Christmas time

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Friday, 30 December 2016 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together the great Feast of the Holy Family, the Holy Family of our Lord Jesus Christ with His mother Mary and with His foster-father, St. Joseph. On this day we remember that holiest of all holy families, centred on our Lord Himself, and surrounded by the loving and tender care of Mary and Joseph, as He was born into this world, which we celebrate as Christmas.

And perhaps today, on this Feast, we should look into the examples set by that holiest and most blessed of all families, and in each of its members. Each and every one of them can show us all how we all should live as Christians, and how each and every one of us should behave as Christian families, as they are role models for our very own families. When we follow their examples surely then our families too will be holy and will be blessed by God.

Jesus was the Son, the One to Whom Mary and Joseph as His parents showered their love, care and concern. He was the Baby born in a manger to Mary His mother, which we celebrate at Christmas, as the moment when the Saviour of the world, the Son of God was born into this world. But although He is the Son of God, He is also the Son of Man, and as all babies are, at that time, when He was just born, as we heard in the Gospels, the Baby Jesus was in danger from His many enemies, first of which was King Herod of Judea, who felt that his throne was under threat from the coming of the True King, Who is Christ.

And that was where Joseph and Mary protected Him, and with the guidance of the Angel of God, Joseph as the father led the Holy Family on the journey to Egypt, in order to hide the Child Saviour from His enemies, king Herod first of all, and waited there until the danger was over, before returning to the land of Israel. And in this we see Joseph as the foster-father of Jesus, acting as the head of the family, as all fathers would have, and he did so dutifully even though Jesus was not his biological Son. He loved and cared for Him regardless.

Joseph worked hard as a carpenter, most likely to provide for himself and his family, for Mary and Jesus. His family was not a rich one, and indeed most likely was a poor one, since carpenters worked hard but they were hardly appreciated, and their income were often low. And yet, he worked hard and was known for his upright attitude and devotion. He was also certainly a devoted father and a faithful husband.

Mary meanwhile, was the mother of the family, the one who provided food and love for the family, including for Jesus her Son. She showed us all the life of a faithful wife and a good woman and daughter of the Lord, who obeyed the Lord in all of His laws and commandments, and lived righteously and justly, obedient to her husband and caring and loving for him and for her Son.

Both Mary and Joseph must have been crucial in their respective roles in guiding and leading Jesus through His growing years, during which time, just as all parents do, and indeed should do, they must have brought Him up well, as well as a man and a woman can do together to raise up their children. And that family was therefore blessed and filled with as much love and joy as they could have.

Jesus Himself as the Son also obeyed His parents, as was evident when He was twelve years old and were left behind in the Temple, because He wanted to stay there in the place where His Father is. Yet, He obeyed His earthly parents when they looked for Him and showed their care and concern, being very worried when they could not find Him in the company of their relatives.

In the Holy Family, all of us can see how we all should live our Christian lives beginning from our own families. Family is a basic unit of our Christian faith and the Church, and without strong foundation in our families, and if our families do not show the true Christian character akin to that found in the Holy Family of our Lord Jesus Christ, Mary His mother and St. Joseph His foster-father, then that is where the beginning of the downfall of many Christians began.

We often blame the Church and its members, the faithful priests and servants of God for the troubles that befell the Church, as well as for the loss of its members, but in reality, that is because many of us do not realise that a strong and Christian family foundation are often the cause for these troubles. Have we asked ourselves, if we have prayed together as a family daily, during the time when we have meals together, and when we are about to do our activities?

Have we done all these? Or are we instead too busy and too preoccupied with many other things such as work, other attractions, things that often cause our families to drift apart? Have we ever thought that all the things we thought we were doing for the sake of our families, such as working extra hard for the extra money but at the expense of our interaction with our youths and children had made families to be broken and weak?

Let us all reflect on all of these, and look upon the examples of the Holy Family, that each and every one of us, in our own families, may be able to grow better in faith together as families blessed by God. Let us also remember to put Christ at the centre of our family lives, or else, our families will be easily unravelled, because Christ should and indeed is the foundation of our Christian families.

May the Lord bless our families, and make them holy, in the imitation and following the example of His own most blessed and holy Family, so that each and every one of us may practice the same love and care that Mary and Joseph had shown Him, and also have peace and harmony in all the things we do together. May the Lord be with us and our families, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 30 December 2016 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Matthew 2 : 13-15, 19-23

After the wise men had left, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon be looking for the Child in order to kill Him.”

Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and left that night for Egypt, where He stayed until the death of Herod. In this way, what the Lord had said through the prophet was fulfilled : I called My Son out of Egypt.

After Herod’s death, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother and go back to the land of Israel, because those who tried to kill the Child are dead.” So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother and went to the land of Israel.

But when Joseph heard that Archilaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. Joseph was given further instructions in a dream, and went to the region of Galilee. There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way, what was said by the prophets was fulfilled : He shall be called a Nazorean.

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Friday, 30 December 2016 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 127 : 1-2, 3, 4-5

Blessed are you who fear the Lord and walk in His ways. You will eat the fruit of your toil; you will be blessed and favoured.

Your wife, like a vine, will bear fruits in your home; your children, like olive shoots will stand around your table.

Such are the blessings bestowed upon the man who fears the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosperous all the days of your life.

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Friday, 30 December 2016 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Sirach 3 : 3-7, 14-17a (Greek Septuagint – Sirach 3 : 2-6, 12-14)

For the Lord established that children should respect their father; He confirmed the right of the mother over her children. Whoever honours his father atones for his sins; he who gives glory to his mother prepares a treasure for himself.

Whoever honours his father will receive joy from his own children and will be heard when he prays. Whoever glorifies his father will have a long life. Whoever obeys the Lord gives comfort to his mother.

My child, take care of your father in his old age, do not cause him sorrow as long as he lives. Even if he has lost his mind, have patience; do not be disrespectful to him while you are in full health. For kindness done to one’s father will never be forgotten, it will serve as reparation for your sins.

Alternative reading
Colossians 3 : 12-21

Clothe yourselves, then, as is fitting for God’s chosen people, holy and beloved of Him. Put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience to bear with one another and forgive whenever there is any occasion to do so. As the Lord has forgiven you, forgive one another.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. May the peace of Christ overflow in your hearts; for this end you were called to be one body. And be thankful. Let the Word of God dwell in you in all its richness. Teach and admonish one another with words of wisdom. With thankful hearts sing to God psalms, hymns and spontaneous praise.

And whatever you do or say, do it in the Name of Jesus, the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as you should do in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not get angry with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, because that pleases the Lord. Parents, do not be too demanding of your children, lest they become discouraged.

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Thursday, 29 December 2016 : Fifth Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are all reminded by the readings from the Holy Scriptures that we just heard, that in order for us to be disciples of Christ, it is required that we should obey the Lord and fulfil His commandments, and not pretending to believe in Him, and yet in our actions we are corrupt, wicked and contrary to what the Lord had taught us to do.

God Himself has come into the world through Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, His mother. And this is the perfect manifestation of His laws and commandments, which are made perfect and fulfilled through Christ. That is because the laws and commandments of God are the commandments of love. And God Himself is love, and through Christ, He has shown each and every one of us what love truly means.

And why is this so? God Himself has become Man willingly out of His love for us. For Him to assume the humble and mere flesh of our humanity is not something that is just insignificant or easily done. How many of us are willing to part with all the greatness, glory and inheritance that we have, for the sake of another person? And how many of us are willing to forsake everything and die for the sake of another person? And indeed, how many of us are willing to do so for the sake of evil and wicked people?

That was what Christ had exactly done. As St. Paul said in his Epistle, very few would have wanted or be willing to die for the sake of another person, even if that person was an upright and good person. Less so would anyone be willing to suffer and die, if that person is a wicked person and a sinner. But that was what Christ had done for us, willingly bearing the cross and our sins, and dying on the cross for us sinners, so that we who believe in Him may live.

And He showed us obedience to the law of God, by obeying the will of His Father perfectly. He did not let His human weaknesses and the temptations of the flesh to bring Him down. He put His complete trust in His Father’s will, and because of that, we are all saved. The chief priests and the elders could not understand why He did not try to save Himself while He had saved many others, mocking Him from below His cross. That was because they were unable to understand His ways, as they were people of this world and had been corrupted by the ways of this world.

And what is that? Perhaps by looking at the life and examples of the great saint whose memory we cherish and celebrate today, we will be better able to understand how we really ought to be living as Christians, and not as the people of this world. St. Thomas Becket was the Archbishop of Canterbury and thus was the Primate of England and the chief of the Catholic bishops in the kingdom of England, about nine centuries ago.

He was once the chancellor to the king of England, the right hand man of the king, who was entrusted by the king with much power and authority, and was involved in much worldliness and the pursuits of power and the flesh, imitating the behaviours of the nobles and the kings of those days. And everything changed the moment when the king appointed him to be the successor to the Archbishop of Canterbury, expecting him to be as loyal to him as he had been as his chancellor.

But St. Thomas Becket had a great conversion and change of heart, as he became a devout and ardent defender of the faith from then on, to the irritation and annoyance of the king and his nobles. Expecting a submissive and obedient Archbishop of Canterbury and Church, instead, the king got obstacles and challenges as he attempted to undermine the Church and increase his own worldly authority and power.

Tension arose as St. Thomas Becket was increasingly conflicted against the king and his nobles on the other side. But St. Thomas Becket did not fear the world and its opposition, and he held fast to the strong faith he had in the Lord, and when a noble was accused of murdering a man of God, who was indeed a priest, St. Thomas Becket excommunicated the noble despite opposition from the king and the nobles.

Eventually, some nobles, with tacit approval from the king, assassinated St. Thomas Becket, murdered him as he celebrated the Holy Mass. This was met with a huge outcry from the populace and the Church throughout Europe, and the nobles were excommunicated and were forced to undergo penance and carry out service to the Church for many years as penance, and even the king had to publicly shame himself for his role in the murder of this holy saint. But, the legacy of St. Thomas Becket and his examples continue to this very day.

From what he had done in his life, we see how we Christians should be like, that is to reject our worldliness and all the forms of temptations of the flesh, of greed, power, ambition, desire for human glory and fame, all which brought us to corruption and sin, and incompatible with God’s ways. As I have said at the beginning of this discourse today, we must not pay lip service for our faith to the Lord, meaning that we cannot be Christians and yet our actions show contrary to that faith.

Let us all dedicate ourselves anew to the Lord this Christmas, remembering once again what is the purpose of our lives as Christians, to serve God with all of our heart, obeying Him with all of our body, mind, heart and soul just as Jesus has obeyed the will of His Father, and willingly die out of love for our salvation. Let us all remember our Lord Who have come in the human flesh as Jesus our Lord, through Whom we receive every blessings and grace. May God be with us all, and may St. Thomas Becket intercede for us sinners. Amen.

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Thursday, 29 December 2016 : Fifth Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 2 : 22-35

When the day came for the purification according to the law of Moses, they brought the Baby up to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord : Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to God. And they offered a sacrifice, as ordered in the law of the Lord : a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

There lived in Jerusalem at this time a very upright and devout man named Simeon; the Holy Spirit was in him. He looked forward to the time when the Lord would comfort Israel, and he had been assured, by the Holy Spirit, that he would not die before seeing the Messiah of the Lord. So he was led into the Temple by the Holy Spirit at the time the parents brought the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the Law.

Simeon took the Child in his arms, and blessed God, saying, “Now, o Lord, You can dismiss Your servant in peace, for You have fulfilled Your word and my eyes have seen Your salvation, which You display for all the people to see. Here is the Light You will reveal to the nations, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

His father and mother wondered at what was said about the Child. Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, His mother, “Know this : your Son is a Sign, a Sign established for the falling and rising of many in Israel, a Sign of contradiction; and a sword will pierce your own soul, so that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed.”

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Thursday, 29 December 2016 : Fifth Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 5b-6

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name.

Proclaim His salvation day after day. Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds.

YHVH is the One Who made the heavens. Splendour and majesty go before Him; power and glory fill His sanctuary.

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Thursday, 29 December 2016 : Fifth Day within Octave of Christmas, Memorial of St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
1 John 2 : 3-11

How can we know that we know Him? If we fulfil His commands. If you say, “I know Him,” but do not fulfil His commands, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. But if you keep His word, God’s love is made complete in you. This is how we know that we are in Him : he who claims to live in Him must live as He lived.

My dear friends, I am not writing you a new commandment, but reminding you of an old one, one you had from the beginning. This old commandment is the word you have heard. But, in a way, I give it as a new commandment that is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and true light already shines.

If you claim to be in the light but hate your brother, you are still in darkness. If you love your brothers and sisters, you remain in the light and nothing in you will make you fall. But if you hate your brother you are in the dark and walk in darkness without knowing where you go, for the darkness has blinded you.

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Wednesday, 28 December 2016 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate the memory of the Holy Innocents, the martyrs of the faith who were slaughtered on the orders of king Herod of Judea, who murdered them in his futile attempt to destroy the Messiah and Saviour of the world, the True King Whom Herod feared would topple him and take over the kingdom and power and rule from him.

King Herod was known to be an Idumaean, who through his alliances with the Romans had gained the control over the whole kingdom of Judea from the Jewish monarchs known as the Hasmoneans, who belonged to the family of the Maccabees which had its roots in the Book of the Maccabees in the Scriptures. As such, King Herod was in a sense not the true king of Judah but a usurper, who gained power through worldly means and deceit.

He was a proud king who did not tolerate any opposition to his rule, no less the King of Israel and Saviour of the world Who had come into the world to usher in His kingdom of love and peace to all those who believe in Him. Pride is indeed a very dangerous enemy to us all, as it is pride that had caused Lucifer the Archangel to fall and became Satan the great enemy and the Accursed One, and it was pride that caused many men to fall and fail on their way to reach God’s salvation.

St. John also addressed this issue when he wrote in his Epistle that we heard as the passage today, speaking about those who said that they had no sin, that they deceived themselves and brought not salvation for themselves but instead ruin and destruction. St. John reminded us of the stubbornness of the Pharisees and the elders of Israel and Judah, who refused to believe in Jesus because they thought of themselves as righteous.

It was their self-perception of righteousness and pride in their own power, intellect and ability which became their downfall. They became haughty, ambitious and power-seeking, and they were unwilling to part with all the good things that they had enjoyed in life. And it was that same pride which had brought down King Herod that brought them down as well.

If Herod murdered many innocents, blameless and those who should not have been harmed, just in order to safeguard his interests, then we can see how the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law constantly bickered with the Lord Jesus and His disciples, as they did with John the Baptist as well, because they were trying to safeguard and satisfy their own human interests. Is this what we want for ourselves, brethren?

It is a reminder from the Lord that this season of Christmas is a time when we should look beyond ourselves, perish our greed and pride, and seek instead to bring glory to the Lord and His Name, obeying His will and commandments rather than our own will and desires. The Holy Innocents are those who have perished from the result of the greed of men and the desire of those who hunger for worldly goodness and desires.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, there had been many other victims to human greed and ambition. Many people have suffered and perished because of our inability to resist the temptations of power and glory. In the same way, we too have often mistakenly celebrated this season of Christmas with revelry and rejoicing, celebrating our human achievements and deeds, but we forget about God, and we also forget about our brethren in need.

As Christians, we are today challenged to break free from the grip of our own greed and human ambitions and pride, so that we may learn to be loving and to be generous with our giving and mercy to our brethren in need. We should open our hearts to the Lord and welcome His love, trusting ourselves entirely, and not hardening our hearts and minds against Him as king Herod and the Pharisees and teachers of the Law had done.

May the Lord help us in our journey of life, and devote ourselves wholeheartedly and commit ourselves to Him in all of our deeds and actions. May He remind us always of the Holy Innocents who have died because of our human greed and ambition, that we may always seek to be humble and to give it all to God instead of trusting in our own human power and intellect. Amen.

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Wednesday, 28 December 2016 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Matthew 2 : 13-18

After the wise men had left, an Angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon be looking for the Child in order to kill Him.”

Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and left that night for Egypt, where He stayed until the death of Herod. In this way, what the Lord had said through the prophet was fulfilled : I called My Son out of Egypt.

When Herod found out that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood who were two years old or under. This was done in line with what he had learnt from the wise men about the time when the star appeared.

In this way, what the prophet Jeremiah had said was fulfilled : A cry is heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation : Rachel weeps for her children. She refuses to be comforted, for they are no more.