deeds

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Tuesday, 30 July 2013 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Matthew 13 : 36-43

Then Jesus sent the crowds away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.” Jesus answered them, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world; the good seed are the people of the kingdom; the weeds are those who follow the evil one. The enemy who sows the weeds is the devil; the harvest is the end of time, and the workers are the angels.

Just as the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of time. The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will weed out His kingdom all that is scandalous and all who do evil. And these will be thrown in the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father, If you have ears, then hear.”

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Wednesday, 10 July 2013 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard of Christ calling His twelve disciples, the principal disciples who later would become the apostles, and how He sent them in mission to the people of God in service. The disciples had been sent to be the extension of God’s love and ministry in the world, to share His love with all the people whom He loved.

Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob, too was called by the Lord out of Canaan, to become a great disciple of the Lord in Egypt and beyond, preparing that country for the worst famine the world had ever witnessed, and ensured that many people would not die of hunger, but remain living. The brothers of Joseph, the other sons of Jacob, might have had evil intention when they sold Joseph to the slavers who brought him to Egypt, but God has His plans.

He called Joseph to be a great saviour of people, the Egyptians and many others around the world, and indeed, ironically, his brothers would later come and beg him for mercy, both for food, and also for the sake of their brother, Benjamin, whom Joseph asked for, and the brothers feared that he would be lost the same way Joseph was ‘lost’ and that would grieved Jacob to death.

God called Joseph to be the progenitor and initiator of Israel’s migration to Egypt, where, in the next four hundred years or so, they would grow to become a great nation, until the Pharaoh at that time wanted to get rid of them because there were so many people of Israel around in Egypt. Joseph was then called, first through slavery and then into a position where he could actually affect the lives of many, and he exercised his power in accordance with God’s will, and many lives were saved.

The same happened to the Apostles, whom the Lord called out of their disparate and humble origins, some being fishermen, some tax collectors and sinners, and some even murderers and zealot fighters. He called them all to follow Him and began a new life, a life of total service to the Lord. The Apostles would follow Christ, and except for Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ to the chief priests. they all remained faithful, even to the end of their lives.

The Apostles continued the work of Christ after His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven. They received the Holy Spirit and began the good works of preaching the Good News to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem, throughout the entire land of Judea, and later the entire Roman Empire, and to us now, the whole world. Now the whole world had listened to the Good News of Christ, and many have accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour, but not all have done so.

We have all been called to be disciples of Christ too, brothers and sisters! To be the modern apostles and preachers of the Good News of the Lord. We have been chosen and have been given gifts through the Holy Spirit, in order to bring God’s message ever closer to mankind, that salvation may eventually reach everyone, every children of God.

Some of us are called to be fathers and mothers, to recreate the Holy Family in our own humble families, raising our children with love, care, and kindness, that they will grow up to become faithful and loving children of God. Some are called to be friends to be friends to those who are lonely and without love, and those who lie in despair, to bring hope and love to them, that they will be able to begin a new, more purpose-filled life.

And finally some are called to follow the Lord completely, just as the apostles had done, leaving everything and giving themselves completely to the Lord. They gave themselves to become the bride of the Church, the servants of God’s people, and the shepherds of God’s flock. We are now facing a severe lack in the recruitment of our new priests and religious members of religious orders. While in some parts of the world, recruitment is still going strong, in many parts of the world, the numbers have dropped significantly.

That is why, brothers and sisters, we have to embrace our calling in life. For those of us called by the Lord to follow Him, pray and pray hard, so that the Lord will guide us in the process, so that in the end we will be able to make a carefully thought decision, so that we will be able to give our all through our service and love, to God and to our fellow men.

Do not bar one another’s path to the Lord, and instead, support one another, sow a beneficial atmosphere for learning of the faith and that of love. In that way, we will become truly children of God, and supporting one another, we also help everyone to accomplish the missions God had entrusted them in life.

May God grant us wisdom and strong discernment to pick the path of our choice in life, and that the choice we made will be in tandem with God’s will. May our work and actions be fruitful, to ourselves, to our families and friends, and to all those around us, and to those whom we have interacted with in our lives. God bless us all, and may He strengthen our resolve to follow Him just as the apostles had done. Amen.

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Saturday, 6 July 2013 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Maria Goretti, Virgin and Martyr (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is with us, He is around us, and He is within us. He is the bride of the Church, and therefore, He is also our bridegroom, and we are united intimately with Him. That was why Jesus told the disciples of John the Baptist, that His disciples did not fast the way that they and the Pharisees had done, because the Lord Himself walked among them, the disciples, that they should indeed rejoice for being given such a privilege. And indeed, why lament, or be sorrowful, or fast when the Lord Himself is with us? We should indeed be happy and joyful.

And even the more reason we have today to rejoice in the presence of our Lord, because our Lord Jesus Christ had died for us, and is risen, triumphant over evil, sin, and death. He redeemed all of us, without exception, from our fate that is death, because of our sinful rebellion. That is the even greater reason why we should be joyful and rejoice over such a great victory, the victory over sin. If we accept the salvation offered freely by our Lord Jesus Christ, death will no longer have any power and hold over us, and we will enjoy life eternal with our Lord in heaven.

The Lord Jesus today talked about the wineskins and the clothes in today’s Gospel reading, and these parables are a very strong indication and teaching to us, that when we accept Christ, as our Lord and Saviour, we must be renewed, rejuvenated, into a new life in Christ, and abandon our old life, the old life of evil and sin. That old life, that sinful existence before we accepted Christ is the old wineskin, old wine, and the old cloths, while the new life in Christ is akin to the new wineskins, new wine, and the new cloths.

So incompatible evil is with our Lord, who is Love, perfection, and the ultimate good, that indeed, just as Christ had said to His disciples, that we cannot patch old cloths with new cloths, neither can we put old wine into new wineskins, or new wine into old wineskins. We have to transform ourselves so that we can truly belong to Christ. For Christ will descend upon us and dwell within us through the Holy Spirit, that our bodies should be transformed into the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

Upon our baptism, our old sins and the sins of our forefathers, of the rebellion of man against the love of God, are erased. This is the purification of our body and our soul from evil, from the slavery of Satan, into the holiness of Christ. That is why, we must ever be vigilant, and ever remember that our bodies, our hearts, our minds, and our souls must always remain as clean as possible from the taints of Satan and his darkness.

For Satan certainly does not sit idly by while we are saved by the Lord. He will use all of his power and all the tools in his possession in order to corrupt us back and allow us to fall back into his fold, thus preventing our salvation and instead bringing about our eternal damnation with him in hell. Dear brothers and sisters, we must always be vigilant, because Satan is a trickster, and his ideas are many. While what Jacob did in order to gain inheritance from his brother Esau in the first reading should not be a condoned act, although it was indeed in God’s plan, it can give us a good insight on the kind of trick that Satan can play on us, with Satan being Jacob, and us being Isaac, who could no longer see, and thus was tricked by Jacob’s trickery and gave him the blessing intended for Esau.

Today, yet another reminder of the need to keep ourselves pure and worthy of our Lord, so that we will not fall into damnation but eternal life, exists in the person of St. Maria Goretti, whose feast day we are celebrating today. Many of us know the story of the short life of St. Maria Goretti and her tragic death in defense of her faith and obedience to the laws and to the will of God.

St. Maria Goretti was still only 11 when she died, in a horrific attack in a rape attempt by Alessandro, a boy whose family lived together with St. Maria Goretti’s family. St. Maria Goretti rejected Alessandro’s advances and attempts, and constantly reminded him that what he was trying to do is a sin, and doing so would cause him to be condemned into hell. St. Maria Goretti also said that it is better for her to die rather than to betray her faith and dedication to the Lord, and rather than to sully her purity.

Despite being attacked and ravaged by Alessandro’s wrath, which eventually caused her death, St. Maria Goretti forgave her assailant, and prayed for his salvation, and for him to eventually join her in heaven. She died soon from her wounds, but her good works did not end there. Alessandro, her murderer, eventually regretted his deeds and renounced his past sinful ways and reformed himself in the Church, eventually dying in peace and love as one of God’s servants. He is now certainly with St. Maria Goretti in the glory of heaven and eternal life.

The example of St. Maria Goretti should inspire us and invigorate us, to keep ourselves pure and clean from all traces of evil. Turn away from our sinful past, and all the things detestable to the Lord, that we had done all these while. Let us abandon the old wineskin, and embrace the new wine with the new wineskin. Our Lord is merciful and loving, and if we repent our sinful ways, we will surely be welcomed in His loving embrace.

Therefore, following the example of St. Maria Goretti, and in obedience to God’s will and commandments, let us fill ourselves with Christ, and reflect Christ in our daily actions, in all the things that we say and do, that we truly belong to Christ, and Satan no longer has any power or hold over us. May the Lord who loves us strengthen the faith and love that is inside all of us, that we will be saved, and will be with Him for eternity in the bliss of eternal life in love, joy, and hope.

St. Maria Goretti, pray for us, and ask the Lord for His mercy for all of us sinners, still walking in this world, that we will not go astray from the path that the Lord had pointed out to us. Amen.

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Friday, 5 July 2013 : 13th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we reflect on the calling of Matthew, who was a tax collector, and according to the Pharisees, a sinner. He was called from his custom-house and followed Christ, eventually to become one of the Twelve Apostles and one of the Four Evangelists, who wrote the Gospel of Matthew, which passage we are reading today.

Why did the Pharisees consider the tax collectors as sinners? We should understand the history and condition of the region at the time, of the region called Palestine today, and Judea at that time. At the time of Jesus, Judea was still a semi-independent kingdom, led by a king, Herod Antipas at that time, the son of Herod the Great, who tried to kill Jesus as a baby. But despite the semblance of independence generated by the presence of a ‘king of the Jews’ in Herod, the Romans, which had become an Empire by that time, had the overall command and control as the master of the people of Judea.

The Romans established an efficient taxation system throughout their Empire, and that made up the main source of their annual income, and Judea is no exception to the rule. The people of Judea, including the Jews, had to pay their taxes to the Roman authorities, and this was greatly despised by the Jews, particularly the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. Not just because it showed a subordination to the greater Roman authority, but it seemed that it also contradicted the fact that one should obey and give honour to the Lord alone.

The Roman coins used in the tax payment itself could be considered blasphemous by the Jews at the time, because every single coins were engraved with the facial image of the Emperor, and therefore could be considered as tantamount to idolatry, worship of the Emperor, as what was indeed happening in Rome at that time, as Emperors increasingly became more autocratic, they also attributed more divinity towards themselves, and would in time be established as the cult of the Emperors, where the Roman Emperors were worshipped as divine, living in the flesh.

All these sparked the notion that paying taxes to the Romans was a detestable idea at best, and the people did not like it for certain, for other than the religious reasons, taxes also burdened them financially, and that was why, out of all people, the tax collectors were always considered to be at the bottom of the society and were considered, particularly by the ‘pious’ Pharisees, to be morally corrupt and unworthy as well as incapable of redemption.

The tax collectors were treated and condemned as sinners, even though they might actually be good people. Remember that tax collectors often had no choice to be one, because they themselves had to earn a living, and it was indeed not an easy job to be done, as I had mentioned, being tax collectors meant that one had to endure the hatred and displeasure of the general population, the priesthood, and many other people, and endure the label of evil placed unfairly onto them.

The Jewish people themselves were very nationalistic in nature, and were very proud of their descent from Abraham, their forefather both in blood and faith. They kept mostly to themselves and married one another, in order to prevent themselves from being tainted by the pagans around them. This had happened since the time of Abraham himself, as you would have noted in our first reading today, who asked Eliezer his servant to find a wife for his son, Isaac, from among his own people, his own family, and not among the women of Canaan.

This had further made the contempt given to the tax collectors and other Roman collaborators even greater. They were barely tolerated in the society, cursed and rejected by many. They may be able to survive financially, but in terms of their lives, it was truly miserable. This was the condition that formed the backdrop of the situation as it was when Jesus called Matthew to be His disciple, and when He ate with him and his fellow tax-collectors in his house with the Pharisees.

Jesus then highlighted His mission in this world to His disciples, the Pharisees, and the tax collectors, that is to heal the world and those afflicted in this world, those who are condemned to damnation in hell, those who are suffering, those who are immersed deeply in the darkness of sin. That is because these are the ones who really need help and assistance in order to ensure that they will not fall into hell. God loves all, everyone, especially the greatest of sinners, who are in greatest need for God’s mercy and love.

That is because those of us who had been saved, and had been following the commandments of the Lord will remain safe, as long as we keep the Lord’s commandments and stay in His grace. As long as we remain faithful to the Lord, no harm can come our way. That is why it is those who are ‘sick’ from sin and evil would need much more assistance and help than we do. But we should not let Christ do that alone, but we ourselves, as the children of God, can also play our part in ensuring the salvation of all, especially those whose sins are the greatest.

The Pharisees themselves, who considered themselves most pious and blessed of all the children of God because of their strict adherence to the Law of Moses, were in fact in great need of salvation themselves. They had indeed observed ‘sacrifices’ so much that they had forgotten ‘mercy’, and forgotten love. God desires not sacrifices from man, but their love, both towards Him and towards His other children, our brothers and sisters.

The Pharisees did not love and do the true will of God, and instead became too focused on their own strict laws made by men, and even condemned those so-called sinners such as prostitutes and tax collectors as morally bankrupt and evil, while in fact, it is they themselves who were deep in the darkness, and worse still, blind to their own inadequacies and iniquities.

Today, brothers and sisters, we also commemorate the feast day of St. Anthony Zaccaria, a priest who lived in the late Renaissance era Italy. He was a priest who placed a great emphasis on the love of God and the teachings of the Church as espoused by St. Paul and the Apostles. He put the emphasis on acts of love and mercy, in addition to devotions and prayers, that made the faithful become even more devout and strong in their faith.

St. Anthony Zaccaria showed to the people of his time that to love God, is to both worship Him in prayer and supplication, in the offering of the ‘sacrifice’ of our hearts, the true sacrifice that our Lord wants from us, and also to make our love evident through our own deeds and actions, so that the love that is in us will not be an empty love, but a vibrant love in both word and action.

Therefore, following the zeal and example of St. Anthony Zaccaria, let us be loving person, loving children of God our Father, who is Love. May all of us truly show our love for Him through our complete dedication to Him, and also our loving service to our neighbours, particularly those in greatest need of help.

May the Lord be with us and remain with us, blessing us with His love and mercy at all times. St. Anthony Zaccaria, pray for us. Amen.

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Thursday, 20 June 2013 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Psalm 110 : 1-2, 3-4, 7-8

Alleluia! I thank the Lord with all my heart in the council of the just, in the assembly. The works of the lord are great and pondered by all who delight in them.

Glorious and majestic are His deeds, His righteousness endures forever. He lets us remember His wondrous deeds, the Lord is merciful and kind.

The works of His hands are faithful and just, trustworthy are all His precepts, ordained to last forever, bearers of truth and uprightness.

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Sunday, 26 May 2013 : Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, Trinity Sunday (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a most important part of our faith, that is our belief in the Most Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Today we commemorate the triune unity of our God, three aspects of the One God, Three but One, One but Three. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that is the wonder and the mystery of our faith, my brethren.

We hear about the Holy Trinity all the time, and in fact, whenever we make the sign of the cross, we are uttering the Holy Name of the Trinity, that is the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and during our baptism too, we are sealed in baptism by the Name of the Trinity. What is then this Trinity, and how does it form the basic tenet of our faith?

It is false to think that we worship three different Gods or three different divine persons in the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. The three of them are one in unity, in a mysterious and indivisible bond of unity, and yet different from one another. Father is not Son, and is not the Holy Spirit, and neither is Son the Father, and neither is He the Holy Spirit, and the same applies to the Holy Spirit as well.

Just imagine a fire, a physical fire with flames that we can see with our eyes. Yes, we can see a fire, and that is the physical fire, because fire produces light that our eyes perceive as the flames of fire, and yet, we can also feel fire through other means, how? Precisely by its heat, which we feel as the warm sensation on our skin when we are near a fire. Then, there is yet, the kinetic energy of the fire, which is what is causing the heat, but certainly, just like heat, is invisible from our eyes.

These different characteristics of the fire is exactly like what the Holy Trinity is truly about, as three different dimensions and characteristics of the same, one thing, in this case, fire. Another example would be ice, in which the same can be observed. We can see the physical form of the ice, as a crystal-like solid, and we can touch and feel the ice, the slippery surface of the ice, and feel the coldness of the ice, even when we do not touch the ice. All of these are just like the Holy Trinity, three dimensions of the one, same being.

Or just like St. Patrick, how he tried to explain about the Holy Trinity to the pagan peoples of ancient Ireland, when he managed to convert them to the cause of Christ, by using the three-leaf clover, which has three lobes within one clover, as a symbol of the Holy Trinity, with each side representing one member of the Holy Trinity, and the entirety of the three sides forming a union of the Holy Trinity represented by the clover leaf.

That is the Holy Trinity of the One God that we believe in. None of them can exist without the other, because they are one in unity, and indivisible, you cannot take one out of the Trinity and expect to have the whole being the same as before, and that is if we can even take anyone of the three out, because it is as I had mentioned, indivisible and no power can divide the perfect unity between the Three members of the Holy Trinity.

We cannot take the heat out of the fire and expect the fire to be the same, and neither can we take out the flames, its physical shape, and expect to have a fire that is still what we call as fire, and neither can we take out the cold from the ice, and still expect to have ice as we know it. The heat, the shape, and the visible form of the flame, and the cold, the touch, and the form of the ice are inseparable from one another. They are clearly different, one aspect from another, but they are one, and they form one thing, that is the fire, or the ice.

That is our Holy Trinity, the God that we believe in, the God who is our Saviour, the one and true God. Who was very evident in the Gospel, at the baptism of Jesus at the Jordan River, when God the Father spoke in a loud voice that ‘This is My Son, the Beloved. My favour rests on Him.’, and the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus, the Son of God. All three persons of the Holy Trinity at the same scene indeed. That is why, in our own baptism, we too are sealed in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, just as Jesus Himself commanded His apostles, to make disciples of all nations.

The Holy Trinity is the centre of our faith, and in our Creed, we always reiterate our faith in the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God but with three different persona, united as one and indivisible, each with roles that complement each other, and each are united with one another in a perfect union of love.

We must always profess our faith in the Holy Trinity, my brothers and sisters, in God the Father who loves us and who created us from dust, and who gave us the breath of life through the Holy Spirit that gives life as the Lord of life, who proceeds from both the Father Himself and through Jesus His Son, whom He sent out of His great and infinite love for us, willing to redeem us and save us from our eternal damnation caused by our rebellion against His will at the beginning of time.

Though mankind through the disobedience of Adam and Eve, our ancestors, have sinned before God and therefore deserves death, but He does not give us up to death, but give us a new hope and a new chance through His Son, who came upon this world as a lowly and humble man like us. The Son of God Most High incarnate as a poor man, the Son of Mary, born in a stable, though He is a King.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, our Saviour and Lord, is the Word of God, and if we read the Gospel of John, at its beginning, we note that the Word of God is with God, since the beginning of time, and this Word of God became flesh, and came upon us, in the form of Jesus, so that God’s will that mankind be saved can become a reality, just as Christ had once made God’s creation a reality.

For it is through the Word of God that creation was made, in the Book of Genesis, which gave us the account of creation, God spoke, and creation beckons, and earth with all its goodness was made, together with the entire universe, including us, mankind, which He created last. This Word of God is God’s speech, and indivisible from Him, just as the Spirit is also indivisible, and existed since the beginning of time, when the Spirit of God also floated in the nothingness that is before creation. This again prove that our God is one God, but one God with three distinct persona, but yet united as one and indivisible in perfect unity.

God created us in His own image, and we are in the likeness of God, just as Jesus incarnate as one of us, made God even closer and more personal to all of us. Then to us, to those who believe in Him, in His work of salvation through the cross, He gave us the final gift of the Most Holy Trinity, that is the Holy Spirit, the last member of the Three, who empowers us and gives us strength in our hearts, and in the case of the Apostles, gave them the courage and faith to persevere and preach the Good News to many, that many too were saved, just as all of us today are saved, brothers and sisters in Christ.

The concept of the Holy Trinity in one God is truly not easy to be understood, brethren, and it is to be so, because indeed, in our faith, there are mysteries that our human mind are unable to solve, but we should not worry about that, and neither should we try to claim that we know more than God by trying to understand the Holy Trinity more than what we know through the teachings of the Church, which are the teachings of the Apostles passed down to us, through unbroken chain of apostles and faithful disciples of the Lord throughout history.

What matters is, let the Lord remain in our hearts, and keep His presence strong in us always, remembering at all times, the love of God our creator and our Father, the saving sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Son, whom we receive frequently in the Most Holy Eucharist, through which He gave us His own flesh and blood to eat, for us to have part in Him, and in the Holy Spirit that He has given all of us who believe in Him, and who remains in our hearts, bearing much fruits of the Holy Spirit, most important of which, that is love.

Let us profess the Holy Trinity in all that we do, in all our lives, and commit ourselves to the Trinity, most easily through our use of the sign of the cross, whenever we pray, and whenever we ask the Lord for guidance. Do not be afraid to make the sign of the cross, my brothers and sisters in Christ, for the sign of the cross, that is in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, marks the saving passion of our Lord on the cross, which brought salvation to all of us, and even more so, it also highlight to all who see us, as ones who believe in the One God with Three divine natures, that is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, three persons, in one God, indivisible in perfect union of love.

May the Holy Trinity remain within our hearts always, and may all of us be strengthened with courage to profess our faith in our words, our actions, and all our dealings with all those whom we meet in our lives, that through our actions, the Holy Trinity is reflected and is shown to all those who have yet to believe in God. May God be with all of us, today, and forever more.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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Friday, 24 May 2013 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Church in China (Psalm)

Psalm 118 : 12, 16, 18, 27, 34, 35

Praise to You, o Lord; instruct me in Your statutes.

In Your laws I will rejoice and will not neglect Your words.

Open my eyes that I may see the marvelous truths in Your Law.

Explain to me all Your ordinances, and I will meditate on Your wondrous deeds.

Give me understanding, that I may observe Your Law with all my heart.

Guide me in obeying Your instructions, for my pleasure lies in them.

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Wednesday, 22 May 2013 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rita of Cascia, Religious (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard in the Gospel reading that we should not hamper the works of those, while not belonging to our group, but they work in the Holy Name of the Lord. Jesus Himself said that it is impossible for those who do not belong to Him and use His authority to be able to perform such miracles as what they had performed.

And in addition to that, I am sure that we had heard some people thinking that this means that, we do not need to belong to the Church to do the work of God, is it not? We can then just be ourselves, so long as we believe in God or some kind of greater being up there, and doing what is good in our lives, then we all can be saved, is it not? Why then bother to join the Church and be troubled by the numerous rules and regulations as laid down by the teachings of the Church?

That is because, while mankind indeed has the capacity to do good, because mankind indeed was created by God who is good, but this kind of goodness that is in them is imperfect. Without the presence of God, goodness remains just superficial, and although they may seem to be real goodness, but they lack the necessary ingredient to make them perfect, and this crucial component is none other than God.

There are those who also quote someone who said that Jesus redemption is for everyone, even for atheists. Who are atheists, my brothers and sisters? Atheists are different from agnostics in that while agnostics believe in the presence of certain superior, ‘supernatural’ being, but atheists reject the notion of this supreme being and God in its entirety.

There had been many atheistic movements rising in our societies in the past decades and centuries, like humanism, and scientific atheism. Many too are their champions, with the most prominent ones being Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, who adopted a very aggressive approach in relation to religion. Particularly Dawkins who had been very confrontational in the matter of religion and he even launched a suit to bring the Pope to trial!

Of course, atheists, agnostics, and all the people who do not yet belong to the Church are all belonging to mankind too, brethren, and they are our brothers and sisters too. Even among our own family members, our friends, our relatives and acquaintances, I am sure we will meet many of them, each with beliefs of their own.

And indeed, Jesus may indeed die on the cross in Calvary, for the sake of all mankind, including even those who had persecuted Him and His disciples, and even the chief priests and the Jewish people who had condemned Him to death and cried out for His blood. He forgave them on the cross, especially asking the Father to forgiveness because in their ignorance, the people did not know what they had done, that is killing the Messiah of the Most High God, and the Son of God Himself.

Christ forgave them, and therefore also offered His redemptive death on the cross to all of them, to those who love Him, and also to those who hated Him. Christ certainly did not choose or prefer one over the other, and offered His salvation to everyone. Remember, brethren, that all of us, His children, are equal before Him, and our ranks, our degrees matter no more before Him. But there must be a clear distinction made between redemption and salvation, and this is indeed ought to be misinterpreted by many of the people, especially those not in the Church, but even by many in the Church, especially indeed because the Pope himself had made the utterance.

Misunderstanding the teachings of the Church can be fatal, brethren, because, the Church had been the continuous font of light of Christ, since it was established by Jesus Christ Himself upon Peter, His apostle, and which grew amidst tribulations and happy times, to become the Church as we know it today. The teachings of the Church are not there just to be trifled with, and neither are the teachings to be ignored, since it has been passed down to us, by the Apostles and the early Fathers of the Church themselves, to guide us in the path of salvation.

What then, is the difference between redemption and salvation? Both of them may mean the same thing in the English language, and terms are indeed very confusing at times, but in order to make it clear, let me elaborate that, while Christ offers salvation to all mankind through His death on the cross, by the outpouring of His Most Precious Blood, the blood of the Paschal Lamb of God, but few would eventually receive Him and accept Him and the salvation that He has offered in its fullness. Fewer still, even among those who had accepted Him, would truly do His will and do what is good in His eyes. Of course not to forget, as I mentioned earlier, those who do good in their life, but do not receive Christ and did not take up the offer of salvation that Christ had freely offered to everyone.

When Christ died on the cross, His death and His blood redeems all mankind from their sins, their original sins. This is what redemption is about. Original sins are the sins that remain with us and become a taint in our soul, ever since our ancestors, the first mankind, Adam and Eve, disobeyed the Lord’s commands by falling into the devil’s temptation, and ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Therefore, when Christ died, He who came as the new Adam, to make a new covenant between God and mankind, which first had been made at creation, but broken by the rebellion of the first mankind, a new covenant was made, and Christ became the source of redemption to all mankind, all who are descended from Adam and his wife, Eve, erasing from them the taint of sin, and releasing them from the slavery of Satan.

But this is where it is important to distinguish between salvation and redemption, my brothers and sisters in Christ. Why do I keep referring to all of you as my brothers and sisters, my brethren, in Christ? In Christ because, through our baptism we have become the children of God, and we have therefore become one body, united by Christ, and this one body is our Church. Brethren, salvation is different from just redemption because, salvation requires that necessary step, that is baptism, and entry into the Church of God, which can only be done through baptism.

Why is baptism so important? Because, at baptism, we place ourselves humbly before God, and ask Him for forgiveness, and at the same time, mark ourselves with the eternal mark of baptism, which sealed us in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, essentially sealing us as a children of God in the Holy Trinity.

Therefore, brethren in Christ, if anyone who does not belong to the Church and the faith asks you, if we can just be good people and do good in this world, in the absence of God, why then do we even need to bother with joining the Church at all? Why then do we need to be Catholics and follow the teachings of the Church if we can just be good person, be a good man, and doing good to our brethren?

No, brothers and sisters in Christ, that is the first word you should tell them, and that while goodness is indeed possible for those not within the Church, as indeed Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil is it not? Therefore, they would have been able to identify what is evil from what is good, and capable therefore of doing good, just as they were able of doing what is evil. The same therefore also applies to us living in this world today.

Thus, goodness and doing good alone is not enough. That is why, while our salvation comes not from faith alone, as some would have it, but neither is our salvation from good works and service alone. Anyone can be good and does good service to the poor, to all mankind, if they wish to, but that does not give them salvation, because, although Christ redeemed them through His death on the cross, they did not accept the salvation He offered, by having faith in Him.

Neither can then, that we just have faith in Christ without doing anything good at all. Many Christians in fact are ‘do-nothing’ Christians, Sunday Christians, and passive Christians, because they do not make use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit that had been granted them. Our faith must be made alive through action, and through service that is grounded in love. Without love, we are dead, and if we do not make use of the love that is in us, and keep it to ourselves, we will also perish.

Thus, brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to step up evangelisation, to ensure that the many good people in the world out there, who does good things and service for the sake of their fellow mankind, can gain true salvation by accepting Christ as their Lord, their God, and their Saviour, through baptism, when they, like all of us once, will be sealed with the Lord’s seal of the Holy Trinity’s Name.

And of course not to forget those Christians who had grown complacent and cool in their faith, that through our action, we can reawaken the flames of the Holy Spirit once again in them, and allowing them to truly make use of the gifts they have in them, and do good things for the sake of God, and for their fellow men.

Finally, today, brothers and sisters in Christ, we also commemorate the feast of St. Rita of Cascia, a religious sister who was made a saint out of her great piety and endurance for the faith, despite being abused and hurt by her former husband before she joined the religious profession. Her life was truly exemplary to all of us, through her loving actions in ensuring that her family remained in the love of God, and her teaching of the value of forgiveness and kindness to her son. Through her actions, she made great peace between the feuding families of her hometown, which had resulted in her husband’s assassination.

St. Rita of Cascia is therefore, brethren, a perfect example of what we need to learn today, that we need both faith and good works in order to gain greatness, glory of God, and salvation. St. Rita of Cascia’s strong and inviolable faith in the Lord enabled her to endure her suffering and anchored her against the hatred and corruption of the world, and as a result, transformed those around her, and this, coupled with her numerous good works, are great examples of faith lived through action, of faith made alive and vibrant through good deeds, and not mere words and devotions.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, today, let us reflect on ourselves, whether we have already done what the Lord wants us to do, that is to fully accept Him as our Lord and God, and to accept His teachings that are reflected in the teachings of the Church, that is our faith, and whether we have already implemented this faith in the reality of the world, through service and good deeds to others. And not to forget also, that we need to accomplish the mission God has placed on us, that is to make disciples of all nations, and seal them with baptism in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity.

Remember, redemption through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross is not enough for salvation, for in that redemption, Christ freely offered Himself to us, and if we do not accept Him, we can have no part in Him, and we will be condemned, even if we have done good things in our life, because we often do it not for God, but for ourselves, for our own pride and glory. And be careful not to misinterpret the Scripture, and hence, learn the Scripture through credible and authoritative source, that is the Church. That man who performed miracles in the Name of Christ, did those miracles because he has faith in Christ, and therefore belonging to Christ, in the same way as baptism marks us as children of God, and the saved ones, so long as we also do good in the practice of our faith.

Hence, brothers and sisters in Christ, pray, and pray hard that more and more people will come and see the light of Christ, especially through our own actions, that reflect Christ, that more people who are good, and who do good things, but have yet to believe and accept Christ, can truly be saved, through the waters of baptism. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 2 May 2013 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor (Psalm)

Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 10

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name.

Proclaim His salvation day after day. Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.

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Wednesday, 17 April 2013 : 3rd Week of Easter (Psalm)

Psalm 65 : 1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a

Shout with joy to God, all you on earth; sing to the glory of His Name; proclaim His glorious praise. Say to God, “How great are Your deeds!”

All the earth bows down to You, making music in praise of You, singing in honour of Your Name. Come and see God’s wonders, His deeds awesome for humans.

He has turned the sea into dry land, and the river was crossed on foot. Let us, therefore, rejoice in Him. He rules by His might forever.