coming of the Messiah

by

Tuesday, 15 April 2014 : Tuesday of Holy Week (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 49 : 1-6

Listen to Me, o islands, pay attention, peoples from distant lands. YHVH called Me from My mother’s womb; He pronounced My Name before I was born. He made My mouth like a sharpened sword. He hid Me in the shadow of His hand. He made Me into a polished arrow set apart in His quiver.

He said to Me, “You are Israel, My servant, through You I will be known.” “I have laboured in vain,” I thought, and spent My strength for nothing. Yet what is due Me was in the hand of YHVH, and My reward was with My God.

I am important in the sight of YHVH, and my God is my strength. And now YHVH has spoken, He who formed Me in the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, to gather Israel to Him.

He said : “It is not enough that You be My servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the remnant of Israel, I will make You the light of the nations, that My salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.”

by

Monday, 14 April 2014 : Monday of Holy Week (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 42 : 1-7

Here is My servant whom I uphold, My Chosen One in whom I delight. I have put My Spirit upon Him, and He will bring justice to the nations. He does not shout or raise His voice, proclamations are not heard in the streets.

A broken reed He will not crush, nor will He snuff out the light of the wavering wick. He will make justice appear in truth. He will not waver or be broken until He has established justice on earth; the islands are waiting for His law.

Thus says God, YHVH, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread the earth and all that comes from it, who gives life and breath to those who walk on it : I, YHVH, have called You for the sake of justice; I will hold Your hand to make You firm; I will make You as a covenant to the people, and as a light to the nations, to open eyes that do not see, to free captives from prison, to bring out to light those who sit in darkness.”

by

Friday, 11 April 2014 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Stanislas, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 10 : 31-42

The Jews then picked up stones to throw at Jesus; so He said, “I have openly done many good works among you, which the Father gave Me to do. For which of these do you stone Me?”

The Jews answered, “We are not stoning You for doing a good work, but for insulting God; You are only a Man, and You make Yourself God.” Then Jesus replied, “Is this not written in your law : ‘I said, you are gods?’ So these who received this word of God were called gods, and the Scripture is always true. What then should be said of the One anointed, and sent into the world, by the Father? Am I insulting God when I say, ‘I am the Son of God.’?”

“If I am not doing the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if I do them, even if you have no faith in Me, believe because of the works I do; and know that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

Again they tried to arrest Him, but Jesus escaped from their hands. He went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John had baptised, and there He stayed. Many people came to Jesus and said, “John worked no miracles, but he spoke about You, and everything he said was true.” And many became believers in that place.

by

Sunday, 6 April 2014 : 5th Sunday of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 11 : 1-45

There was a sick man named Lazarus who was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This is the same Mary, who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped His feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was sick.

So the sisters sent this message to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” On hearing this, Jesus said, “This illness will not end in death; rather it is for God’s glory, and the Son of God will be glorified through it.”

It is a fact that Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus; yet, after He heard of the illness of Lazarus, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Only then did He say to His disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.” They replied, “Master, recently the Jews wanted to stone You. Are You going there again?”

Jesus said to them, “Are not twelve working hours needed to complete a day? Those who walk in the daytime shall not stumble, for they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, for there is no light in them.”

After that Jesus said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going to wake him.” The disciples replied, “Lord, a sick person who sleeps will recover.” But Jesus had referred to Lazarus’ death, while they thought that He had meant the repose of sleep.

So Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad I was not there, for now you may believe. But let us go there, where he is.” Then Thomas, called the Twin said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

When Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. As Bethany is near Jerusalem, about two miles away, many Jews had come to Martha and Mary, after the death of their brother, to comfort them. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house.

And she said to Jesus, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection, at the last day.” But Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, shall live. Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?

Martha then answered, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, He who is coming into the world.” After that Martha went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The Master is here and is calling for you.” As soon as Mary heard this, she rose and went to Him. Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in place where Martha had met Him.

The Jews, who were with her in the house consoling her, also came. When they saw her get up and go out, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep. As for Mary, when she came to the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, who had come with her, He was moved in the depths of His Spirit and troubled. Then He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They answered, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.

The Jews said, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “If He could open the eyes of the blind man, could He not have kept this man from dying?” Jesus was deeply moved again, and drew near to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across it.

Jesus said, “Take the stone away.” Martha said to Him, “Lord, by now he will smell, for this is the fourth day.” Jesus replied, “Have I not told you that, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You for You have heard Me. I knew that You hear Me always; but My prayer was for the sake of these people, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

When Jesus had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”

Many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what He did.

 

Alternative Reading (shorter version)

 

John 11 : 3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45

So the sisters sent this message to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” On hearing this, Jesus said, “This illness will not end in death; rather it is for God’s glory, and the Son of God will be glorified through it.”

It is a fact that Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus; yet, after He heard of the illness of Lazarus, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Only then did He say to His disciples, “Let us go into Judea again.”

When Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house.

And she said to Jesus, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection, at the last day.” But Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, shall live. Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?

Martha then answered, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, He who is coming into the world.” He was moved in the depths of His Spirit and troubled. Then He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They answered, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.

The Jews said, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “If He could open the eyes of the blind man, could He not have kept this man from dying?” Jesus was deeply moved again, and drew near to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across it.

Jesus said, “Take the stone away.” Martha said to Him, “Lord, by now he will smell, for this is the fourth day.” Jesus replied, “Have I not told you that, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You for You have heard Me. I knew that You hear Me always; but My prayer was for the sake of these people, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

When Jesus had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”

Many of the Jews who had come with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw what He did.

 

by

Saturday, 5 April 2014 : 4th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Vincent Ferrer, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 7 : 40-52

Many who had been listening to these words began to say, “This is the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some wondered, “Would the Christ come from Galilee? Does the Scripture not say that the Christ is a descendant of David and from Bethlehem, the city of David?”

The crowd was divided over Him. Some wanted to arrest Him, but no one laid hands on Him. The officers of the Temple went back to the chief priests, who asked them, “Why did you not bring Him?” The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this Man.”

The Pharisees then said, “So you, too, have been led astray! Have any of the rulers or any of the Pharisees believed in Him? Only these cursed people, who have no knowledge of the Law!”

Yet one of them, Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier, spoke out, “Does our Law condemn people without first hearing them and knowing the facts?” They replied, “Do you, too, come from Galilee? Look it up and see for yourself that no prophet is to come from Galilee.”

 

by

Friday, 4 April 2014 : 4th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the people of God did not accept the Lord Himself who came down from on high to be with us. They thought of themselves as being better and greater than God, doubting Him and did not believe in Him when He came and rejecting His teachings, preferring to trust in their own beliefs.

They closed their hearts and themselves from the Lord because they allowed their fear and human emotions and desires to manipulate them, change them, and sequester them from the love of God. As a result, they see the coming of the Christ, that is Jesus, as a rival, challenge, and danger that must be removed at any cost, rather than as an opportunity to herald the coming of God’s kingdom into the world.

And this concerns in fact not just the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Jesus’s time, but also all of us, brothers and sisters in Christ. We ourselves have often placed ourselves as obstacles in the way of the Lord and His salvation, not just for ourselves but also for those around us. We have often followed our own desires, our own ego and will rather than listening to God and obeying His will.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us use this opportunity to reflect on our own life and on our own course of action. Have we been like those who plotted against the Lord just because He came to them and spoke the truth? Or have we accepted Him and listened to Him because of that truth? The truth is often not beautiful or appealing to us, simply because and plainly because we are sinners, and we have committed things that are wicked in the eyes of God and men.

We usually do not like it when things do not go our way or follow what we desired. We complain, we grumble, and we throw tantrum when this happens because we think only about ourselves, and we are only concerned about ourselves. That is why, we in our pride and our arrogance think that we are the masters of the things that we do, and we will never give in, to achieve what we want.

Today we commemorate the feast of St. Isidore, a bishop of late Roman era Hispania, modern day Spain, in Seville. As the bishop and influential leader of the people, both secular and religious, he emphasized on the spiritual renewal of the people and the casting away of the ways of the old, that is the way of wickedness. He worked hard to preach the Gospel and the Good News of the Lord with truth.

St. Isidore helped to convert the people and the kings of his land, the Visigothic kings of Spain, to the true way of the Lord, leaving their heathen and mistaken path of the Arians, who rejected the Lord and His fullness for human ideas and human glories. St. Isidore guided them towards the way of the Lord and guided them to be true followers of God’s will.

The example of St. Isidore showed us how mankind are still often trapped in their own sense of self-righteousness and glory, that they refuse to listen to and look up towards the truth, especially the truth that is in the Lord. Mankind prefer to stay on their pride and refuse to budge even against the Lord and His urging. He sent us Jesus to remind us of the truth, and to take off the veil of pride that covers our eyes.

We have to learn to listen and trust in the Lord, for He knows better than us, and He knows the way to salvation, which we cannot reach on our own, less still by our own power alone. That is why we really should cast away our pride and sharpen the edge of our humility, that we may truly become loving children and followers of the Lord in our actions and our deeds.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we all have a choice to make. We can choose to follow the path of pride, that is to give in to our emotions and fears, to be like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, or to cast away that pride and arrogance, and follow the Lord with all of our hearts, just as St. Isidore and many other great saints had done in the past.

The choice is ours, brethren, and let us therefore today pray, that the Lord may guide us all, and help us to walk together in His light, that we may dwell no longer in the darkness of our pride and stubbornness, but in the light of God’s presence. God be with us all. Amen.

 

by

Thursday, 3 April 2014 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s reading from the Scripture, we found that our Lord and God hates sin and the spirit of disobedience. And this was what we witnessed, as the people of Israel sinned against God. They refused to obey the Lord and believe in Him fully without reservations, even after what they had witnessed in the Ten Plagues and the opening of the Red Sea which paved the way to their liberation from Egypt and their slavery there.

That was why God was angry and wrathful, not just because He despises sin in any form, which the people of Israel clearly committed in their debauchery, with the gold and riches they took from Egypt, engaging in lustful revelries and made for themselves a god out of that gold, the golden calf. God loves all of His children, but He also despises sin.

Yet, this is were we are once again reaffirmed of the love and care which our Lord and God has for us. He loves us even more than He hates our sins, and what is this proof? Moses, the servant of God would know of this love, because he saw what God is like and he knew of His will and His plans for mankind, which would involve coming down by Himself, to be the very One to save His people from eternal damnation.

Yes, that proof of God’s love and eternal commitment to us is Jesus Christ, the Son of God and One of the Holy Trinity, the very Word who came to be incarnate to the flesh, and He is the living and eternal proof of God’s love for all of us without exception. Everyone is equal in the eyes of the Lord and they are all equal in God’s favour, except for sin which keeps us apart from the fullness of His grace.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord gave His best to us all, and He did not even hold back His own Son from our reach. Instead, He gave us the One through whom He can directly reach out to us, and similarly, from us to reach out to Him, our loving God and Father. And in Jesus we found the perfection of mankind in love of God, which we all should aspire to.

Yes, brethren, that is in essence because Jesus came into this world not for some meaningless purposes or without any clear goal. On the contrary, Jesus came into this world and gave Himself and His own life, so that we may be freed from the bonds of sin that kept us away from God, but also so that in His examples, we may be made whole and know what God expects from us, just as Jesus Himself had done.

Jesus was the embodiment of the perfect Man, the One who followed the Lord and obeyed Him in the complete and unadulterated fullness of the Law of God, desiring only to serve the Lord and His people, unlike the people of Jesus’ time, especially the Pharisees, who outwardly were very pious, but in fact were concerned and occupied with their own worldly desires and concerns that they forgot to keep the Lord in themselves.

The key message that we ought to bring out of today’s Scripture readings is that God loves us, and He would stop at nothing to help us and to embrace us, giving us His divine mercy and compassion, through none other than Jesus His Son, that we may have hope. So, just as God has loved us with all of His heart and being, shall we not then do the same?

That is the challenge posed to all of us, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we ought to give ourselves and our own love for God, just as He had loved us first. What we usually did was in fact to spurn this love and opportunity which He had given us, and for many, it was not until too late that they realised how much God actually loved and cared for them, because they were too busy with their own human affairs and the affairs of the world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us from now on therefore begin to change our attitude, if our attitude towards God had not been right. Let us all embrace the love God had for us and resolve to love Him back as much as possible. Let us not spurn the great offer which God has given us, in Jesus His Son. In Him only lies the salvation and hope of the world.

May Almighty God bless us, forgive us from our sinfulness, open our hearts that we may ‘see’ His love, understand it, and embrace it to be our own dedication of love, to Him who had loved us first. God be with us all. Amen.

 

by

Thursday, 3 April 2014 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 5 : 31-47

If I bore witness to Myself, My testimony would be worthless. But Another One is bearing witness to Me, and I know that His testimony is true when He bears witness to Me. John also bore witness to the truth when you sent messengers to him, but I do not seek human testimony; I recall this for you, so that you may be saved.

John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were willing to enjoy his light. But I have greater evidence than that of John – the works which the Father entrusted to Me to carry out. The very works I do bear witness : the Father has sent Me.

Thus He who bears witness to Me is the Father who sent Me. You have never heard His voice and have never seen His likeness; therefore, as long as you do not believe His messenger, His word is not in you.

You search in the Scriptures, thinking that in them you will find life; yet Scripture bears witness to Me. But you refuse to come to Me, that you may live. I am not seeking human praise; but I have known that love of God is not within you, for I have come in My Father’s Name and you do not accept Me.

If another comes in his own name, you will accept him. As long as you seek praise from one another, instead of seeking the glory which comes from the only God, how can you believe? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. Moses himself, in whom you placed your hope, accuses you.

If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?

 

by

Tuesday, 25 March 2014 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Today is the celebration of the Annunciation of our Lord, that is the moment when it was announced to His mother Mary, that she is to bear the Saviour of the world within her. The Archangel Gabriel came to her to announce to her the Good News. Mary accepted the role she was to play in the salvation of the world.

And the moment she accepted her role, by her own words that she as the handmaid of the Lord obeyed all the will of God, then everything fell into place, and Mary became the Mother of God from then on. That was also the moment when Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, upon the acceptance of Mary.

That is why today is chosen by the Church to represent and celebrate the Annunciation, because today, 25 March, is exactly nine months before Christmas, the day when Jesus our Lord was born. Nine months is the time that a baby is in gestation within the womb of the mother. So today, we mark the beginning of our journey of expectation of the Lord at Christmas.

And now we are also progressing through Lent, as we prepare ourselves to remember and celebrate the most holy week in our year, the Holy Week, when Jesus went through the most important moments in His ministry, as He revealed His salvation to all mankind. This we also remember, and we recall His promise, that He will come again a second time, this time to bring eternal happiness to all for good.

Thus, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us heed the lessons we can gain from the Annunciation, in the devotion and obedience that Mary showed through her honest and pious answer to the Lord and in the obedience she showed to Him when the angel broke the news to her that she is to bear a Child, and therefore tp bear a huge responsibility.

But obedience and faithfulness are often not in the list of things that we do. We often follow our desires and thoughts more than recognising and following the Lord and His commandments. And it is very often for us to just pay a kind of lip-service to the Lord in our observation of the faith.

Simple example is, how many of us when we go for Mass, are actually there fully because we want to be with God, and that we want to spend time with Him in prayer and togetherness? How many of us attend the Mass meaningfully and seriously? Do we come to the Mass to seek the Lord? Or do we do so because we want to chit-chat with our friends or to look for someone in the congregation?

Yes, brethren, even something as simple as attending the Mass can be a chore to us if we are not solid in our faith and devotion to God. That is where we can learn from the Mother of our God, in her faith and solid confidence in God, that she accepted the role that had been entrusted to her, to be the bearer of the Saviour, the Christ.

Let us not be like king Ahaz or those like the Pharisees in their faith. Their faith was not genuine and true because although outwardly in words they mentioned and talked about obeying God, but inside their heart they have no God inside of them. They are like empty cans, looking good still on the outside, but inside they are really empty and unsightly.

Our faith in God cannot be like this, brethren, because we have to be sincere and genuine in our devotion, and that means, firstly we have to put our trust in God, but we also have to walk the talk, that is we have to practice our faith and make it living. We cannot just pay lip service to God, but we have to take the initiative and be proactive.

Let us all, brothers and sisters, keep this in mind that Jesus will come again, just as He had come before into this world. So, when He comes again, can we show to Him that our faith is genuine? Can we show Him that we obey the Lord and His commandments as His mother did? If we do so, and are able to show such things, then we will be fine.

May the Lord, whose coming is announced on this day of the Annunciation, continue to guide us, so that we may always walk in His path, never turning left or right. Amen.

 

by

Tuesday, 25 March 2014 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

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.