Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 116 : 1, 2
Alleluia! Praise the Lord, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him.
How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.
conversion to God
Wednesday, 25 January 2017 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 22 : 3-16
I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here in this city where I was educated in the school of Gamaliel, according to the strict observance of our Law. And I was dedicated to God’s service, as are all of you today. As for this way, I persecuted it to the point of death and arrested its followers, both men and women, throwing them into prison.
The High Priest and the whole Council of elders can bear witness to this. From them I received letters for the Jewish brothers in Damascus and I set out to arrest those who were there and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. But as I was travelling along, nearing Damascus, at about noon a great light from the sky suddenly flashed about me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
I answered, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said to me : ‘I am Jesus the Nazarean Whom you persecute.’ The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of the One Who was speaking to me. I asked : ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord replied : ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there you will be told all that you are destined to do.’ Yet the brightness of that light had blinded me and so I was led by the hand into Damascus by my companions.
There a certain Ananias came to me. He was a devout observer of the Law and well spoken of by all the Jews who were living there. As he stood by me, he said : ‘Brother Saul, recover your sight.’ At that moment I could see and I looked at him. He then said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know His will, to see the Just One and to hear the words from His mouth.”
“From now on you shall be His witness before all the pagan peoples and tell them all that you have seen and heard. And now, why delay? Get up and be baptised and have your sins washed away by calling upon His Name.”
Alternative reading
Acts 9 : 1-22
Meanwhile Saul considered nothing but violence and death for the disciples of the Lord. He went to the High Priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus that would authorise him to arrest and bring to Jerusalem anyone he might find, man or woman, belonging to the Way.
As he travelled along and was approaching Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute me?” And he asked, “Who are You, Lord?” The voice replied, “I am Jesus Whom you persecute. Now get up and go into the city; there you will be told what you are to do.”
The men who were travelling with him stood there speechless : they had heard the sound, but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground and, opening his eyes, he could not see. They took him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. He was blind and he did not eat or drink for three days.
There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, to whom the Lord called in a vision, “Ananias!” He answered, “Here I am, Lord!” Then the Lord said to him, “Go at once to Straight Street and ask, at the house of Judas, for a man of Tarsus named Saul. You will find him praying, for he has just seen in a vision that a man named Ananias has come in and placed his hands upon him, to restore his sight.”
Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem, and now he is here with authority from the High Priest to arrest all who call upon Your Name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go! This man is My chosen instrument to bring My Name to the pagan nations and their kings, and the people of Israel as well. I Myself will show him how much he will have to suffer for My Name.”
So Ananias left and went to the house. He laid his hands upon Saul and said, “Saul, my brother, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me to you so that you may receive your sight and be filled with Holy Spirit.” Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he could see; he got up and was baptised. Then he took food and was strengthened.
For several days Saul stayed with the disciples at Damascus, and he soon began to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. All who heard were astonished and said, “Is this not the one who cast out in Jerusalem all those calling upon this Name? Did he not come here to bring them bound before the chief priests?”
But Saul grew more and more powerful, and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus when he proved that Jesus was the Messiah.
Monday, 4 August 2014 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest (Scripture Reflections)
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear in the Old Testament, about the false testimony of Hananiah, the false prophet, who claimed to represent the voice and will of God by telling sweet lies to the people to lull them into a false sense of security and laxity in their behaviour. In the Gospel, meanwhile, we heard the story of when Jesus came to the disciples in a storm at the middle of the lake, to the disbelief of the disciples.
The two stories were seemingly unrelated, but in fact they all are about how we mankind often have little faith in the Lord, and that we prefer to put our trust on earthly things that can often only provide temporary and not a lasting comfort to us. Both of them tell us how if we have little faith, we will sink and fall into the darkness, and therefore end up in agony.
The false prophet Hananiah spoke falsely about the Lord and His will, pretending that the Lord tolerated the wickedness of His people, while the truth was in fact He disdained such wickedness and debauchery among His people. For your knowledge, the time when this happened was when the kingdom of Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel was in the last bit of its life under king Zedekiah, destined to be the last ever king of Judah.
The power of the king of Babylon, what is now known as the Neo-Babylonian Empire under the great king Nebuchadnezzar, who brought that Empire to great prominence. This king conquered many nations, including the Assyrian Empire that had once brought the northern kingdom of Israel to its destruction. And the Neo-Babylonian Empire did not stop there, but continued to expand and seek to conquer more, and their sights came to Judah.
The kingdom of Judah at that time was little more than that of a small kingdom cowering at the power of its neighbours, particularly that of Babylon, after having put to the mercy of its power just a few years earlier when King Nebuchadnezzar attacked the city, and ransacked the Temple, bringing the king of Judah, Jehoiachin and many of the people of God to Babylon. Jehoiachin was the nephew of Zedekiah, and the penultimate king of Judah.
It is against this backdrop that the two prophets clashed to gain the trust of the people, and to gain their attention over what was to come. The prophet Jeremiah, the true prophet of God, spoke of time of trouble and destruction, as well as suffering because of the disobedience of the people of God, while the false prophet Hananiah spoke of comfort and liberation. This cannot be more different, and there is truly no way for God to give His people an entirely opposing message.
Yes, one of the message was true, and that was Jeremiah’s. It is a reminder for all of us that, while God loves us and cares for us, that does not mean our paths will be free from harm and danger. In fact, following the Lord would mean difficulties and challenges to be lined up along the path. This is like a storm that we have to face in life, the storm of troubles and challenges, much like what the disciples encountered in the Lake of Galilee that time.
Our life is truly like the boat, and it is barely floating amidst the stormy seas, which is nothing better than anything else to represent the state of our lives in this world. The prophets we heard of today are like the navigator, who tells the captain what to expect ahead on the ship’s journey. Jeremiah told the truth, that with all the challenges and temptations of the world, and by the fact that we are sinners, the journey ahead would be difficult.
The false prophet told lies about the path ahead, showing that everything would be fine and good. The earlier scenario presented by Jeremiah would have jolted every sensible and good sailor, what a terrible condition they had gotten themselves into, and therefore would prompt them to strengthen their guard to prevent themselves from sinking in the midst of the storm. And the latter scenario would have easily lulled many who would drop their guard and therefore carried greater risks of being blown apart by the winds and battered by the waves.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we all be vigilant and reflective in our lives? Shall we heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah and the other prophets, that we would not lose our way in life? It is truly very easy for us to get distracted in life, by many things, including our own fear and uncertainties, our own desires and other things, which precisely are the reasons why Peter lost faith in himself and God, and ended up sinking.
We must have a firm and strong faith, based on a close and vibrant relationship with God, fostered with prayer and devotion, so that our lives, that is the ship, will be anchored strongly in God, a solid rock foundation, upon which our anchor will hold, and our ship will be able to hold even against the strongest of waves and storms. This is absolutely necessary if we are to reach our destination and not sink.
Today we celebrate the feast of a great saint, that is St. John Maria Vianney, also known as the Cure of Ars, the patron saint of all priests and all who devoted themselves in a holy life to God. This simple and holy priest lead a truly simple but very inspiring and exemplary lifestyle, deeply devoted to his calling to be a priest of God, in service of mankind and the people of God.
St. John Vianney was a parish priest, a simple parish priest, and yet he was wholly devoted to the spiritual development of his parishioners and all those who came to meet and visit him. He was also deeply in commitment to bring better life to those who have fallen into sin, committing himself to enforce a high degree of spiritual purity, and emphasized on confession for those who had committed sin in life.
His life and works were an inspiration to many, and more and more people came to know of St. John Vianney, and yet he remained humble as he was, and he continued to work hard for the sake of the faithful and for God, until the very last days of his life. His life was truly an example to all of our priests and all those who had been called to be the servants of the Lord in this world, that they ought to be equally committed and holy in life as this saint had once been.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this however does not mean that St. John Vianney should not be an inspiration to us all as well. In fact, we should also take the examples of St. John Vianney into our own lives, reflecting together with what we had received in the Holy Scriptures today. Let us strengthen our faith in God by following the inspirations and examples of St. John Vianney, that our ship of life will not sink even against the greatest of storms.
Let us all help one another, and pray for one another, that all of us will eventually find our way to the Lord, difficult as it may be, persevering against all forms of challenges and temptations in life, that are all the storms facing us. May God be with us all and bless us forever. Amen.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 