Christian sermons

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Tuesday, 11 July 2017 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Benedict, Abbot (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us heard about the story of how Jacob struggled with God on his journey back towards the land of Canaan, after he had ended his exile in the land of his ancestors in Mesopotamia. And as he approached the land of Canaan, he heard how his brother Esau came towards him with many men and other people, and he was scared. That was why he sent his family and his servants in a separate group, fearing that his brother Esau was going to seek retribution against him.

What we heard in today’s story from the Book of Genesis is a continuation of what we have heard in the past few days on the story of Jacob and his family, the descendants of Abraham, the faithful servant of God. Jacob tricked Esau his elder brother, into surrendering his inheritance and seized his blessings from him. And thus, he was driven into a self-imposed exile, fleeing from the wrath of Esau for a while. God was with Jacob, and He guided him along the way.

But Jacob doubted, and in his fear, he fell into his own human frailties. That was when God came unto him, and struggled with him. Through that struggle, God reminded Jacob that with Him, nothing can go wrong, and with Him as his source of strength, he would have no need to fear. He is the source of all our hope and our strength. And still, we often doubted Him and did not believe Him.

This was shown in the Gospel passage which we heard today. The Gospel spoke of how Jesus our Lord was slandered by the Pharisees who accused Him of wrongdoing, spreading lies and untruths, charging that He cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons. And yet, despite all of these charges and lies they had made about Jesus, all of them did not deter Him from continuing His work and ministry among the people, caring for the sick and healing them, and bringing joy to God’s people.

The Pharisees did all that they had done because they were jealous of the Lord’s popularity and ability to teach with true authority. They refused to believe in Him because they were too confident and proud to acknowledge that their ways and thoughts had been mistaken, and that the Lord Jesus was right and delivering the truth to them. They have enjoyed many privileges due to their position in the society, and they saw Jesus as a threat to all that they had enjoyed thus while.

Thus they hardened their hearts, and trusted in their own human intellect and strength, refusing to listen to the word of God speaking to them, through what they have heard and witnessed. Even though they had seen all the miracles that Jesus had done in their midst, they still did not believe and continued to resist Him and working against Him and His disciples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what can happen to us all as well. When we are in the moments of difficulty, it is often that we fear, just as Jacob had had fear in his heart and mind. And when we fear, because our faith and commitment to the Lord is not strong, we end up turning to alternative sources of comfort, that is putting our trust instead in our own human abilities and strengths, preferring to trust our own plans, desires and thoughts instead of discerning what it is that God wants from us.

Yet, we have to realise that God is always with us, no matter how difficult the situation can be. He is always ever faithful and He will not abandon us, for He is always guiding us through various means, even when we do not realise it. We need to learn to put our trust in God, no matter what happens. We should not be quick to abandon the Lord when we are so concerned about ourselves and our own safety, for if it is He Who created us, it is also therefore He Who reigns over us and no lasting harm will come to us.

Perhaps all of us should heed the example of the holy and renowned saint, whose feast day we celebrate on this day. St. Benedict the Abbot, also known as St. Benedict of Nursia is also known better as the founder of the Benedictine Order, one of the largest religious congregations in the world today, and also as the one who came up with the strict regulations of the Rule of St. Benedict, a standard by which many of the religious brothers and sisters lived their lives.

St. Benedict of Nursia was renowned for his deep devotion and piety to the Lord, by his many good works among the people of God, calling them to serve the Lord and to devote themselves with sincere dedication and commitment. St. Benedict of Nursia through his Rule of St. Benedict encouraged all, especially those who have chosen to dedicate themselves in a religious life, on how to live their lives in accordance with the will of God.

St. Benedict of Nursia emphasised before anything else, the importance of obedience and humility in one’s actions, and indeed it is these two virtues which are often lacking among us mankind these days. He emphasised the importance of doing good works and prayer in tandem with each other, in one of his golden rules, Ora et Labora, prayer and work hand in hand, as what all the faithful people of God should do.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Benedict of Nursia and today’s Scripture readings reminded us that all of us as Christians are called to be faithful to the Lord, to put our trust in the Lord our God. And we can do this by deepening our relationship with Him, through constant prayer and communication with God, remembering Him in everything we do, in every moment we have in life and indeed, in every breath that we take.

Let us all commit ourselves anew to the Lord, and let us seek to serve the Lord with ever greater zeal and love. May the Lord bless us with an ever greater faith and devotion, so that we will draw ever closer to Him and thus be worthy to receive His everlasting grace and love. St. Benedict of Nursia, pray for us all. Amen.

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Monday, 10 July 2017 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the story of the Lord Jesus and how He healed the woman who had suffered from continuous bleeding for the past twelve years of her life. The Lord healed her because she believed in Him and in the power of healing which came from Him, and she went to great length in order to seek out that healing.

Then in the first reading today, God showed Himself to Jacob in a dream, showing him a vision of a great stairway to heaven, revealing His glory to him. He introduced Himself as the God of his fathers and forefathers, as the One Who had established a covenant with Abraham, Jacob’s grandfather. He reiterated the covenant which He had established with His servant Abraham, that He would bless him and his descendants forever, and would grant them the promise of the land in which he and his descendants were living in.

In this story, God showed His faithfulness and adherence to His covenant and promise which He had made with His faithful servant. In return, He wants us to also be faithful to the covenant, for all of us are the descendants of Abraham by faith. Jacob was touched by God’s love and kindness, and he promised that if God would bring him back to the land, he and his descendants will serve Him forever. Jacob was then fleeing the land because he has tricked Esau his brother, and stole his inheritance and blessing.

And if we read on the next part of the Book of Genesis, we can see how God guided Jacob through those difficult times, giving him not just many wealth and cattle, livestock and property, but also giving him a family and his many children, eventually guiding him back to the land of his forefathers and reuniting him with his father Isaac as well as his brother Esau.

Through these stories, all of us ought to realise just how much God loves each and every one of us. He is always ever faithful to us, even though we have often betrayed Him, wronged Him and left Him behind for other gods, idols and all the other distractions which kept us away from being able to be faithful to God. From time to time, He always seek to reconcile Himself with His people, calling them to repentance and to be forgiven.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us ought to realise that every one of us are afflicted with disease, the disease of our souls, and this is the disease of our sins. Even though all of us may be perfectly healthy in our physical beings, flesh and bodies, but sin has corrupted us, in our souls, hearts and minds, essentially our whole being. Sin is caused by our disobedience against God, and by our refusal to be faithful to His covenant with us.

And thus, that is why we suffer, brothers and sisters in Christ. We suffer as how the woman had suffered from her physical bleeding, filled with pain and sorrow. For us, it is a spiritual bleeding, the spiritual suffering caused by our sins, which led to a separation from God’s love and grace. But God is willing to welcome us back, and He did nothing less than giving Himself to us, making Himself available to us, through Jesus Christ, His Son.

He has touched many people, healing them from their afflictions, including that of the woman with bleeding problems. He has saved Jacob from his troubles and helped him to go through the difficult years of his life, and brought him back to his homeland with joy. In the same manner therefore, He has also endeavoured to heal us from the afflictions of our sins.

How did He do this, brothers and sisters in Christ? He has come into this world in order to save us, by nothing else than His sacrifice on the cross. He bore with Himself all of our afflictions, all of our sins and faults, and took them all up to the cross. As He hung from the cross, He showed us all the ultimate love and commitment which God had for us all, establishing a new Covenant of love with us.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, if our God has loved us so much, and has done so much for us mankind, then should we not indeed seek Him with all of our efforts and strength? Should we not spend our lives and effort to be reconciled with Him and to be forgiven for all of our sins which have caused us to be separated from Him? Let us be inspired by the example of the woman with the bleeding problem, whose faith in the Lord was so great that she tried her best to look for Him for healing, and indeed, she was healed because of her great faith.

Let us all go towards the Lord, our ever loving and merciful God, with a contrite heart and a sincere desire to be forgiven and to be healed from our sins and wickedness before it is too late for us. Let us not wait until the time of our death, which we will never ever know, before seeking God’s mercy, and then realising that it is already too late for us, and hellfire is our only future. May God continue to remind us of this fact, and may He forgive us our sins when we seek Him with genuine, contrite hearts. Amen.

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Sunday, 9 July 2017 : Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Bible Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we are reminded through the readings from the Sacred Scriptures of the great love which our God has for us, that He gave us the means to our salvation, that is none other than through our Lord Jesus Christ, His own Beloved Son, through Whom He had brought salvation upon all of us mankind.

By His own will He has willingly sent us His own Son, Jesus Christ, through Whom we have received the perfect revelation of God’s truth and teachings, calling us to turn ourselves completely, body, heart, mind and soul towards Him and turning our back from the burdens and chains of our old selves, which had been enslaved to sin and wickedness, to disobedience and aberrations from the path of God. He wants to free us from our current state of suffering and sin.

In the second reading today, St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome mentioned how all of the faithful ought to leave behind their existence in the flesh and embrace their new existence in the spirit. This is what all of us Christians are called to do, that is for us to abandon our past sinfulness and all the temptations and obstacles that had prevented us from truly being able to commit ourselves to God.

But what is the existence in the flesh? What does it mean and what is its significance for us? Existence of the flesh means that we mankind live in accordance to the desires of our flesh, succumbing to the demands of our human desires and wishes, by listening to the temptations of Satan instead of listening to the word of God calling us to righteousness.

It means that we succumb to the desires to sin, to covet what others have but we do not have, satisfying our greed for worldly goods and material wealth. To lust for others and to have improper sexual conduct outside of marriage, among many other things. It also means that we strive to gain the satisfaction of the flesh, amassing for ourselves the treasures of this world, often at the expense of our own souls.

We often bicker and become angry with one another, when we are engulfed and overcome by greed, and thus hatred become part of us. This is how many of our unfortunate human conflicts have sprung up in this world. We are never satisfied because what we seek are merely temporary happiness that can only satisfy us for a while, but then after that, cause us to be even more hungry and desiring for what we want.

This is the existence in the flesh, which all of us mankind are surely quite familiar with, as that is what we all grew up with. And this has become our burden, the burden which bears down upon us, the burden of sin. Yet, this is where the Lord comes, offering to us a different existence, that is existence in the Spirit, where we no longer obey the desires of our flesh and of worldly demands, but instead, we obey only the Lord, Who leads us and guides us to the true path.

That is what the Lord offered to us, a new path that leads not to ruin but instead to salvation and liberation, eternal joy and happiness, where all of us will be reconciled with God and receive forever the grace of His love. This is the new path that God pointed to us and showed us through Jesus, Who taught us of this truth. Yet, many of us mankind still refused to follow Him and obey Him, and many of us still closed our hearts against Him.

Why is that so? That is because we often prefer the easier path, and one that appears easier to us, is the path that is not the path shown by the Lord. It is the status quo, our existence in the flesh, which brings us temporary happiness, a ‘quick fix’ for us, a fleeting moment of joy and pleasure, but one which unfortunately do not last. Satan is always at work out there, trying to keep us in this state, tempting us to sin against God, offering us his false promises and showering us with worldly pleasures.

That is not, however, what the Lord told us. He clearly told His disciples, and therefore all of us, that His way is the true way, the way that leads to true joy and happiness. He said, “Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Indeed, this is the truth that Satan wants to keep away from us, by tempting us without ceasing and persecuting us, that we end up turning away from God and fall into sin.

Through this, all of us Christians must know that if we follow the Lord, walk in His path and obey Him, we will indeed not have an instant gratification and eternal joy right away, for there is indeed a burden which He imposed on us, none other than the burden of our crosses in life. All of us, Christians, who believe in the Lord Jesus and His salvation, are called to carry our crosses with us in our lives, and to follow the Lord with faith and obedience.

What is this cross we have, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is the cross of love, the challenge for us all to love one another, and to show generosity and mercy to our fellow brethren, even towards all those who hate us and all who have brought upon us ridicule, persecution and suffering. It is easy for us to hate those who have hated us, but it is far more difficult for us to love those who hate us and persecute us. Yet, that is what the Lord called us to do and wanted us to do in our lives.

And we will indeed be rejected and ridiculed by others because of how we lived our lives in accordance with the will of God. For instance, while others desire to serve their own needs first and be selfish, all of us Christians are called to be selfless and to show our love to our brethren as much as we love ourselves. We are called to this way of life, this existence in the Spirit, just as the Lord had shown us how to do so.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we all able to devote ourselves to the Lord in this manner? Are we all able to walk in the path which He had shown us? Let us all no longer doubt or be hesitant, but instead, let us all seek the Lord with joy, just as the prophet Zechariah in our first reading urged the people to rejoice and to be filled with jubilation, at the coming of the Lord, Who will save His people and bring glory to His Name.

Let us all henceforth, from now on, put our complete trust in the Lord, and become His true disciples and followers. Let us all exorcise and cast away from ourselves all that is wicked, impure and unworthy of God. We do not have to do great things in order to do this, but we can begin from ourselves, from every small and little deeds we do in our daily lives, one at a time.

Let us all show love and compassion to each other, caring for those who are in need, showing forgiveness and tenderness to those who have wronged us, and praying for all those who hate us and who have persecuted us and caused us pain. Let us all be like the Lord, Who have shown us all how to love, and how to be more like Him, so that in the end, we may be found worthy of the Lord, and He will grant us His eternal rest, that we will be forever joyful in His presence.

May God bless us all, remain with us and strengthen our faith in us always. May all of us grow ever stronger in our devotion to Him, and grow ever more generous with our love and compassion. Amen.

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Saturday, 8 July 2017 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s readings, we are all presented with contradictions and discrepancies that exist first of all, between the brothers Esau and Jacob, the sons of Isaac, in which we heard how Esau, the elder one among the brothers were supposed to obtain the blessings from Isaac, his father as the rightful heir, and yet, not only that he sold his right for inheritance to Jacob, his younger brother, in an earlier part of the Book of Genesis, a prelude to today’s passage, but as we have heard, he has also lost his blessings and graces which his father instead bestowed on Jacob, the younger one of the two brothers.

It was told that Esau was a great hunter, mighty in the sight of men and the world alike. For many people, it would indeed be natural for Esau to succeed his father and obtain his inheritance. And yet, he was not the one whom God had chosen to be the one through whom He would pass His favour to, but instead, He gave all these to Jacob, the father of all Israel.

Esau represented the old ways, as it was told that he married local Canaanite women and worshipped their gods, unlike what the Lord had told His servants, that is to serve the Lord alone as their God and Master. Jacob was therefore the representative of the new covenant of God which He renewed with the descendants of His faithful servant Abraham. The passing of blessings and inheritance from Esau to Jacob represents this shift from the old way of paganism and sin, into a new reality and new life blessed by God.

In the Gospel today, we heard a seemingly different story, when Jesus spoke of the parable of the wineskin and the wine, as well as the parable of the cloth to His disciples. In that parable, He spoke of how old wine ought not to be put and stored into new wineskins, and vice versa, for they are incompatible. In the similar manner, old cloth ought not to be sewed into new clothes, and vice versa, or else their contradictions will reject each other.

How is this related to what we have heard in our first reading today? And more importantly, how are they related to our own lives? What we have heard today in fact have called us to discern and think about how we ought to be better disciples and followers of our Lord through our life, our actions and deeds in life. We are all called to a new life in God, one that is transformed and changed by His love.

The old wineskin and the old clothes represents the old ways of our life, what we used to say, do and believe. It represent the sin of our disobedience and the sin of our flesh, all that we have committed in the past. The new wine and the new patch of cloth represents the new way of the Lord, one that is distinct from the old ways of sin.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, when Jesus spoke to His disciples about the new wine causing the old wineskin to tear and burst, and the same thing happens also to the old clothes patched with new piece of cloth, He was indeed saying that with our new life in God, that life is incompatible with our past sinfulness and all of our past wrongdoings.

This means that we cannot profess to be one of the disciples and followers of the Lord, and yet at the same time, continuing to sin and to disobey or be ignorant of His laws and commandments. Otherwise, the consequences for us will be indeed severe, as we will only cause an even greater sin upon ourselves. We must change our ways and turn away from all of the disobedience and ignorance which have brought us into sin, sin against God.

Let us all today reflect on this, and think of what we mankind can do better, as the members of God’s Church, as His servants and disciples, in following Him and obeying His laws and commandments, so that through our every actions, deeds and all that we do, we will always bring glory to Him, not to ourselves, and thus be truly who we have been called to be, to become a new people with a new life blessed by God, our Lord and Master. May God be with us all and bless all of our endeavours. Amen.

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Friday, 7 July 2017 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard of God’s love and providence for His people, by calling them out of the darkness and into the light. In our Gospel passage today, we heard about how the Lord Jesus came to call the tax collectors and sinners to redemption, by reaching out to them and calling them to turn towards Him with full sincerity.

He came to call the sinners to be saved, as He wants everyone, every single one of us mankind to be part of His salvation, and not only just the righteous ones. This was what the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were unable to comprehend, as of why Jesus did as He had done. At that time, it was considered unworthy, despicable and even sinful for one to deal in any kind of interaction with those deemed as sinful and wicked.

The tax collectors were deemed as those who were sinners due to their work, as those who collected the taxes on behalf of the Roman Emperor, a job despised by the rest of the Jewish population as they resented being made subjects of the Romans and having to pay lots of taxes to them. They were considered as traitors to the nation, having seen as betrayers and those who have sold their fellow countrymen for money.

Yet in reality, that was not a true depiction of who the tax collectors were. The tax collectors were just people who were doing what they have done, because they themselves need money and provisions to sustain themselves and their families. They were just ordinary people who were misunderstood by their fellow countrymen, and whom because of their work were often conflicted about their priorities in life.

But that is when the Lord Jesus came to save them from their predicament. He came to show them that there is hope for them should they choose to be forgiven and reconciled with God. This is when they saw the light of God, and therefore walked on the path towards redemption. This is affirmed by the Lord Himself Who spoke to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, pointing out that He came to save those whom the Pharisees and teachers of the Law considered unworthy.

What the Lord wants us to know is that, every single one of us, every single human beings whom He created out of love, is beloved by Him, without exception. And as He had lost us all due to sin and disobedience, He endeavoured to bring us back to Him through the obedience of His Son Jesus, Who showed all of us how to be truly faithful to God. It is through our strong desire to be forgiven, and by our sincere repentance that we are able to find our way back to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this occasion, all of us are called to follow the Lord, Who called on the tax collectors and sinners with the words, “Follow Me!” If those tax collectors and those who were considered sinners had listened to the Lord and followed Him, then why should we not have done the same? Why is it that we stumble and hesitate to do the same?

That is because we are still plagued and held back by the many temptations of this world. We are unable to shake ourselves free from the many things that kept us bound to sin and to disobedience against God. All of us need to focus our every effort to turn away from those sinfulness and from all that had caused us to stumble on our way to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us begin from ourselves and from our interactions with one another. Let us show our faith in God through our works, through our actions and words. Let us not be deterred by the challenges we may encounter in our way, but persevere through, supporting one another, and helping us on our way to God and His salvation. May the Lord bless us all and help us on this endeavour. Amen.

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Thursday, 6 July 2017 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how God tested the faith of Abraham, by asking him to bring his son with him to the Mount Moriah, and then sacrifice Isaac, his son, on that mountain to Him. Certainly we must have been wondering, why did the Lord do such a thing? And why did He ask such a request from Abraham?

It was not recorded how Abraham personally felt about such a strange and outrageous request from the Lord. Nonetheless, as parents certainly should know, he must have been shocked initially as he heard the Lord asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac to Him. Isaac had been the son whom the Lord promised to him, as the one through whom God would bless him as the father of many peoples and many nations. And then, why would He suddenly just withdraw His promise in that manner?

Yet, Abraham remained faithful and true to the Lord, despite his possible doubts and uncertainties. He obeyed the Lord and followed His commands, listening to His will and brought Isaac up the mountain to be sacrificed. When Isaac himself asked his father on the whereabouts of the lamb to be sacrificed, Abraham told him, “God shall provide.”

In all of these, Abraham believed that God had plans for him and His will ought to be done no matter what. After all, who is man to presume to know all about God’s plan for them? Abraham trusted in God and kept his faith in Him, the same faith which he had ever since he was first called by God from his homeland, and following that call to walk in the path of God.

And God rewarded Abraham for his faith, as He saw just how genuine his faith and devotion to Him was. Abraham did not let his personal desires and human and worldly concerns to undermine or affect his faith and decision. He placed his faith in God first and foremost above everything else. That is why, after the Lord revealed His true intention to Abraham, He blessed him and his descendants because of his great and genuine faith.

What is the lesson which we can learn from this, brothers and sisters in Christ? What is the lesson that we can learn from Abraham, our father in faith? It is the lesson that all of us must not let our human and worldly concerns to overcome us or to affect our faith in God. It is too often that we mankind succumb to worldly temptations, the temptation of money, the temptation of worldly power and influence, the temptation of flesh pleasures and many others.

Take for example the case of St. Maria Goretti, the saint and holy woman whose feast we celebrate today. St. Maria Goretti lived about more than a hundred years ago in Italy, who was a devout and God-fearing young woman. At that time, she was suited by the son of her neighbour, named Alessandro, who wanted her to be his. He made his advances on her, and on a particular day, he cornered her, wanting to have sexual relations with her.

St. Maria Goretti, knowing that such an action is a great sin before God, rejected Alessandro’s advances and reminded him that they should not commit such a heinous sin before God. Therefore, as she continued to reject his advances, it made Alessandro to be overcome with anger and hatred, resulting in him stabbing St. Maria Goretti many times. He fled from the scene, leaving St. Maria Goretti mortally wounded.

But St. Maria Goretti did not have any grudge or hatred towards her murderer, Alessandro. From her deathbed, she forgave Alessandro and prayed for his conversion and redemption to the Lord. Eventually, Alessandro confessed to his murder and while in prison, he saw a vision of St. Maria Goretti who visited him. He had a change of heart and devoted himself to good cause from then on. He died many years later as a changed man, and even witnessed the canonisation of St. Maria Goretti, when she was proclaimed a saint by Pope Pius XII.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all heed the examples and the inspirations from St. Maria Goretti and Abraham, our father in faith, by committing ourselves to the Lord wholeheartedly and not allowing ourselves to be swayed by worldly temptations and influences. Let us stand by our faith in the Lord and remain true and righteous in all of our ways. Let us seek to do our best to be truly just and adhere to His laws obediently. May the Lord help us all in this endeavour. Amen.

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Wednesday, 5 July 2017 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the story of how Abraham sent away his son Ishmael, who was born from his slave Hagar. He was not allowed to share in the inheritance which God had promised for Isaac alone, the son of Abraham born of his wife, Sarah. Thus, he was sent away from the household of Abraham to wander on his own with Hagar his mother in the desert.

Yet, God did not abandon him and leave him behind without care. Indeed, God promised Hagar and Ishmael that from Ishmael would also come many peoples and many nations, for he was still a son of Abraham. God took care of him and his mother, and provided for them all that they needed. After all, he is also a son of man, one of those whom God had created, as all mankind were created through God’s love. He provided water and food for them that they might live.

Then in the Gospel passage today, we heard about how Jesus our Lord cast out the evil spirits and demons from the two men in Gadara. The two men who were possessed were so terrifying to others, that people feared to approach them and kept themselves away from them. That was why they were cast out in the desert, barred from coming close to the cities, shunned by the rest of the society for the evils that resided within them.

If we all think about this, is it not somewhat like what we heard in the first reading? Is it not like when Abraham cast out his son Ishmael? When the men possessed by the evil spirits came into that condition, they were thrown out of their society, and were forced to wander in the wilderness. They were rejected and their condition was hopeless, that is, until the Lord came to them and saved them from their distress.

Just as He had come to the help of Ishmael, the Lord came to help the two possessed men, by the mercy of His heart. He ordered the evil spirits to depart from the two men, and by such act, redeemed the two men and allowed them to reintegrate back into the society. In this manner, it is just the same as what He has done for the sake of all of us, all sinners and rebels before Him.

Why is that so? That is because, all of us have sinned before the Lord by our disobedience and inability to resist the temptations to sin, ever since the time our first ancestors first sinned against God. And those who have sinned before the Lord had become unworthy of the Lord and were cast out from His presence. Remember, brethren, that our ancestors, Adam and Eve, were banished out of the Gardens of Eden and were forced to endure the sufferings of this world.

However, God did not forget about us or abandoned us. He continued to love us regardless, even though He despised our sins and disobedience. Therefore, He promised us all the salvation which He had made evident and perfect through Jesus Christ our Lord, by His coming into this world, and by His act of the ultimate sacrifice on the cross. He gave us all a new hope, by bearing upon Himself our faults and shortcomings.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us take this opportunity to reflect, whether we have purposefully ostracised our brethren in life, just because we think that we are better than them, more righteous than them, or more pious or faithful than them. Then we ended up consigning them to damnation and ridicule, just because that we thought that they had no hope.

Remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law also thought the same about the tax collectors and the prostitutes. Many of these sought the Lord to be forgiven from their sins, and Jesus Himself commented that they were going towards the kingdom of God far faster than the Pharisees themselves, for they were genuine in their repentance and desire to be forgiven and to be loved again by God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all remember that we are all sinners before God, no matter whether our sins are small or big, serious or trivial. And let us remember just how much God loves each and every one of us, and how much He desires to help us out of our predicament, just as He helped Ishmael and as He saved the two men by casting out the evil spirits that tormented them.

That is why all of us need to turn sincerely and wholeheartedly towards God. All of us ought to heed the words of the Lord Jesus, as He spoke to the woman caught in the act of adultery, whom the Pharisees and elders wanted to stone to death, but saved by the love and mercy of the Lord Jesus, Who spared her from death. He told her, “Sin no more.” This is what we all need to do, brethren, to sin no longer and henceforth be righteous in our ways.

Perhaps, all of us should be inspired by St. Anthony Zaccaria, the holy saint whose feast day we celebrate today. St. Anthony Zaccaria was remembered for his strong devotion to the Lord, through what we now know as the forty-hours devotion before the Blessed Sacrament, spending the time in fervent prayer before the Lord present in the Eucharist.

He was also credited with the practice of ringing the bell at the hour of the Lord’s death on the cross, at the third hour after noon time. Through all these, he helped to remind many people of the love which God had shown us, of which there is no greater love, according to the Lord Jesus Himself, than for one to die for another person’s sake. And that was precisely what the Lord had done for us, that by bearing all of our sins and iniquities, He suffered instead of us and bore our burdens, that all of us may live.

Shall we love the Lord just as He has loved us first? Shall we be thankful for all the kindness and graces we have received from Him? Let us show our gratitude to Him by sincerely devoting our whole lives to Him, that in all that we do, in all that we say, and in all of our interactions we will always bring glory to God and walk ever faithful and righteous in His ways. May the Lord, our loving God, be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 4 July 2017 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Portugal (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us heard from the Sacred Scriptures the tale about God’s providence and help for those who are faithful to Him. In the first reading today, taken from the Book of Genesis, we heard about how the Lord rescued Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were known to us as places where hideous and grievous sins had been committed by the people there, but Lot and his family were righteous in the sight of God, and God wanted to rescue them from harm.

To that extent, God sent His Angels to Lot and his family, warning them about the impending catastrophe, protecting them from the wrath of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah and led them out of the city into the wilderness so that they could escape the destruction and live. This was what He has also done for His disciples as they laid in fear in the middle of the lake, battered by strong wind and waves. He chastised the waves and the wind, and all quietened down.

In the end, God helped His faithful ones and saved them from their distress, but it is we, His people, who have often panicked and became worried, having doubts in the Lord’s providence and love for us. The disciples panicked and became worried in the boat, worried that the wind and the waves would knock the boat off and cause it to sink. They were worried because they feared for their lives, and their faith in the Lord were shaken.

In a similar manner, as Lot and his family fled in a hurry away from Sodom and Gomorrah, while they were specifically instructed by the Angels of God not to look back towards the city, the wife of Lot hesitated, and looked back at the city, and ended up turning into a pile of salt, a punishment for her disobedience. Why did she do so? It was the same with that of the disciples’ reasons for their fear and panicking in the boat rocked by the wind and the waves. They had fear in their hearts, and attachment to worldly things that they were not able to overcome.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, have we acted in the same manner as the wife of Lot and as the Apostles had done? Certainly at some points in our lives we have done so. It is in our human nature for us to worry and to think about our lives, and therefore, we end up losing sight of God’s providence and protection for us all His faithful ones. We are entangled amidst our worldly concerns and worries, and we cannot detach ourselves from those concerns.

How many of us, for example, spent so many hours busily working and preparing for our daily schedules and careers? And then how many of us spent so much time in our daily busy schedules that we end up spending close to nothing or indeed nothing for the Lord? Can we not even spend some time with the Lord, for all that He has done for us, for all that He has blessed us with?

Our Lord has done so much for us, that even though we are sinners and unworthy of Him, He resolved to make us worthy again through reconciliation with Him. Do we realise this fact? Do we realise that He has done so much for us to the point of bearing the cross and suffer great injustice and persecution, just so that through His suffering and death, all of us may have new life in Him?

Perhaps all of us should follow the example of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, the holy woman and saint whose feast we celebrate today. St. Elizabeth of Portugal was the Queen consort of the kingdom of Portugal, who was remembered for her great piety as queen and mother for her people, caring for the poor and the sick, giving herself to a prayerful and charitable life, dedicated to the service of God and to His people.

She maintained peace between the feuding factions in her family and in her country, at the time when a civil war broke between those factions. She made the feuding parties to reconcile with one another, and in other occasions, ensuring the peace between the nobles and the lords of the nation. And when her husband, the king of Portugal passed away, St. Elizabeth of Portugal decided to devote the rest of her life joining the religious nuns in a convent, and continuing to do what she had done for most of her life, caring for the people of God who are in need.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the examples of St. Elizabeth of Portugal should remind us that each and every one of us, whom God had called to become His children and His people, all of us are beloved by God, and God will protect us from harm, and provide for all of us in our times of need. However, all of us need to devote ourselves in the same manner that God had devoted Himself to us, by loving Him with all of our hearts, and therefore by loving one another, fellow brethren in Christ.

Shall we follow in the footsteps of St. Elizabeth of Portugal and all of our holy predecessors? Shall we walk in their path, which God had shown them and now also show us, so that we may come closer to Him, and thus making us ever more beloved children of His? Let us all commit ourselves anew to God, and seek to do His will in our respective lives and actions. May God continue to love us and bless us, and may He continue to give us His grace and protection. Amen.

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Monday, 3 July 2017 : Feast of St. Thomas, 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 Holy Apostles, namely St. Thomas the Apostle, known also as the Twin and who was famous for his doubt of the Lord’s resurrection, and wanted a proof of it before he believed in Jesus, the Risen Christ. He had always been the skeptical one among the Apostles, as he sarcastically remarked when the Lord Jesus was about to go to Jerusalem for the final time before His Passion and death, that ‘let us all follow Him to our death!’.

We may be wondering, why did Jesus call St. Thomas to be His Apostle, to be the one to whom He entrusted His Church, if this Apostle of His has doubted Him so much and had been so skeptical about Him? But that is where we need to realise that when God called His disciples and Apostles, He called all those whom He deemed to be worthy, and not those who have deemed themselves to be worthy and faithful.

Let us ask ourselves, are we not the same as St. Thomas as well? Are we not like Him at times, doubting our God and not realising that we have done so? How many times has it been in our lives that we have questioned God’s love and decision for us? We are just like St. Thomas in our ways, and just like the other disciples and Apostles whom Jesus had called, all sinners alike before God and men.

God came to call all those who have sinned and lived in the darkness, that they may come into the light, and that was how He approached the prostitutes and tax collectors, people who have been sinning before God, and those whom the people had considered to be worthy to be saved. But God showed forth His love and called all of them to be His disciples, to be healed from their sins and faults, and to be reconciled with God.

St. Thomas himself did not doubt any longer, and believed from then on wholeheartedly. It was told by sacred tradition that St. Thomas travelled to many places evangelising among the pagan peoples, spreading the Good News to them, particularly what is now the southern parts of India, where even until today, thriving Christian communities can be found, as the so-called ‘St. Thomas Christians’ who preserved the faith given to them through St. Thomas the Apostle.

And St. Thomas himself would go on to die in martyrdom defending his faith against those who opposed his good works and evangelisation. From a doubter of the Lord and from a feeble faith, God had transformed the faith of St. Thomas into one that was firm and true, to the point that he was even ready to lay down his life for the sake of the Lord and standing true to his faith.

Otherwise, how we would explain his hard work and effort, and the thriving Christian communities which he had established two millennia ago and yet still thriving even until this very day? All those Christians did not come about from nothing, but through the effort and the hard works of the Apostles and their successors, from all the faith and hard work done by St. Thomas the Apostle, a doubter turned a firm believer of Christ.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us must realise that the works of St. Thomas, the Apostles and all the disciples of the Lord are yet incomplete, as the commands of the Lord still stand true even to this day. He has commanded all of them to go forth to all the nations and to preach the Good News to all the peoples, calling them to repentance and to accept the Lord as their Saviour and their God.

Let us all therefore be exemplary in all of our words, actions and deeds, be filled with love and joy in all of them, truly showing everyone that we really are faithful people of God, who completely place our trust in Him, and who walk in His path without hesitation and doubt. Let us ask the Lord to strengthen our faith in Him, especially when we are faced with challenges, with difficulties, temptations and doubt. St. Thomas the Apostle, pray for us always, pray that we will be strong in faith. Amen.

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Sunday, 2 July 2017 : Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, all of us heard from the Sacred Scriptures an unmistakeable message with which the Church wants us to know just how much God loves us all His people, and how He, Who is ever faithful and ever loving, will bless us and reward us for the faith and dedication that we show to Him in our daily lives, in our actions, deeds and works.

In the first reading today, taken from the Second Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah, we heard how the prophet Elisha of Israel was well taken care of by the rich woman of the city of Shunem, who provided for him all that he needed, in all of his food and drink needs, in all of his lodging and supplies, providing him with the place to sleep and caring for all of his other needs.

The prophet Elisha noticed all that the woman and her husband had done for his sake, respecting his position as the prophet of God, and providing for all of his needs. Thus, Elisha granted the woman a special privilege, a blessing and reward for all that she had done for the sake of God’s servants. The woman was granted a child in her old age even though she had been barren her whole life.

Another servant of God had been faithful his whole life, and was thoroughly committed to God, that he was righteous and just in all of his actions. He was Abraham, the father of many nations and our father in faith. Abraham is one of God’s great servants, whom the Lord was pleased with, as he had been true in his faith and genuine in his love for Him. As a result, God established His Covenant with Abraham, blessing him and all of his descendants.

There are many other examples throughout the entire Scripture, as we saw the faith of David, the other good servant of God, whose steadfast faith and commitment to the Lord, his righteousness and justice, both as a person and later on as the king of all Israel, brought upon him great blessings and graces from God, and God made a Covenant with David, blessing him and all of his descendants, promising that his heir will be on the throne of Israel forever, a promise fulfilled to perfection in Jesus Christ, Son and Heir of David.

All of these are the proof that what Jesus our Lord had said to His disciples in today’s Gospel passage is indeed true. All those who have welcomed the Lord and His servants, obeyed Him and His laws, walked righteously in His path and did what He had commanded us all to do, will not be disappointed, for the Lord will remember us and graciously grant us His favour and blessings.

And He also said that whoever loves father or mother, daughter or son, or any other things more than they love Him, He will reject them and cast them out from His presence. We must be careful lest we misunderstood the true intention of the Lord as He said those words. He did not mean that we ought to leave behind our loved ones and reject them in exchange for the Lord. What He meant was instead that we must indeed love everyone, our family, friends, and even strangers, based on an even greater love which we have for the Lord our God.

That is how Abraham, our father in faith, and the rich woman of Shunem were blessed because of their great love for the Lord which far surpassed their love for money and possessions, both of which Abraham and the rich woman of Shunem possessed in abundance. They did not hesitate to make use of them to glorify the Lord and to serve Him to the best of their abilities.

Indeed, if we were to read on more, Abraham as we all should know, even brought his son Isaac, his most beloved son, to be sacrificed when the Lord set out to test his faith, without hesitation. And the king David, when he welcomed the Lord’s Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem, did not hesitate to dance before the Lord’s Ark, in the sight of all his people, even though he was by then king of all Israel.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now let us all ask ourselves, whether we are capable of showing such faith in the Lord? Are we able to walk in the footsteps of our holy and devout predecessors, Abraham, David, the rich woman of Shunem and many others, all those who have given much for the sake of the Lord? This is what we need to reflect on and indeed ask ourselves, if we have not been truly faithful in our way of life, in how we live our daily lives.

How many of us often find excuses, trying to keep the Lord at a distance from us? How many of us are always using the excuses that we are busy, and we have no time for Him, preferring instead to deal and take care of our worldly business and occupations, rather than serving the Lord and loving Him with all of our heart, mind, body and soul?

This is what many of us mankind had done in our lives, as we are distracted by many temptations in life, which caused us to drift further and further away from the Lord. And this is where all of us really need to remember that the Lord had warned in the Gospel today, that all who put the Lord as a lower priority than other worldly matters and things, will be rejected and cast out into oblivion.

We do not have to do magnificent and grand actions to do what the Lord wants us to do. Rather, we should begin from ourselves, with small and little steps, rediscovering that love and devotion which we should have for our Lord, Who loves us all and Who created us all out of His great love. Let us all take a step back in our lives, taking some time to be spent with God despite our busy schedules and commitments in life.

Are we able to give the Lord our love, much as He has loved us all first? God did not hold anything back when He loved us, even to the point of sending us His own Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to suffer and die on the cross for us, so that through His great suffering and death, all of us may share in His death, and together rise with Him in glory of the resurrection into new life blessed by God.

Let us henceforth renew our commitment to the Lord, to love Him and to serve Him to the best of our abilities, starting by us devoting our time and effort for Him, instead of ignoring and walking away from Him, and therefore, as we draw closer to Him, we may better appreciate just how much God has blessed us and loved us from the very beginning.

Let us then also show the same love to our brethren, that is to our families, to our friends and all others, even strangers who are in need of our love. Let us all not be distracted any longer by all the temptations and worldly concerns that had so far held us back from being able to be true disciples of our Lord. May the Lord help us with all our endeavours, so that we may become more and more like His faithful disciples and servants, that we may be worthy to receive the fruits of eternal life and joy with God. May God bless us all. Amen.