defender of the faith

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Friday, 7 August 2015 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Matthew 16 : 24-28

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If you want to follow Me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me. For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life for My sake will find it. What will one gain by winning the whole world if he destroys his soul? There is nothing you can give to get back your soul.”

“Know that the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with the holy angels, and He will reward each one according to his deeds. Truly, I tell you, there are some here who will not die, before they see the Son of Man coming as King.”

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Friday, 7 August 2015 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Psalm 76 : 12-13, 14-15, 16 and 21

I remember the deeds of the Lord; I recall His marvels of old. I meditate on all Your work, and consider Your mighty deeds.

Your way, o God, is most holy. Is there any god greater than You, our God? You alone are the God who works wonders, who has made known His power to the nations.

With power You have redeemed Your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. You led Your people as a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

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Friday, 7 August 2015 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs, and St. Cajetan, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Deuteronomy 4 : 32-40

Moses said, “Ask of the times past. Inquire from the day when God created man on earth. Ask from one end of this world to the other : Has there ever been anything as extraordinary as this? Has anything like this been heard of before? Has there ever been a people who remained alive after hearing as you did the voice of the living God from the midst of the fire?”

“Never has there been a God who went out to look for a people and take them out from among the other nations by the strength of trials and signs, by wonders and by war, with a firm hand and an outstretched arm. Never has there been any deed as tremendous as those done for you by YHVH in Egypt, which you saw with your own eyes.”

“You saw this that you might know that YHVH is God and that there is no other besides Him. He let you hear His voice from heaven that you might fear Him; on earth He let you see His blazing fire and from the midst of the fire you heard His word.”

“Because of the love He had for your fathers, He chose their descendants after them, and He Himself made you leave Egypt with His great power. He expelled before you peoples more numerous and stronger than you, and He has made you occupy their land : today He has given this to you as an inheritance.”

“Therefore, try to be convinced that YHVH is the only God of heaven and earth, and that there is no other. Observe the laws and the commandments that I command you today, and everything will be well with you and your children after you. So you will live long in the land which YHVH, your God, gives you forever.”

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Friday, 19 June 2015 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s readings tie very closely to the lives of the saints and martyrs whose memory we are celebrating today. As such, the readings spoke about being the servants and followers of God, and what is to be expected of us, and how we ought to live our lives so that we may remain faithful and true to the Lord our God.

In the first reading today, St. Paul spoke of how he had encountered many oppositions and difficulties along the way, and how he had suffered many tribulations and torture at the hands of his enemies, rejection, been spitted on, lashed with ropes, imprisoned, and many other forms of inhuman torture which also unfortunately were the fate of many other Christians at the time.

And if we notice, Christians throughout time, even until today, including what the recent events had shown us, still encounter the same if not even worse persecution and torture. When we stand up for our faith, indeed there will be those who disagree, because they have rejected the truth which can be found only in the Lord our God.

But in the Gospel today, Jesus comforted all of us, by saying that we indeed ought to stand up for the faith and the truth. He spoke of seeking not earthly treasures but heavenly ones, and this is implying that we should not settle for the happiness and good things that can be found in the world, but we must strive for greater things, that is the true joy that only God can give, even though the world may disapprove of us.

The earthly treasures Jesus spoke of were the approval of the world, the pleasures of the world, money, wealth and possessions, sexual lust and pleasures, greed and human desires, fame, human praise and many others that we should all know about. Meanwhile, the heavenly treasures that God spoke of is the true joy and happiness that do not end, even to the end of time and beyond, for we will forever live in perfect harmony with the Lord our God.

This is exactly what the martyr saints of Vietnam, St. Philip Minh and his many companions in martyrdom had also done. They chose to remain true to their faith in God, despite the threat of persecution, torture, suffering and death by the authorities at the time, which was intensely against the Church and the Faith spreading in the country of Vietnam.

The government tried to persuade the faithful to abandon their faith, some even by offering them money, property, as well as opportunities for work and promotion in the social strata, so that they hopefully might be persuaded to abandon their faith in God and embrace what the government had provided them. But many refused to accept all these, as they fully knew that to do so means to trade the eternal and true wealth they had received and assured by the Lord, for the temporary and illusory pleasures and joy of the world.

The same thing had also been done by the Apostles and the disciples of Christ, and many of the members of the early Church, when they were faced with the oppression and persecution of the world. And even until today, many still faced persecution by the world because of their faith in the One, True God as the world is opposed to Christ and to His truth. This is why the faithful suffer such great persecutions for their faith.

May the examples of the saints and martyrs, especially that of St. Philip Minh and his companions, the Vietnamese Martyrs, be an inspiration to all of us on this day and beyond, to live our lives faithfully, so that we may truly seek the true treasures which await us in heaven despite the challenges that will come our way, rather than settling for the temporary treasures of this world that will inevitably cause us to lose forever our eternal inheritance and a prelude to eternal suffering. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 19 June 2015 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 6 : 19-23

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Do not store up treasures for yourself here on earth, where moth and rust destroy it, and where thieves can steal it. Store up treasures for yourself with God, where no moth or rust can destroy it, nor thief come and steal it.”

“For where your treasures is, there also your heart will be. The lamp of the body is the eye; if your eyes are sound, your whole body will be in the light. If your eyes are diseased, your whole body will be in darkness. Then, if your light has become darkness, how dark will be the darkest part of you!”

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Friday, 19 June 2015 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 33 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

I will bless the Lord all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.

Oh, let us magnify the Lord, together let us glorify His Name! I sought the Lord, and He answered me; from all my fears He delivered me.

They who look to Him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame. When the poor cry out, the Lord hears and saves them from distress.

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Friday, 19 June 2015 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Philip Minh, Priest and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Corinthians 11 : 18, 21b-30

As some people boast of human advantages, I will do the same. But if others are so bold, I shall also dare, although I may speak like a fool. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? (I begin to talk like a madman) I am better than they.

Better than they with my numerous labours. Better than they with the time spent in prison. The beatings I received are beyond comparison. How many times have I found myself in danger of death! Five times the Jews sentenced me to thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with a rod, once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, and once I spent a night and a day adrift on the high seas.

I have been continually in hazards of travelling because of rivers, because of bandits, because of my fellow Jews, or because of the pagans; in danger in the city, in the open country, at sea; in danger from false brothers. I have worked and often laboured without sleep, I have been hungry and thirsty and starving, cold and without shelter.

Besides these and other things, there was my daily concern for all the churches. Who is weak that I do not feel weak as well? Whoever stumbles, am I not on hot bricks? If it is necessary to boast, let me proclaim the occasions on which I was found weak.

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Wednesday, 3 June 2015 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how two people in different places, both suffering from the depredations of evil and troubles of the world, namely Tobit and Sara, both were so distressed after having been harassed by others around them, on top of their suffering which they have endured all the while. Tobit and his blindness and the criticisms others placed on his charitable works, and Sara with the problem of her deceased seven husbands because of the vile works of the demon Asmodeus.

The Gospel today spoke about the resistance which Jesus encountered from the Sadducees, one of the two major groups in the society of the people of Israel at the time, one of the two influential parties that were involved in the governance of the people of God. The Sadducees were the ones who were close to the positions of secular power if not the holders of the secular power themselves.

They were a pragmatic group of people, who thought with reason and thinking in terms of facts and proofs, that just like what we know with science today, these people refused to believe in something if they were unable to explain it, or feel it, or witness it directly with their own senses. Thus they did not believe in the angels, or any spirits, or in the resurrection of the dead.

This was the opposite of the other group, the Pharisees, who believed in all of them, and as a matter of fact, was equally extreme in their views as the Sadducees had theirs. The Pharisees were ultra-orthodox in their views on the faith, and they were very strict in their observations of the Law, while if we look at the Sadducees, they were almost atheist in nature. And it was against the Sadducees that Jesus stood up against in the Gospel today.

The Sadducees were too engrossed and attached to worldliness and think in terms of the world to be able to appreciate and understand the true nature of men. They were those people who live only for themselves, filled with selfishness. They could not comprehend life beyond this world, and therefore they also likely feared death, because death means the separation from the goodness of this world, and it is the ultimate uncertainty for them.

But the truth and the fact is that death is merely just the transition in our lives, between the imperfect life we have now in this world, and the life in the world that is to come, the perfect life no longer marred by sin and darkness of the world. Instead of fearing it, we should rather embrace it instead. God always sends reminders after reminders to us, to keep us straight in the path of this life, that we may ever be faithful and true to the end.

And in the first reading, we are shown this by the example of the healing of Tobit from his blindness and the exorcism of Asmodeus who had troubled the household of Sara. The Lord heard their respective prayers and sent the Archangel Raphael to heal them from their afflictions and troubles. This is one proof of the work of God which He had done through His angels, which the Sadducees did not believe in.

God works in mysterious ways, including what He had done with Tobit and Sara, and if we read more thoroughly the Book of Tobit, then we would now how wonderful God’s plans are, which God made real and tangible through the Archangel Raphael. We are reminded that there are many things that we may not understand, but all we need to do is to keep that faith we have in the Lord and God will reveal to us and teach us everything we need to know.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions, martyrs of the Faith, who were martyred for their faith in the country now known as Uganda. He was once a servant and confidant of the king of his country, who heard about the teaching of the true Faith by the missionaries, and then when he and others who have converted refused to recant their faith, their deaths were ordered by the king.

The courage and devotion of St. Charles Lwanga and his fellow companions in faith and martyrdom is a clear reminder for us that while the true teachings of the faith is with us now, and while we receive the same faith which the saints have received, but just as Jesus was opposed at every corners by various factions, including the Sadducees as we heard today, then we too will inevitably meet challenges along the way too.

Then in that case, are we going to just give in and conform to the views of others around us? Tobit and Sara were also mocked and humiliated many times for what they have done, and for having kept the faith, and at times they were so distraught and pressured so as to be so desperate, that Sara once even thought of taking her own life, but they persevered on, and they remained faithful.

God cares for all those who remain true to Him and He preserves all those who cling to Him faithfully, as He had shown through what He had done to Tobit and Sara. He blessed them, healed them and gave them far more than what they had lost. The same He had also done to Job, the suffering but faithful servant of God.

Let us all therefore, inspired also by the examples of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions, tortured and killed for their faith but raised to the glory of heaven, that we too may do our best to be righteous in the eyes of the Lord and remain true to our faith in Him in all the things we do. Amen.

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Wednesday, 3 June 2015 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 12 : 18-27

At that time, the Sadducees also came to Jesus. Since they claim that there is no resurrection, they questioned Him in this way, “Master, in the Scriptures Moses gave us this law : If anyone dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must take the woman, and with her have a baby, who will be considered as the child of his deceased brother.”

“Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children. The second took the wife, and he also died leaving no children. The same thing happened to the third. In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.”

Jesus replied, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry, but are like the angels in heaven. Now, about the resurrection of the dead, have you never had thoughts about the burning bush in the book of Moses? God said to Moses : I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. He is the God not of the dead but of the living. You are totally wrong.”

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Wednesday, 3 June 2015 : 9th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 24 : 2-3, 4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9

In You my God I trust; let me not be put to shame, let not my enemies exult over me. Those who hope in You will never be humbled; those who turn away from You will suffer disgrace!

Teach me Your ways, o Lord; make known to me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and instruct me, for You are my God, my Saviour; I hope in You all day long.

Remember Your compassion, o Lord, Your unfailing love from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, but in Your love remember me.

Good and upright, the Lord teaches sinners His way. He teaches the humble of heart and guides them in what is right.