Christian sermons

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Tuesday, 4 April 2017 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, as we approach ever closer to the time of the Holy Week, we are reminded of why we do all the fasting and abstinence during this season of Lent. In the first reading today, from the Book of Numbers, we heard what happened to the people of Israel as they journeyed through the desert. They rebelled against God and God sent punishment to them in the form of fiery serpents that killed many of them.

The people of Israel begged for mercy from God through Moses, and Moses implored the Lord to have pity on them. Seeing that they have suffered and that they wanted to end their rebellion against Him, and the sincerity of their repentance, God showed His mercy and instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent placed on a stand so that all those who had been bitten by the fiery serpents, and saw the bronze serpent would not die but survive and live.

And in the Gospel today, Jesus spoke to all those who followed Him about the upcoming persecution and suffering that He would then soon endure during His Passion and death on the cross. He spoke to them that He would be lifted up for all to see, the Son of Man and Saviour of the world, Who was crucified like a criminal even though He was innocent and did nothing wrong.

Through this, we can see how the event in the time of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt is linked to the time of the salvation of mankind through Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. At the time of the Exodus, God brought His people Israel out of Egypt and towards the Promised Land. However, they were unfaithful and they were constantly rebelling and disobeying Him, to the point of making for themselves a golden calf to be their deity and god.

As God was angry at them, for their wickedness and sins, the fiery serpents represent the punishment for all those sins and disobedience, much as how the sins that all of us mankind have done, bring about with it punishment and consequences. And many of the people of Israel died bitten by those fiery serpents, reminding all of us that the consequence for sin is death.

When we were created by the Lord, when Adam and Eve were still walking in the gardens of Eden, God did not intend for mankind to suffer and die, for it was not His intention. But, because they have sinned and disobeyed Him, therefore, they were cast out of Eden, and had to wander in this world in suffering, and death reigned over them. Ever since, all mankind, without exception, met the end of their lives in death.

But God loves each and every one of us, brothers and sisters in Christ. And it is that love which allows Him to show us His mercy when we His people sincerely desire to be forgiven, through our petition and grievances, through our regretting of our sins and wickedness, by our humble submission to His grace and love. And God Who loves us will indeed forgive us our sins if we are sincere in seeking to be forgiven.

That is just as how He gave a new chance to the Israelites by asking Moses to make the bronze serpent to rescue them from their predicament. And while that applied only to the people of Israel who died in the desert, God made the same thing to happen to all of mankind, by the sending of none other than His own Beloved Son, to be the One through Whom He would exercise His mercy and forgiveness.

And Jesus willingly took up upon Himself the multitudes of our sins, our defilements and all the things that had separated us from God and His love. He bore all those sins on Himself, carrying His cross through the way of suffering from Jerusalem towards the hill of Calvary. It was at Calvary where He was raised up for all to see, as the Sign of God’s salvation, forgiveness and grace, a reminder of the bronze serpent that saved the Israelites.

By the cross of Christ we have been saved, a new hope and light had dawned on us. God has given us a second chance, because He loves each and every one of us. But are we willing to be forgiven our sins? Are we allowing God to enter into our hearts and help us to transform ourselves from the creatures of sin and darkness that we were once, into beings of light worthy to be called the children of God?

That is the question we must ask ourselves, and which we must ponder on as we go through this time of preparation in Lent. We need to spend time to reflect on our lives, our actions and deeds in life thus far. Have we been faithful to the Lord, walking righteously in His ways? Or have we been wayward and disobedient like the people of Israel in the past? Have we ignored God’s laws and commandments, by our hatred, our jealousy, our selfishness and human greed?

Let us look upon the cross of Christ, the body that lies hanging on the crucifixes we have, at our homes, at our churches and wherever we are, and at our personal crosses and crucifixes. Whenever we look at Him Who is crucified, let us first of all remember that we are all sinners and should have perished because of them. Then remember how Christ died for all of us, bearing all the burdens of our sins as His own. Remember how He suffered for our sake, taking the punishment on our behalf, that we will not perish but live.

Let us devote ourselves with new commitment, looking at the example of today’s saint whose feast we are celebrating. St. Isidore of Seville was the Bishop of Seville during the years of the early Medieval era, who was credited with the conversion of the kingdom of the Visigoths in present day Spain from the heresy of Arianism into the orthodox and true Christian faith.

St. Isidore lamented the corruption that permeated the society and the people at that time, as morality became ignored and the faith among the people faltered. St. Isidore therefore laboured hard to bring the people of God back to the faith, by preaching to them the truth of the Gospels, and calling them to repentance. He stood firmly against the false teachings of Arianism and by his works, he managed to bring multitudes of souls to salvation.

Inspired by his examples, all of us Christians should endeavour to do the same as well. We should come closer to the Lord and change our sinful ways, repent from all of our past wrongdoings, realising just how much God loves us and wants us to be reconciled with Him. And we need to help our fellow brethren, especially those who are still struggling with sin and with their wickedness.

Let us endeavour to help one another, that each one of us may learn to draw closer to God, so that we may find our way to reconciliation with our God. May all of us learn to be humble, and beg the Lord for His forgiveness, by committing ourselves to change our sinful ways, and walk in righteousness and grace from now on. May God help us all, and may He bless all of us always. Amen.

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Monday, 3 April 2017 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the Scripture readings, from the Book of Daniel the prophet, where we heard the false accusation done by two elders of Israel against the faithful woman, Susanna. The two elders went wayward and disobeyed the Lord, allowing their lust and desire to take over their minds and bodies, and caused them to sin before the Lord and before their fellow men.

They were the elders entrusted with the guardianship and judgment over the people. They were supposed to be those who were most well versed in the matter of the Law and the commandments of God, and yet, they misused their authority to satisfy their own selfish desires. They presented false testimonies and accusations against the innocent, just because they wanted to cover the tracks of their own sins and wickedness.

But God would not allow His faithful ones to suffer such injustice. And therefore through the work of Daniel, God rescued Susanna from the hands of the two elders who wanted to see her destroyed while concealing their sins. They wanted to accuse others of their sins, but they themselves were judged and condemned because of their own sins. This is what is reinforced by what we heard in today’s Gospel, where we heard how Jesus dealt with those who wanted to persecute and punish the woman who had been caught in the midst of committing adultery.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law wanted to test Jesus by using the woman who had been accused of committing adultery, to see if He would judge her and therefore, they themselves could use whatever He was to say against Him. That was just how wicked those who were opposed to Jesus were, as they were prepared to manipulate and to take advantage of the situation to serve their own purposes.

But Jesus knew what was in their hearts, and He did not fall for the trickery. If He had condemned the woman, then He would be in trouble, because He had walked often among prostitutes and the tax collectors, then the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law would condemn Jesus for His frequent sorties and work among those considered as sinners. It was believed then that if one was to come into contact with sinners, they would be defiled as well.

If Jesus had not condemned the woman, then it would have been used to condemn Him either way, as an arbitrary person who did not recognise or turned a blind eye on sin committed by the woman. But that is when Jesus, Who in His wisdom knew what to do, chose instead to reveal that very fact which many people, especially the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, loathed to admit, that everyone is a sinner.

Thus He simply asked all of them, that the one who was without sin ought to cast the first stone against her. And indeed, no one raised even a stone against her, and beginning from the oldest ones among them, who have lived the longest, and therefore arguably having committed the most sins in their lives, left the woman behind and went away. Eventually every one of those who wanted to punish the woman and those who wanted to test Jesus went away. No one was without sin, and they were all aware of it, as much as many of them loathed to admit the fact.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, by knowing this fact, all of us should understand just how fortunate we are to have God with us, on our side, guiding us and caring for us. Jesus was the only One Who was without sin at that time, and yet, He did not judge the woman and punish her. Instead, He gave the woman a new chance and an opportunity. He said to her, “Go and sin no more.”

This is what we need to remember, brothers and sisters in Christ. It is often that we misunderstood the Lord and His desire for us to be forgiven. Many of us thought that God is ever merciful and loving, and we often used this instance of how Jesus forgave the woman who committed adultery as the reason to back up our claim that God will forgive whatever sins we commit in life.

Yet, if we understand what the Lord wants from us, then we are really mistaken, brethren. For while God is merciful and He wants us to be reconciled with Him, this depends also on the acceptance on our side, of the forgiveness which He had given freely to all of us. And what does acceptance mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is precisely the words, “Go and sin no more.” And that means, total and complete repentance, the sincere regret and penance for our sins.

It is what we need to do from now on, brothers and sisters in Christ. And it is what we need to proclaim and tell to our fellow brethren, all those who are still lost in the darkness, so that each and every one of us may find our way to the Lord and His salvation. God will forgive us, only if we sincerely turn our ways back away from our sinful past, and embrace wholeheartedly the forgiveness, by practicing what is righteous and just in our actions, sinning no more and doing what is right from now on.

Let us all pray, brothers and sisters, for the conversion of the whole world to Christ. Let us all pray, that mankind will be able to turn away from sin, and become faithful disciples and followers of our God, so that no more people, no more souls will fall into the eternal damnation in hell fire. May God be with us all, and may He forgive us all our sins, all of us who desire to be forgiven. Amen.

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Sunday, 2 April 2017 : Fifth Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day of our Lord we heard the story of Lazarus, the friend of Jesus and the brother of Martha and Mary, our Lord’s companions, whom we all certainly are familiar with, as the one whom Jesus raised from the dead in front of many witnesses, showing all of them that He is the one and only Lord over life and death.

Lazarus was sick and then he died, just as all mankind will one day eventually die because that is the consequence of their sins. All of us have sinned against God and disobeyed His commandments, and that is why we have received death as the just punishment for those sins. And we by our nature fear death, because death is something that we do not desire, causing us to be separated from all the things we know and love in this world.

To that extent, many of us tried to extend our life and to preserve our youth, worrying that as we grow older, we draw closer to death and all the things we do not desire. We want the pleasures of our worldly life to remain forever, and we want to enjoy all the things that this life has to offer. Many of us even try to manipulate life itself, trying all sorts of methods to keep us away from dying.

But in reality and truth, it does not matter what we have done, nothing that we have done will be able to extend even a single moment of our life, as the Lord Himself mentioned, that in accordance with His will, all of our lives had been measured and determined. We cannot make it last longer or shorter, for it is not us who are in control of our lives, but it is the Lord Who is the Master of all life, and also the Master of death.

Jesus showed us all that by His power and authority, being the Master over life and death, just as much as death has power over us because of our sins, but it does not have the final say. St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Corinth mocked death, saying, “Death where is your victory, o death, where is your sting?” For he knew that there is One Who is able to defeat death, and He Himself had shown it by His own victory against death.

Yes, we see for ourselves, through the witness passed down to us from the Apostles and those who have witnessed the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead, and also those whom saw Jesus risen in glory from the depth of hell, where He descended to during the time after He died on the cross. We saw how death can be overcome, if we put our trust in the One Who had conquered death, Christ Himself, our Lord and Saviour.

This Sunday is the last Sunday before the beginning of the Holy Week, the holiest time of the liturgical year, when we celebrate the very centre of our faith, the Passion and death, and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, the very reason for our faith and what we believe in. Therefore, through the readings on Lazarus’ resurrection, and also the passage from the first reading, where God promised His people through the prophet Ezekiel, that He would give them life, we are all reminded that our life is in the hands of the Lord.

By the baptism which we have received, we have in fact shared in the death of our Lord Jesus on the cross. We have been made to die to our past life and ways we once had. As I mentioned, we often spend a lot of time trying to preserve our life and our youth, but as we do so, we have committed things that are sinful and wicked in the sight of God. We neglect the duties and responsibilities we have, by not extending our hands to help all those who are in need around us, and instead being preoccupied with ourselves.

As we received the Sacrament of Baptism, we have been washed and made clean again, purified from the taints of our past sins, and we have received the promise of eternal life from the Master of life Himself. He Who have raised Lazarus from the dead, will also raise us from the dead, on the time of judgment, as He had promised all of us. It is the life in the world to come that we have to look out for, and not our current life in this world.

Jesus mentioned in another occasion that, we ought to seek not the treasures of this world, but instead, we should seek and build up for ourselves the treasures in the world that is to come. Why is that so? That is because all the things that we have in this world will not last, be it money, possessions, fame, influence, appearances and any other things that we often crave for, desire and wish for.

All of these things will easily perish and disappear, and it is often that despite all the things we do to keep them, we ave to realise that, first of all, these do not give us true satisfaction, and even more importantly, none of these will be carried by us over when we die. No matter how rich, powerful or influential we are, all of us will die because of our sins.

But when we live in the Lord, believing in Him and in His promise of salvation, all of us will have a new hope in us, because we know that if we remain faithful in Him, we shall live forever with Him in glory, and enjoy forever the fullness of love and grace of God. We shall no longer feel sadness, sorrow and any other forms of fear. We shall be satisfied and joyful, because the Lord is with us, and He provides us all with all that we ever need.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we approach the end of the season of Lent and coming close to the celebration of the Holy Week, let us spend some time to reflect on our lives thus far. Are we too busy and preoccupied in our lives trying to accumulate for ourselves more money, more worldly possessions, more fame and influence, and more of other things we want and desire in life?

Are we too busy thinking about the days to come, all the plans we have prepared for our lives? Are we too busy with all these things that we forget about all that we need to do in life, as our Lord had commanded us to do? And what is that, brothers and sisters in Christ? What is it that we need to do? It is to love God with all of our strength and with all of our heart, and to show that same love to our brethren, especially to those who have no one to love them.

Yes, that is precisely our obligation as Christians. We ought to love each other, as the Lord Himself has loved us. God has given us all His love, and we ought to show the same love to one another. Let us all make the commitment to love and to care for each other, instead of being selfish and being preoccupied with ourselves. Remember, the Lord alone has power over life and death, and for all of us who have believed in Him, and having received the holy Sacrament of Baptism, our salvation is assured.

There is no need for us to worry about anything, as the Lord Himself will take care of everything for us. God will not abandon all those who have faith in Him. He will care for them and protect them, and provide them all they need. Let us all renew our efforts to be true disciples and followers of our Lord, beginning from today onwards so that we may draw closer to God, and at the same time, also help all those who are lost along the way, that they too may find their way to the Lord.

And finally, let us all pray for all those who are about to be baptised in this Easter, that they too may share the life God had promised and given us all. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 1 April 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are reminded again that the world itself had rejected Christ and His ways, as shown through the examples of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who debated about the nature of the works which Jesus our Lord had performed as He went about His earthly ministry. They disputed the claim that Jesus was the Messiah and Saviour which God had promised His people, refusing to believe in Him, even though they had seen the multitudes of miracles and great deeds that He had performed before them.

And therefore all of us are reminded to guard ourselves against all those temptations and all the things that have caused man to resist against God, and to harden their hearts against God’s love and mercy. First of all, is the temptation of human greed, which led us to crave for more and more things of this world, such as wealth, fame, renown, knowledge and many other things that we mankind often seek, in order to satisfy that greed we have in us.

Unfortunately, the nature of greed is such that we cannot be satisfied by worldly things we have received. It is in our nature to want for even more after we have received, and when we have something like power, money, possessions and other things, we try to look for even more of these to satisfy our desires and cravings. And when we do not get what we want, we get jealous and are filled with hatred.

That was why the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were so adamant and stubborn in their opposition against Jesus. They were the ones who were supposed to be those who would first welcome the Lord, because they were knowledgeable on the matters of the Scriptures, and would have recognised the Messiah of God when He came into the world.

Unfortunately, because they were blinded with jealousy, anger and fear, they were unable to bring themselves to believe in the Lord Jesus, and instead, they acted to preserve their own human and worldly interests. They were those who held great power and influence in the community, and they saw Jesus as a great threat to their power, influence and standing among the Jewish people. As such, they were driven by those to oppose the Lord and His good works.

And then of course, is the temptation of human pride, which is the most dangerous of all forms of sins and temptations. It is the pride of most of the Pharisees and the elders of Israel, that they refused to bend their knee before the Lord Who came before them, and as their ego and pride overtook them, they ended up doing all that they could to thwart the good works of God, even though some among them, including Nicodemus, tried to point out to them the truth of God.

How are all these relevant to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is through understanding that if we do not restrain ourselves, our desires and wants, we will end up like the Pharisees and the scribes, being too busy with their own preoccupations with their power, worldly schemes and plans, to notice the grace of God at work around us.

Many of us Christians call ourselves as such, and yet, if we look more carefully at our actions, we will indeed be ashamed. We call ourselves Christians and yet in our actions and deeds, and also in our words, we do not act in the way that Christians should have done. Instead, we committed things and deeds that are wicked in the sight of God and man alike.

We cause pain and suffering for others, just because we are too greedy in desiring for more money and influence. We treat our fellow men badly because we exploit them and we did not treat them in the manner that we should be treating our fellow brethren in the Lord. We exploit others for our own personal benefit and advantage, and in our selfishness we have caused others to be sorrowful.

This is what we all need to avoid, and if we have done all these things, perhaps it is time indeed during this season of Lent for us to take a step back and reflect on our past actions and deeds. Have we been faithful to the Lord as how He had taught us to be faithful, by loving and showing care and compassion to our fellow brethren? Or have we instead acted out of our human pride, greed and selfishness? Have we treated our fellow men badly simply in order to satisfy our wants and desires?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this wonderful and extraordinary time of mercy, let us all turn towards God and seek His forgiveness. Let us all repent from our past sins and wrongdoings, and let us throw away all of our human pride, greed and all the things that had separated us from God and His love. Let us welcome the Lord and allow Him to come into our hearts, so that He may transform us into those who are worthy to receive His grace and inheritance.

May the Lord be with us all, and may He strengthen our faith within us, so that we may persevere through the temptations and challenges of the world. May we all draw closer to Him and to His love, so that in everything we say and do, we will always proclaim the glory of God, now and forevermore. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 31 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us are reminded of the fact that all those who follow the Lord, those who are walking in the way of the Lord, all of us who are faithful to God, Christians in name and in deeds, will be the target of those who would seek our downfall. We will be the target of all those who are opposed the Lord and His ways.

That was what happened to the prophets, as reiterated from the Book of Wisdom as per of first reading today. The prophets encountered great resistance from the people, beginning from the time of Moses, when the Israelites often rebelled against his authority and followed their own way, to the days of Samuel and the Judges, when the Israelites again and again disobeyed and sinned against God.

The prophets encountered great troubles in the days of Elijah and Elisha, as the kings of the northern kingdom of Israel and the people refused to listen to them. They were persecuted and oppressed, and had to flee even their community in the case of Elijah, who had to flee to desert. The other prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah also suffered ridicule and rejection, particularly Jeremiah, who was hated by others in his community and was ridiculed as a doomsayer.

People plotted against them and did all sorts of nasty things against them, just as much as they acted in this manner against the Lord and His disciples. They harassed them, rejected their message and persecuted them. They littered their path with obstacles and challenges, and made martyrs from many of these faithful servants and disciples of our Lord.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because, it is the very nature of our sins, the sins of mankind. Sin has made us to turn against the ways of the Lord our God, into our own selfish ways, and as sin had permeated the whole race of man, the whole world itself has become filled with wickedness and corruption. People have become morally corrupt and evil in their words and deeds.

But we Christians are beacons of light in the midst of this great darkness. We bring forth into this darkened world, none other than the true Light of Christ, the Light of the world. For those who have closed their hearts against God and His love, who are stubbornly refusing to welcome His mercy and forgiveness, the light brought about by our actions and works in this world is an eyesore to them, and thus, that is why there will be lots of opposition to us and to whatever we are doing in the Name of the Lord.

However, we have to remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, that God is always with us, no matter what happens. There may indeed be very difficult times and moments in our lives, but even if we do not realise it, God is always by our side, supporting us and providing us with the necessary help, often in His own mysterious ways. And thus, God is our helper, our strength and our hope.

In this time of Lent, we are all called to draw closer to God, to be closer to Him and to appreciate more of the love and mercy which He had shown to us all these while. Sometimes, in our busy life schedule and activities, we have the tendency to forget about God, to overlook His grace and love for us, and that is when we end up distancing ourselves from Him, and fall into a higher risk of stumbling on the path littered with challenges and obstacles as we proceed with these lives of ours.

And let us also not forget about all those who have hated us and persecuted us. Am I serious when I said this, brothers and sisters? You must be wondering why I said so. Indeed, I am truly serious about it. Remember, the Lord Jesus Himself said, “Forgive your enemies and pray for all those who persecute you.” If the Lord Jesus Himself has forgiven those who have made Him to suffer and die on the cross, and indeed, all of us, because it is by our sins that He had suffered, then why should we not do the same?

Let this season and time of Lent be the beginning of a new chapter of our life, where we will no longer be angry or be filled with hatred at others, especially at those who hate us because we belong to Christ. Instead, let us counter their hatred with love, with forgiveness and mercy. Who knows, that because of the love which we show them, they may be touched in their hearts and be converted to the truth of Christ too.

May the Lord be with us, and may He strengthen our faith, that we may always be faithful to Him in all the things we say and do in this life we have. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Thursday, 30 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Book of Exodus, of the well known event when God was very angry against His people, the Israelites, because they have sinned against Him and disobeyed Him in the worst way possible. They carved for themselves a golden calf and chose this golden calf, the creation of the hands of man, to be their god and worshipped it.

Let us understand why God was very angry against the Israelites. Remember that God had just rescued all of His people from the hands of the Egyptians and the Pharaoh by His mighty deeds, the ten plagues that He had brought upon these people who enslaved His beloved ones. He did so many good things for them, opened the sea before them and allowed them to escape from the pursuit of their enemies and oppressors.

He fed them with manna, the bread from heaven and also with clear and sweet water, providing them with all that they needed. He made their enemies to run away in fear away from them, defeating all those who sought for the destruction of Israel. He also made a covenant with them at His holy mountain, through Moses His servant, who led all of Israel to the foot of the mountain to receive His laws and commandments.

But they were quick to disobey the Lord and be wayward. When Moses left them behind to go up the mountain and receive the Law of God, they quickly assumed that they had no God with them, and had it on themselves to make a golden calf to be god over them, following the customs of their neighbours. It is therefore no surprise that God was angry at them, because they have not appreciated the love with which God had cared for them, and betrayed Him for the pagan idols and gods.

How does all these relate to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? How are they relevant to us? All of us are sinners, brothers and sisters, and all of us have been disobedient to God in one way or another, and we have been enslaved to sin. Sin has corrupted us and crushed us under its power and influence. It was just like how the Israelites suffered under the tyranny of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians.

But God loves each and every one of us, and He wants all of us to be saved and liberated from all those sins. And therefore, just as the Israelites were brought out of Egypt by the mighty hands of God, God also endeavoured to bring all of us, His beloved people, to freedom and liberation from our sins. And He had done that, by the sacrifice of His own Son, the Paschal Lamb of sacrifice, just as the Israelites ate the sacrifice of the Passover lambs on the night of their liberation from Egypt.

And thus, by the waters of our baptism, all of us who have received the Sacrament of Baptism have received the salvation from God, the liberation from our sins that we are all looking out for. And we have all been made the people of God, as the members of His Church. However, as a reminder to us, through the past example of the Israelites, if we are not careful, we may also fall into the same trap of sin as the Israelites had experienced.

That means, all of us must be vigilant and be careful lest we fall into the temptations and the obstacles which Satan and his allies had prepared before us. We have to be careful of the temptation of our human pride, thinking that it is by our own achievements and power that we have attained all the glories we have received. That is what the Israelites had done, thinking that they had no need for the Lord and instead made upon themselves and glorified the statues made of their own hands as their god.

We have to be vigilant against all the works and the temptations that the devil is placing on our path, that we do not fall into sin. Let us make use this time of Lent to reflect on our lives, and think carefully how we should proceed with our lives, judging well what we all should do, that we may turn away from our past sinfulness and embrace wholeheartedly God’s forgiveness and mercy.

God may indeed be angry at our sins and our disobedience, for He hates all forms of sin that is disobedience and wickedness in His sight. However, at the same time, He also loves each and every one of us, all those whom He had created with love, and to whom He had granted life and grace. He wants to forgive us our sins, but are we responding to His merciful love? Are we open to God’s mercy working its power in our hearts, bodies and minds?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all recommit ourselves to God and to His ways from now on if we have not done so. Let us all appreciate the love that God has for each one of us, and let us no longer disobey Him, but learn to put our complete trust in Him and help one another to remain true and faithful to our God. May God bless us all, and help us to draw closer to Him, especially during this penitential season of Lent. Amen.

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Wednesday, 29 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we quickly approach the coming of the Holy Week and the end of the season of Lent, we are all reminded of the very purpose of our preparation and all of our penance in this time of Lent, and that is for us to remember that we are expecting the coming of the Lord and the fulfilment of His promise to all of us mankind, that He will rescue us from our troubles and difficulties, and from all the challenges and sufferings we have had to endure.

All of us have lived in the darkness, separated from the love and grace of God because of our sins. We have lost our way and became stranded in the darkness, and our future had become uncertain, and what seemed to be our fate was to face judgment for our sins, and be condemned for eternity in hell with Satan and all of his fellow demons and evil spirits.

But God would not let that to happen to us, as He created all of us out of His great love, and indeed, He loves each and every one of us. And that is why He had given us the greatest help of all, in Jesus Christ, the Saviour Whom He had promised to all of us His people, just as He had promised our ancestors through the prophets and messengers He had sent into the world.

Jesus is the ultimate personification of God’s love for us, as He is the Divine Word of God Himself, God Who is Love, Who had chosen to wrap Himself and His divinity in the human flesh, and taking up our very own human nature, so that all of us may share in His humanity, and as He raises Himself up on the cross, which we commemorate on this upcoming Good Friday, He brought up upon Himself all of our shortcomings, all of our sins and mistakes, all of our imperfections and defilements, and offered Himself to God as a perfect sacrifice to atone for all the combined monstrosity of our sins.

That is the essence of God’s great love for us, so great that He was willing to lay down His life for us, and suffer the great and mighty burden of the cross. The cross of Christ was not just a physical burden, as the wooden cross, while heavy, it was indeed still bearable by any man. But it was the spiritual burden of the combined weight of our sins that bore down on Christ and press down on His shoulders, and He endured all of that on the long journey from Jerusalem to Calvary.

And that is what we all need to remember every time we are contemplating and thinking of doing something that we know is wicked and inappropriate in accordance with the Lord and His ways. Every time we want to disobey God and turn against Him, even in the smallest of things, we have committed sin against Him, and we are adding to the burden that had been placed on our Lord.

Yet, the Lord took up His cross without complaints, and He persevered on, step after step, moving on towards His death at Calvary, with great and unquenchable love in His heart, knowing that all of us have been misguided by sin, and all of us are in need of redemption and liberation from those sins. This is what we need to know, brothers and sisters in Christ, the love which God has for us, and the mercy pouring forth freely from His most merciful and loving heart.

Nonetheless, whether this mercy has any effect on us depends entirely on our willing and conscious acceptance of His mercy. God freely and willingly gives us His mercy and forgiveness, and indeed, He wants us to be forgiven and to be freed from those sins that had corrupted us. However, if we ourselves are the ones who object to be forgiven and refuse the mercy He has shown us, and continue in our sinful ways, how can we then be forgiven?

That is why, in this season of Lent, all of us must devote ourselves to change our ways, to turn our back against those wicked and mistaken paths we have once taken in life, and commit ourselves to a new life blessed by God, by doing what is right and just in God’s presence, and also by helping all those who are struggling with their faith, all those who have turned away from God’s ways and continued to live in a state of sin.

Let us all show by our examples, by our loving actions and deeds, by our compassion and patience, by our virtues, justice and righteousness, that we belong to the Lord, and show our brethren the path for them to reach out to the Lord, their loving God. May this time of Lent be the time for reconciliation and mercy, that all of us may draw ever closer to God, to His love, and be worthy of His mercy and compassion. May God be with us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 28 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the healing which our Lord Jesus gave to the man who had been paralysed and who was unable to move for many years, no less than thirty-eight years according to the Gospel. In the first reading, from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard about the vision which the prophet Ezekiel received on the great Temple of God in heaven, and how water streamed out of the Temple of God, giving life to all that the water passed through.

He saw how water flowed out of the great Temple of God, a great stream of water without end, which gives life and healing to all the fruits and trees that grew on the side of the stream. We know water is an essential part of life, without which we cannot survive and live. And in the Gospel today, water has an additional purpose, that is for healing, through the pool of Bethzatha, where the sick all assembled hoping to receive healing by touching the water that had been touched by the Angel of God.

No one helped out the paralytic man who had been lying there for thirty-eight years, looking for healing, because everyone else had always managed to go before him into the water and got healed instead of him. They ignored him and sought for their own healing and well-being first. That was why he continued to be there, and yet he never lost hope and waited for the time when he would receive healing and be rid of his ailment.

All those people who laid at the pool of Bethzatha, with ailments, sicknesses and diseases, all hoping to receive healing through the pool’s water, are in fact representative of all of us, brothers and sisters. Through sin, all of us have been defiled, corrupted and made sick in our souls, in our hearts, minds and also our bodies. We have been made unworthy to be in the presence of our loving God, as we are wicked and sinful.

And thus in our hearts, we have that longing to be healed and to be made whole, and we hope in the salvation found in our God alone. And indeed, as we see in the Gospel passage today, the Lord Who loves each and every one of us wants us all to be healed, and He showed His mercy and love, exemplified by what He had done to the paralytic man.

Yet, did we all notice that He sought immediately the one who had waited there for the longest among all others? The one who had had none to help him get to the water? This is the attitude which our Lord is calling all of us Christians to emulate and follow. We are called to look after our fellow brethren, especially those who are abandoned, ignored and unloved, all those who have no one to help them, the greatest of all sinners.

God is looking for the conversion of all sinners, that everyone who have sinned may find it in their heart to look for forgiveness and grace, by their sincere repentance and desire to be forgiven. He does not want anyone to be left out just because there is no one to help them. We are the ones who have been empowered and given the opportunities to help these brethren of ours who are in need. Just as God has forgiven us our sins, He will forgive them too, if they wish to repent from their sinful ways.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on our lives and how we have lived through these lives we have. Have we ignored our fellow brethren and all those whom we could have helped on their journey towards the Lord? Shall we use this time of Lent to rededicate ourselves to help all those whom we have neglected and ignored? Shall we put our entire strength and effort to help all those who are in need of our love and attention?

May the Lord strengthen us all in our faith, and empower us all to be helpers and assistance to all those who are in need, that through our work together, we may be able to seek the Lord Who wants each and every one of us to be reunited and reconciled with Him, healed from all of our afflictions and sicknesses because of our sins. May God be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 27 March 2017 : 4th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, through the Scripture readings, we are reminded of the hope that we all have in the Lord, Who will bless us with true joy and happiness. It was just yesterday that we celebrated the joy of expecting our salvation in Laetare Sunday, the Fourth Sunday of Lent. We remember that while this season of Lent is a time for penitence and repentance from our sins, it is also a time to be joyful, precisely because we all know that God had had mercy on us sinners.

Through God we have received healing for our afflictions and sickness. We may be wondering if we are sick, because to us, we may seem to be perfectly healthy in body and mind. Yes, we may indeed be very healthy, but that is because what we see are just the body and the appearances alone. Deep inside, we are all really sick and filled with all sorts of diseases, all because of our sin.

Yes, as I have often mentioned, sin is the disease and sickness of the soul, and it is the source of all other maladies and sicknesses that affected our bodies, our minds, our hearts, and indeed our entire being. It is because of that sin which afflicted us, each and every one of us that we have had to suffer various things either physically, mentally or spiritually in this world.

Yet, many of us have not realised that God wants us all to be healed. It is often that we think that God is angry at us for having sinned against Him, and therefore we distanced ourselves. We acted as if we are some filthy and unworthy servants, who have disobeyed Him, and incurred His wrath and anger. Thus, we retreat in shame and not daring to show our face before Him.

According to St. John Chrysostom, a great saint of the early Church, all of us ought to realise that it is sin itself that is the problem, and not what we perceive as God being angry at us for having sinned. He said, “Be ashamed when you sin, not when you repent.” Through these words, he wanted to show us that while we often worry about when we want to repent from our sins, because we are afraid of God’s anger and punishment, but if we remain in sin, what will happen to us is far worse than the consequences of our repentance.

All of us have to realise that because of our sins, caused by our lack of faith and discipline, that we fell into temptations and persuasions of the devil, we have been tainted in our body, mind, heart and soul. And as we have been corrupted by sin, we have become unworthy of the Lord, Who is all good and perfect, and can tolerate no sin at all in His presence.

If we insist on being stubborn or being afraid of looking forth to God’s forgiveness, because we are too proud to admit that we have been wrong, that we have sinned, or because of our fear for reprisal, or because we are ashamed and concerned about our appearances and standing in our society, then, brothers and sisters, we should know that because of that failure to repent from our sins we will be led into eternal damnation and condemnation in hell.

Yes, that is the fate that awaits all those who have sinned and refused to repent. All of us mankind have sinned, without exception. Only Christ Himself is completely free from all sin, for He is both God and Man. But that is exactly what He had done for our sake. He gave Himself for us freely out of His free will, desiring to be the perfect and unblemished sacrificial victim, laid on the Altar of the Cross at Calvary, to become our Saviour.

By His blood we have been cleansed and purified, all of us who believe in Him and receive Him wholeheartedly as our Saviour. Yet, time to time again, many of us fall into sin and commit things that are unbecoming of us as Christians, as God’s followers and disciples. That is what this season of Lent is for, a time for us to reflect on our lives and look at all the sinful deeds we have committed.

This is the time for forgiveness, for the changing of hearts and minds, that while once we have been delinquent and disobedient against the will of God, now we can start to devote our energy, time and effort to do what is required of us as Christians. Let us all learn to forgive one another, be charitable in our deeds, giving to the needy and the poor all that they need, sharing our blessings with them.

May this season of Lent be the time for us to be closer to God, and to reevaluate our lives for the better. May each and every one of us be better able to live our lives as true Christians, not just on paper alone, but also through our words and deeds, through real action by which we show love for our fellow brethren, as much as we love the Lord, through Whom we have received healing and forgiveness from our sins and wickedness. May God forgive us all our sins and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

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Sunday, 26 March 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Rose (Laetare Sunday)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is the celebration of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, or also known as Laetare Sunday, coming from the word “Laetare” in the beginning of today’s Introit, “Laetare Jerusalem” or “Rejoice, o Jerusalem”. As we celebrate the joyous aspect of Lent, as we await the true joy of Christ coming unto us, that is why the vestments and the liturgical colour used today is rose instead of the usual violet, representing the reality that while Lent is a season of penance, but it is also a season for expecting the coming of the joy of Christ.

Why do we celebrate this joyous occasion, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because at the same time that we remember the upcoming struggles, sufferings and pains that our Lord had to endure during His Passion on the Cross, and throughout the way of suffering, we also remember that all of those had to happen so that we may receive true joy, that is the joy of our salvation and redemption from our sins.

Christ is our true Joy, for He came into this world bearing us hope, the true hope that He alone could bring, and not the false joys present in this world. And we rejoice in Him, because through Him, we have been able to see the light of God shining upon our path, guiding and leading us on our way, that we may be able to find our way and at the same time, freeing ourselves from the attachment and the association we have thus far with the darkness of this world.

Through His light, all of us who believe in Him have been purified from the darkness within us, and in our baptism, we received the lighted candle, which flame came from the Paschal candle, a representation of the light of the Lord’s Resurrection, as the light that overcame the darkness of the world, as on Easter Sunday, the world which once had not known hope, then finally is able to hope again upon the Lord and His light.

In today’s Gospel, we heard how Jesus healed the man who was born blind on the sabbath. He made him able to see once again, and the man was truly filled with joy. He was not able to see, and he could not see the light as most of us could. We always know this world as it is because we are able to see the light around us coming into our eyes. But imagine what would it be like, had we been born blind as the man whom Jesus had healed.

Imagine living in a world where we could not see at all, where no light can be seen, because our eyes were not able to see it. Imagine what kind of joy we would have if our eyes were opened and light entered into our eyes for the very first time. Only then that we can appreciate how joyful it is for the blind man to be able to see again. And he therefore believed in Christ and all that He had done for him.

Let us contrast this with the actions of the Pharisees and the actions of the teachers of the Law who were also there, and who have not just witnessed that miracle, but many other miracles that Jesus had performed among the people, also in their presence. Yet they have refused to believe in the Lord Jesus, out of all others who have believed in Him. They have seen and yet they rejected the Lord and His good works.

They had not believed because in their pride and arrogance, they have hardened their hearts against God. They were jealous against the Lord Whom they thought to be a rival to their power and influence. As a result, they were blinded by all these prejudices, by all the negativities and all the wickedness they had in their hearts, so that even though they could see with the eyes of their body, the eyes of their hearts were in reality, blind.

They could see light through the eyes of their body, the ones on their head, but they could not see the true Light of the world, which Jesus had brought into this world, Himself. They allowed darkness to enter their hearts and blind them, and thus, they did all the things in opposition to the Lord and His works because of that. As a result, they were not to be the recipients of God’s grace, love and forgiveness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is what we need to reflect on as we continue to progress through the season of Lent. Have we been open to receive God’s forgiveness in this season and time of mercy? This Lenten season is a time for mercy, and we are always urged to receive God’s mercy, which He gives to all without hesitation and with much love, and we are also urged to forgive one another, yet many of us often forget that while God wants to forgive us and love us once again, but it is we ourselves who are often the greatest obstacles to our forgiveness and therefore, our salvation.

Why is this so? We just have to look at the examples of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. These were the elites in the society back then at the time of Jesus and His earthly ministry two millennia ago. They were those who were considered as the nobilities and leaders of their time, and they were physically fit if not very healthy compared to the others in the society, well to do in their lives and were able to provide with themselves without any difficulties.

They looked down on others because they considered themselves superior to them, by their upbringing and by what they saw that they were the guardians of the law of God, the laws of Moses, wearing their long robes and chanting their prayers daily in the marketplaces and in the open areas. They thought that they alone had the grasp over God and His truth, and that was why they oppressed the poor, the sinners like the prostitutes and the tax collectors, thinking that these were people unworthy of God, but they were wrong.

They allowed their pride and arrogance to get in their way, and they closed their hearts when the Lord came to speak the truth to them. They forgot that they too, were sinners and were in need of God and His forgiveness as well. Instead, they committed even more sins, by closing the doors of God’s mercy on those who need them the most. They condemned others as sinners and rebels, while it was their attitude who showed the most rebellious attitudes of all.

They judged others by their appearances, and they also judged themselves by their appearances. But if they can just remember the Book of the prophet Samuel, when God chose His chosen king, David, from among the sons of Jesse, our first reading passage today, they would realise that God sees not by appearances, but He looks deep inside each and every one of our hearts. He knows us all completely inside and outside, and nothing can be hidden from Him.

It is not by our appearances that God had chosen those whom He wishes to call, and we do not choose ourselves to be those whom God will choose. Rather, God chooses whoever He wants to be chosen, and He calls those whom He deems to be worthy to be called. He called David not because he is the strongest or the best among his brothers, in whatever categories that the world commonly attribute to those who are usually chosen, but because God saw in David’s heart, mind and soul, a true and genuine love for Him.

That man who was born blind, might not be able to see the light through the eyes of his body, but the eyes of his heart was truly open and were capable of seeing the light of Christ, which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had failed to do. Now let us ask ourselves, have we been like David or the man born blind in our attitudes in this life we have? Or have we been more like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law instead?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this time of Lent, we are all called to the Lord’s mercy, healing and forgiveness. But we need to overcome all the things that have become obstacles on our way to achieve God’s mercy and grace. We have to overcome our human pride, our fear and our stubbornness, and open the path for God to enter into our hearts and transform us completely.

Let Him enter into ourselves, and let Him heal us just as He had healed the man who was born blind, so that while once we saw everything through the veils of darkness and sin that had engulfed us, now we may be able to pierce through those veils that blinded us, and thus capable of seeing the true light coming from the Lord our God, and now therefore we are able to find our way to the salvation in God. Let us all have that great joy in us, finally being able to see the hope of salvation through Christ.

Let us also help one another, especially those who are still lost on their way to the Lord. Let us all devote our time and effort to draw ever closer to God, and to find the way to the Lord and to be more like Him in all of our words, deeds and actions. Let this be our Lenten commitment and work, and from now on let us all be ever more devoted servants and people of God, Who has loved us all so much, and wants us all to also love Him in the same manner. May God bless us all. Amen.