Christmas Weekday

by

Sunday, 5 January 2025 : Second Sunday after Christmas (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 1 : 1-18

In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God; He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing came to be. Whatever has come to be, found life in Him; life, which for human beings, was also light, light that shines in darkness, light that darkness could not overcome.

A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness, as a witness to introduce the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but a witness to introduce the Light; for the Light was coming into the world, the true Light that enlightens everyone. He was in the world, and through Him the world was made, the very world that did not know Him.

He came to His own, yet His own people did not receive Him; but to all who received Him, He empowers to become children of God, for they believe in His Name. These are born, but not by seed, or carnal desire, nor by the will of man : they are born of God.

And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; and we have seen His glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father : fullness of truth and loving-kindness. John bore witness to Him openly, saying, “This is the One Who comes after me, but He is already ahead of me, for He was before me.”

From His fullness we have all received, favour upon favour. For God had given us the Law through Moses, but Truth and Loving-kindness came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God-the-only-Son made Him known : the One, Who is in and with the Father.

by

Sunday, 5 January 2025 : Second Sunday after Christmas (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Ephesians 1 : 3-14

Blessed be God, the Father of Christ Jesus our Lord, Who in Christ has blessed us from heaven with every spiritual blessing. God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and without sin in His presence. From eternity He destined us in love to be His adopted sons and daughters through Christ Jesus, thus fulfilling His free and generous will.

This goal suited Him : that His loving-kindness which He granted us in His Beloved might finally receive all glory and praise. For, in Christ, we obtain freedom, sealed by His Blood, and have the forgiveness of sins. In this, appears the greatness of His grace, which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and understanding, God has made known to us His mysterious design, in accordance with His loving kindness, in Christ.

In Him, and under Him, God wanted to unite, when the fullness of time had come, everything in heaven and on earth. By a decree of Him Who disposes all things according to His own plan and decision, we, the Jews, have been chosen and called and we were awaiting the Messiah, for the praise of His glory.

You, on hearing the word of truth, the Gospel that saves you, have believed in Him. And, as promised, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit, the first pledge of what we shall receive, on the way to our deliverance, as a people of God, for the praise of His glory.

by

Sunday, 5 January 2025 : Second Sunday after Christmas (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 147 : 12-20

Exalt YHVH, o Jerusalem; praise your God, o Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your children within you.

He grants peace on your borders and feeds you with the finest grain. He sends His command to the earth and swiftly runs His word.

He spreads snow like wool; He scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down hail like pebbles; who will stand before His icy blasts? But He sends His word and melts the snow; He makes His breeze blow, and again the waters flow.

It is He, Who tells Jacob His words; His laws and decrees, to Israel. This, He has not done for other nations, so His laws remain unknown to them. Alleluia!

Alternative Psalm

Wisdom 10 : 15-21

It was she who rescued an innocent and holy people from a nation of oppressors. She entered the soul of God’s servant and through him withstood terrible kings with signs and wonders.

To the holy people she gave the wages of their labour, leading them in a wonderful way, giving them shade during the day and the light of the stars at night.

She brought them across the Red Sea, but drowned their enemies and later washed them ashore from the depth of the abyss. So the righteous looted the godless, singing hymns, Lord, to Your holy Name, and one in heart, they gave thanks for Your saving hand.

Wisdom gives speech to the dumb and makes infants speak clearly.

by

Sunday, 5 January 2025 : Second Sunday after Christmas (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Jeremiah 31 : 7-14

For YHVH says this, “Shout with joy for Jacob; rejoice for the greatest of nations. Proclaim your praise and say : ‘YHVH has saved His people, the remnant of Israel!’”

“Look, I will bring them back from the land of the north, gather them from the ends of the earth, the lame and the blind, mothers and women in labour – a great throng will return. They went away weeping, they will return in joy. I will lead them by the streams of water, on a level path so that no one will stumble, for I am Israel’s Father and Ephraim is My firstborn.”

Hear the word of YHVH, o nations, proclaim it on distant coast lands : He Who scattered Israel will gather them and guard them as a shepherd guards his flock. For YHVH has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand of his conqueror.”

“They shall come shouting for joy, while ascending Zion; they will come streaming to YHVH’s blessings – the grain, the new wine and the oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden; no more will they be afflicted. Maidens will make merry and dance, young men and old as well.”

“I will turn their mourning into gladness, I will give them comfort and joy for sorrow. I will fill the priests with abundance, and satisfy My people with My bounty – this is YHVH’s word.”

Alternative reading

Sirach 24 : 1-12

Listen to Wisdom singing her own praises and extolling herself in the midst of her people. See, she opens her mouth in the assembly of the Most High, she glories in herself before the Almighty.

I came out from the mouth of God and covered the face of the earth like a mist; although My dwelling place is in the highest heavens, My throne is within a pillar of cloud. I alone have seen and understood the vault of the skies and strolled through the depths of the abyss, taking possession of the raging sea and of the earth as well, with all its people and nations.

In all of these, I looked for a place to rest; in which territory would I set up My abode? Then the Creator of the Universe commanded Me, He Who created Me assigned the place of My rest, “Pitch Your tent in Jacob; Israel will be Your homeland.”

He created Me from the beginning, before time began, and I will never cease to be, I celebrate in His presence the liturgy of His Holy Dwelling and this is why I settled in Zion. The Lord let Me rest in His beloved city and Jerusalem is the heart of My Kingdom. I took root in the people God has favoured, in the land of the Lord, in their inheritance.

by

Monday, 8 January 2024 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, in which we recall the moment when the Lord Jesus was baptised at the River Jordan marking the beginning of His period of ministry in this world. This occasion today marks the last day of the liturgical season of Christmas, although traditionally in some forms, Christmas is still commemorated for a whole forty days period up to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord or Candlemas on the second day of February. This day is the moment when the Christmas celebrations pass over to the Ordinary Time again, before in a few weeks’ time we are going to enter into the season of Lent in preparation for the Holy Week and Easter. However, this upcoming Ordinary Time is far from being ‘ordinary’ as we often understand it.

Instead, the word ‘Ordinary’ here comes from the word ‘Ordinal’ or numbered, named as such because the Sundays are numbered from the first one to the last one, the thirty-fourth one on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe at the end of the liturgical year cycle. And this reminds us that, just as at His Baptism, the Lord began and embarked on His ministry and works, therefore each and every one of us too are called to proceed with whatever works and good things which Our Lord and God had entrusted to each and every one of us. All of us have been given the mission and the vocation in our respective capacities and areas of life, that we should live our lives worthily and well as Christians, in any way we can.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God spoke to His people through Isaiah regarding the salvation which God had promised to all of us, and which He would send to us in fulfilment of all that He has promised, through the coming of His Messiah, or Saviour, the Word of God, sent to the world to carry out and accomplish everything that God had planned for us all. God promised that through His Saviour, He would gather all of His people to Himself, getting them, reaching out to them and helping them on their path and journey, calling on everyone to embrace His salvation and path, gathering all of us from the darkness of this world so that we may find the joy of God’s love, providence and care.

All those promises have been made by the Lord to us His people, and He fulfilled them all through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose Baptism and beginning of earthly ministry we recall and celebrate today. In our Gospel reading today, this is highlighted by St. Mark in the short account about the Baptism of the Lord, where St. John the Baptist baptised the Lord Jesus, as foretold, and hence, the Lord’s truth and ministry that He was to embark on, was all revealed to us, and to St. John the Baptist himself, as we heard of the Heaven itself being opened, and then the voice of the Father speaking, revealing that the One Whom St. John the Baptist had just baptised, is the Son of God, with the words, ‘You are My Son, the Beloved, the One I have chosen.’ This is also the same truth referred to by St. John the Apostle in his Epistle, which was mentioned in our second reading today.

This truth according to St. John the Apostle, witnessed by St. John the Baptist and other people who were present, has been affirmed and acknowledged through the three testimonies of Water, Blood and Spirit. Each one of these testimonies confirmed that truly Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the One Whom all the prophets had been proclaiming and prophesying about, the One Who has brought God’s love and compassion into our midst, unveiling to us the fullness of God’s ever generous mercy and kindness, His love and care for all of us, His beloved ones. The Lord has shown us that He was not merely just making empty promises and big words without action, but truly putting all of His love for us into real action, loving us generously at all times.

Firstly, the testimony of Water is also referred to in our Gospel today, at the moment when the Lord Jesus was baptised at the River Jordan by St. John the Baptist. At that moment, according to the testimony of St. John the Baptist, when the Lord had been baptised and emerged from the waters of the River Jordan, Heaven itself opened and the Holy Spirit descended on the Lord like the Dove, and the voice of the Father came upon all, speaking His will and revealing Who Jesus truly was, as the Incarnate Son of God in the flesh, with the words ‘You are My Son, the Beloved, the One I have chosen.’, which highlighted everything that He had done for us, in sending us His own beloved Son, so that through Him, all of us may be saved, and gathered through the same water of baptism, into eternal life.

Then, the testimony of Blood refers to the Blood which the same Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, had shed for all of us mankind, from the Altar of His Cross. He was offered, willingly enduring for us the worst of punishments and sufferings, trials and tribulations so that by all of His wounds and hurts, all of us may be healed. His Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood had been broken and poured down upon all of us mankind, freely offered and freely given to us, so that through this sharing of Himself, all of us may partake of the same Paschal Lamb, the Bread of Life, and hence enter into the eternal life which He has promised to all of us who partake upon His heavenly banquet, the Most Holy Eucharist that He has instituted and given to all of us, as yet another testimony of the truth about Him.

Lastly, the testimony of the Spirit mentioned by St. John can mean both the Holy Spirit descending on the Lord Jesus at the moment of His Baptism, but also the gift of the Holy Spirit descending upon the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord, and hence upon the Church, on the Pentecost. The Lord has promised the Advocate, the Helper, that is none other than the Holy Spirit, Who would come to strengthen all the faithful and holy people of God, and the Holy Spirit did indeed come, ten days after the Lord ascended gloriously to Heaven and fifty days after His glorious Resurrection from the dead. All these testimonies were proofs and evidences enough for all those who have witnessed them, and which they had taught and passed on to us through the Church.

Therefore, as we have heard and discussed above, the moment of the Lord’s Baptism and the testimonies of faith, of Water, Blood and Spirit surrounding it, are affirmations for each and every one of us of God’s Love, and also a call for us all to remember everything that He had done for us, in embracing the Cross, all the burdens, punishments and sufferings that He had to endure despite Him having the choice of not having to go through them all. The Lord has called us all to follow Him, in walking down the same path that He had walked, in carrying our crosses with Him, and in following the path that He has led us through, in the Church of God and in our respective calling and ministries entrusted to us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through our own baptism, when we were welcomed into the Church, be it as infants or as adults, each and every one of us have been made part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the same Body of Christ, the united assembly of all the people who are faithful in God, and counted among the flock of those whom God had called and chosen. Each and every one of us has professed our faith in the Lord, and renewed them every time we renew them ever since at Easter. Now, the question is, are we all truly aware of what we have been called to do as Christians? Are we aware of the missions and vocation which God has entrusted to each one of us in calling us all to walk in the path of righteousness and grace?

Baptism is not the end of the journey of faith, especially for all those of us who have gone through the period of catechism and catechumenate, leading to our baptisms as adults. Baptism is the beginning of this new phase in our lives, as we enter into a life of holiness, free from the bondage and the tyranny of sin, evil and death. However, we can always fall back again into sin, and be corrupted again by the many temptations present all around us. Hence, it is important that we remain vigilant, and strive as always to live our lives as worthily as possible, in obeying the Law and commandments of God, and in ensuring that our whole lives, our every actions, words and deeds are always full of faith and grace of God.

Let us all therefore recall the moments when we were baptised, and initiated into the Church and in receiving this Christian faith, and hence let us all recall the promises and commitments we have made at our baptism, and heed the Lord’s call for us to follow Him and walk in His path. Let our lives be truly faithful and full of Christian virtues, at all times, and each one of us become the shining beacons and examples of our faith to others around us. May the Lord our God be with us always in this journey of faith, and may He continue to bless our every works, good efforts and endeavours, done for His greater glory, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

by

Monday, 8 January 2024 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 1 : 7-11

John preached to the people, saying, “After me comes One Who is more powerful than I am; I have baptised you with water, but He will baptise you in the Holy Spirit.”

At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth, a town of Galilee, and was baptised by John in the Jordan. And the moment He came up out of the water, heaven opened before Him, and He saw the Spirit coming down on Him like a dove.

And these words were heard from heaven, “You are My Son, the Beloved, the One I have chosen.”

by

Monday, 8 January 2024 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 12 : 2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

He is the God of my salvation; in Him I trust and am not afraid, YHVH is my strength : Him I will praise, the One Who saved me.

You will draw water with joy from the very fountain of salvation. Then you will say : “Praise to the Lord, break into songs of joy for Him, proclaim His marvellous deeds among the nations and exalt His Name.”

“Sing to the Lord : wonders He has done, let these be known all over the earth. Sing for joy, o people of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

by

Monday, 8 January 2024 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 55 : 1-11

Come here, all you who are thirsty, come to the water! All who have no money, come! Yes, without money and at no cost, buy and drink wine and milk. Why spend money on what is not food and labour for what does not satisfy? Listen to me, and you will eat well; you will enjoy the richest of fare.

Incline your ear and come to Me; listen, that your soul may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, I will fulfil in you My promises to David. See, I have given him for a witness to the nations, a leader and commander of the people. Likewise you will summon a nation unknown to you, and nations that do not know you will come hurrying to you for the sake of YHVH your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has promoted you.

Seek YHVH while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked abandon his way, let him forsake his thoughts, let him turn to YHVH for He will have mercy, for our God is generous in forgiving. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, My ways are not your ways, says YHVH.

For as the heavens are above the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from the heavens and do not return till they have watered the earth, making it yield seed for the sower and food for others to eat, so is My Word that goes forth out of My mouth : It will not return to Me idle, but It shall accomplish My will, the purpose for which It has been sent.

Alternative reading

1 John 5 : 1-9

All those, who believe that Jesus is the Anointed, are born of God; whoever loves the Father, loves the Son. How may we know, that we love the children of God? If we love God and fulfil His commands, for God’s love requires us to keep His commands.

In fact, His commandments are not a burden because all those born of God overcome the world. And the victory, which overcomes the world, is our faith. Who has overcome the world? The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Jesus Christ was acknowledged through water, but also through blood. Not only water, but water and blood. And the Spirit, too, witnesses to Him, for the Spirit is truth. There are, then, three testimonies : the Spirit, the water and the blood, and these three witnesses agree.

If we accept human testimony, with greater reason must we accept that of God, given in favour of His Son.

by

Sunday, 7 January 2024 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, in which we recall the moment when the Lord Jesus was baptised at the River Jordan marking the beginning of His period of ministry in this world. This occasion today marks the last day of the liturgical season of Christmas, although traditionally in some forms, Christmas is still commemorated for a whole forty days period up to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord or Candlemas on the second day of February. This day is the moment when the Christmas celebrations pass over to the Ordinary Time again, before in a few weeks’ time we are going to enter into the season of Lent in preparation for the Holy Week and Easter. However, this upcoming Ordinary Time is far from being ‘ordinary’ as we often understand it.

Instead, the word ‘Ordinary’ here comes from the word ‘Ordinal’ or numbered, named as such because the Sundays are numbered from the first one to the last one, the thirty-fourth one on the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe at the end of the liturgical year cycle. And this reminds us that, just as at His Baptism, the Lord began and embarked on His ministry and works, therefore each and every one of us too are called to proceed with whatever works and good things which Our Lord and God had entrusted to each and every one of us. All of us have been given the mission and the vocation in our respective capacities and areas of life, that we should live our lives worthily and well as Christians, in any way we can.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God spoke to His people through Isaiah regarding the salvation which God had promised to all of us, and which He would send to us in fulfilment of all that He has promised, through the coming of His Messiah, or Saviour, the Word of God, sent to the world to carry out and accomplish everything that God had planned for us all. God promised that through His Saviour, He would gather all of His people to Himself, getting them, reaching out to them and helping them on their path and journey, calling on everyone to embrace His salvation and path, gathering all of us from the darkness of this world so that we may find the joy of God’s love, providence and care.

All those promises have been made by the Lord to us His people, and He fulfilled them all through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose Baptism and beginning of earthly ministry we recall and celebrate today. In our Gospel reading today, this is highlighted by St. Mark in the short account about the Baptism of the Lord, where St. John the Baptist baptised the Lord Jesus, as foretold, and hence, the Lord’s truth and ministry that He was to embark on, was all revealed to us, and to St. John the Baptist himself, as we heard of the Heaven itself being opened, and then the voice of the Father speaking, revealing that the One Whom St. John the Baptist had just baptised, is the Son of God, with the words, ‘You are My Son, the Beloved, the One I have chosen.’ This is also the same truth referred to by St. John the Apostle in his Epistle, which was mentioned in our second reading today.

This truth according to St. John the Apostle, witnessed by St. John the Baptist and other people who were present, has been affirmed and acknowledged through the three testimonies of Water, Blood and Spirit. Each one of these testimonies confirmed that truly Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the One Whom all the prophets had been proclaiming and prophesying about, the One Who has brought God’s love and compassion into our midst, unveiling to us the fullness of God’s ever generous mercy and kindness, His love and care for all of us, His beloved ones. The Lord has shown us that He was not merely just making empty promises and big words without action, but truly putting all of His love for us into real action, loving us generously at all times.

Firstly, the testimony of Water is also referred to in our Gospel today, at the moment when the Lord Jesus was baptised at the River Jordan by St. John the Baptist. At that moment, according to the testimony of St. John the Baptist, when the Lord had been baptised and emerged from the waters of the River Jordan, Heaven itself opened and the Holy Spirit descended on the Lord like the Dove, and the voice of the Father came upon all, speaking His will and revealing Who Jesus truly was, as the Incarnate Son of God in the flesh, with the words ‘You are My Son, the Beloved, the One I have chosen.’, which highlighted everything that He had done for us, in sending us His own beloved Son, so that through Him, all of us may be saved, and gathered through the same water of baptism, into eternal life.

Then, the testimony of Blood refers to the Blood which the same Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, had shed for all of us mankind, from the Altar of His Cross. He was offered, willingly enduring for us the worst of punishments and sufferings, trials and tribulations so that by all of His wounds and hurts, all of us may be healed. His Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood had been broken and poured down upon all of us mankind, freely offered and freely given to us, so that through this sharing of Himself, all of us may partake of the same Paschal Lamb, the Bread of Life, and hence enter into the eternal life which He has promised to all of us who partake upon His heavenly banquet, the Most Holy Eucharist that He has instituted and given to all of us, as yet another testimony of the truth about Him.

Lastly, the testimony of the Spirit mentioned by St. John can mean both the Holy Spirit descending on the Lord Jesus at the moment of His Baptism, but also the gift of the Holy Spirit descending upon the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord, and hence upon the Church, on the Pentecost. The Lord has promised the Advocate, the Helper, that is none other than the Holy Spirit, Who would come to strengthen all the faithful and holy people of God, and the Holy Spirit did indeed come, ten days after the Lord ascended gloriously to Heaven and fifty days after His glorious Resurrection from the dead. All these testimonies were proofs and evidences enough for all those who have witnessed them, and which they had taught and passed on to us through the Church.

Therefore, as we have heard and discussed above, the moment of the Lord’s Baptism and the testimonies of faith, of Water, Blood and Spirit surrounding it, are affirmations for each and every one of us of God’s Love, and also a call for us all to remember everything that He had done for us, in embracing the Cross, all the burdens, punishments and sufferings that He had to endure despite Him having the choice of not having to go through them all. The Lord has called us all to follow Him, in walking down the same path that He had walked, in carrying our crosses with Him, and in following the path that He has led us through, in the Church of God and in our respective calling and ministries entrusted to us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through our own baptism, when we were welcomed into the Church, be it as infants or as adults, each and every one of us have been made part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, the same Body of Christ, the united assembly of all the people who are faithful in God, and counted among the flock of those whom God had called and chosen. Each and every one of us has professed our faith in the Lord, and renewed them every time we renew them ever since at Easter. Now, the question is, are we all truly aware of what we have been called to do as Christians? Are we aware of the missions and vocation which God has entrusted to each one of us in calling us all to walk in the path of righteousness and grace?

Baptism is not the end of the journey of faith, especially for all those of us who have gone through the period of catechism and catechumenate, leading to our baptisms as adults. Baptism is the beginning of this new phase in our lives, as we enter into a life of holiness, free from the bondage and the tyranny of sin, evil and death. However, we can always fall back again into sin, and be corrupted again by the many temptations present all around us. Hence, it is important that we remain vigilant, and strive as always to live our lives as worthily as possible, in obeying the Law and commandments of God, and in ensuring that our whole lives, our every actions, words and deeds are always full of faith and grace of God.

Let us all therefore recall the moments when we were baptised, and initiated into the Church and in receiving this Christian faith, and hence let us all recall the promises and commitments we have made at our baptism, and heed the Lord’s call for us to follow Him and walk in His path. Let our lives be truly faithful and full of Christian virtues, at all times, and each one of us become the shining beacons and examples of our faith to others around us. May the Lord our God be with us always in this journey of faith, and may He continue to bless our every works, good efforts and endeavours, done for His greater glory, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

by

Sunday, 7 January 2024 : Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 1 : 7-11

John preached to the people, saying, “After me comes One Who is more powerful than I am; I have baptised you with water, but He will baptise you in the Holy Spirit.”

At that time, Jesus came from Nazareth, a town of Galilee, and was baptised by John in the Jordan. And the moment He came up out of the water, heaven opened before Him, and He saw the Spirit coming down on Him like a dove.

And these words were heard from heaven, “You are My Son, the Beloved, the One I have chosen.”