devotion of God

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Friday, 19 September 2014 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear about the followers of Jesus, and in particular, the women who followed Jesus through His ministry, some of them, who were once sinners such as Mary Magdalene, healed from her affliction of seven demons, and the wife of Herod’s steward. There were of course other women that also accompanied Jesus which were not included in what we heard today in the Gospel.

Then in the first reading today, in the letter which St. Paul wrote to the faithful and the Church in Corinth, in which he highlighted the belief in the resurrection of Jesus and why those who believe in it will not be disappointed, but will indeed receive their rich rewards at the end, when the Lord comes again in glory to save His people and bring them into the eternal glory of heaven.

Our Lord had shown us the way to escape the trap and the dangers of death, through His own glorious resurrection from the dead. He who had given up His life through suffering, bearing the weight of our sins and our original sins, had opened up a new hope and a new path for us by His rising from the dead. If Christ had indeed remained dead as other men do, then there is no hope for us. But as the facts showed it, that Christ is truly risen, and the proof is none other than in the Church.

For our Church and our faith was founded on Christ Himself, and on the truth of His resurrection from the dead, such that He had triumphed against death and evil forevermore. And upon this solid foundation the Church had remained strong even against numerous assaults and attacks the evil one had marshalled against it through the world.

The holy women who followed Jesus had forsaken their old lives of sin, and they embraced the faith in Jesus, that they placed their trust in the Saviour of all. They followed Him as they knew that He is the One who would save them from their fate that was death and brought them into a new life in God. And that was what Jesus exactly had done unto them, as He brought them from the depths of their sins into new life filled with the joy and love of Christ.

And those who placed their trust in Jesus will not be disappointed indeed, for He had promised all His faithful ones, that He will raise all of us up on the last day, when He will judge us among the righteous ones and receive our due reward. God never disappoints, brethren, because it is in fact we are the ones who always disappoint our Lord, through our rebelliousness and disobedience, and through our unwillingness to listen to Him.

Today, we also celebrate the feast of St. Januarius, a bishop and martyr of the faith, whose life and examples would truly inspire us to put our trust in the Lord and believe in Him totally and completely without any doubt. St. Januarius, also known as San Gennaro, was the Bishop of the Diocese of Naples, which covers the modern day city of Naples, and the famous devotion to his miraculous event takes place there every year.

At the Cathedral of Naples, there exists a holy relic of St. Januarius, which consists of a vial filled with his blood, which has congealed and hardened throughout the long time since his death over seventeen centuries ago. This vial of blood liquefies exactly at every celebration of the saint’s feast day, that is this day, the nineteenth day of September.

St. Januarius himself lived during the late era Roman Empire, at the time when being a faithful is difficult, as challenges and persecutions against them were rampant. Nevertheless, St. Januarius continued to faithfully serve His beloved people, and guided them as their shepherd on their way towards their loving Lord and God. He lived on through the worst years of what is to be known as the Diocletian persecutions, after the Emperor who had persecuted the people of God at that time.

St. Januarius continued to minister to the people of God, even those who had been imprisoned, despite the obvious dangers to himself. He did them out of his great love for God and for His sheep, who had been entrusted to his care as the Bishop. He was indeed eventually captured and imprisoned, and then martyred for his faith. Indeed, though, the Lord never abandons those who are faithful to Him, as He granted this holy and devoted man a place in heaven, and miracles abounded after his death through his holy relics.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the examples of St. Januarius remind us to keep our faith strongly in the Lord and make sure that we practice them in our lives, despite whatever the world is plotting against us. St. Januarius showed us that as the faithful ones of God, we should be courageous in proclaiming our faith in the Lord Jesus, the One and True God, who had died for us and through whose resurrection He had made us whole once again.

May Almighty God therefore continue to bless us this day, and strengthen our faith, so that we may walk in the footsteps of St. Januarius and the other holy saints, in following Jesus our Lord and Saviour, bringing the Good News of salvation to many, so that they too can be saved and together, with all the saints and angels of heaven, praise our Lord together as one people, and one Church. Amen.

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Tuesday, 25 March 2014 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Today is the celebration of the Annunciation of our Lord, that is the moment when it was announced to His mother Mary, that she is to bear the Saviour of the world within her. The Archangel Gabriel came to her to announce to her the Good News. Mary accepted the role she was to play in the salvation of the world.

And the moment she accepted her role, by her own words that she as the handmaid of the Lord obeyed all the will of God, then everything fell into place, and Mary became the Mother of God from then on. That was also the moment when Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, upon the acceptance of Mary.

That is why today is chosen by the Church to represent and celebrate the Annunciation, because today, 25 March, is exactly nine months before Christmas, the day when Jesus our Lord was born. Nine months is the time that a baby is in gestation within the womb of the mother. So today, we mark the beginning of our journey of expectation of the Lord at Christmas.

And now we are also progressing through Lent, as we prepare ourselves to remember and celebrate the most holy week in our year, the Holy Week, when Jesus went through the most important moments in His ministry, as He revealed His salvation to all mankind. This we also remember, and we recall His promise, that He will come again a second time, this time to bring eternal happiness to all for good.

Thus, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us heed the lessons we can gain from the Annunciation, in the devotion and obedience that Mary showed through her honest and pious answer to the Lord and in the obedience she showed to Him when the angel broke the news to her that she is to bear a Child, and therefore tp bear a huge responsibility.

But obedience and faithfulness are often not in the list of things that we do. We often follow our desires and thoughts more than recognising and following the Lord and His commandments. And it is very often for us to just pay a kind of lip-service to the Lord in our observation of the faith.

Simple example is, how many of us when we go for Mass, are actually there fully because we want to be with God, and that we want to spend time with Him in prayer and togetherness? How many of us attend the Mass meaningfully and seriously? Do we come to the Mass to seek the Lord? Or do we do so because we want to chit-chat with our friends or to look for someone in the congregation?

Yes, brethren, even something as simple as attending the Mass can be a chore to us if we are not solid in our faith and devotion to God. That is where we can learn from the Mother of our God, in her faith and solid confidence in God, that she accepted the role that had been entrusted to her, to be the bearer of the Saviour, the Christ.

Let us not be like king Ahaz or those like the Pharisees in their faith. Their faith was not genuine and true because although outwardly in words they mentioned and talked about obeying God, but inside their heart they have no God inside of them. They are like empty cans, looking good still on the outside, but inside they are really empty and unsightly.

Our faith in God cannot be like this, brethren, because we have to be sincere and genuine in our devotion, and that means, firstly we have to put our trust in God, but we also have to walk the talk, that is we have to practice our faith and make it living. We cannot just pay lip service to God, but we have to take the initiative and be proactive.

Let us all, brothers and sisters, keep this in mind that Jesus will come again, just as He had come before into this world. So, when He comes again, can we show to Him that our faith is genuine? Can we show Him that we obey the Lord and His commandments as His mother did? If we do so, and are able to show such things, then we will be fine.

May the Lord, whose coming is announced on this day of the Annunciation, continue to guide us, so that we may always walk in His path, never turning left or right. Amen.