Counter-Reformation

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Wednesday, 21 December 2016 : 4th Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, as we approach closer to the great celebrations of Christmas, when we rejoice together as all the people of God in memory of the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son of God born of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On that day two millennia ago, the Lord had sent into this world His salvation through Jesus, through Whom He revealed to the whole world and to all creation, what needs to be done for us to be redeemed and freed from our fated destruction.

The Lord is our Hope, and in Him alone lies our salvation and grace. But this is a fact that many of us tend to forget, and many of us are often too busy and preoccupied in our lives to notice and to understand the love of our God. We seek instead for the comforts of this world, trying to satisfy our desires and our wants, for either money, possessions, wealth and other things, for things that supposedly bring us joy and happiness.

However, none of these will last us and none of them are permanent. All these are distractions that prevent us from discovering the true joy and love of our lives. Our reaction upon seeing the Lord and upon receiving His love and grace should be that of joy, and indeed of extreme joy and happiness, knowing that because He has come into this world, He has made all things new and filled with hope once again. We should be happy, as the children are happy when their parents come back from work and see them again.

Yet, many of us are like prodigal children, who ignored our Father’s love and pretended as if He is not there. He has blessed us with many things, and yet we are often ensnared in these same things, and rather than giving thanks and rejoicing in the One Who had made all of these possible, we instead end up being entangled in the falsehoods and in the lies of the evil one, he who desired our destruction and damnation.

And it is the same with us who have come to celebrate Christmas without properly understanding what it is that we are celebrating about. Many of us have lost the focus of our celebration and rejoicing, to the point that instead of putting our focus in the Lord, we ended up getting distracted with all the worldly revelry and rejoicing, as what we often see every time we come to the season of Christmas.

That is the sad reality of our world today, in how many of us celebrate Christmas. Many of us, even Christians alike forgot that Christmas is truly about Christ, from Whom the name Christmas came about. Without Christ there can be no Christmas, and if we take out Christ from the equation of our celebrations and joy, then there is no meaning to Christmas. For Christmas cannot exist without Christ, Whose birth is celebrated on that day, and for Whom we should be truly grateful.

As we move on through Advent towards Christmas, it is imperative that we should understand what is our focus this Christmas. In all of our plans, do we have the Lord in mind as we rejoice and are happy with each other? Have we prepared everything with the birthday and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in mind? Have we told our children and our young ones about the Christ and what He had done, His significance to all of us that in this Christmas we merit the opportunity to rejoice?

It is important that during this time of Advent, a season and time of preparation, that we should prepare ourselves well to welcome the Lord Who comes into the world, as we should prepare ourselves such that we are well prepared for the Lord in our hearts and minds, as well as in our souls and in our bodies. This is important so that we will realise that when we celebrate Christmas, we are not just remembering He Who has come before, but also He Who has promised us all that He will come again.

And in that, we should also seek help and guidance from His saints, who are our examples in their faith and obedience to God. Today, we celebrate the feast day of a great saint and a holy man, whose faith and actions can help and guide us on the path towards the Lord. St. Peter Canisius is a Jesuit priest, who was among the first members of the Jesuit order or the Society of Jesus founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola.

At that time, the Church was rife with troubles and with corruption due to the worldliness of many of its members, both the laity and the members of the priestly and episcopal orders alike. Many people openly vie for positions in the world and in the Church, not shying away from misusing their positions and power in order to do so. As a result, the Church became divided and there were many who chose to follow false and heretical teachings and became sundered from the salvation of God in the Church.

St. Peter Canisius helped to refocus the people’s attention towards the Lord, through his hard work, his preachings through which he taught the people, many of them, about the truth found in the fullness of faith through the Church alone. He endured many rejections, ridicule and challenges and many thousands flocked back to the Lord as a result of the hard works of St. Peter Canisius and his fellow compatriots in faith.

Through the drive of the Counter-Reformation as it is now known, the Church through the Society of Jesus led by St. Ignatius of Loyola and aided greatly by St. Peter Canisius and the other prominent members of the Church such as St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila helped to reform the Church and root out the corruptions and wickedness that had plagued the Church at that time, returning it to its pure intention for the salvation of the souls of mankind.

St. Peter Canisius is renowned not just for his actions, but also through his works in the Three Catechisms he wrote, a series of teachings of the faith which he made clear and available to the people so that, they would no longer fall into heresy and into the false teachings and ways. Through these Catechisms, many people after the time of St. Peter Canisius had benefitted greatly, and many returned to the faith and were saved from damnation because of his works.

And St. Peter Canisius was also renowned for his deep and strong devotion to Mary, the mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. His many works include a series of Mariology works through which he explained in great detail the role of Mary as the bearer of the Saviour of the world, and how in her own life examples she has become a great example to all of us to follow, in how we ought to live our lives in accordance with the will of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, following the examples of St. Peter Canisius and the other brave and courageous saints of the Lord, let us all reorientate our lives and rededicate our lives to the Lord our God, and shed away all the sins and wickedness of our lives, surrendering ourselves to God and obeying Him in the same way that Mary our role model had done.

May the Lord help us all to remain ever faithful to Him, and not to give up amidst the many temptations present in this world. May He bless us all and keep us all in His grace, now and forevermore. May all of us use the remaining time in this Advent season to prepare ourselves well to celebrate Christmas meaningfully and with full faith in the Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 21 December 2016 : 4th Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Luke 1 : 39-45

Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb.

Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”

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Wednesday, 21 December 2016 : 4th Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Song of Songs 2 : 8-14

The voice of my lover! Behold He comes, springing across the mountains, jumping over the hills, like a gazelle or a young stag. Now He stands behind our wall, looking through the windows, peering through the lattice.

My lover speaks to me, “Arise, my love, my beautiful one! Come, the winter is gone, the rains are over. Flowers have appeared on earth; the season of singing has come; the cooing of doves is heard. The fig tree forms its early fruit, the vines in blossom are fragrant. Arise, my beautiful one, come with Me, my love, come.”

“O my dove in the rocky cleft, in the secret places of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice. Your face – how lovely! Your voice – how sweet!”

Alternative reading
Zephaniah 3 : 14-18a

Cry out with joy, o daughter of Zion; rejoice, o people of Israel! Sing joyfully with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! YHVH has lifted your sentence and has driven your enemies away. YHVH, the King of Israel is with you; do not fear any misfortune.

On that day they will say to Jerusalem : Do not be afraid nor let your hands tremble, for YHVH your God is within you, YHVH, saving Warrior. He will jump for joy on seeing you, for He has revived His love. For you He will cry out with joy, as you do in the days of the Feast.

I will drive away the evil I warned you about.

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Wednesday, 21 December 2016 : 4th Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Psalm 32 : 2-3, 11-12, 20-21

Give thanks to Him on the harp and lyre, making melody and chanting praises. Amid loud shouts of joy, sing to Him a new song and play the ten-stringed harp.

But His plan stands forever, and His heart’s design through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord – the people He has chosen for His inheritance.

In hope we wait for the Lord, for He is our help and our shield. Our hearts rejoice in Him, for we trust in His holy Name.

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Saturday, 3 December 2016 : Feast of St. Francis Xavier, Priest and Patron of Missions (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate together the feast of St. Francis Xavier, a renowned Jesuit priest and missionary, whose hard work in evangelisation throughout especially South, Southeast and East Asia had led to the foundation of the roots of the Church in the many countries existing there today, where many millions upon millions of the faithful now live, a growing and thriving Church.

And for what he had done, he was named as the Patron of Missions, as the patron saints for all missionaries and their mission areas, for his pioneering work and dedication in establishing many of the buds of the faith in those far flung areas. And he did not have it easy, because such a task at that time was indeed very monumental and challenging to be done.

First of all, St. Francis Xavier lived during a time of great difficulties in the Church, a time of turmoil, both within and outside the Church, where conflicts and wars were rampant. At that time, from outside, the Turks who reigned in the Ottoman Empire were resurgent and powerful, seizing lands after lands from Christendom, putting many of the faithful under the rule of these pagans. As a result, great suffering occurred and also a great fear arose to threaten the Church, as then, there was a real threat that the Ottoman Turks would be able to overcome all of Christendom.

And at the same time, from within, there were divisions among the faithful, where false prophets and heretical teachings arose in the population, heresies such as Hussites and later on, during the time of St. Francis Xavier, the heresy known as the Protestant ‘reformation’, where many people rebelled against the authority of the Church and established splinter groups on their own, with their own teachings that are deviant and in contradiction with the teachings of Christ through His Church.

And within the Church itself, there was plenty of corruption and immorality, where many of the members of the clergy, even to the higher ranks were corrupt and wicked. They engaged in corrupt practices, demanding money and worldly goods for the absolution of sins, a practice known as indulgence, but which was twisted and corrupted by these irresponsible Church leaders and officials.

Amidst all of these challenges and difficulties facing the Church at that time, St. Francis lived through a time of great change and renewal within the Church, known as the Counter-Reformation, spearheaded by his contemporaries, and which he was also part of, through the Society of Jesus or the Jesuit religious order which was established by St. Ignatius of Loyola. Through their hard work, the Church began to purify itself from all its excesses and corrupt practices, and brought back many to the true faith.

It was told that at first, St. Francis Xavier was reluctant to join the effort, and he had aspirations of worldly glories and achievements. Initially St. Ignatius of Loyola and some other of these saints also had similar condition, where they sought for personal glory and achievement and ignored God’s calling at the beginning. But through persistence and constant guidance, who was said to quote to St. Francis Xavier at one time the saying of Jesus, “What would it benefit a man if he gains the whole world, but lose his own soul.” Eventually, he became convinced and decided to dedicate himself to the Lord.

Henceforth, St. Francis Xavier together with the saints of the Counter-Reformation, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Peter Canisius, St. Teresa of Avila, St. Philip Neri and many others, St. Francis Xavier helped to rejuvenate the faith in many people, and he led the efforts to spread the Good News of God to those areas of the world which have yet to hear it. For at that time was a time of great discovery, the Age of Exploration, where new lands were discovered, and the Christian nations have the opportunity to evangelise to the peoples who have for the past one and a half millennia no chance to listen to the teachings of the faith.

But at that time, travel was not as convenient and easy as it is now. If it is now possible to go from one end of the earth to the other end in a mere day or less, and with relative comfort and little risk, at that time, the only available method of travel was either by land or by sea. The sea route was the faster route, but it was rife with danger, as storms and strong gales could cause the ships to be broken up and sink, and at the fastest, the journey took many months to complete.

Amidst all of these challenges, St. Francis Xavier was one of the first pioneers of the works of evangelisation in that time, bringing the Good News of the Gospel to many countries along the route of his travel, from India to the Malayan Archipelago, to the region of China and the Philippines, and as far as Japan to the furthest part of East Asia.

St. Francis Xavier visited all of these places, sometimes by himself, and sometimes with his fellow brother priests and missionaries, planting the seeds of the faith among the indigenous population, sowing the seeds for the growth of the future Church that would be established in those areas. Some welcomed him openly and willingly, while some others viewed his teachings and the Christian faith with suspect, and still some others outrightly banned the faith and persecuted its followers.

But amidst all these difficult challenges, nevertheless St. Francis Xavier persevered on, visiting many places and countries on his way, preaching to the people wherever he landed on and stopped by on, guiding the priests and missionaries and helping to delegate these faithful servants of God in their mission to bring the salvation of God to these people.

It was told that one time, St. Francis Xavier travelled in a boat with some others, and a great storm occurred, with huge waves that threatened to sink the boat. All of the people in the boat feared for their lives, save for St. Francis Xavier who prayed to the Lord fervently asking for His help. He put a crucifix into the water and the waves and the wind calmed down. But the crucifix was lost as it slipped through his fingers.

When he landed in one of the islands of the Moluccas Islands, it was told that a crab appeared from the water, with a crucifix marked on its back, and holding onto the crucifix which St. Francis Xavier had used earlier on and lost. And St. Francis Xavier thanked God and blessed the crab. This crab does exist and is indeed prevalent in the Malayan Archipelago where St. Francis Xavier once did extensive works.

There are many other miraculous works attributed to St. Francis Xavier, and this is related to what we heard in the Gospel today, that the Lord Jesus said that all those who do His work and bring the Good News to others will perform wondrous works, not necessarily be miracles, but most importantly, as St. Francis Xavier had proved and done, many millions upon millions up to this day have been saved from hell, and many among them were saints and martyrs themselves.

Today, as we all commemorate the feast of this holy and courageous, hardworking and diligent Patron saints of all missionaries and the Mission itself, let us all look again at all the examples which St. Francis Xavier had done, some of which we have discussed earlier on, and then let us ask ourselves, are we able to do what he has done, and contribute to the good works of the Church in preaching the faith to many others?

We may be thinking that in this world today, where all the peoples are easily connected to each other and where travel is so commonplace and easy that everyone would have heard of the Good News, but the reality is that, there are still many people outside the bounds of the Church, either because they rejected the Good News, or were ignorant of the Good News, or received the wrong messages because of false prophets and messengers in our midst.

And within the Church itself, there are many who have slipped away from their faith, because they were lukewarm and also for some, lazy, as they did not live out their faith with zeal, but instead, were what we often call as nominal Christians, those who call themselves as Christians, and they are indeed Christians, but in their actions in life, they do otherwise.

If we look at it, the situation today is pretty much just as how it was five and six centuries ago, at the time of St. Francis Xavier and his fellow saintly contemporaries and martyrs, all the holy missionaries who went through a great deal of suffering and persecution, difficulties and inconveniences to bring the Good News and the truth of God to many people. But because of their dedication, many were saved.

Shall we not then do the same, brethren? Shall we not follow in the footsteps of the Apostles and these saints? Jesus our Lord has given all of His disciples and followers that final command before He left them to ascend into His heavenly glory, that all of us should go to the nations, and preach the Good News to all the peoples, that all may believe in God and give themselves to be baptised in the Lord’s Name. And it is also important that we have people who have that quality in their faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what shall we do then? How do we do what the Lord had asked us? We do not have to start from very big things. We can and indeed should begin from ourselves. Live our lives faithfully with real care and mercy for our brethren, showing concern for our neighbours and those who are suffering. Let us all through our actions show one another and all the people of God, that the Lord Jesus calls all to repentance and to turn our hearts towards Him, that in the end, all may be saved through Him.

May God bless us and help us in all of our endeavours. May He strengthen our faith and show our commitment to Him, that like St. Francis Xavier and all the good workers of the faith, missionaries of the Good News, we may continue the works that they have started, and by our works, we may awaken the faith in many people who are in need of God’s salvation. May the Lord be with us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 30 April 2016 : Fifth Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. Pius V, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard first about the works of St. Paul who went about many cities and towns across regions of the Eastern Mediterranean. He went preaching the word of God and the Good News, telling many people of the need to repent from their old, sinful ways and to follow the Lord our God from then on. And he encouraged the faith of the many communities of the faithful whom he visited along the way.

If we read more of the entirety of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles as a whole, we would realise just how difficult his works were, and how dangerous they were. Indeed, many of the faithful welcomed him along his journeys and they listened to him. But in many of those places, he also encountered those who opposed his works, those who opposed the faith and the Church, and refused to believe in God.

The Jews, especially the hardliners among the priestly clans and the Pharisees refused to believe in Jesus and made life difficult for St. Paul and the Apostles. In a few occasion they even harassed them and incited the whole city to go against them. Their works were disturbed and they were even stoned and assaulted. But with the grace of God, they were able to persevere amidst the persecution.

And some of the Greeks and the pagans who refused to believe in God also made their case against St. Paul and the Apostles, thinking of his teachings and the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as threats to their traditional way of life, their culture and as insult and affront to their traditional gods. And thus, many people and groups ganged up against St. Paul, the Apostles and the faithful.

This is a fulfilment of what Jesus Himself had told His disciples at the Last Supper, about how the world would hate them for what they had done for the sake of the Lord, and because they belong to the Lord and no longer belonging to the world. They would suffer rejection, challenges and persecution because of their dedication to the Holy Name of God, and for the salvation of God’s people.

But God reassured them at the same time, for He told them that it was indeed a great privilege to be able to suffer for the sake and for the cause of the Name of the Lord. And they suffered because they refused to bend to accommodate the demands of this world, and they therefore gained glory and righteousness through what they have done in good faith in the Lord Jesus.

This is especially important for all of us today, as we have to realise and we have to constantly remember that the works of the Church and thus the same works of the Apostles have not been completed, but instead, it is still in progress, and we are the ones who have been entrusted with the same works as what the Apostles had been entrusted with.

Now we have to ask ourselves, are we up to the challenge? Are we able to give of ourselves just as the Apostles have given themselves for the sake of evangelisation and preaching the Good News to those who have yet to hear of it, or to sinners awaiting for the redemption and salvation in God? We have to make a conscious choice and effort to put ourselves at the forefront of the works of the Church, to bring more and more souls to salvation in our God.

Now, let us today remember the example of this pious saint whose feast day is celebrated today, Pope St. Pius V, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, and the leader of the entire Universal Church approximately five centuries ago. Pope St. Pius V lived through a time of great difficulty for the Church, and he led the Church through those very turbulent and trying times, where people were also martyred for their faith, and many false prophets were lying around seeking prey from among the people of God.

At that time, the Church and the faithful people of God were under siege and under constant threat from the inside and from the outside. The pagan and godless Ottoman Turks were rising and became mighty, seizing territories after territories, enslaving more and more people under their iron rule, and the whole Christendom was under great fear of this great rising power.

And besides that external threat, from the inside, the Church was assailed by the heretics and the people who called themselves as Protestants, following false teachings and the heretical thoughts of men planted by the devil himself to destroy the Church and its unity. Many souls were lost to heresy, and many people fell along the way, as they were tempted by the temptations of those heretical teachings and left the truth of God behind.

During that very trying and turbulent times, Pope St. Pius V led and steered the Church with great patience and effort, keeping control of the faithful and ensuring that works were done to prevent more and more souls from being lost to the damnation of hell. And thus, he helped conclude the very important Council of Trent, a gathering of the leaders of the Church designed to rejuvenate and purify the faith, so that the Church would be far better able to resist the attacks of the heretics.

Through his efforts, many of the lost souls and heretics repented their sins, and by the hard works of the various missionaries sent to reclaim these lost souls, many were restored to the grace and salvation in God. And Pope St. Pius V was also instrumental in his role in encouraging and organising a great defence of Christendom, culminating in a total and crushing victory of the forces of Christ against the heathen Ottomans at the battle of Lepanto.

Inspired by Pope St. Pius V and his tireless dedication to the faithful, his hard works amidst the difficulties and challenges, just as St. Paul and the Apostles had encountered, for the sake of the salvation of as many souls as possible, therefore all of us should also follow in their footsteps and help to bring one another, all the lost sheep in this world to return together to our Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us all vow and renew our efforts to become each and every one of us, as good and ever better Christians, not just by mere words, but also through real and concrete action. Let us all commit ourselves to the Lord through His Church and bring all the peoples to salvation and grace in the Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 30 April 2016 : Fifth Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. Pius V, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 18-21

At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples at the Last Supper, “If the world hates you, remember that the world hated Me before you. This would not be so if you belonged to the world, because the world loves its own. But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you from the world; because of this the world hates you.”

“Remember what I told you : the servant is not greater than his master; if they persecuted Me, they will persecute you, too. If they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. All this they will do to you for the sake of My Name, because they do not know the One Who sent Me.”

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Saturday, 30 April 2016 : Fifth Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. Pius V, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 99 : 2, 3, 5

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people, the sheep of His fold.

For the Lord is good; His love lasts forever and His faithfulness through all generations.

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Saturday, 30 April 2016 : Fifth Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. Pius V, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 16 : 1-10

Paul travelled on to Derbe and then to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy lived there, whose mother was a believer of Jewish origin but whose father was a Greek. As the believers of Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him, Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him. So he took him and, because of the Jews of that place who all knew that his father was a Greek, he circumcised him.

As they travelled from town to town, they delivered the decisions of the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem, for the people to obey. Meanwhile, the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number every day. They travelled through Phrygia and Galatia, because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia.

When they came to Mysia, they tried to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to do this. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. There one night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and begged him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”

When he awoke, he told us of this vision and we understood that the Lord was calling us to give the Good News to the Macedonian people.

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Monday, 21 December 2015 : 4th Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast day of one of my patron saint, St. Peter Canisius, the Doctor of the Church, defender of the Faith and one of the very important figure in the history of the Church’s work on saving the souls of mankind. He was a very important figure in the Church at that time, and his works still influenced the Church even until this very day.

In order to understand the importance of St. Peter Canisius and his works, and how he can also inspire us to be like him and to follow his footsteps, then we ought to look at the Scripture readings we have just heard today and reflect on their meaning and understand them. For they spoke of the joy that is coming in Christmas, the True Joy of the world, for a world that was once enslaved by sin and darkness, had found its way to the Light.

In today’s readings, we have to understand the suspense, the expectation and the desire that the people of God had had for the many years of their constant and frequent exiles and sufferings, for God to come and rescue them from their distress, and there is indeed no greater desire than for all of us mankind to be freed from the bonds and the chains that enslaved us to sin, because of our disobedience against the Lord our God.

And the celebration of Christmas is the celebration of this great joy that we have because we have been liberated from all those chains and bonds, and we know that a new hope had arisen through the Saviour we have, Jesus Christ our Lord, born on the Christmas Day. This is the true essence of Christmas, and the very reason why we should look up to it and expect it so much, but yet, many of us have been misguided and lost the intention of Christmas amidst the world’s attempts to reconfigure it to serve their own purposes.

If we look at the way how the world in many places celebrated Christmas, and if we ask anybody about what Christmas truly mean to them, the answer that we are likely to receive is that Christmas is a season of fun, of happiness, of celebration and partying, where one would meet up with friends, families and relatives, exchanging gifts and trying to impress one another as best as possible, with the newest clothes, with the nicest foods and drinks.

Well, in all these, indeed we can find joy and happiness, and to many of us, it is an opportunity to let go the hectic schedules and busy lifestyles that had occupied us throughout the whole year. But, if we do not understand how important Christmas is to us, and if we do not appreciate what it truly means, then we are in danger of just repeating again and again our celebrations of Christmas year by year without meaning and without true joy.

Christmas has become so commercialised and filled with materialism to the point that all the things associated with Christmas become things such as shopping, lights and glitzy glamour, gifts, Santa Claus and his elves, and many other secular forms of Christmas celebrations. We tried to spend as much as we can from our pockets to make our Christmas celebrations the best ever, but have we forgotten what Christmas truly is?

Without Christ, there can be no Christmas, and indeed, as Christmas is truly our Lord’s birthday, the day when He entered into our world as a humble Human Being through the womb of His mother Mary, Christmas is indeed about Christ. Without Jesus Christ in our celebrations of Christmas, whatever joy we have is incomplete, and whatever happiness we have is really empty.

And thus how do we then celebrate Christmas? We should first understand the importance of Christmas to us, and why it happened in the first place. If not for the infinite and ever-encompassing love that our God has for us all, the love that transcended every boundaries and every considerations, and if not the dedication and commitment that He had for us, willing to send His own Son to die for our own sake, for our salvation, there can be no Christmas, and conversely, there would be no hope for us.

St. Paul in one of his letters and epistles spoke about how God had loved us so much, and so much so that even though we were still sinners, delinquents and rebels, He still endeavoured to love us and to give us the salvation and the hope that we truly and urgently needed. Great is the love of the one who loves tenderly and sincerely those who love them, but even greater and boundless is the love of those who love even those who hated them and those who refuse to love them.

And that was exactly what He has done for us. And imitating that same love, St. Peter Canisius, the saint whose feast we celebrate today, worked hard in order to bring God’s love and salvation to his brethren in the world filled with falsehoods and darkness and evil. He lived at a difficult time, during the time of the heresy of Protestantism which lured away many of the faithful from the path to salvation.

At that time, it was very difficult to be counted among those who stayed faithful to the true faith in the Lord. The temptations and the pull to join the heresy of men were just very great, and many fell into sin and damnation, rejecting the teachings of the Church that God Himself had passed down through the Apostles, and which the Church had faithfully kept down the ages. Instead, they preferred to follow their own ways.

Amidst all this, St. Peter Canisius, a Jesuit priest, also known as the Society of Jesus, was among one of the most prominent figures who led the counterattack against the forces of heresy, delving even into great troubles and risks, going forth to bring the truth and to explain it with great clarity to the masses of people who had been misled by the devil and by their succumbing to their own human frailties and desires.

As a result, many countless thousands returned to the true faith and repented their rebellion against God and His Church. And St. Peter Canisius was renowned from then on as a great evangeliser and disciple who brought many people back away from the threat of eternal damnation and into salvation once again. Many believed in the truth once again, repented and changed their ways after they had heard the preachings of St. Peter Canisius.

And his works did not just stop at that, as he also wrote extensively in his work, the Catechism according to St. Peter Canisius, a set of three books filled with the truth and the core tenets of our faith. Even until today, many people were still saved through that amazing work, and countless souls were brought to God’s salvation.

Having heard and witnessed the examples of St. Peter Canisius, let us all reflect on the fact that our celebration of Christmas must not just be limited to ourselves. Our joy and the joy of our celebration cannot be a selfish one that is centred only on ourselves, but rather, let us put and keep our Lord Jesus Christ at the centre and the heart of our celebrations, and let us always remember Him and His love, on how He has loved us all and desired for us all to be saved from our sins.

And we as those whom Christ had called, and who had received the fullness of God’s grace, love and truth, should go forth and share the joy we have, that is Christ, our True Joy, to the rest of the world. And how do we do this? Following the examples of St. Peter Canisius who faithfully and devotedly practiced his faith in his actions and words, we too must do the same.

Yes, we have that obligation to bring God’s Good News to those who still linger in the darkness of this world. We cannot profess to celebrate Christmas with joy while our brethren still failed to understand the fullness of God’s love in Christmas. Let us through our actions be an inspiration to all those who see us, hear us and interact with us, just as we have ourselves been inspired by St. Peter Canisius and the other holy saints of God.

Let this be our Christmas gift to our brethren, and let that gift be that of love, in imitation and following the example of the love which our Lord had first given us all, which He made perfect through Jesus Christ. May Almighty God bless us in all of our loving endeavours, and may He continue to guide us all the days of our life. St. Peter Canisius, faithful servant of God, pray for us sinners to the Lord. Amen.