condemnation

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Sunday, 9 March 2014 : 1st Sunday of Lent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Romans 5 : 12-19

Therefore, sin entered the world through one man and through sin, death, and later on death spread to all humankind, because all sinned. As long as there was no law, they could not speak of disobedience, but sin was already in the world. This is why from Adam to Moses death reigned among them, although their sin was not disobedience as in Adam’s case – this was not the true Adam, but foretold the Other who was to come.

Such has been the fall, but God’s gift goes far beyond. All died because of the fault of one man, but how much more does the grace of God spread when the gift He granted reaches all, from this unique Man Jesus Christ. Again, there is no comparison between the gift and the offense of one man. The disobedience that brought condemnation was of one sinner, whereas the grace of God brings forgiveness to a world of sinners.

If death reigned through the disobedience of one and only one person, how much more will there be a reign of life for those who receive the grace and the gift of true righteousness through the one person, Jesus Christ.

Just as one transgression brought sentence of death to all, so, too, one man’s good act has brought justification and light to all; and as the disobedience of only one made all sinners, so the obedience of one person allowed all to be made just and holy.

 

Alternative Reading (shorter version)

 

Romans 5 : 12, 17-19

Therefore, sin entered the world through one man and through sin, death, and later on death spread to all humankind, because all sinned.

If death reigned through the disobedience of one and only one person, how much more will there be a reign of life for those who receive the grace and the gift of true righteousness through the one person, Jesus Christ.

Just as one transgression brought sentence of death to all, so, too, one man’s good act has brought justification and light to all; and as the disobedience of only one made all sinners, so the obedience of one person allowed all to be made just and holy.

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Thursday, 6 March 2014 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Deuteronomy 30 : 15-20

See, I set before you on this day life and good, evil and death. I command you to love YHVH, your God and follow His ways. Observe His commandments, His norms and His laws, and you will live and increase, and YHVH will give you His blessing in the land you are going to possess.

But if your heart turns away and does not listen, if you are drawn away and bow before other gods to serve them, I declare on this day that you shall perish. You shall not last in the land you are going to occupy on the other side of the Jordan.

Let the heavens and the earth listen, that they may be witnesses against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life that you and your descendants may live, loving YHVH, listening to His voice, and being one with Him. In this life for you and length of days in the land which YHVH swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

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Tuesday, 4 March 2014 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Casimir (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Brethren in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of St. Casimir, the patron saint of arts and youth. St. Casimir was once the heir apparent to the kingdom of Poland, but he died before he succeeded to the throne as king. Nevertheless, he was revered as a saint and holy man of God because of his exceptional character and good deeds which were recognised by the people, who looked up to him and his character.

Today, the readings told us about the importance of our faith and our devotion to the Lord and His ways. And St. Casimir showed us how to be truly devoted to the Lord, not just in words but also in concrete and actual deeds. St. Casimir was known for his humility despite of his position and influence, as the crown prince of the kingdom.

St. Casimir grew in his devotion and faith to God as he grew in life. He was renowned at the end of his life, of his piety and exemplary devotion, which was evident in his works and charitable acts to the poor in the society. He took great responsibility and took it seriously, and worked hard for the good of those whom he had worked for.

He was powerful and great, and he has great influence, and yet he remained humble and unassuming. And that is the kind of faith and devotion that we should also have, brothers and sisters in Christ. We have to be obedient to the will of God, and listen to His words. And most importantly is that we have to act, and act in full devotion, offering ourselves in love to God, by our love for one another.

Reject all of the corruptions of this world, and reject all the temptations that assail us and attempted to change us for the worse. Let us all follow God and His laws, and not disobeying Him in any way. Be like St. Casimir in his devotion. Our faith must be true and genuine, and it must be an active faith, one that is based on strong foundation of love and action.

Be humble and be righteous, those are the things expected by the Lord from us. Let us not harden our hearts or close our minds against the Lord and His love. Instead, open wide the doors of our heart, that the Lord may be able to come in, enter and speak to us, so that we may know His will, and keep faithful to His commandments.

Let us all, brothers and sisters in Christ, renew our faith in God, that our faith will be made stronger, and that we may live always in God’s grace. Let us all never be separated from God or be outside of His salvation and love. Let us walk humbly with God and serve Him with all our strength, just as St. Casimir and many other saints had done throughout the generations.

May the Lord bless us, give us strength to be faithful to Him at all times, and may He be with us at all times, and let us never be separated from Him and His love. God be with us all, always and forever. Amen.

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Friday, 28 February 2014 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 10 : 1-12

Jesus then left that place and went to the province of Judea, beyond the Jordan River. Once more crowds gathered around Him and once more He taught them, as He always did. Some Pharisees came and put Him to the test with this question, “Is it right for a husband to divorce his wife?”

He replied, “What law did Moses give you?” They answered, “Moses allowed us to write a certificate of dismissal in order to divorce.” Then Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you, because you are stubborn. But in the beginning of creation God made them male and female, and because of this, man has to leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body. So they are no longer two but one body. Therefore let no one separate what God has joined.”

When they were indoors at home, the disciples again asked Him about this, and He told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against his wife, and the woman who divorces her husband and marries another also commits adultery.”

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Thursday, 27 February 2014 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 48 : 14-15ab, 15cd-16, 17-18, 19-20

This is the fate of people trusting themselves, the future of those who rely on their strength. Like sheep led to the grave, they have death as their shepherd and ruler.

Quickly their form will be consumed in the world of the dead, which is their home. But God will rescue my soul from the grave by receiving me unto Himself.

Fear not when someone grows rich, when his power becomes oppressively great, for nothing will he take when he dies; his wealth and pomp he will leave behind.

Though he praised himself in his lifetime, “All will say that I have enjoyed life,” he will join the generation of his forebears, who will never again see the light.

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Thursday, 27 February 2014 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

James 5 : 1-6

So, now for what concerns the rich! Cry and weep for the misfortunes that are coming upon you. Your riches are rotting and your clothes eaten up by the moths. Your silver and gold have rusted and their rust grows into a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire, for having piled up riches in these last days.

You deceived the workers who harvested your fields but now their wages cry out to the heavens. The reapers’ complaints have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You lived in luxury and pleasure in this world thus fattening yourselves for the day of slaughter. You have easily condemned and killed the innocent since they offered no resistance.

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Wednesday, 26 February 2014 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to trust in the Lord and put all of our attention to fulfill whatever He has come upon this world to do. He came into this world to bring goodness into it, and to bring the light of God to unveil the darkness that has been in this world and close our eyes from the truth. He brought to us the salvation in God, to free us from the depredations of evil.

And in today’s Gospel, Jesus wanted to show His disciples, and all of us, that we should never be exclusive in our work for the Lord, but we must be inclusive. That is because all good works ultimately have their source in God, and all good works have their meaning in serving the purposes of the Lord. Doing good can never mean doing the purpose of the devil.

All said, in this matter, we cannot separate and distinguish between good actions and faith. As St. James has often stressed in his letter, that faith cannot be good without concrete actions, which are good actions, and neither can actions be truly good without faith. Both faith and works are related closely to each other, and indeed, when someone does a good work, we should not stop him, especially without knowing first his or her background. He may be just one of the faithful like ourselves!

What Jesus is trying to tell us today is that we must neither be judgmental or be exclusivist in our attitude. We have to try our best to incorporate others in our good services to the Lord, and that means, rather than condemn others or see them as a competition with our own works, we should instead seek to reach out to them and bring them to our fold, that we may work together as one, and achieve even greater things.

One example which we can use in this world today is the works of the various Christian churches and followers of the Lord, many of whom are separated from the unity that is in the Church, the One and only, and yet at the same time, these people, in their separated state, do still do good things for the sake of the faithful. They did good things just as we do.

We should not outright condemn them for what they do and try to stop what they are doing. If any, if we want to condemn them at all, condemn them only if they persist in their separation from the One Church of God, and role in perpetuating that division. Yes, we should all, first above all, seek and work towards unity, and we must make sure that whatever we do are in tandem with each others’ works.

Let us therefore unite our efforts and bring all of our good works as one, to serve the Lord and His people. Bar not the good works of those who do them, even outside of our Church, but focus instead our effort on bringing them back into the fold, that our efforts may be more united than ever before, and all our works may transcend all the evils of division that had wracked our Church all this while.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all seek to do good always in our lives, changing our ways that we may do good for the sake of God and His people. Open our hearts to the Lord and welcome Him into our hearts, walk graciously in His ways and may our examples be a shining example to all others as well. Do good, be humble, and remain faithful, brothers and sisters in Christ. Be inclusive and never be judgmental, seek reunion and unity rather than condemnation and rejection. Amen.

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Thursday, 20 February 2014 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Practice our faith, practice our faith, and practice our faith. That is the theme constantly repeated by St. James in his letter, which we heard today in our first reading. St. James placed a great importance in us having a living and real faith, one that is not just made with mere words or lip-service, but instead done in the spirit of love and true dedication to God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, continuing from my message yesterday about how important it was to love and to practice our faith, it is truly necessary to do so, because indeed, just as Jesus rebuked Peter in the Gospel today, the devil or Satan is everywhere, and at every opportunity, Satan will definitely try his best to undermine our efforts in faith.

That is because the devil does not want to see us saved from the fate that awaited us since the time when our ancestors first fell into sin, just as Satan himself and his fallen angels followers had fallen. They were to be condemned to death and eternal suffering, which we too were once destined to go to, and we were once destined and fated for this suffering, which we call hell, because it is a state of suffering because of the total separation we have to endure, from the love of God.

That is why our faith in God must be strong. It cannot be just by word or by empty nonsense, which means nothing to God. Our faith must be genuine, and must be genuinely loving, that is filled with love, both for God and for His children, our fellow brethren, all of mankind. If our faith is solid, strong and healthy, then we have no need to fear the devil and his forces standing to oppose us.

We have to be ever ready and ready to resist all the temptations of Satan and all of his advances which are designed to bring us to our downfall. In order to do so, then our faith must be strong, that it may become our strong shield of faith. We cannot be complacent in our faith, or the devil may find a weakness in our defense and attack us.

Follow the Lord faithfully and keep to His commandments and what He had taught us. If we do so, then we will have a powerful ally, none other than our Lord Himself who will come between us and the devil and his forces. That way, we certainly have no need to fear. The devil knows this, and he knows that if God is on our side and protects us, he will have no chance or power over us.

That is why he tries hard day by day to separate us from God, by planting fear and doubt in our hearts, as well as promoting to us the good things of the world and things that can divert our attention from the Lord. Brothers and sisters in Christ, it all comes down to us, and our ability to make a concrete decision. Will we choose our Lord or will we choose the devil and whatever lies he offers us?

Doubt no longer brethren, but believe. And if we have sinned and done things wicked in the eyes of the Lord, repent and sincerely change our hearts, our Lord who sees and knows all will see our faith and love for Him, and He will welcome us into His kingdom.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all together make a new commitment, to dedicate ourselves fully to the Lord our God, and to love Him with all of our hearts, our soul, and our minds. May the Lord continue to be with us, bless us, and protect us from the power and forces of the evil one. Amen.

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Thursday, 20 February 2014 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

James 2 : 1-9

My brothers and sisters, if you truly believe in our glorified Lord, Jesus Christ, you will not discriminate between persons. Suppose a person enters the synagogue where you are assembled, dressed magnificently and wearing a gold ring; at the same time, a poor person enters dressed in rags.

If you focus your attention on the well-dressed and say, “Come and sit in the best seat,” while to the poor one you say, “Stay standing or else sit down at my feet,” have you not, in fact, made a distinction between the two? Have you not judged, using a double standard?

Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters, did God not choose the poor of this world to receive the riches of faith and to inherit the kingdom which He has promised to those who love Him? Yet you despise them! Is it not the rich who are against you and drag you to court? Do they not insult the Holy Name of Christ by which you are called?

If you keep the Law of the Kingdom, according to Scripture : ‘Love your neighbour as yourself,’ you do well; but if you make distinctions between persons, you break the law and are condemned by the same law.

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Friday, 14 February 2014 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril, Monk, and St. Methodius, Bishop, Patron Saints of Europe (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Let all who have ears listen and those who have eyes see, and those who have tongues speak of the power and the glory of God! Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we witnessed Jesus’ healing of the man who was deaf and mute, and opening his ears and tongue, Jesus revealed to us all the true authority He has over all, and the truth about Himself, that He came to open our minds and our hearts, to welcome into them the Lord.

Yes, brethren, it is imperative for all of us to open wide the doors of our hearts and sharpen the edge of our senses, that we may know when the Lord comes to us, so that we may welcome Him and bring Him to dwell in ourselves. We have to be responsive to the Lord calling for us, that we may heed His call and come to Him.

We ought to avoid the fate and punishment that fell on Solomon and his descendants, who because of Solomon’s obstinate attitude and refusal to listen to the Lord had resulted in the kingdom of Israel being torn apart, together with the community of the people of God. Solomon was wise, and was greatly blessed with wisdom, power, and authority by the Lord, but these were also the cause for his greatest undoing.

In continuation with yesterday’s reflection on the readings, Solomon fell because he put his trust more and more in his human power and glory, and gradually less and less on the Lord, unlike his father David, who constantly kept up his faith and devotion in the Lord throughout his life. Solomon was swayed by the devil, through his wives and concubines, who blinded him and deafened him from the calling of God, asking him to keep faithful the commandments his father had kep so faithfully.

That is exactly what can also happen to us all, brothers and sisters in Christ, because power, authority, worldly glamour and prestige are all the things that keep our attention away from the Lord and blinds us against His truth, and deafens us from His call, and closes our tongue that we may not call on Him. These prevent us from reaching the Lord and the Lord from reaching us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we let what had happened to Solomon also affect us? Shall we let ourselves be punished for our disobedience because we refuse to listen to the Lord as Solomon had done? Shall we let ourselves be condemned because the Lord saw wickedness in us because we refuse to obey the Lord and walk in His ways as Solomon had done?

It is easy for us all to forget about the Lord and become engrossed in ourselves, in all the glory we have, and in all the good things that the world can offer us. As you know, especially in our world today, where more and more things are being commercialised and consumerism is getting at a dangerously high levels, it is even easier for us to be led astray by the temptations of the world than ever before.

That is why the Lord sent Jesus into the world, to send His own Son to open the eyes, the ears, and the tongues of the people, that He may resensitise them and reopen the senses of their hearts to the love of God, and to the truth that is in the Lord. Through His teachings and revelations of God’s nature and love, which He passed down through His apostles and disciples, we receive the revelations and our minds are opened.

God wants to open our minds, and to let our eyes see, and our ears hear, that we may believe in Jesus, and break free from the chains of pride and arrogance, from the shackle of desire and greed, and from the oppression of lust and anger. He wants to free us from all the distractions that burdened us and kept us away from Him, but we too need to work hard and do our best, so that we may break free and return to the Lord our God who loves us.

Today, we celebrate the feast of two saints, said to be brothers, that of St. Cyril and St. Methodius who converted many pagan nations and peoples in central Europe during the Dark Ages, and they helped to bring many people who lived in darkness into the light of God. That was why they were also known as the Patron Saints of Europe, due to their hard and zealous works in bringing so many people of that continent into the faith.

St. Cyril and St. Methodius helped to translate many works of the faith into the language of the then pagan peoples, and through their preachings and works, they truly, just as Jesus had done, opened the eyes and the ears and the tongues of those people, who then witnessed the truth about the Lord, the folly of their old ways, and the need for them to repent and follow the Lord, and that they did.

The two saints converted many souls and brought many to salvation in God. A people who lived in darkness had seen a great light indeed, that is the Light of Christ reflected in the actions, words, and deeds of both St. Cyril and St. Methodius, without whom many people would have been lost to damnation and hell.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, the example of Solomon and the two saints, as well as Jesus Himself, showed us the need for us to strongly reaffirm our faith in God and to reorientate ourselves that in all things we align with our Lord and God. And it is important for us to seek Him out in humility and ask Him for His healing and mercy, that we may have the doors of our hearts and senses opened, that we may truly experience His love and mercy.

May the Lord our God continue to bless us, empower us, and open ever wider the doors of our hearts to Him, while closing it to any influences of the devil. May He remove from us all the distractions of this world that we may then be truly faithful to Him without any hindrance. God bless us all. Amen.