corruption of evil

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Friday, 2 January 2015 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard how John, messenger of God and baptiser of the people proclaimed the Messiah and professed his faith to God and commitment to his vocation in front of the public and in front of the Pharisees and those sent by the chief priests to question him. The latter ones did not believe in John and tried what they could to discredit him and rein him in in his works.

They questioned him and his actions, for they failed to see in John the works of God, which He had revealed through John and what he had done. John called for the people of God still dwelling in the darkness to return to the Light of Christ. He had been sent as the messenger of God to preach to the stubborn men, dwelling in their state of sin, so that they might repent and be ready for the coming of the Lord.

He paved the way for Christ, and he is a role model for all of us in his dedication and humility. For he was famous and popular, flocks and throngs of people came to him to be baptised and countless more peoples listened to his words and urgings for their repentance. He could have seized all the glory to himself and received great praise and fame for that action, but he did not.

Instead, he assumed the attitude of a servant and a follower to the will of God. He did the works as was given to him from the time when he was conceived in his mother’s womb. He dedicated his whole life to the Lord, that through him the works of the Messiah would be made easier and as the extension of the reach of God’s love for His people.

In the first reading God also warned us through the other John, His Apostle, to be vigilant and careful against the devil who will try to seduce us and lead us astray by sweet lies and false promises, through the false prophets and the antichrists. If Christ the Saviour of all brought with Him the real promise of eternal life and eternal joy, then the antichrists are His antithesis, bringing us instead temporary joy and a false life, one that will likely end in death, and not just any death, but eternal death.

That is why God sent forth His servants and messengers, for the sole purpose of the guidance of all of us His people, so that amidst the darkness in the world, amidst the temptations, and all the distractions of the world, we may rediscover our focus, that should be on the Lord. There are too much noise and distractions in this world, and it is important for us to shut them out, so that we will not be distracted.

We have to remain focused on the Lord, His ways and teachings so that we may be delivered from the confusion caused by Satan and be freed from the bonds of sin he had imposed on us. And that is why those teachers of the Faith are so precious to us, as they help us to find our way as we progress on in our lives. And today we celebrate the feast of two of such teachers and saints, namely St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen.

St. Basil the Great was the bishop of Caesarea, during the time after the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea having affirmed the orthodox and standard teachings of the Faith. He was a well known theologian who defended the true faith against the perversions of heresies such as the Arian heresy that rejected the divinity of Christ, as well as many other syncretic and heterodox practices that compromises on the true faith.

He also cared greatly for the poor and the weak, the downtrodden and the unloved, practicing the faith he professed through his own actions and deeds. He did not let those who have been lost to the darkness through heresy to remain lost, and he did what he could, to bring them back to the Light. He worked together with many other saints of his time, and he worked hard to resist and fight the forces of heresy that was taking deep roots among the faithful at the time.

Meanwhile, St. Gregory Nazianzen was a contemporary of St. Basil the Great who was the Archbishop of Constantinople and also a great theologian who fought against the heresies of the faith and also teaching the true faith to many, keeping them on the right track against the lies of the devil. Together with his contemporaries, with St. Basil the Great and the other saints and great theologians, they worked hard to keep the truth of Christ alive amidst the forces of darkness that surround them.

From these holy men and devoted servants of God we can learn what we need to do, as what they have done is not just limited to them. We too are required to help one another to keep each other in the faith, and so that none would be lost to the darkness. Let us therefore follow in the examples of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, so that we may help keep each other in the grace of God.

May Almighty God bless us all and grant us the wisdom to discern the falsehoods of Satan, all of his lies so that we may find our way to our loving God and Father. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/01/friday-2-january-2015-weekday-of-christmas-time-memorial-of-st-basil-the-great-and-st-gregory-nazianzen-bishops-and-doctors-of-the-church-first-reading/

 

Psalm : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/01/friday-2-january-2015-weekday-of-christmas-time-memorial-of-st-basil-the-great-and-st-gregory-nazianzen-bishops-and-doctors-of-the-church-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading : 

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/01/friday-2-january-2015-weekday-of-christmas-time-memorial-of-st-basil-the-great-and-st-gregory-nazianzen-bishops-and-doctors-of-the-church-gospel-reading/

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Thursday, 2 October 2014 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we celebrate together the feast and memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels, that is the angels of God who had been sent to each one of us, that is to become our protector and guardian, to watch over us and protect us from danger and harm’s way, especially on the forces seeking our destruction and damnation, that is Satan and his angels, the fallen ones.

God created the angels to serve Him, and they ceaselessly worship and glorify Him at all times. They served His various purposes, to carry His throne in heaven, to sing Him the songs of praise, to deliver His message to His creations, to fight in the constant battle against the angels who had fallen along the way into the darkness. Lucifer, the greatest among the angels, the most beautiful and mightiest, who lost himself to his pride and vanity, and ended up leading a third of the heavenly hosts into the darkness with him.

And the fallen one, stripped of his greatness and majesty became the great enemy, Satan, the deceiver and the accuser, who was filled with wrath, desire, jealousy and anger, and he is indeed angry and jealous against the love which God had shown to the greatest of His creations, that is mankind. And of course he who had aspired to raise his throne above that of God’s, and he who desired to usurp the Lordship of all the universe, would not just stay silent or happy if everything that the Lord has planned goes perfectly according to His will.

That is why, after Satan had been defeated, and his forces beaten by the angelic host of the faithful angels led by the prince of the heavenly hosts, St. Michael the Archangel, he was cast out of heaven and fall into the earth. And he then carried out an alternative plan of his, that is to wreck the Lord’s most precious and greatest of His creations, mankind, who lived in perfect bliss and joy, in complete happiness in the gardens of Eden.

Thus, he sowed the seeds of disobedience in the hearts and minds of men, by spreading his lies, first to Eve and then to Adam. This is because, if Satan was unable to overcome the Lord in his attempt to rise up against Him, then he would do something in order to hurt the Lord, and there is indeed no better way than to try to inflict injury on those whom the Lord are most pleased with.

And as we knew it, that due to the disobedience of men, our first ancestors, who chose to listen to the lies of Satan rather than to the truth of the Lord, mankind had been stripped of their rights to dwell in perfect happiness and joy, cast out of the gardens of Eden, because of the sins that had dwelled in the hearts of men through that act of disobedience, just as Satan was cast out of heaven due to his pride and rebellion against God.

But God did not give up on us, for He loved us beyond anything else in creation, and He still loves us even today, and He will always love us. That is why He gave us Jesus His Son, to be our Saviour and Deliverer from our sins. But He also sent His servants, the angels, to guard us against the forces of the evil one who are always at large to tempt us and to mislead us into a path towards sin and condemnation.

For as mentioned, the devil or Satan, and his allies resented the love God had for us, and they intend to twist us, to tempt us and to make us to turn against God and be damned just as they had once been damned before. If we allow ourselves to be led astray by them, then we are in great danger indeed, for the price is none other than the loss and eternal damnation of our souls.

If we can use an approximation to show this, we can approximate it to the shepherds, their flocks of sheep and the wolves that prowl about, waiting to get their claws and jaws on the sheep. The Lord our God, our Father and our Creator is truly like the owner of the flock, who owned the pasture and every things that are in the flocks of sheep.

Then the sheep are all of us, mankind, the children of God, whom the Lord cares for in all things, given His providence for all our needs, protected from all harm. The wolves represent the devil and his allies, the fallen angels, the demons, who are always constantly prowling about, around the flock, awaiting for the chance and opportunity to snatch the unaware and unfortunate sheep, those that wandered outside the safety of the flock.

Therefore, naturally the loving owner who cares for his sheep would employ shepherds to take care of the sheep, and to protect them from the hungry wolves, both by ensuring that the sheep remain in the flock, and guide them along the right paths to avoid any sheep from being lost. These shepherds are the angels, our guardian angels, who have been assigned to each one of us to help us on our way, so that we would not be lost to the evil ones.

The guardian angels helped us and protected us from the attacks by the evil ones, as our guides and spiritual shields. They are locked in constant battles for the sake of our souls. But they cannot do it alone, and we need to play our part as well. We too must be righteous and be listening and receptive to the guidance which our guardian angels and all the other saints and holy people of God had given us.

Therefore, let us all turn to our guardian angels and ask them for their intercession and protection, so that we may always be in the love and grace of God, and that we may avoid the traps of Satan and his fellow demons, who are prowling around us, awaiting for a chance to strike at us. Let us all fortify ourselves, that our hearts and minds may be strong and fortified against the assaults of Satan, that we may not fail the Lord as our ancestors had once done.

May Almighty God bless us and be with us, and may His angels, the guardian angels always be on us, and with the leadership of St. Michael, the prince and chief of all the heavenly hosts, including all the guardian angels, may they all smite Satan and cast him down, safeguarding us from his lies and vile works. God be with us all, and may our guardian angels be on our side always. Amen.

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Saturday, 13 September 2014 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of a great saint of the Church, one of the Four Great Doctors of the Church, and one of the most brilliant minds ever to come from the Church in the Eastern parts of the Roman Empire at the time. St. John Chrysostom is this saint, who was the Archbishop of the great See of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire during the early fifth century after the birth of Christ.

St. John Chrysostom was born from a relatively unknown parentage, and it was disputed whether his mother was a pagan or a Christian. In any case, St. John Chrysostom was baptised when he entered adulthood, and it was discovered that he had a great intellectual mind, and he easily went through his studies of literature and philosophy.

However, as time progressed, St. John Chrysostom turned more and more towards the Lord and dedicated his life to His service. His sermons and speeches were greatly influential and inspirational, based on the deep understanding and comprehension of the Gospels and the fundamentals of faith, through which he gained his title of Chrysostomus, which literally means ‘golden-mouthed’.

St. John Chrysostom preached in many parts of the Empire, and in one occasion his sincere and passionated plea to the pagans who were accused of the defilement of the statues of the Emperor in the city of Antioch brought thousands and more to see the error of their ways, and thus, they were received into the Church and was spared both the punishment and persecution by the Emperor, and even more importantly, they evaded the punishment and destruction of the soul by receiving the salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord.

Even after St. John Chrysostom had been appointed as the Archbishop of Constantinople, one of the most prominent position in the Church, in fact just second after the Pope in Rome himself, St. John Chrysostom remained humble and dedicated in his service to the people of God, the sheep entrusted to him. St. John Chrysostom rejected the extravagant and lavish ways of the society at the time and pushed for a true Christian community founded on love.

He did not fear even to oppose the mighty and the powerful. When the Empress Aelia Eudoxia lived extravagantly, he greatly criticised her for her way of life and actions. Together with his enemies, the Empress plotted together and managed to cast St. John Chrysostom into exile, which would indeed have ended his works for the Church, but the people of God were incensed, and divine wrath itself soon manifested in a great earthquake and fire that devastated many parts of the capital.

But even after St. John Chrysostom was recalled back to his mission in the Church, the Empress continued to defy the way of the Lord, as she continued to live extravagantly and even installed a silver statue of herself near the cathedral of St. John Chrysostom, purposely to provoke him into action. And indeed, St. John Chrysostom denounced the Empress again, and as her punishment, she died during childbirth.

But St. John Chrysostom continued to suffer as his enemies continued to plot against him and persecuted him. He was sent again into exile and died before he was able to return to shepherd his sheep again at Constantinople. Nevertheless, his legacies lasted long after him, even until today. He was credited for his many works and sermons that inspired many of the faithful and even many saints who came after him.

And his works also resulted in one of the rites used in the Eastern Church even until today, as the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, one of the most solemn liturgical rites of the Church, designed solely for the glorification of the Lord. Thus, this holy man and servant of God is the one whose life and actions we celebrate on this day as we gather together.

How is this related to the readings of the day? Very much related indeed. This is because as Jesus said in the Gospel, that good fruits can only be produced by good and healthy trees, vice versa. Bad and rotten trees can only produce bad and rotten fruits. Thus, St. John Chrysostom, that good tree, produce only good fruits for the benefits of the faithful. Similarly this is also the case for the other saints, the holy servants of God.

And he listened to the word of God intently, placing them into the depths of his heart, and most importantly, he acted on them, and from there brought about much good for the Church and for the faithful ones in the Lord. Thus, his actions were the representation of the man who built his house on solid rock foundation, and therefore had no need to fear the storms or any forces arrayed against it.

On the other hand, those who refused to listen to the word of God were like those who built their houses on unstable ground, on weak foundations that are easily swept away by winds and waves, and therefore representing the actions of the wicked ones opposed to the works of St. John Chrysostom, namely the Empress and his rivals, who were engrossed so much in the ways of the Lord, that they failed to even see that what they were doing was their own undoing.

And St. Paul in his letter to the faithful in the city of Corinth clearly and zealously stated that we who are faithful ought not to have any share in the communion with demons, that is with Satan and his allies, the forces of darkness in the world. Instead, we who are the children of God should be like St. John Chrysostom, in how he worked hard with zeal to bring the word of God to many of God’s people so that they may achieve salvation.

How do we know if we have made a communion with the Lord or with the evil one? It is basic and simple indeed. We have to first be aware that all of us who are in the Church of God are part of one Body, that is the Body of Christ, which is the union of all who shared in the Body and Blood of Christ, who had worthily become part of the Body of Christ, Christ is in them and they are in the Lord. It is inconceivable that a part of the Body of Christ should be flawed with the darkness of evil.

Thus if we commit evil, just as what those people mentioned earlier had done, in preserving their own vanity, concerned only for their own prosperity and in slandering others, worse that is to even put an obstacle on the works of the servant of God. In doing these evils, they committed sin before the Lord, and therefore entered into communion with the devil. For the devil too, rebelled against the Lord because of his pride and vanity.

Therefore, as we are part of the Church of God, and we have become the children of God, let us all realise that all of us must act therefore as how a child of God should behave. Listen to the Lord, work on what we believe in and practice our faith in our lives. Love one another and love the Lord just as much as we love ourselves. If we do all these, we will be surely be granted favour by the Lord.

May Almighty God therefore grant us His grace, that He may empower us to live according to what St. John Chrysostom had once done. Let us all treasure this communion we share with one another, the communion and unity as the one Body of Christ, those who have received the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Keep us, Lord, on the path towards salvation, and let us not to fall into evil. Amen.

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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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Monday, 24 February 2014 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

James 3 : 13-18

If you consider yourself wise and learnt, show it by your good life and let your actions, in all humility, be an example for others. But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and ambition, do not try to show off; that would be covering up the truth; this kind of wisdom does not come from above but from the world and it is earthly and devilish.

Wherever there is jealousy and ambition, you will also find discord and all that is evil. Instead, the wisdom that comes from above is pure and peace-loving. Persons with this wisdom show understanding and listen to advice; they are full of compassion and good works; they are impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow peace reap a harvest of justice.