Christmas Weekday

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Wednesday, 29 December 2021 : 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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Tuesday, 28 December 2021 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the occasion of the Feast of the Holy Innocents, remembering the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, all the infants aged two and below that had been massacred by King Herod the Great in his futile efforts and attempts to destroy the infant King of Israel, the One Who was prophesied by the prophets to come into this world and Who would rule over the people as King. King Herod henceforth feared that his rule and power would be taken over from him and his family, and handed over to this new King, and hence, he tried to eliminate Him no matter what.

Contextually, we can understand his actions better if we know more about how King Herod the Great rose to power. He was born as the son of Antipater the Idumaean, a high ranking official in the Jewish Hasmonean kingdom hailing from the region south of Israel known then as Idumaea or the ancient Edom, the neighbouring state bordering the land of Israel. According to historical traditions, the ancestors of Herod had converted to the Jewish faith, and dwelled among the descendants of Israel in Judea. Nonetheless, as he owed his rise to power to the assistance and support of the Romans, he has always felt insecure in his power and rule.

Why is that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because he could be considered as a usurper, having usurped the rightful rule over Judea and the other traditional lands of Israel from the Hasmonean kings, the descendants of the Maccabees who won independence for the Jewish people a century prior. King Herod seized power from the last of the Hasmonean kings and forcibly took one of the Hasmonean princesses as his wife. And his rule in Judea and beyond was characterised with its megalomaniac nature and immense building projects, such as the rebuilding of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, henceforth known colloquially as Herod’s Temple, and also other major buildings such as the Herodion and many others.

Herod’s preoccupation with building such grand scale projects was a reflection of his great fear of being treated as a usurper, and as a usurper indeed he was, he feared that one day his rule and kingdom would be overcome by anyone who would contest his power and authority, being someone with greater claim to the kingship than himself. Hence, it was no wonder that the moment King Herod heard about the coming King of Israel through the three Wise Men or Magi that he began to do all that he could to find out more about the coming King, the Messiah of God, and later on, in his attempts to eliminate this threat to his rule.

Herod the Great’s paranoia and determination to hold onto power no matter what the cost ultimately caused him to commit the great and heinous sin of murder, as he ordered the murder of so many innocents in Bethlehem just that he might destroy his opponent, the newborn King of Israel. He ordered his men to commit such great murders, shedding the blood of the innocent children in order to secure his own power and authority, because he was only interested in maintaining his own glory and kingdom, and caring not for the plight of those whose lives he had destroyed, whose family members he had killed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through this historical example of the massacre of Bethlehem, we are all called to reflect on the dangers presented by sin on our daily living, for sin can easily corrupt us and mislead us down the wrong path, and cause us to succumb to evil deeds like what King Herod had done. That is how many of us had sinned and how many of our predecessors have fallen into sin, and even into damnation because of their inability to resist the allures of sin. Some of us even perhaps deny that we have sinned, and how everything we have done can be justified, for our own purposes and needs.

As St. John stated in his Epistle that we heard as our first reading today, we deceive ourselves if we say that we have no sin. All of us are sinners and the Lord alone has the power to forgive us and free us from the bondage of sin. That He has done, and He has come into this world, incarnate and born in the person of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour as we celebrate in this Christmas season. He has shown us the way out of the darkness and into His new Light, and what we need to do is for us to follow Him, reject sin and refuse to allow ourselves to be swayed by it.

As Christians, all of us should look up to Christ, the True Light and Hope that God has brought upon us and that He has given to us, as the manifestation of His love for each one of us. Let us all remember the memory of the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, holy and innocent martyrs of mankind’s greed and ambition, which had led to so much sufferings, pains and sorrows, as they abused the freedom given to them, the authority and power entrusted to them as Herod the Great himself had done. Let us all not fall to the same temptations and let us do whatever we can to follow the Lord wholeheartedly, committing ourselves to His cause from now on.

May God bless us all, and may He strengthen us in our faith, that we may always aspire to be better Christians, in all things and in all deeds. Let us all distance ourselves from sin, and be good role models for each other. Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, martyrs of purity and virtue, pray for us all, your fellow brothers and sisters, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 28 December 2021 : 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.

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Tuesday, 28 December 2021 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 123 : 2–3, 4-5, 7cd-8

Had not the Lord been on our side, when people rose up against us, then they would have swallowed us alive; such was their anger against us.

A bit more and the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away.

The snare was broken and we were freed. Our help is in the Name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

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Tuesday, 28 December 2021 : Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 John 1 : 5 – 1 John 2 : 2

We heard His message from Him and announce it to you : God is light and there is no darkness in Him. If we say we are in fellowship with Him, while we walk in darkness, we lie instead of being in truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we are in fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus, the Son of God, purifies us from all sin.

If we say, “We have no sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He Who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from our wickedness. If we say that we do not sin, we make God a liar, His word is not in us.

My little children, I write to you that you may not sin. But if anyone sins, we have an Intercessor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Just One. He is the sacrificial Victim for our sins and the sins of the whole world.

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Monday, 27 December 2021 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us celebrate the great feast of one of the Lord’s Twelve Apostles, who happens to be one of the Four great Evangelists as well. St. John the Apostle and Evangelist was one of the two sons of Zebedee together with St. James the Apostle, his elder brother. With St. Peter and St. Andrew, all of them were fishermen in the lake of Galilee. They were all called by the Lord to follow Him, and they left their old profession and their families, committing themselves to the Lord and served Him from then on.

St. John became one of the Lord’s closest disciples, as one of the Twelve Apostles, and also together with St. Peter and St. James, his brother, he was often brought to the most important events in the Lord’s ministry, such as the resurrection of the synagogue official’s dead daughter, the Transfiguration of the Lord at Mount Tabor, and also the moments of Our Lord’s Agony at the Gardens of Gethsemane just before the time of His Passion. He therefore witnessed many of the important events surrounding the Lord’s ministry and works, and was a witness of His miracles and His truth.

St. John the Apostle was one of those who remained by the Lord’s side and kept following Him even up to the moments of His Passion, suffering and death on the Cross. He accompanied Mary, the Lord’s own mother as she came to the foot of the Cross, seeing her own Son being crucified and died before her. It was to St. John that the Lord entrusted His mother, and similarly, He entrusted St. John to Mary as well. St. John therefore was really important in his role in the early Church, as one of the Apostles and close collaborators of the Lord.

And not only that, he also spent many decades in spreading the truth of God all over the known world, travelling from places to places with the other Apostles and disciples, assisting in the foundation of the Church in various places. St. John also wrote several Epistles and letters in addition to his well-known work on one of the four canonical or officially endorsed Gospels. He was also the one who received the vision of the end of times in the Island of Patmos where he was exiled to by the persecution of Christians throughout the Roman Empire. He recorded all that he had seen in what we now know as the Book of Revelations.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we reflect on the life and the ministry of St. John, Holy Apostle and Evangelist, let us all first reflect on what he wrote in his own Epistle, which is in our first reading today. St. John wrote of the Word of Life that has come into this world, and how he and the many other Apostles and disciples had shared and given whatever they had experienced and received from the Lord. He showed us that this same Jesus Christ that we are celebrating this Christmas is the One Who is the Saviour of the world, and the One Who has brought Life upon us.

St. John gave his whole life and did everything he could to glorify the Lord by his life and actions. He encouraged many of the faithful back then who were going through many persecutions, and through his accounts in the Book of Revelations, he encouraged the faithful not to give up on their faith in God as no matter what, in the end, God will come and claim His faithful ones, and those who remain faithful to Him will indeed receive the promise of eternal life, true happiness and everlasting joy with Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all realise that just as St. John had been called to follow the Lord and be His disciple, all of us have also received the same calling as Christians to follow the Lord and to devote ourselves to Him. This is what we have to remind ourselves well as we continue to celebrate the joy and hope of Christmas in this ongoing Christmas season. We have to remember that we are the witnesses of His truth and love, of the Love of God incarnate in the flesh, in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour.

Are we able and willing to follow in the footsteps and examples set by St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, brothers and sisters? Are we willing to live our lives wholeheartedly in accordance to our Christian faith, and especially now in our Christmas celebrations by putting Christ at the centre and heart of all of our rejoicing? It is through our genuine faith and sincere commitment to the path that God has shown us that we can inspire so many others to come to believe in the Lord as well.

May the Lord, born in Bethlehem and celebrated by us in this Christmas season, continue to help and guide us in our journey of faith. May St. John, His Holy Apostle and one of the Four great Evangelists continue to inspire us by his examples and intercede for all of us, that God may strengthen our faith and that we will grow ever closer to Him, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 27 December 2021 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 20 : 2-8

At that time, Mary of Magdala ran to Peter, and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and she said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

Peter then set out with the other disciple to go out to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down and saw the linen cloths lying flat, but he did not enter. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered the tomb; he, too, saw the linen cloths lying flat.

The napkin, which had been around His head, was not lying flat like the other linen cloths, but lay rolled up in its place. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed.

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Monday, 27 December 2021 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 96 : 1-2, 5-6, 11-12

The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Clouds and darkness surround Him; justice and right are His throne.

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His justice, all peoples see His glory.

He sheds light upon the upright, and gladness upon the just. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are blameless, and give praise to His holy Name.

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Monday, 27 December 2021 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 1 : 1-4

This is what has been from the beginning, and what we have heard and have seen with our own eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, I mean the Word Who is Life…

The Life made Itself known, we have seen Eternal Life and we bear witness, and we are telling you of it. It was with the Father and made Himself known to us. So we tell you what we have seen and heard, that you may be in fellowship with us, and us, with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

And we write this that our joy may be complete.

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Sunday, 26 December 2021 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we mark the occasion of the Feast of the Holy Family, celebrating the Holy Family consisting of Our Lord Jesus Himself as the centre and heart of that most blessed and wonderful family, and Mary, the Mother of God, as well as St. Joseph, the legal husband of Mary and the foster-father of the Lord as the Protector of the Holy Family. Today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures and keeping mind what the Lord had done for us by coming to us in this world in Christmas, let us all reflect on God’s words and remind ourselves on the significance of the Holy Family and our own Christian families.

In our first reading today, we listened from the Book of the prophet Samuel about the time when the prophet Samuel as a baby was brought by his mother Hannah, the wife of Elkanah. Both of his parents had long been expecting a son together and although Elkanah, Samuel’s father had many children and sons with Penninah, his other wife, it was Hannah, Samuel’s mother that Elkanah loved more. Therefore, when Hannah prayed to the Lord asking for help as she was often bullied by Penninah for not having a child at all, God heard her and at that time, Hannah also made the promise to offer her firstborn son to the service of God.

And thus, Samuel, one of the greatest of the prophets of Israel and also a Judge over the people, the last one before the days of the Kings, came to be presented before the Lord after he was born and under the loving care of his parents, Elkanah and Hannah. He was brought up well and later on would prove to grow up in strength and faith, in his dedication and commitment to God, such that he came to succeed Eli, the Judge and High Priest of the Israelites who took care of him since his early infancy after being presented at the Temple of God.

This story of the prophet Samuel is in a way parallel to what we heard from our Gospel passage today regarding the famous story of Our Lord Jesus when He was only twelve years old, in the Temple of Jerusalem, the House of God. At that time, the Lord and His family, the Holy Family, with Mary His mother and St. Joseph came to Jerusalem to attend and celebrate the feast of the Passover in accordance to the Jewish traditions. It was a time of great celebration and many pilgrims would have come and made their way to Jerusalem from all over the world.

In such a situation, it made sense why Mary and St. Joseph could lose track of the young Lord Jesus when He purposefully remained behind in the Temple after the celebrations and the ceremonies. He stayed there in the House of God, the dwelling of His Heavenly Father, to be close to Him and at the same time, engaging in conversations and debates with the wise men and the teachers of the Law assembled there, who were all astonished to witness His great wisdom. It was there that Mary and St. Joseph found Him after they realised that He was not with them.

They found Him there in conversation with the wise men and the teachers of the Law, and were also greatly amused by what they had heard, although they knew Who He really was. When the Lord spoke to them saying that He ought to be in His Father’s House, those words were remembered by Mary, who also surely understood what He meant, as the Archangel Gabriel himself had revealed to her at the Annunciation that her Son is indeed the Son of God Most High. Jesus was there in Jerusalem, at the Temple of God to be with His heavenly Father.

However, as we heard there, the Lord obeyed His mother Mary and His foster-father St. Joseph. He returned with them to Nazareth and put Himself under their tutelage and guidance. He is indeed the Lord God, King of Kings, the Master of all the whole Universe, Lord of all creation. Yet, by His incarnation, through the mystery of His indwelling in the flesh, He had also become the Son of Man, born as a Child in Bethlehem, the city of David in Judea just as we have just celebrated it in Christmas yesterday.

He placed Himself under the authority and power of His parents as part of the Holy Family to show us that as the Son of Man, He was just like all of us, who also have to obey our own parents and seniors, to listen to them and to hear their advice for us on how we ought to live our lives. As the Son, He listened to His mother Mary and also St. Joseph, both of whom must have been instrumental in teaching Him the life skills needed for Him to face this world as any man would have, and just like how we learnt our first skills from our own parents.

The Holy Family showed all of us what a true and loving Christian family should be like, full of love and care for one another, and each member doing their part in making their entire relationship work well together. The Lord as the Son followed and obeyed His parents, listening to them and their words. Even much later on, as we all remember in the Wedding at Cana, the Lord listened to His mother’s words and performed His first miracle there to help the wedding couple who then faced an embarrassing situation of running out of wine.

Meanwhile, Mary loved her Son as His mother, caring for Him and providing for Him, walking with Him and according to Apostolic traditions, following Him on His many ministries and efforts among the people of God. And she followed Him even to the foot of the Cross, as anguished and most sorrowful as she was to have witnessed her beloved Son battered and bruised, rejected and reviled by His own people, and was forced to take up the Cross, bearing it to His most painful and humiliating death. As a mother, Mary dedicated herself totally to her Son and loved Him unconditionally.

And St. Joseph, the husband of Mary and foster-father of the Lord, the Protector of the Holy Family took great care of Mary and her Son, since before the Lord was even born into this world. Following the guidance of the Angel of God, he took Mary as his wife and doing his part in the mission entrusted to him, in guiding the Holy Family, as he helped Mary on her way to Bethlehem, enduring a lot of challenges in the process. As a loving husband, he cared for Mary and the yet unborn Jesus in her womb, as they made the long journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and later on in trying to find a lodging and a place for Mary to give birth as all the inns and lodgings were full and rejected them.

Later on, St. Joseph would also lead the Holy Family to Egypt when King Herod the Great wanted to kill the Lord, as he came to know of His existence and coming, seeing Him as a threat to his own rule, power and authority. He followed the guidance of the Angel of the Lord and led his family to safety. Later on he would lead them back to Nazareth after those who wanted the Lord’s death had gone, and settled there, where he likely helped Mary in patiently bringing up the Lord. Although the Lord Jesus was not his own biological son, but he still surely cared for Him very much. He did not say any words throughout the Gospels, but in his righteousness and actions, in his attitude and according to traditions of the Apostles, he must have been a really good father figure.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the story of the Holy Family of Our Lord Jesus, Mary His mother and St. Joseph, all of us are called to reflect on our own families, our own parents and also our own children for those who have them and have been blessed with these. Today we are reminded that our families first and foremost must be grounded in love, the love that we ought to show one another and especially so in our respective families. Without love, the bonds that keep us together in our families will easily fall apart and that may cause our families and their members to go against each other and become divided and bitter.

This Christmas as we gather together to rejoice in the Lord Jesus and the salvation that He has brought upon us, let us all spend it together as a family. And let us use this opportunity to remind ourselves how important our family is to us. Many of us have often forgotten or sidelined our family members, in our pursuit for wealth, glory, fame and because of many other reasons. As a result, we have lost that cohesion and love that all of us ought to have as a family, and many become separated and even bickering among themselves in their families.

If we have been too busy so far in our lives, then let us all spend some time together this Christmas to get rid from ourselves all those excessive concerns and other thoughts we have, all the worries and desires we have for worldly things. Instead, let us do our best to celebrate Christmas together with our families and various family members, to reconnect ourselves and rekindle the love that we have between us, so that our family will still remain stronger together and hopefully become ever closer through. Christ and His love.

In our world today, there are many families that have been broken because of their lack of love and faith. Those families that fail to communicate with each other and spend time together often fall apart easily, especially when difficult times come. Many couples have divorced each other and many of their children were left without both parents caring for them and their love. And not only that but even the institution of marriage and family itself is often now under threat from the changing conditions and demands of our current world and society.

This is why all of us must look up to the Holy Family for strength, inspiration and guide in how we manage our own families. We should aspire to follow the examples of Christ, of His mother Mary and St. Joseph to ensure not just that our families will remain together and united, but that our families will be sanctified and holy just like that of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. And often the best way for us to do this is to come together and practice our faith together through prayer. A family that prays together and love one another will have a much better chance of staying together.

May the Lord our God and Saviour, in His most holy and loving Holy Family continue to strengthen us and our faith, and give us the courage to live our lives with faith, and united in love in our respective Christian families. May He awaken and strengthen the familial love that we have among us, between spouses, between parents and children, among siblings and even among the members of our extended families. May He empower us in love, to love Him together as a family, all of us, in our own families striving to be filled with holiness and love. May all of us rejoice together this Christmas, and be blessed with ever greater love imitating the great love found in the Holy Family, our inspiration. Amen.