we may live.

Thus in Epiphany and what we celebrate today, we see the perfect embodiment and fulfilment of God’s love, in the person of Jesus Christ, the Child Who was born that night in Bethlehem two millennia ago, and to Whom the Three Magi or Wise Men paid homage to, bearing the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, signifying and revealing to all the whole world that He is not just a mere Child, but indeed the King of the whole world, God of all creation, Who out of His infinite love and mercy for us, willingly took up the flesh of Man, incarnate through the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother, to be our Saviour.

Now, what we need to ask ourselves as Christians, is simple indeed. As Christians, do we truly believe in God’s love through Christ? Do we take Him as our King and our Lord? Have we lived in accordance with His ways, in our actions and deeds? If we say that God is our King and Lord, and yet our actions, words and deeds do not reflect our obedience and adherence to His ways, will it not cause shame and scandal to our Lord’s great and holy Name?

Let us all spend time to reflect on ourselves and our respective lives as we celebrate and rejoice together in this feast and Solemnity of the Epiphany of our Lord. Let us all first of all be thankful to God Who has loved us so much, that He is willing to reveal Himself and His love through Jesus Christ His Son, His greatest gift to all of us. He has sent us the means of our salvation, our liberation from our sins and the One through Whom all of our past trespasses will be forgiven.

May we all grow ever deeper in our relationship with God, and by understanding more about our Lord, by receiving His revelations and understanding them, by our prayerful life and good works, we may receive from Him the gift of everlasting life and grace. May God be with us always and may He bless us in all of our life’s endeavours. Have a blessed and wonderful celebration of the Epiphany. Amen.

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Saturday, 7 January 2017 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings spoke to us about believing in God and following His ways. And a warning has also been given to us, in order to warn us against those who would corrupt us and mislead us into sin, namely the wicked spirits and the false prophets, the agents of the evil one. And the key to differentiate the truth from the false ideas, as mentioned, lay in knowing the good works of God, through which God by His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, had redeemed us.

Those who believe in the Lord and in His ways will be able to know if someone is genuine or fake in their devotion to the Lord. They will know this through witnessing and seeing the actions of those who claim to have come from the Lord. No matter how good they are in trying to subvert the messages of the Lord and in trying to trick us into doing evil, those who serve the evil one will not be able to proclaim and recognise that Jesus is their Lord and Master, and it will also show through their actions.

Indeed, there are many obstacles and challenges for us Christians. There are many difficulties that we have to overcome in order to be able to reach out to the Lord and to His salvation. There will be those who try to bar us from reaching Him, and there will also be many people who will criticise us and oppose us in our works and in our attempt to be faithful servants of our Lord. But that is because the ways of the Lord we are following, are against the ways of the world.

The world preaches a life of sin and wickedness, a life filled with the pleasures and desires of the flesh, with all sorts of corruption and unworthiness before God. It is a world which has been filled with all sorts of sin and wickedness, ever since mankind first disobeyed God and preferring to listen to the devil and his lies. It is a world of darkness, where we are blinded by the darkness of our own sins and human weaknesses, where we did not know the path and the way forward.

But we have to know that God loves each and every one of us, and through that same love, He had endeavoured to send unto us the true Light, the Light which has penetrated the darkness of this world, and became the light that guided us through the journey of this life, and filling us with a new hope, that is a hope for the salvation of our souls.

He came into the world, as mentioned in the Gospel today, with the mission to heal the sick and the afflicted from their sickness and afflictions. He touched the lepers, the blind and the deaf and mute people, and these were healed from all of their physical afflictions. But ultimately, Jesus also healed us all from the greatest affliction of all, that is the scourge of sin. By healing us from our sins, He had made us whole again and once again were made worthy of the kingdom of God.

It is therefore the same calling and mission which our Lord had entrusted to us, that we may show the love of God, the mercy of God, and the healing with which He had made many people whole once again, to all of our fellow brethren, especially to those who are still living in the darkness of this world. When there are those who seek to mislead and to bring the people of God to ruin and damnation, we should be those who help to guide one another on the path towards God.

Let us therefore on this day remember the life of the holy saint whose feast we celebrate on this day, so that we may imitate the examples of this holy servant of God, and find our way to God’s salvation. St. Raymond of Penyafort was a holy and devoted man, a holy priest of God who belonged to the Order of Preachers or the Dominican Order.

St. Raymond of Penyafort was renowned for his many good works for the sake of the Church, helping many people on their path towards redemption. He helped the Church and the Pope to reform the Church and the lives of the faithful. Through him, many people turned back towards the Lord and reformed their sinful lives into a life worthy and righteous to God.

It was also told in one very well-known tale, that he even rebuked the king of Aragon in Spain, to whom he was a confessor, for his sinful ways. The king was a good and faithful person, but at the same time, he allowed his lust and the temptations of the world to take over him. The holy saint repeatedly asked the king to dismiss his concubine, but the king refused to do so.

And when the king also refused to let the holy man go, because St. Raymond could no longer tolerate the king’s sinful ways, he said to the king that the Lord, Who is the one true King over all, will show him His power and rebuke the wicked king’s deeds. It was told that St. Raymond took off his Dominican preacher’s cloak and spread it on the water, on which he sailed through the sea, a great miracle witnessed by many, which also made the king to believe and to repent his ways.

Each and every one of us as Christians also have the same obligation to keep one another in the faith, so that each and every one of us will continue to walk in the way of faith, and not falter and fall into temptation. St. Raymond of Penyafort had shown us one such example, and also many other examples not mentioned today. We do not have to perform miraculous deeds as he had done, but at least from ourselves, we should devote our time to care for our brethren, and to help each other to watch our path that we will not be lost to sin and eternal damnation.

May the Lord help us on our path, that we may remain ever faithful amidst this world filled with all sorts of temptations. May we remain in the Lord’s grace and be filled with faith, that all of us may be worthy of Him when He comes again, and He will bring us all into the everlasting inheritance and bless us with eternal life filled with true joy. God be with us all. Amen.

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Friday, 6 January 2017 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scriptures, about the coming of the Lord into this world, and how He has been acclaimed and acknowledged through the three testimonies, of water, Blood and the Spirit. And from the Scriptures itself, we can find these testimonies, the testimonies of faith for our belief in Him, through Whom God willed to save us from the eternal damnation.

First of all, the testimony of water was witnessed by St. John the Baptist who baptised our Lord Jesus in the Jordan. The moment that he baptised Him, as He was plunged into the waters of the river, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descended from it to rest upon Jesus, and the voice of the Father declaring that Jesus is the holy Son of God, the One Whom He had sent into the world, and through Whom He had sent His salvation.

And the testimony of the Blood came through the Passion of our Lord, Who have suffered for us and for our sake, bearing the burden of the cross, when His Blood was shed for the salvation of the whole world and all mankind. The Lord gave His own Precious Body and Blood, so that all of us who share in them and receive them worthily will have life in us, and we will not perish but live forever with Him. It was only the Blood of the Lamb of God that is worthy enough to redeem us all from the entirety of our sins.

Lastly, the testimony of the Spirit refers to the Holy Spirit that first came on Jesus at His Baptism, declaring together with the Father, the true nature of the Saviour of the world, and Who was later promised by the Lord to His disciples and followers, that all who believed in Him would receive the Holy Spirit that He promised. And indeed, the Holy Spirit later came on them, and He spoke the same thing that Jesus Himself had taught them.

All the three testimonies of water, Blood and Spirit agreed together that Jesus is Lord, Jesus is Saviour of all, and through Him salvation would come upon all who have shared in His baptism, when we all receive the Sacrament by the pouring or immersion in the holy water of baptism, and then receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord Himself in the Eucharist, and finally the gift of the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Confirmation.

All these are the three important Sacraments of Initiation that all Christians ought to undergo to complete their journey of faith, symbolising a complete union with the Lord through the Church. And therefore, through the holy water of baptism, by receiving the Most Precious Eucharist and being anointed with the holy oil of chrism at Confirmation, we have received the fullness of our faith as passed down to us from the Apostles of our Lord.

And now that we have received the fullness of this faith, then what are we do with it, brethren? It is now then that we should pass on this faith for others around us who have not yet heard or believed in the Lord. This was how the faith was passed on from the Apostles to the people, through whom then, down the centuries and through many interactions, that they passed down the faith all the way to us.

The Lord has tasked us all with the responsibility and duty to carry out His Good News to all the peoples, that is to continue the good works which had been done for the many years past, so that even more people would come to know of the love of God and receive therefore the salvation from Him by their faith and devotion to the way which He had shown them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this means that each and every one of us ought to do something with our lives, practicing our faith with devotion and with real action, so that all of us may convince many more people who see us, and witness in us the good works and the love of our God, and therefore, they will also be convinced and be called to walk the same path as we have walked, on our way together towards God’s grace and salvation.

May the Lord bless us all, and may He strengthen in our hearts the commitment and zeal we have for Him, so that in all things, we will always bring glory to Him and help one another to seek our way to reach out to Him. May the Lord be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Thursday, 5 January 2017 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scriptures, about the calling of Nathanael the wise, who would also be known as St. Bartholomew, one of the Lord’s Twelve Apostles. He was an educated and intelligent person, whose wisdom was known, but he was always seeking for something in his life that was missing, and he found it in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was also told how the Lord had brought with Him love as He entered into the world. Once, darkness and evil reigned throughout the whole world, ever since sin and wickedness entered into the hearts of men. Ever since the days of sin’s first entry into the world, many wicked deeds had been done by men, from the slaying of Abel by Cain, to the attempted murder of Joseph by his brothers, the plotting of Saul against David, and many others.

All these were caused by sin, by the weaknesses of our human flesh, the temptations which many of us are unable to resist. We fell into the temptation of greed, of our desire for power, for fame and worldly glory. Sin have caused us to do bad and evil deeds, causing hurt, pain and even death for our fellow mankind. And these were exactly what the Lord wanted to eradicate through His coming and entry into the world.

He came into the world, bearing His love into a world darkened with sin and evil. This is the light and the hope which He had shown to His people, and also to Nathanael, bearing to them the warmth of His hope and love, to soothe the people who have suffered under the wickedness of evil, and from each others’ evil deeds. He showered them with love, care and mercy, and revealed to them what they ought to do in order to receive His mercy and forgiveness.

And God did not just say that He loved us all, but He also showed it by true example. He came unto us, walking in our midst, healing those among us who were sick, suffering and dying. He restored hope to the hearts of those who had been oppressed and shunned by the society. He blessed and healed the ones who were rejected and hated because of their background, their social status and their conditions.

And above all, He surrendered Himself to the cross, willingly took it up and bearing on it all the huge and seemingly insurmountable and impossible weight of our sins, all of its burdens and consequences, so that instead of us, He would be the One to bear all of them, and be punished instead of us. It was His love which had made Him to do all of these.

By His love God had shown us Himself that instead of hatred and jealousy, we can learn how to forgive and to love one another, and instead of desiring and being desperate in greed for worldly glory and fame, we can seek fulfilment in the Lord and whatever He will provide us all. He showed us that love and mercy is the way forward for all of us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now the question is, will we follow the lead of our Lord? Will we follow Him in what He had taught us? Will He find in us love and mercy? Are we not the children, the sons and daughters of God? If He is our Father, then should we not follow Him in our ways and deeds? Otherwise, would we not then bring shame and scandal to Him?

Let us all reflect on this, brethren, and think carefully of what we can do as Christians, to live up to our faith and to be more committed in all of our ways to the Lord our God. May through us and our examples in life, we may inspire many others to walk in His presence and to follow us all together into His salvation. May God help us in our good endeavours, and may He forgive us our sins and wickedness, and welcome us into His everlasting grace. Amen.

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Wednesday, 4 January 2017 : Weekday of Christmas Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard from the Scriptures about the revelation of the Lamb of God and Saviour of the whole world, Jesus Christ our Lord and Master, Who had been revealed to the whole world, to each and every one of us, so that we may discover the path towards salvation through Him, our Lord and Saviour.

We have once lived in the darkness, sundered from God and His love because of our sins. Through our sins and disobedience we have been brought low. But God loves us all, brethren, and He was willing to forgive us and be reconciled with us. And to that extent, showing His infinite love and grace, He gave us the greatest gift and help of all, by the giving of His own Son, Who willingly out of love came down upon us and dwelled among us.

It was this very same Master and Lord which St. John the Baptist was preaching about throughout his ministry in the deserts of Judea. He proclaimed the repentance and baptism of sinners, that they might be cleansed from their sins and unworthiness before God, and therefore merit to receive eternal salvation from the Lord Himself. And he also preached to them about the One Who was to come after him, the One Whom he served, Who would come and brought salvation over all.

And St. John the Baptist did not hesitate to proclaim Him among all the people of Israel, calling His as the Lamb of God and the world’s saviour to even all of his own disciples. And therefore, that was how Jesus found the first among His holy Apostles, St. Peter and St. Andrew, St. James and St. John, the first ones whom Jesus our Lord had called into His service.

Perhaps many of us would not have seen the significance and the importance of this event in our journey towards the salvation in God. But this is where we as Christians need to imitate what St. John the Baptist had done, and be witnesses of our Lord and our faith in Him, to call many others into the salvation which can be found in the Lord alone.

It is through our witness and our examples that others are called to the faith, just as we ourselves have received the faith from our teachers in faith, be it members of the laity, the catechists and educators, or priests and even bishops who helped us, guided us and led us on this path towards the salvation in God. And ultimately, all these came down to us from the Apostles themselves, whom God had chosen and blessed with His love, to be witnesses of His works and salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now the challenge is for us to be witnesses for our faith and for our Lord in the same manner as the Apostles and the other holy disciples of our Lord had done. We have to live out our faith and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to our Lord in order to be able to do so. How can we convince others to believe in the Lord if we ourselves are not doing what we have been expected to do?

Our faith must be living and genuine, and only then, people who see us will know that we really and truly belong to God, and thus will believe in whatever we say to them. Witnessing about our faith and being a good Christian does not start with great and mighty deeds, but instead from ourselves, from seemingly simple things we always do in our lives and yet often forgotten.

That is why, brethren, it is important for us all to reevaluate our lives, in how we have lived it through and in how we have acted in our own daily lives. Let us all rededicate ourselves to God, and follow Him in all of our ways, just as the Lord had called His Apostles to follow Him, so let us all also walk in His ways, and lead others to Him all the same. God bless us all. Amen.