Christmas Eve

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Vigil Mass (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 62 : 1-5

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

You will be a crown of glory in the hand of YHVH, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. No longer will you be named Forsaken; no longer will your land be called Abandoned; but you will be called My Delight and your land Espoused. For YHVH delights in you and will make your land His spouse.

As a young man marries a virgin, so will your Builder marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride, so will your God rejoice in you.

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we celebrate the fourth and the last Sunday of the season of Advent, the last one before Christmas, which happens to be just tomorrow. I hope that all of us have been using this precious season of Advent, which the Church had established as a time of preparation and recollection, in order to get ourselves ready for the worthy and meaningful Christmas joy.

On this Sunday we are focusing on the last of the four aspects of Advent, as part of our reflection on what Christmas is truly about. We have gone through the aspect of hope, peace and joy, and now finally we embrace the love that is coming with Christmas. Love is the most important of all aspects of Christmas, simply because Christmas is a celebration of true love, God’s love which He gave us through Jesus Christ.

We received this ultimate gift of God’s love, as we remember always the famous phrase from the Gospel of St. John, ‘God so loved the world, that He gave us His only Son, that all those who believe Him, will not perish but have eternal life’. This reminds us that our Christmas joy is caused by the love of God which was so great and was so generously given to us, that while we might have once been lost in the darkness, and without hope, now because of this, we have a new hope.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as mentioned in the first reading today about the story between king David of Israel and the prophet Nathan, God Himself has dwelled among His people, first in the House which the son and heir of king David, namely king Solomon, built in Jerusalem. But through Christmas, God made Himself present in the flesh, in the tangible body of Man, for Jesus Christ Our Lord, born into the world two millennia ago, was Son of God and Son of Man.

And this truth was revealed as the Good News which the Lord brought to His people, announcing the coming of His salvation and His everlasting love, which He has poured down on us in its fullness in Christ. He is the Love of God made Man, the Divine Word Incarnate, by Whom all of us have been created, out of love, and through Him also, God willed to save all of us mankind. And God did this in the most amazing of ways, not through might and miracles, but through the giving of Himself in love.

For it is this wonderful and amazing mystery of God’s love which He showed us by the incarnation of His Son, and dwelling in this world, that we celebrate this Christmas. The proof of His love is truly real and concrete, for as we should know, Christmas itself cannot be separated from what happens in Easter, and by that extension, what happens during the week of the Passion, suffering and death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. That is why, for us to be able to appreciate the meaning of Christmas and God’s love, we must spend time to reflect on what the Lord had done for us.

Let us look at the manger, which is always at the centre of the Christmas displays. The manger is the earthly throne of Our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Baby born of His mother Mary, not in a palace, not in a rich man’s house, but inside a dirty and cramped stable for animals, for sheep and horses, for goats and cows, but not fit for a man, less so for a King. And Jesus is not merely just any king, but the One True King, King of all kings and Master of the Universe. He is the Lord over all of us, over all the mightiest among mankind.

Yet, He willingly lowered Himself and emptied Himself, allowing Himself to assume the appearance and the nature of a man, one of His created beings, that through that act, He might fulfil the singular mission entrusted to Him by His Father. He was born with a single purpose, and that purpose was made clear in its due time, as the cross of Christ. He bore that cross willingly, putting upon Himself all of our faults, our disobedience, and all of our sins and wickedness.

He endured all of that to be our lamb of sacrifice, the perfect Lamb offered to God, the perfect Gift for us mankind. His Precious Body and Blood alone is worthy to redeem all of us from our sins and from all of our defilements, that kept us separated from God and His love. But in order to do that, He had to suffer greatly, tortured and scourged, and had to be pierced by nails and spears, and lifted up on the cross to die a most agonising death.

All of these are proofs of God’s ultimate love for each one of us. He Himself said that there is no greater love than for someone to die or to give his life for a friend. And that was exactly what He has done for each and every one of us. He has given us His life, and He gave it all for our sake. He is indeed Our God and Our King, and yet, amongst all the other kings and rulers of this world, none of them treat their servants in this manner.

Yes, God loves us so much, that as He Himself said, I no longer call you servants, but I call you friends. He has loved us so much, that through the very significant act of Him assuming our form of Man, He has united us all to Himself, and make us all, more than just servants, but friends, and even more so, as we all know, through baptism, each and every one of us as Christians have been made to be God’s own sons and daughters.

He has given us this great and exceptional grace, again because of His love for us. And if He has given us such a great love, then should we not do the same? All of us are called to love, just as God has loved us first. First of all, of course we have to love the Lord Our God with all of our hearts, with all of our strength and capabilities. That is why we must focus ourselves on the Lord this Christmas, because Christmas is indeed about Him, all of the love which He has shown us, and through which He has made everything possible for us, to hope once again for eternal life.

But we are also called to love one another, in the same manner as God has loved us. After all, if He is Our Father, then all of us are brothers and sisters to one another, having the same Father in heaven. Then, how about if we practice that in our Christmas celebrations? When we discern about love in today’s Advent reflection, let us all look upon our own actions. Have we loved our brethren and showed concern and care for those who are in need?

Love is something that is easily said but difficult to be done. That is because love requires commitment and the giving of oneself. And true love should be selfless and life-giving, generous and compassionate. The best way for us to love, is to seek those around us, even within our own families and amongst our friends, and also among others we encounter in our respective lives, who have not been loved, those who have been ostracised, and those who are not as fortunate or blessed as we are.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in order to make our Christmas celebration a more meaningful one, let us all therefore strive that this Christmas, and from now onwards, we may go forth and show our love to our neighbours and brethren in need. Let us all show care and concern for those who are in need, no longer ignoring the pleas of the poor, the weak, the downtrodden, the unloved and those who are lonely. Let us show them the love of God, through our actions, that by doing so, we ourselves will draw closer to God’s love, and eventually will find our way to His eternal glory.

May the Lord bless each and every one of us, and may He also help us to rediscover the true meaning of Christmas, that is love, God’s love for us mankind. May He help us to share that love we have received with each other, that we may love our fellow men and women ever more generously that we may draw ever closer to Him, and eventually be worthy to receive His glorious inheritance. May we be ready to rejoice for Christ’s wondrous coming in Christmas day tomorrow. Amen.

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 26-38

In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

The Angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the Angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call Him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the kingdom of David, His ancestor; He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and His reign shall have no end.”

Then Mary said to the Angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the Angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Holy Child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”

Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the Angel left her.

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Romans 16 : 25-27

Glory be to God! He is able to give you strength, according to the Good News I proclaim, announcing Christ Jesus. Now is revealed the mysterious plan, kept hidden for long ages in the past.

By the will of the eternal God it is brought to light, through the prophetic books, and all nations shall believe the faith proclaimed to them. Glory to God, Who alone is wise, through Christ Jesus, forever! Amen.

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 88 : 2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29

I will sing forever, o YHVH, of Your love, and proclaim Your faithfulness from age to age. I will declare how steadfast is Your love, how firm Your faithfulness.

You said, “I have made a Covenant with David, My chosen one; I have made a pledge to My servant. I establish his descendants forever; I build his throne for all generations.”

He will call on Me, “You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.” I will keep My Covenant firm forever, and my love for Him will endure.

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Sunday, 24 December 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

2 Samuel 7 : 1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16

When the king had settled in his palace and YHVH had rid him of all his surrounding enemies, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I live in a house of cedar but the Ark of God is housed in a tent.” Nathan replied, “Do as it seems fit to you for YHVH is with you.”

But that very night, YHVH’s word came to Nathan, “Go and tell My servant David, this is what YHVH says : Are you able to build a house for Me to live in? I took you from the pasture, from tending the sheep, to make you commander of My people Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, cutting down all your enemies before you. Now I will make your name great, as the name of the great ones on earth.”

“I will provide a place for My people Israel and plant them that they may live there in peace. They shall no longer be harassed, nor shall wicked men oppress them as before. From the time when I appointed judges over My people Israel it is only to you that I have given rest from all your enemies. YHVH also tells you that He will build you a house.”

“When the time comes for you to rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your son after you, the one born of you; and I will make his reign secure. I will be a Father to him and he shall be My son. Your house and your reign shall last forever before Me, and your throne shall be forever firm.”

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Saturday, 2 January 2016 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the humility of John the Baptist, the holy servant of God, the Herald of His Messiah, Who came into the world in order to save it and all of mankind. John the Baptist came before Jesus in order to prepare His way, and he baptised many people at the Jordan, calling them to repentance and to turn away from their sinful ways.

And even though many people listened to him and hearkened to his call for repentance, and although many people flocked to him and he was truly famous and respected by many, but in numerous occasions, as what we have also heard in the Gospel today, he denied that he was the Messiah, that is he denied that he was the Saviour that was to come into the world as prophesied.

He humbly revealed that he was merely the servant, the voice calling out in the wilderness to call the people of God to prepare themselves for the coming of the Lord and to prepare them to receive His salvation. He refused the temptation to be a great person himself, the temptation of power and worldly glory, and he preferred to remain faithful to the mission which he had come into this world for.

We can relate this to the first reading which we had today, the Epistle which St. John had written to the faithful to remind them to be true to their faith and reject all the falsehoods and lies, and to reject and resist all the false teachings of the false prophets and the antichrists, whose ways are not of the Lord but of the devil, and whose temptations on the faithful could cause these to lose their track on their way towards salvation and fall into damnation instead.

Just as Adam and Eve, these false prophets and antichrists were tempted by the devil with the false promises and the lies of worldly power and glory, if only that they would abandon their God and disobey Him, following rather the path of their own hearts’ desires and wants. And they succumbed to the temptation and followed the devil in his ways, and then they also preached the same falsehoods to mislead many others from among the faithful.

Throughout the ages, we have encountered many of them, the heretics such as Arius, Nestorius, and many others, including that of Martin Luther, Calvin and Zwingli in the more recent time. These people have turned the hearts of many of the faithful into the wrong paths, because instead of adhering to the teachings of the Lord as what had been kept faithfully by the Apostles and the Church fathers, they allowed their own judgments and ideas to supersede the truth.

And now, let us see the examples of the two very important saints whose feast we celebrate today, namely St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen. Both of these saints were widely honoured, especially in the eastern half of Christendom, where they were credited with the defence of the true faith against the dangerous heresies that threatened to divide and tear apart the Church of God.

St. Basil the Great was the Bishop of Caesarea who lived and worked at about the same time of his contemporary, St. Gregory Nazianzen or St. Gregory of Nazianzus, who was the Archbishop of the new capital city of the Roman Empire, Constantinople. Both of them worked together in the effort to counter the influence and the false teachings of the heretics such as the Arians and the many other sects which taught teachings contrary to the orthodox and true Church teachings.

Many of the faithful were divided against each other, with those who refused to leave behind the truth of God and join the heresies against those who have given themselves up to the false and twisted teachings. It fell to St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory Nazianzen and their fellow elders of the Church as well as the faithful among the laity to resist the advances of those seeking to destroy the Church and its truth.

It was not an easy journey, as many challenges awaited and faced them. All those who are opposed to the two saints made things difficult for them, the priests and bishops aligned with the heretical teachings constantly challenged them and made things difficult for the faithful people of God. Nevertheless, St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen never gave up, and with clarity of Christian teachings and truth in their hands, they worked hard and managed to turn many back to the true path towards the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard the examples of the faithful saints of God, and also that of John the Baptist who faithfully carried out his mission, rejecting the temptation of the evil one and the world, and humbly fulfilling what has been expected of him, let us all also reflect on these and walk in their footsteps, following their examples by doing the same in our own lives.

Let us all reject our human pride and desire for worldly glory, for these are the tools with which the devil will be able to easily manipulate us and tempt us to do what is sinful and wicked. We all have to stay together and to work together to maintain our faith life, and deepen our spiritual connection with the Lord by doing all that God had asked us to do, loving one another and serving each other with love.

Thus, after all that we have done, God Who rewards all who are faithful to Him will bless us and keep us in His grace, and He will not let us to suffer in the hands of the unfaithful, but He shall bless us with ever richer abundance of grace. God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Saturday, 2 January 2016 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 1 : 19-28

This was the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” John recognised the truth, and did not deny it. He said, “I am not the Messiah.”

And they asked him, “Then who are you? Elijah?” He answered, “I am not.” They said, “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Tell us who you are, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?”

And John said, quoting from the prophet Isaiah, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness : Make straight the way of the Lord!” Those who had been sent were Pharisees; and they put a further question to John, “Then why are you baptising, if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”

John answered, “I baptise you with water, but among you stands One Whom you do not know; although He comes after me, I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal.”

This happened in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptising.

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Saturday, 2 January 2016 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.

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Saturday, 2 January 2016 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 22-28

Who is the liar? The one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is an antichrist, who denies both the Father and the Son. The one who denies the Son is without the Father, and those who acknowledge the Son also have the Father.

Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you, too, will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise He Himself gave us : eternal life.

I write this to you thinking of those who try to lead you astray. You received from Him an anointing, and it remains in you, so you do not need someone to teach you. His anointing teaches you all things, it speaks the truth and does not lie to you; so remain in Him, and keep what He has taught you.

And now, my children, live in Him, so that when He appears in His glory, we may be confident and not ashamed before Him when He comes.