Catholic

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Sunday, 20 January 2013 : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

1 Corinthians 12 : 4-11

There is diversity of gifts, but the Spirit is the same. There is diversity of ministries, but the Lord is the same. There is diversity of works, but the same God works in all.

The Spirit reveals His presence in each one with a gift that is also a service. One is to speak with wisdom, through the Spirit. Another teaches according to the same Spirit. To another is given faith, in which the Spirit acts; to another the gift of healing, and it is the same Spirit.

Another works miracles, another is a prophet, another recognises what comes from the good or evil spirit; another speaks in tongues, and still another interprets what has been said in tongues. And all of this is the work of the one and only Spirit, who gives to each one as He so desires.

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Sunday, 20 January 2013 : 2nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Isaiah 62 : 1-5

For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, for Jerusalem I will not keep silent, until her holiness shines like the dawn and her salvation flames like a burning torch. The nations will see your holiness and all the kings your glory. You will be called by a new name which the mouth of YHVH will reveal. You will be a crown of glory in the hand of YHVH, a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

No longer will you be named Forsaken; no longer will your land be called Abandoned; but you will be called My Delight and your land Espoused. For YHVH delights in you and will make your land His spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, so will your builder marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.

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Saturday, 19 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

First I would like to apologise, since due to some problems, the first reading somehow went missing. Therefore, I reupload this reading with this post.

Hebrews 4 : 12-16

For the Word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and judges the intentions and thoughts of the heart. All creation is transparent to Him; everything is uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we render account.
We have a great High Priest, Jesus, the Son of God, who has entered Heaven. Let us, then, hold fast to the faith we profess. Our High Priest is not indifferent to our weaknesses, for He was tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sinning. Let us, then, with confidence approach the throne of grace; we will obtain mercy, and through His favour, help in due time.

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Saturday, 19 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Mark 2 : 13 – 17

When Jesus went out again beside the lake, a crowd came to Him, and He taught them. As He walked along, He saw a tax collector sitting in His office. This was Levi, the son of Alpheus. Jesus said to Him, “Follow me!” and Levi got up and followed Him.

And it so happened that when Jesus was eating in Levi’s house, tax collectors and sinners sat with Him and His disciples; there were a lot of them, and they used to follow Jesus. But the Pharisees, men educated in the Law, when they saw Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, “Why does your master eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus heard them, and answered, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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New Patriarch of Alexandria of the Coptic (Catholic) Church, Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak

http://www.gcatholic.com/dioceses/diocese/alex0.htm#5801

Cardinal Patriarch Antonios Naguib (77) has resigned from his position as the Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, due to his age, and his successor is Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak (57), the new Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, in full communion with the Pope as the Bishop of Rome.

Ad multos annos, Your Beatitude! May you and the Coptic Catholic Church be blessed by the Lord, and may He be with you through your new ministry as Patriarch!

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Details on the Episcopal Ordination of Coadjutor Archbishop of Singapore on Friday, 22 February 2013 at Singapore Expo

http://www.catholicnews.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8295:announcement-episcopal-ordination-mass-and-reception&catid=3:newsflash

The Episcopal Mass and Reception in conjunction with the upcoming Ordination of our Coadjutor Archbishop, Rev Msgr William Goh will be held as follows:

EPISCOPAL ORDINATION MASS
Date : Friday 22 February 2013
Time : 7.30pm
Venue : Singapore Expo (The Max Pavilion and Exhibition Hall 9)
1 Expo Drive, Singapore 486150

Presider : The Apostolic Nuncio to Singapore, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli & assisted by our Archbishop Nicholas Chia and Archbishop Murphy Pakiam from Kuala Lumpur
Admission : Tickets will be allocated to Parishes by mid-Feb 2013
Dress Code : Smart casual 

GENERAL RECEPTION (HIGH TEA)
Date : Saturday 23 February 2013
Time : 2.00pm to 5.00pm
Venue : Catholic Spirituality Centre
1261 Upper Serangoon Road, Singapore 534796

Admission : No tickets required. Open to ALL parishioners to meet the new Coadjutor Archbishop
Dress Code : Smart casual

The Organising Committee
Episcopal Ordination Mass & Reception
18 January 2013

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Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (beginning 18 January 2013)

The week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins today, 18 January 2013, and will last till 25 January 2013. Let us pray for the Unity of all Christians in the One Church, One Body of Jesus Christ our Lord. That no Christians will ever go astray again, severed from the Root of Jesse, Christ Himself, that is the Church.

+Ut Omnes UNUM Sint, ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam+
(That they all may be ONE, for the greater glory of God)

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Friday, 18 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Today’s first reading from the Letter to the Hebrews and the Gospel Reading brought forward a very clear message to all of us, that we must stay faithful and indeed have faith in the Lord. If we remain faithful in God, He will reward us, but if we abandon Him, we will not merit His Kingdom as our reward. And we should honour the Lord at all times, and respect the holiness of Sundays as God’s holy day, and participate fully in the Holy Mass on Sundays.

In our daily lives, we encountered many problems, difficulties, and challenges. Such is also the challenges that faces the Lord when He created our world. As He created our world, He laboured and toiled, shaping creation and our world as we know it today. And yet, after all things are completed, He pulled back and rested. This day when the Lord rested is the day that we now respect as the Holy Day of God, Sunday. In the third commandment, God commanded us to honour His Holy Day. Why should we honour such a day? It is important that we find some time in the midst of our busy lives to spend it with God, God who loves us, and God who created us. Particularly, we should participate fully in the Holy Eucharist every Sundays, and receive our Lord into ourselves through the Most Precious Body and Blood in the Eucharist.

The Lord Himself had said, “Come to me, all of you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens, and I will refresh you/give you rest. We deserve the Lord’s refreshment only if we had the courage to come to Him, and seek His forgiveness. Just as the Lord is present in the church in the Most Holy Eucharist, let us all come to be with Him just as the people gathered around Jesus in the home. By seeing our great faith in Him, the Lord will reward us, just as how Jesus healed the paralytic after seeing the great faith of those around Him, especially the four people who removed the roof in order to bring the paralytic before Jesus.

In the letter to the Hebrews, a contrast was made between those who listen to God directly (the Apostles, and the people gathered around Jesus in the house, when Jesus still walked this world with them, and the believers who indirectly listen to the Word of the Lord through the Scripture and the teachings of the priests and the church. But this do not mean actually that we cannot be as faithful as those who has seen the Lord. Remember that the Lord Himself said to Thomas, when he believed only after seeing the Resurrected Christ : “Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believes”. That means, although we do not see the Lord directly, we can still believe in Him, and in His love, and particularly in this Year of Faith, we must strive to strengthen our Faith in God.

Then, the Gospel reading today also highlighted the Authority that has been given to Jesus, as the Son of God, to forgive sins. Why do we then confess to priests? Why do we tell them our sins? Can’t we just confess it to God and be forgiven? Christ has given the authority to forgive sins to His Apostles : “Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven, and those whose sins you retain, they are retained”, and this authority came down from the Apostles, to the bishops, and finally to the priests that we meet in our lives. Through these priests, the Lord work His authority to forgive our sins, and this is why, we should confess frequently and regularly, that whatever sins, even little sins that we have, are forgiven by God, through our priests.

In addition to this, the authority of the Lord in forgiving our sins and His healing of the paralytic shows that the spiritual sickness of the soul through sin can indeed affect the physical dimensions of our body. Many of our physical illness can be tied to the poor conditions of our mentality, and our soul. So first, rather than seek to cure our physical infirmities, we should first seek peace with God, by asking for His mercy on us, that our sins will be forgiven. It is better for us to be not physically very healthy but having a pure and peaceful soul untainted by sin, rather then be very healthy, but have a corrupted soul filled with sin. Never neglect the soul, as much as we put much attention to our physical health by consuming vitamins and healthy foods. We also need spiritual food, the Word of God in the Scripture, and to pray to God constantly, speaking to the Lord, and listening to Him. That our being will not be just physically healthy, but also spiritually robust as well!

May the Lord bless us this day, that we will be spiritually healthy as we are physically healthy, and just like the actions of the four men who carried the paralytic to Jesus, let us care for one another, and comfort those who are sorrowful, and bring the Word of God to those who are in darkness, that just like the paralytic, they may be healed as well, and become children of the Light. Let us strengthen our faith in this Holy Year of Faith, and renew our commitment to love God, to honour His holy day in the Mass, and to love one another, just as God loves us. Amen.

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Friday, 18 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Mark 2 : 1 -12

After some days Jesus returned to Capernaum. As the news spread that He was in the house, so many people gathered, that there was no longer room even outside the door. While Jesus was preaching the Word to them, some people brought a paralyzed man to Him.

The four men who carried him couldn’t get near Jesus because of the crowd, so they opened the roof above the room where Jesus was, and through the hole, lowered the man on his mat. When Jesus saw the faith of these people, He said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

Now some teachers of the Law, who were sitting there, wondered within themselves, ” How can He speak like this, insulting God? Who can forgive sins except God?”

At once Jesus knew in His spirit what they were thinking, and asked, “Why do you wonder? Is it easier to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven’, or to say ‘Rise, take up your mat and walk?’ But now you shall know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.”

And He said to the paralytic, “Stand up, take up your mat and go home.” The man rose and, in the sight of all those people, he took up his mat and went out. All of them were astonished and praised God, saying, “Never have we seen anything like this!”

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Friday, 18 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Hebrew 4 : 1-5, 11

Therefore let us fear while we are invited to enter the rest of God, lest any of you be left behind. We received the Gospel exactly as they did, but hearing the message did them no good, because they did not share the faith of those who did listen. We are now to enter this rest because we believed, as it was said : I was angry and made a solemn vow : they will never enter My rest – that is the rest of God after He created the world.

In another part it was said about the seventh day : And God rested on the seventh day from all His works. But now it is said : They will not enter My rest. Let us strive, then, to enter the rest and not to share the misfortune of those who disobeyed.