Conversion

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Thursday, 8 May 2014 : 3rd Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 8 : 26-40

An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south towards the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert road.” So he set out and it happened that an Ethiopian was passing along that way. He was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians; he had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was on his way home. He was sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah.

The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and catch up with that carriage.” So Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah; and he asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian replied, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?”

He then invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. This was the passage of Scripture he was reading : ‘He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before the sheared, He did not open His mouth. He was humbled and deprived of His rights. Who can speak of His descendants? For He was uprooted from the earth.’

The official asked Philip, “Tell me, please, does the prophet speak of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip began to tell him the Good News of Jesus, using this text of Scripture as his starting point. As they travelled down the road they came to a place where there was some water. Then the Ethiopian official said, “Look, here is water; what is to keep me from being baptised?”

And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Then he ordered the carriage to stop; both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water and Philip baptised him.

When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The Ethiopian saw him no more, but he continued on his way full of joy. Philip found himself at Azotus, and he went about announcing the Good News in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

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Wednesday, 7 May 2014 : 3rd Week of Easter (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

This world is hostile against us, not the people, but the systems and the nature of the world itself, for evil is in this world, and evil hates us who are light in the darkness. That is what the devil tried to do when the faithful and the Church was still young, that is to snuff out the light that would banish the darkness away forever, and this was done through lies, persuasion and temptations.

Saul, the young man, zealous or in fact overly zealous as one would say, belonged to the group of the Pharisees, who strictly observed the laws of Moses and the other rules and regulations that had been brought up over the years by the people of God. This strict adherence, in addition to the persistent refusal by most of the chief priests and the elders of Israel to receive the truth of God as revealed by Christ the Messiah, caused someone like Saul to be born.

Yes, the archenemy of the faithful as one would have said it. The scourge of the faithful, the persecutor who brought great sufferings and miseries to those who believed in the truth and kept it alive and true. Saul hunted down hundreds, if not thousands of the people of God, just because they believed in the truth and Saul refused to believe in it, not least until the Lord Himself appeared to him and brought him to a new life of service to the truth.

Saul later would be known as Paul, the great servant of the Lord who would bring the Good News to all the peoples of the world, the Gentiles and pagans in particular, and through them, to us eventually. We all know what happened to Saul, his conversion and later works. And we know that he too, suffer from persecutions, rejections and oppositions to his good works, as he had once done to the people of God before his conversion.

Opposition and challenges is a staple of our lives if we choose to remain faithful to God and be the bearers of His Good News. The world, ruled by the evil one, hates the truth, for the truth of Christ is the key for our redemption and liberation, that we will no longer be in the dominion of death and sin, but instead be free forever in the light and love of God.

But do not fear, brothers and sisters in Christ, as the oppositions that pile up against us should not deter us from continuing our works and missions, but instead serve as a further reminder of how good and wonderful our Lord and God is. Why so? Because remember, in the Gospel today, the Lord Himself assured us all, that He will be by our side, and He will not abandon us to the powers of those who seek our destruction.

Yes, Jesus mentioned that all that the Father had given Him, none He will lose, and that includes all of us. Yes, we have been granted by the Father to Christ, through our baptism, when we, in faith, are sealed to be the possessions of the Lord, in His Most Holy Name. We who have been baptised have received the seal of faith, and the Lord dwells in us since the day of our baptism onwards.

But that does not mean then we can be complacent in our faith. While Christ assured us that those whom the Father had given Him, He would not lose, but if we changed our ways back to our old lives filled with sin, then that is tantamount to us rejecting this gift of the Father to His Son, and therefore, we made ourselves lost, and bereft of the holiness and worthiness of heavenly glory promised to us on the day of our baptism.

Hence, brethren, as we continue to proceed in this life and in this holy season of Easter, let us always constantly remind ourselves to keep our faith living and strong, and not to be worried about challenges and oppositions we may face along the way. Remember that God is always on our side, and ready to help us, if we too play our part and keep a good and faithful attitude in our lives.

May the Lord be with us, protect us, and keep us safe in His everlasting grace and infinite love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 26 April 2014 : Saturday within Easter Octave (Scriptures Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Today’s readings show us that we no longer have to fear or doubt in the truth of God. For if we stand by God and keep strong our faith, devotion and love for God, we will have everything and God will stand by us and provide us with all that we need. When we doubt, that is the moment of weakness which Satan can use to undermine our faith and our devotion to God, to the point that we may succumb to despair and commit things undesirable and wicked before Him.

This Easter, we celebrate the triumph of God over those who had arrayed themselves against Him, the celebration of the triumph of the good over evil, and the celebration of hope of new life over the old life, one that is decadent and filled with wickedness and sin. This Easter is a celebration of liberation and freedom, of mankind freed from the bonds of sin for eternity by the sacrifice of Jesus our Lord, and through whose resurrection we are made whole once again.

It is very difficult for mankind to let go of the temptations and impediments that were in place on our way towards God. It is very difficult for men to let go these goodness and pleasures that the world in particular are offering us daily. It is very difficult for many of us to let go of our desires, of our prejudices, of our judgments, and of our wants, for we are naturally, a creature tainted by the desires of this world and the desires of our flesh.

It is difficult for us to keep our faith in God, precisely because we are always tempted by sin, and at all times, doubt and fear are always in our minds. We cannot be truly close and intimate with God all because of our lack of total commitment and devotion towards the Lord, because we are unable to commit a hundred percent our attention and lives to God. Instead, we like to dwell in the world and be corrupted by the concerns and things of this world that inevitably lead us to sin.

That is why the elders of Israel, the chief priests, and those in the Sanhedrin of the people of God, supposedly the most learnt and the most educated of the people, opposed vehemently and firmly the presence and the works of God through Jesus, even though they naturally should have been the ones who would first welcome the Lord when He came. Instead, they became His enemies, and became those who attempted to derail the good works of the Lord by opposing in every situation and opportunities, the works of Jesus.

They failed to see reason and the truth of God in Jesus because their hearts had been hardened by sin, by the concerns of this world. Being people of influence and in the positions of power and privilege, they had forgotten their place and role in leading the people of God towards the Lord. Instead, they honoured power and glory, and craved for the people’s respect and praise towards them and did not tolerate any rival to their power and influence, leading to a vicious jealousy and hatred that grew so much, to the point that they even failed to see the truth in the Lord Jesus Christ, and ended up opposing and murdering the very One who would have rescued them from death.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this Easter, we are invited to throw far, far away all these impurities and unworthy behaviours as those that had been exhibited by those who opposed the works of Christ, in the Pharisees and the elders of Israel. We have this perfect opportunity to deny first ourselves, and then the desires of our flesh to seek the pleasures of this world over the approval of God. Let us not waste this golden opportunity to make ourselves anew and dedicate ourselves to a change for the better.

This Easter, let us remember, that the Lord had given His all for us, His love and dedication to the point of death. The cross! Remember always the cross, and how the cross is the ultimate manifestation of God’s love for all of us! And also the empty tomb! Remember that empty tomb, which signifies the victory that God had won for us, to liberate us from the certain defeat of death, and He who had won for us this new life, where we have no more need to fear from sin or death, but forever be filled with the hope of eternal joy in He who loves us.

May the Lord therefore guide us in this Easter season, as we grow stronger and stronger in our faith, and deeper in our devotion and love for God, that we will first always be faithful to Him, and then also be loving and good children and members of God’s family, always showing the Lord to be at the centre of our lives and actions. Let us follow the footsteps of the Risen Lord and His Apostles, and let us all bring the light of Christ to all the peoples, beginning from ourselves, and to those around us, and to the whole world! Let us share the joy of Easter! God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 25 April 2014 : Friday within Easter Octave (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we see and hear the actions of the Apostles after the resurrection of Jesus, when they met the Lord in the lake while fishing in the Gospel today, and we also hear the continuation of the tale of the healing of the paralytic man in the Temple by Peter and John, which happened after Jesus had ascended to heaven and the Holy Spirit had been sent to the Apostles.

The theme of today’s readings is mission, and the courage to pursue that mission, doing the mission with the full intention for the benefit of the people of God. Brethren, we are all also the disciples of Christ like the Apostles who were in that boat fishing all night for fish and not getting even a single fish, but with the guidance and blessing of the Lord in Jesus, they caught so many fish that the ship almost sank.

And therefore, the same can be said of the lives we have today as the fishermen of the Lord. The Apostles had been called to become the fishers of men, that is to bring them closer and closer to God, and hence ‘catching’ them for God. They no longer catch fish in the lake, but went on to catch new ‘fishes’ in the larger sea, that is the world, bringing mankind and countless souls to salvation in God.

The disciples of Christ become the agents of Christ in disseminating the words of the Lord’s Good News, and through them, the people of God received the truth about Christ and find their way to God, and hence the Apostles were the fishers of men. But their roles did not just end there, for we too, all of us who had received the light of Christ through baptism had also been called to be fishers of men as well.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? This means that we have to take up the cross that Christ had entrusted to us, which is the mission He had given to His apostles and from them, to us. We have to be the bearers of the Good News of the Lord, and this is likened to the fishing nets that we are to spread throughout the entire world through our actions, that we may net as many souls as possible, saved before the Lord, accepting the Lord as their God and Saviour, repenting from their past sins as we once had done.

This world is the vast sea, and indeed, the huge ocean of the faithless and the people who still live in darkness, that awaits us to bring the light of God to them. Just as the Apostles had waged a long and arduous mission and work to be the fishers of mankind for the Lord, we too have to continue their good works and bring much goodness to the lost people in darkness and enlighten them with the truth about God and His love for us all.

This world does not like us who believe in the Lord, just as it had once hated the Lord and Saviour Himself, for this world is under the power and dominion of Satan, the evil one. That is why, this world had first rejected the Lord, but as the First Reading and the Psalm had shown, that the rejected One had become the Cornerstone of all the people who keep their faith in God. And it is this truth about the Risen Lord that we are testifying for and standing up for as we go against the currents of this world, to bring salvation to many souls who hunger for the love of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we rejoice in this Easter season, and as we celebrate the joy of Christ’s resurrection, let us always be reminded that we still have this important mission, to be the fishers of men like the Apostles had once been, and bring mankind and one another ever closer to God. Let us keep an eye for one another, that none of us may fall into the tricks and traps of the evil one, so that we may remain faithful and firm in our conviction for the Lord.

May Almighty God guide us in our journey and as we embark on this arduous and yet blessed mission of bringing the Good News to all men, of all the nations. God be with us all, always, till the end of time. Amen.

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Thursday, 24 April 2014 : Thursday within Easter Octave (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the resurrection of Jesus is a fact of our faith, and it is true, despite the attempt by many people trying to disprove or ridicule the concept of the resurrection, or even that Christ is the Son of God, or even more so, the existence of the Almighty God Himself.

Mankind doubted God and His love, and they often rejected His undying love for mankind themselves, and as Peter rightly pointed out in the first reading today, that mankind likely did so because of their ignorance, or meaning the veil of darkness that covers their eyes, which prevented them from seeing the truth of God, and therefore resulting in the ignorance that mankind has pertaining God and His actions.

Yet for all of us who believe in God, we know that the Lord had indeed died for us on the cross, and He indeed rose from the dead and showed Himself to His disciples, which many had testified to its truth. We know this because we have that crucial faith in us, as well as the ability to love, that is to appreciate and comprehend the love of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to treasure this faith we have in God, as it is due to this faith that we are all able to understand God’s love and therefore understand His mission and dealings in this world. After all, who could comprehend God’s actions in coming down into this decadent and wicked world if He is perfect and all-powerful just to die for us sinners and unworthy rebels against His will? How can we understand His actions therefore, without first understanding His eternal love for all of us?

This Easter we again commemorate the resurrection of Christ, but indeed, not just His resurrection, but indeed the entire life and happenings in Jesus’ earthly sojourn, to His death and resurrection, and what He proclaimed after He was risen. This Easter is a celebration of life, that all who were once condemned to death was saved and brought to a new hope, where a new dawn has risen with Christ, to be our beacon towards eternal redemption and joy.

Indeed, the truth is sadly that we have often neglected this spirit of Easter, and we have grown decadent and lax in our lives, that we end up forgetting our true aim in life, that is to bring glory to God and follow the Lord and His ways in our lives. We have grown to worry and care only about ourselves. And we grow to be selfish and self-serving in our actions and deeds.

We often care only about the desires that we have, the wants and the concerns of the world that frequently occupy our minds. This Easter we are called to rediscover ourselves and seek the Lord once again. This is the perfect opportunity for us to make a genuine change in our lives. Let us not waste this opportunity, and as we celebrate the joy of Easter, let us also make the concrete and concerted effort to seek the Lord once again in our lives, that we no longer have any doubt about the love of God, but just complete faith in God.

May Almighty God bless us with a fruitful Easter season, strengthen our faith and guide us to be ever more faithful and loving servants of His, that our actions may ever always reflect the nature of God, and our nature as God’s children. Keep the spirit of Easter alive! Amen.

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Tuesday, 22 April 2014 : Tuesday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 2 : 36-41

Peter said, “Let Israel then know for sure that God has made Lord and Christ this Jesus whom you crucified.”

When they heard this, they were deeply troubled. And they asked Peter and the other apostles, “What shall we do, brothers?”

Peter answered : “Each of you must repent and be baptised in the Name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise of God was made to you and your children, and to all those from afar whom our God may call.”

With many other words Peter gave the message and appealed to them saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who accepted his word were baptised; some three thousand persons were added to their number that day.

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Monday, 21 April 2014 : Monday within Easter Octave (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are now celebrating the great joy of Easter, which is so great that it overflows throughout the entirety of the fifty days of the Easter season, and particularly this week, which is the Easter Octave, which runs between the Easter Sunday and the Second Sunday of Easter, which is the Divine Mercy Sunday.

At this time of great joy, the Scriptures reminded us that we have to remain faithful and joyful servants of the Lord, but not just that, as we also have to be the faithful servants of our Lord, in being truthful and upright in our testimony and  as true witnesses of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and abandoning and casting away all forms of falsehoods which the devil tries to plant in the hearts of men.

When Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, he spoke the truth with great courage to the people who ridiculed the apostles for being drunk after they spoke in tongues filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter testimonied and witnessed for the Lord before the thousands of people gathered in Jerusalem, and the power of the Spirit gave great courage to this man once riddled with fear and uncertainty.

The testimony of Peter was true and firm, and it showed to the people how mistaken they had been in their beliefs about Christ and on what the leaders and the elders of the people had tried to falsely portray the Christ as. The words of Peter and the angels of the Lord that appeared to the holy women rang true and shed light over the darkness of evil that veiled this world.

Why did the elders of the people try to deceive the people by lying to them about the resurrection of the Lord? And this even though the fact was that they were the ones most knowledgeable about the Scriptures and therefore should have been the ones who knew most about what the Lord will do through His Son the Messiah?

That is because of sins in the hearts of men. Even the supposedly most holy and learnt of the people of God could be corrupted by these sins, which blocked the light and salvation of God, as sins, especially that of pride, clouded the hearts and judgments of men, preventing them from taking part in the Lord’s plan of salvation and instead did their best to undermine the Lord’s good works through Jesus.

The elders and the chief priests feared that if Jesus was allowed to have His way, and if what He has done and shown the people is true, then their influence and power within the society and with the people of God will be undermined and destroyed. That is why they hated Jesus and always tried to be in His way as He performed His many good works, and even to the end, they mocked Him on the way to Calvary, on the cross, and even tried to undermine the good news of His glorious resurrection.

Such indeed, was the danger of the human pride and sins that inhabit our hearts. They can derail us from our path to God and close our senses from the ability to sense and understand the love that God has for us, which He had shown in perfection through His Son Jesus, in His life, His suffering and death, and ultimately, His resurrection from the dead.

Let us in this Easter season, as we celebrate the joy of life, a new life in the Risen Lord, also help one another to witness for the truth about the Lord and about our genuine and dedicated faith in Him. Let us preach the Good News of the Risen Lord and Saviour to all mankind, praising Him before all creations that more and more will come to believe and accept Jesus Christ as God, as Peter had once done with the great courage of the Holy Spirit.

May this Easter be a great, wonderful and blessed one for all of us. Let us rejoice and be glad in our Risen Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 17 April 2014 : Chrism Mass on Maundy Thursday (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this Holy Mass we celebrate the occasion of the Chrism Mass, during which the holy oils used for baptism, confirmation, and the anointing of the sick are blessed. This oil is called chrism, and is the reason why this Mass is called Chrismal Mass.

On this occasion, priests and those who dedicated themselves to God in holy orders renew their vows and devotions to God, and united with the bishop, the shepherd, renew their commitment to the service of God and to the service of His people.

They have been called to be the holy priests of God, the ministers of the Lord Most High as the anointed and ordained ones of God. Through the laying of the hand and the anointing with the holy oils blessed today, the priests share in the same ministry as the priests of Israel of old, and also ultimately in the High Priesthood of Jesus.

Through the ministry of the priests, the ministry of Jesus in this world is continued, just as the Apostles had been charged to carry on the works of Christ and spread the Good News to all the ends of the earth. Hence, the bishops, priests and other servants of the Lord also continue this good work of the Lord.

Much had been entrusted to the servants of the Lord and much had been granted to them. The same that had been given to Christ as the Saviour and Redeemer indeed, as written in the Book of the prophet Isaiah. The authority to forgive sins and to heal the sick and their infirmities, and the authority over spirits has been given to them and they are empowered to be the shepherds of God’s peoples.

But remember, brothers and sisters in Christ, that we too have been anointed with oil of the chrism on the day of our baptism, and also after we have been confirmed in the faith through the Sacrament of Confirmation. Therefore, we too take part in and share in the same mission that God had appointed His disciples for, to bring renewal and the light of Christ to all mankind.

Brethren, today therefore, as we celebrate the blessing of the chrism, we have to remember that we too have our calling and our mission entrusted by God to us, that is to help guide one another and reach out to those who are lost and away from the salvation in God. This is our mission, which had been given to us since the day of our baptism, when God claimed us as His own.

We do not have to do great things in order to fulfill this mission. What we have to do is simple steps, and things that we can indeed make a difference of, in the life of those around us. Who are these if not for our own families and friends, and all those dear and known to us? Our mission is to bring them to the light of God if they have wandered off into the darkness.

Hence, in order to do that, we have to first be aware of our actions and our deeds, that in whatever we do, we will always do the will of God and remain always in His grace. May the Lord guide us and our acts, that we will be ever faithful and committed to God. Amen.

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Saturday, 12 April 2014 : 5th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

God desires the love of mankind, and He loves them very much. That is why He gave us all of His attention and focus, and He offered Himself to them to open for them the pathway to salvation. In a sense, He had granted them great favour, only for them to refuse Him and reject Him, and even reject the salvation which He had freely offered them.

In today’s first reading God promised His beloved people that He will love them and care for them, freeing them from the grip of death and sin, and will provide for them once again as He had once had. We can see indeed how great is God’s love for us, that He gave us chance after chance, and opportunity after opportunity. He gave us hope even when we are in the greatest darkness.

Yet mankind were selfish, and are still indeed selfish even today. We thought only for ourselves and for our own benefits and we complain when things do not go our way. That is our nature, and we often succumb to it. The Pharisees rejected Jesus because of His teachings and ways that oppose their own authority and positions of privilege and honour within the society.

How about the people then? They also rejected Christ because they were reluctant to abandon their former way of life and follow what Christ taught them, and they were also easily swayed by the offer of money and goods of the world, that we can easily see in tomorrow’s Palm Sunday Gospel and Passion readings, how the same people who cheered for Jesus as King when He proceeded into Jerusalem, within less than one week would be condemned to death by the same people. Yes, the same people who acclaimed Jesus as King also cried out for His death.

And it is a fault that we have as we tend to blame the Jews on what happened to Jesus, in how they condemned Him to death and rejected Him and His offer of salvation, because it is always convenient and easy to blame someone else. We think of the Jews to be the ones to blame for the death of Christ, but we conveniently forgot that Jesus Himself was and is a Jew, born son of David, the heir of David and the descendant of Abraham.

And Jesus when He suffered and died on the cross, He did so for all of us, and also including the Jews, both those who had no part in His death and those who had hated Him and condemned Him. He Himself remembered them even in His suffering, asking the Father to forgive them and overlook their sins for their ignorance and lack of knowledge of who He truly was.

God Himself had forgiven them, and He had forgiven us. So for those among us who thought to blame the Jews, the very people the Lord had chosen to be born into, and to those of us who like to put the blame on others, let us from now on reflect on our own actions first. Before we even judge or condemn others, have we been sufficiently pure and worthy in our own actions that we will not be judged? We often forget that when we judge others, we therefore also open the door for us to be judged ourselves.

God did not wish to punish anyone, as indeed, He wanted all of us to be reunited with Him in love. He wishes for us to be perfected in love, that we may leave behind our past sinfulness and wicked behaviour, and become more like Him and be more loving as He is. That was why He sent Jesus to be with us, to be both our Saviour, to break the chains of sin and death, and at the same time also show us how to love, like God has loved us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we approach the pinnacle of our preparation, as we proceed towards the holiest week of all our celebrations, the Holy Week of Jesus’ Passion, let us resolve to be more like God, in becoming more loving and forgiving, in being more inclusive and compassionate, helping one another to approach the Lord rather than condemning or judging each other. Let us reserve no place for Satan in our hearts! For it is in a darkened heart that Satan is happy to dwell in. Let the light of God instead be within us, that He may also guide our ways, that our ways will always be pleasing to God.

May the Lord forgive us our sins and show us how to love Him just as He had loved us first. Let us never be separated again from You, o Lord our God. Be with us always, till the end of time. Amen.

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

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from today’s Scripture readings we are told that we should not doubt the Lord our God who came in Jesus to be our Messiah and the source of our salvation. We should not follow the path of the Pharisees who were adamant and stubborn in their ways and pride. They refused to listen because they remained in their rebelliousness and fallen ways.

They plotted against God and His Saviour because they were set in their ways and their thoughts, and they would not want to give way to, nor recognise the mistakes they had committed and the jealousy they felt as they saw this contender to their power and glory, grew high and great before the Lord. They were not able to loosen their heart because they were deeply trapped within their own pridefulness and arrogance.

It is in our nature, brethren, that we think first about ourselves and care only about our own well-being, and for us to have a powerful ego and desire, is only natural for us all mankind. And in this holy season of Lent we are always reminded of the need for us to first die to our ego, pride and selfishness before we are able to fully appreciate the love of God.

That is why I keep on emphasizing, along the line of the Scripture readings, of the need to listen and to be humble. Yes, that is to be open for suggestion by others and to accept willingly any comments and suggestion by others. We are by our sinful nature, proud and unbending. And we are also prone of selfishness, of thinking for our own good and benefits before the good of others, and even it is often that we trample on others as we march on to secure our own benefits.

That is why, in this season of Lent, we are called to take a step back and reflect on our own lives, whether we have been humble and listening to God’s will or whether we have been indignant and hardened our hearts against the love of God, opposing the Lord at every turn just as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done in their pride and jealousy against Jesus.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this season of Lent is the perfect time, yes, the time indeed, for us to take charge of our lives and our salvation, that our lives may be changed and renewed, no longer one that is based on our own inner desires, our emotions and our wants. Instead let this be the opportunity for us to make our lives to conform and adhere to the will of God and to His principles, that we no longer follow our own will and desire, but instead the will of God.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Vincent Ferrer, a saint of the early Renaissance era Spain. He was a Dominican priest and preacher, who were well known for his piety and powerful charisma and ability in preaching. St. Vincent Ferrer worked hard for the sake of the Lord and His people, converting thousands for God. He brought many people and lost sheep of the Lord back to their Master.

His works included many forays into the areas and the rural countryside, preaching about the Lord to them and opening their minds and hearts to God’s love and bringing them to the gates of salvation. It was in his great commitment and works for the least of God’s people that he was remembered for. Brothers and sisters in Christ, the life of St. Vincent Ferrer is the example for all of us to follow. He is the role model of our faith, the model for all Christians.

Yes, this Lenten season is the perfect opportunity for us to change our ways and turn towards God, and help others to do the same. And we should not be fearful nor be ashamed of our faults and our sinfulness, because it is in fact when we have fully acknowledged our own frailty and weaknesses that we may be able to turn for the better.

Let us therefore commit ourselves for the sake of God and His people, much as St. Vincent Ferrer had done. May we be better servants of our Lord in this holy and wondrous season of Lent, that we may all together be saved, helping one another as we approach and reach out to the Lord our God. May God bless us all and remain with us always. Amen.