divine help

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Tuesday, 2 September 2014 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 144 : 8-9, 10-11, 12-13ab, 13cd-14

Compassionate and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in love. The Lord is good to everyone; His mercy embraces all His creation.

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your power.

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endures from generation to generation.

The Lord is true to His promises and lets His mercy show in all He does. The Lord lifts up those who are falling and raises those who are beaten down.

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Sunday, 31 August 2014 : 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the readings from the Holy Scriptures today all had a single and most important meaning as well as purpose, that is to remind us that, in all things and in all that happen in our lives, they are not within our control, and in everything, we should defer to the will of God, that is what God wanted for us to do in this life.

Brethren, God always means well for us, even when often it does not seem as such. That was exactly why the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading we heard today, while he grumbled for the difficulties, challenges and persecutions he faced, he eventually acknowledged that the Lord and His will had him in the best interest, and that God continued to help and support him amidst all the challenges, and thus Jeremiah continued on to preach the word of God to the people of Judah.

And St. Paul in the second reading, in his letter addressed to the Church in Rome, the great Apostle urged the people there to listen to and heed the will of God, understanding what the Lord wanted from them rather than following the ways and the norms of the world, which were filled with wickedness and injustice unworthy of God’s chosen peoples in the Church. And he also urged the people to live and bound themselves to God’s great mercy, making themselves a favourable sacrifice in heart and prayer to Him.

And lastly we heard how Jesus rebuked Satan, who entered Peter’s heart, to remind both St. Peter and all of us, by our listening and understanding of the message of that encounter, of the need and importance for us to follow and obey the will of God in all things. St. Peter commented on how Jesus should not have said that He would suffer persecution and rejection in Jerusalem by the Pharisees and the chief priests, because he was afraid and fear filled his heart.

And the same applied to us all, brethren, because we all also often feel fear and are afraid of many things. We are easily concern about many aspects of our own well-being, as we mankind are by our nature selfish. And the many things in this world served to fuel our insecurities further, often leading us to carry out deeds and works that often benefit ourselves but disadvantage and even hurt others. Often, this means that we are also frequently disadvantaged by others when others acted in self-preservation out of the same fear.

Some fears that we have, be it we are rich or poor, weak or strong, young or old are the fear of death, the fear of suffering and pain, the fear of loss of properties and material goods, and many others. We are insecure over these, and it is easy for us to think that when times are difficult, when things do not go our way, and when someone who loved are lost through various means, be it old age or even unexpected events such as accidents, we often feel such despair and anger in us over the loss that we often think and even say, where is God in all these?

Yes, brethren, it is very easy for us to blame God and put the fault at Him for such apparent ‘neglect’ of His beloved creations. However, this is because many of us did not understand the nature of God and the nature of our relationship with the Lord. If we look into our lives, we can often see that we frequently overlook the presence of God in our lives, and we often only turn to Him whenever we are in dire strait and in trouble. And many of us misunderstood our relationship with our Lord, thinking and expecting that the Lord will ‘listen’ to our petitions, prayers or even whining and demands.

That is because for many of us, prayer to God is nothing more than a litany of requests and even demands, which we bombard the Lord with, with the familiar, constant and ubiquitous phrases of ‘Lord I want that…’, ‘Lord I wish for…’, ‘Lord, please do something…’, ‘Lord, give me…’ and other similar phrases, without giving a chance for the Lord to speak to us in our hearts.

Yes, as we all should know, the essence of prayer is not for us to bombard the Lord with all these. We did these exactly because we feel insecure and fearful, and we think that God is someone who can just fulfill and admit all of our wishes. But He is not our slave nor our servant, in the sense that we can just order Him around for anything. On the other hand, we are the ones who actually should live according to what God wants from us, and yet many of us failed to do so.

We have to realise that we live in this world not just for ourselves, and we have to live with one another in faith, peace and love. We have to learn that the true meaning of prayer is for us to open our hearts and all sorts of our senses to the Lord, who will then converse with us in the silence of our hearts, in the deepest part of our selves, which we have often overlooked and forgot, in the midst of all the things we are so concerned about in life.

God is always there for us, and He always watches over us. He wants to speak to us all the time, and yet we always find our excuse or pretend to be ignorant, refusing to listen to His words. We always think that God does not listen to us, or that He does not care for or love us, and we even think that He had abandoned us to the forces arrayed against us, but we often never stop to think that the Lord is always with us and around us, and it is we who have often shut ourselves from. His care and love.

We are surely familiar with the story of someone who walked in the beach, on the seashore, where he walked with God. There were two sets of footsteps, one that belonged to the man and one that belonged to the Lord. Then the man encountered great difficulties in life and he suffered from it. He looked at the footsteps and realised that there was only one footstep there. The man complained and protested against God, alleging that God had abandoned him and did not care for him.

When the Lord asked him what he thought, he presented the evidence of the one set of footsteps to accuse the Lord of leaving him back there alone during his time of troubles. But the Lord patiently and lovingly told the man, that when the man was in his most difficult moments, the Lord carried the man on His own shoulders, and thus the footsteps that the man saw, actually belonged to the Lord who carried and guided the man in his difficulty, even without him knowing it.

Thus, brothers and sisters, learning from the Scriptures which we have heard today, and what we have reflected and pondered on this day, we have to keep always in our hearts. First, we mankind cannot presume what is in God’s mind, and we have to learn to trust in the Lord, as whatever He has for us in His will and mind, it is the best of the best for us. Second, we have to always trust in His providence and love for us, as God is always with us and He will never leave us even for a moment, and in fact it is men who left Him first.

And lastly, we all have to know that to follow the Lord means that challenges, difficulties and persecutions from the world and all in it will be part and parcel of our lives. What we need to do is to carry our cross and follow the Lord, as Jesus Himself said. If Christ had suffered and was rejected by the world, we who are part of Christ as His disciples and servants are bound to suffer in the same way as well.

Jesus told us to get rid of from our hearts all desires of self-preservation, selfishness itself and seek to be upright and righteous in all things. If we do so, we will save our souls, as the Lord who sees all and who knows all will reward us for our hard works. And we ought to do this by showing love, care and concern for our fellow men.

Those who are so concerned for themselves, fearing the loss of their properties, their other concerns in life will be paralysed by that fear, or act in ways that hurt or disadvantage others, and the Lord who sees this, will cast them out of His presence into eternal damnation, and hence, saving the world and their glory in the world but losing their soul for eternity.

We can do our part, brethren, by changing our lives if we have not done so, or do even better if we have indeed done as the Lord had taught us. Be courageous to defend the weak and the oppressed, and be courageous to defend our faith as well. Live our faith consciously and actively by loving acts and dedications to our brethren around us, especially those who are in need. And lastly, keep a good, vibrant and healthy prayer life, spending time with God whenever we are able to. And in our prayers, keeping silent and focused on the Lord, so that He may speak in our heart and that we may then know His will for us.

May Almighty God bless us, protect us and be with us always as He had always been all this time. May His light shine upon us that we may find our way to Him and may all souls in this world be saved, by following the only God and Saviour Lord, Jesus Christ, Saviour of all mankind. Let us all also bear our crosses of suffering in this life together, that in the end, the Lord may transformed those crosses into the crosses of His glory and power. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Bartholomew the Apostle (Double II Classis) – Sunday, 24 August 2014 : Introit and Collect

Introit

Psalm 67 : 6-7, 36, 2

Deus in loco sancto suo : Deus qui inhabitare facit unanimes in domo : ipse dabit virtutem et fortitudinem plebi suae.

Exsurgat Deus, et dissipentur inimici ejus et fugiant, qui oderunt eum, a facie ejus.

Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

God in His holy place. God who made men of one mind to dwell in a house. He shall give power and strength to His people.

Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered, and let them who hate Him flee from before His face.

Response : 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.

Collect

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui, abundantia pietatis Tuae, et merita supplicum excedis et vota : effunde super nos misericordiam Tuam; ut dimittas quae conscientia metuit, et adjicias quod oratio non praesumit. Per Dominum…

English translation

Almighty and eternal God, who in the abundance of Your loving kindness, exceeded both the deserts and the hopes of Your suppliants, pour forth Your mercy upon us, to take away from us those things which our conscience feared, and to add that which our prayer presumed not to ask. Through our Lord…

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Sunday, 24 August 2014 : 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Lay Apostolate Sunday (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard of the Lord and all the truth about Him, which Peter His Apostle proclaimed about Him. Yes, that Jesus is truly the Lord of all, the very Son of the living God and the promised Saviour which many prophets had proclaimed for many ages. And it is this truth that we also believe in, and this is essentially what our faith is all about, that is about we believing in Jesus as the Son of God, He who is the Word made flesh, and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary to be our Saviour.

And today we ought to look at the example of Peter, the disciple of Christ who courageously and without doubt, proclaimed the truth about Christ, that He is the One whom the people of God had awaited for, for a very long time and yet they failed to recognise Him when He came into the world. Some thought He was one of the prophets and some even considered Him as a fraud and an outcast, such as the Pharisees, the elders and the teachers of the Law who were always against Jesus and His works no matter where He went to.

Today we celebrate with the whole Church, the occasion of the Lay Apostolate Sunday, in which we commemorate the role of the laity in the Church of God, and what the laity are expected to do, as part of their role and contribution towards evangelisation and the growth of the Church through the spreading of the Good News of the Holy Gospels.

First we have to understand what is meant by the term laity, which in fact refers to the people of God in the Church who are not part of the group of those who had been ordained to the sacred priesthood or to totally devoted life in religious professions and vocations. The laity or as they are also called the laypeople formed the bulk of the members of the Body of the Church of God.

So what can the laity do as part of the Church, in order to bring forth the truth of the Lord to all the nations? That is why today we celebrate this Lay Apostolate Sunday, for indeed the laity has many things they can do on their hands to help the priests and all the other servants of the Lord, contributing in various ways to help the Church of God, be it in terms of time, money, or other forms of dedications for the good of the faithful.

The priests we have with us today are the successors of the faithful disciples of the Lord, the numerous servants of the Lord since the early days of the Church. And our bishops and popes are the successors of the Apostles of the Lord, who passed on their teaching and healing authority to them through a continuous succession of bishops across the many ages of the past.

But they and their predecessors did not work alone, and the laity, namely the non-ordained members of the Church in their various parts and professions contributed greatly to the efforts of evangelisation and survival of the Church and the faith. Many of the early Church martyrs were of the laity, who in their staunch defense of the faith did not allow themselves to be tempted by the lure of worldly vanities and temptations. They would rather lose their life rather than losing their faith in God.

We have to remember the efforts and the hard work of the laity of the bygone days and strive not to fall on our way towards the Lord. We have to follow in the footsteps of many holy men and women who had gone before us to the Lord, both of the laity and those of the ordained alike. We are an integral part of the Church, and through our actions and our help, we can bring our fellow brethren who are still living in darkness, ever closer to the light of God.

All of us had been called, and some of us may eventually take up the vocations and dedicate ourselves wholly to the Lord to join the priesthood or those others who devoted themselves completely to God. Many of us will remain in our usual life in this world, carrying on what we have always done while remaining faithful to the Lord and to the orthodox teachings and values of the Church. And it is our duty in this increasingly difficult time for the faith, to shore up the defenses of our faith together and help each other to persevere against the increasing persecution of the faithful by the forces of Satan and his allies.

We must be like Peter, who courageously proclaimed his faith and belief in God, and although his faith was shaky at first, even denying Jesus when He was brought in for trial and betrayed by His own people, but Peter persevered on, and eventually he proclaimed his faith and undying devotion to Jesus, who duly therefore made him the one in charge of His flock on this entire world, to lead His holy Church.

Our faith too, is often like that of Peter in the beginning, shaky and uncertain, and we can often be tempted by the temptations of the devil and sin so that we veer away from the way to the Lord. However, this is in fact part and parcel of our role as a member of the Church of God. Temptations and persecutions will definitely be on our way, and it will never be an easy path for us to seek and reach for the Lord.

But we cannot give up, as St. Peter and many other of the faithful had done across the ages. Many of the laity contributed much to keep the faith amidst even the greatest of persecutions. The people worked together to spread the Word of God through good works and testimonies of their faith. They spoke with many, and showed the love of God through their charities, and in doing so, they made many to turn towards the Lord and atone for their sins.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we come together to celebrate with the Lord the Sacrifice He had done on the cross for us, we have to be mindful of the part we ought to play in the Church’s works to spread the Good News and in the salvation of mankind. We have our part to play, brothers and sisters, and we should dedicate as much time and effort as possible to help one another and especially those who are still lost in the darkness.

May on this occasion of the Lay Apostolate Sunday awaken in us the spirit of courage and strength to be the bearers of the Good News to others, working hand in hand with the ordained ministers and servants of the Lord, for the good of all of us and all of our fellow brethren in the world. May God bless our endeavours and shine His light upon us. Amen.

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Monday, 11 August 2014 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard of a very relevant passage from the Holy Scriptures and the Gospels. We heard how a people in bondage and slavery is given a new hope, where the darkness and the chains that bound them were proven to be loose-able, and mankind gained a new hope in God.

In the first reading, we heard about the calling of Ezekiel by God in the land of exile, in Babylon where some of the people had been brought to when the king Nebuchadnezzar first invaded Judah and Jerusalem. He was called from among the group of exiled people of Judah, a people enslaved by war and conquest, and a people without hope under the chains of the Babylonians.

Yet, God made Ezekiel to be His servant and spokesperson to the people in exile and to the future generations, giving them new hope in life and assurance that God is on their side. In the Gospel today, Jesus explicitly mentioned when He spoke to Peter on the matter of paying taxes, that we are the children of God, and to those of us who are true children of God we are given special privileges as the children of our loving Father.

Jesus mentioned that the children of those who tax the people, namely the kings and rulers, need not pay the tax by common sense and rationale. That means those princes and the family members of the rulers do not need to pay the taxes because they belong to the group of those with power and wealth, and thus instead of paying taxes, they truly should be the ones who receive the taxes from the people.

In that sense, therefore, because we are children of the Most High God, Lord of all lords and King of all kings, Master of everything that exist in this Universe, we need not be bound or answer to any other powers and forces, except that of our Lord and Father of course. He is the only One whom we should be obedient to, and the only One whom we should listen to, and not any forces of this world, and definitely not Satan, the father of corruption and evil.

And yet why are we still bound by the laws of this world and obey the statutes of our countries and nations? Why are we then still bound to the earthly rules established by the rulers of this world, our leaders and rulers? It is the exact same reason as why Jesus mentioned in the Gospel, that in order not to incite outrage and opposition from the masses, the sons and relatives of kings and rulers also have to obey and pay their share of the taxes.

And thus, we all, as the children of God, do still have the need to obey the laws and statutes of this world. But we have to always remember that in doing so, we must always use our faith in God and our conscience as guidance. We must never obey those that come in direct opposition to the laws and statutes of the Lord. Obey and be faithful citizens, but we have to be children of God first before considering ourselves as children of this world.

God is our light and our guide in the darkness of this world. Indeed, there are many moments when we can easily fall into despair, such as when we are persecuted or hated because of something, especially if it is because of our faith. But as the Lord showed Ezekiel, that everything that are arrayed against us, they are all nothing compared to the infinite and great majesty and power of our God.

God had given us Jesus, His own Son to be our Saviour and Redeemer. He is the One whom we can trust and place ourselves to. There is no other option for us other than to follow the Lord whenever we lose our way in this world. We must seek the Lord and find Him, and even in greatest despair and sorrow, we must never lose hope because Christ is our hope and our light.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Clare, the founder of the Clarist religious order, also known as the Order of Poor Ladies, much inspired by the Franciscan order of St. Francis of Assisi, a contemporary of St. Clare, also known as St. Clare of Assisi. The religious order she founded became the female counterpart of the Franciscan tradition, and over the years they worked together to bring much goodness to the people of God.

St. Clare was born into a rich and privileged background, and she was destined to be married off to another rich man and heir of other Italian noblemen and wealthy peoples, and yet, God had another plan for St. Clare. St. Clare was very devoted and faithful to God since when she was still very young, and she was adamantly opposed to any plans to marry her off to a rich suitor. She ended up running away from home and sought refuge with St. Francis of Assisi.

St. Clare then devoted herself fully in prayer and to the works related to her religious order, and together with her sisters in service to God, they served the people who are poor and weak, those who are marginalised and bring them new hope in life. She was also well known for her defense of her convent, when an invading force by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II was about to ransack the place.

With the monstrance containing the Holy Eucharist inside lifted high above her head, she repelled the invaders, who were scattered in great fear by a blinding light that came out from the Real Presence in the Eucharist. This is a sign of God’s devotion to mankind, to release them from their bonds, just as He released St. Clare from her bonds in her family, Ezekiel and the exiles of Israel from their Babylonian exile and slavery, and eventually all of mankind from the slavery of sin through the loving sacrifice of Jesus, His Son.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, inspired by the life and works of St. Clare, we all should from now on put our complete trust in God. We should no longer doubt Him but believe in Him completely, that in Him we have our hope, and our only hope against the forces of darkness and evil arrayed against us, seeking to bind us with the chains of sin, in order to drag us with them into hell.

Therefore, let us all put our trust in God, and strengthen our faith in Him. Let us all no longer fear Satan and his darkness, for God is with us, and He will always be with us, and His light will dispel the darkness of our sins. What we need to do now is to truly repent, change our ways and follow Him. God be with us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 August 2014 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Xystus II/Pope St. Sixtus II, Pope and Companions, Martyrs and St. Cajetan, Priest (First Reading)

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

Jeremiah 31 : 31-34

The time is coming – it is YHVH who speaks – when I will forge a new covenant with the people of Israel and the people of Judah. It will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. For they broke My covenant although I was their Lord.

This is the covenant I shall make with Israel after that time : I will put My Law within them and write it on their hearts; I will be their God and they will be My people. And they will not have to teach each other, neighbour or brother, saying : ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the greatest to the lowliest, for I will forgive their wrongdoing and no longer remember their sin.

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Tuesday, 5 August 2014 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica)

Jeremiah 30 : 1-2, 12-15, 18-22

This is another word that came to Jeremiah from YHVH : YHVH, God of Israel says, “Write in a book all that I have communicated to you. YHVH says, ‘Your wound is incurable, your injury is grievous. There is no one to plead your cause. There is a remedy for an ulcer but no healing for you!'”

“‘All your lovers have forgotten you; they care nothing for you. For I struck you as an enemy does, with a cruel punishment, because of your great guilt and the wickedness of your sin. Why cry out now that you are hurt? Is there no cure for your pain? Because of your great crime and grievous sin I have done this to you.'”

YHVH says, “I will restore My people into Jacob’s tents and have pity on his dwellings. The city will be rebuilt over its ruins and the palace restored on its proper place. From them will come songs of praise and the sound of merrymaking.”

“I will multiply them and they shall not be few. I will bestow honour and on them and they shall not be despised. Their children will be as before and their community will be established before Me. I will ask their oppressors to account.”

“Their leader will be one of themselves, their ruler shall emerge from their midst. I will bring Him close to Me for who would dare to approach Me? You shall be My people and I shall be your God.”

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Revelations 21 : 1-5a

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth had passed away and no longer was there any sea. I saw the new Jerusalem, the holy city coming down from God, out of heaven, adorned as a bride prepared for her husband.

A loud voice came from the throne, “Here is the dwelling of God among mortals : He will pitch His tent among them and they will be His people. He will be God-with-them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death or mourning, crying out or pain, for the world that was has passed away.”

The One seated on the throne said, “See, I make all things new.”

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Monday, 4 August 2014 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear in the Old Testament, about the false testimony of Hananiah, the false prophet, who claimed to represent the voice and will of God by telling sweet lies to the people to lull them into a false sense of security and laxity in their behaviour. In the Gospel, meanwhile, we heard the story of when Jesus came to the disciples in a storm at the middle of the lake, to the disbelief of the disciples.

The two stories were seemingly unrelated, but in fact they all are about how we mankind often have little faith in the Lord, and that we prefer to put our trust on earthly things that can often only provide temporary and not a lasting comfort to us. Both of them tell us how if we have little faith, we will sink and fall into the darkness, and therefore end up in agony.

The false prophet Hananiah spoke falsely about the Lord and His will, pretending that the Lord tolerated the wickedness of His people, while the truth was in fact He disdained such wickedness and debauchery among His people. For your knowledge, the time when this happened was when the kingdom of Judah, the southern kingdom of Israel was in the last bit of its life under king Zedekiah, destined to be the last ever king of Judah.

The power of the king of Babylon, what is now known as the Neo-Babylonian Empire under the great king Nebuchadnezzar, who brought that Empire to great prominence. This king conquered many nations, including the Assyrian Empire that had once brought the northern kingdom of Israel to its destruction. And the Neo-Babylonian Empire did not stop there, but continued to expand and seek to conquer more, and their sights came to Judah.

The kingdom of Judah at that time was little more than that of a small kingdom cowering at the power of its neighbours, particularly that of Babylon, after having put to the mercy of its power just a few years earlier when King Nebuchadnezzar attacked the city, and ransacked the Temple, bringing the king of Judah, Jehoiachin and many of the people of God to Babylon. Jehoiachin was the nephew of Zedekiah, and the penultimate king of Judah.

It is against this backdrop that the two prophets clashed to gain the trust of the people, and to gain their attention over what was to come. The prophet Jeremiah, the true prophet of God, spoke of time of trouble and destruction, as well as suffering because of the disobedience of the people of God, while the false prophet Hananiah spoke of comfort and liberation. This cannot be more different, and there is truly no way for God to give His people an entirely opposing message.

Yes, one of the message was true, and that was Jeremiah’s. It is a reminder for all of us that, while God loves us and cares for us, that does not mean our paths will be free from harm and danger. In fact, following the Lord would mean difficulties and challenges to be lined up along the path. This is like a storm that we have to face in life, the storm of troubles and challenges, much like what the disciples encountered in the Lake of Galilee that time.

Our life is truly like the boat, and it is barely floating amidst the stormy seas, which is nothing better than anything else to represent the state of our lives in this world. The prophets we heard of today are like the navigator, who tells the captain what to expect ahead on the ship’s journey. Jeremiah told the truth, that with all the challenges and temptations of the world, and by the fact that we are sinners, the journey ahead would be difficult.

The false prophet told lies about the path ahead, showing that everything would be fine and good. The earlier scenario presented by Jeremiah would have jolted every sensible and good sailor, what a terrible condition they had gotten themselves into, and therefore would prompt them to strengthen their guard to prevent themselves from sinking in the midst of the storm. And the latter scenario would have easily lulled many who would drop their guard and therefore carried greater risks of being blown apart by the winds and battered by the waves.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we all be vigilant and reflective in our lives? Shall we heed the warnings of the prophet Jeremiah and the other prophets, that we would not lose our way in life? It is truly very easy for us to get distracted in life, by many things, including our own fear and uncertainties, our own desires and other things, which precisely are the reasons why Peter lost faith in himself and God, and ended up sinking.

We must have a firm and strong faith, based on a close and vibrant relationship with God, fostered with prayer and devotion, so that our lives, that is the ship, will be anchored strongly in God, a solid rock foundation, upon which our anchor will hold, and our ship will be able to hold even against the strongest of waves and storms. This is absolutely necessary if we are to reach our destination and not sink.

Today we celebrate the feast of a great saint, that is St. John Maria Vianney, also known as the Cure of Ars, the patron saint of all priests and all who devoted themselves in a holy life to God. This simple and holy priest lead a truly simple but very inspiring and exemplary lifestyle, deeply devoted to his calling to be a priest of God, in service of mankind and the people of God.

St. John Vianney was a parish priest, a simple parish priest, and yet he was wholly devoted to the spiritual development of his parishioners and all those who came to meet and visit him. He was also deeply in commitment to bring better life to those who have fallen into sin, committing himself to enforce a high degree of spiritual purity, and emphasized on confession for those who had committed sin in life.

His life and works were an inspiration to many, and more and more people came to know of St. John Vianney, and yet he remained humble as he was, and he continued to work hard for the sake of the faithful and for God, until the very last days of his life. His life was truly an example to all of our priests and all those who had been called to be the servants of the Lord in this world, that they ought to be equally committed and holy in life as this saint had once been.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this however does not mean that St. John Vianney should not be an inspiration to us all as well. In fact, we should also take the examples of St. John Vianney into our own lives, reflecting together with what we had received in the Holy Scriptures today. Let us strengthen our faith in God by following the inspirations and examples of St. John Vianney, that our ship of life will not sink even against the greatest of storms.

Let us all help one another, and pray for one another, that all of us will eventually find our way to the Lord, difficult as it may be, persevering against all forms of challenges and temptations in life, that are all the storms facing us. May God be with us all and bless us forever. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 3 August 2014 : Introit and Collect

Introit

Psalm 47 : 10-11, 2

Suscepimus, Deus, misericordiam Tuam in medio templi Tui : secundum Nomen Tuum, Deus, ita et laus Tua in fines terrae : justitia plena est dextera Tua.

Magnus Dominus, et laudabilis nimis : in civitate Dei nostri, in monte sancto ejus.

Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

We have received Your mercy, o God, in the midst of Your Temple. According to Your Name, o God, so is also Your praise unto the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of justice.

Great is the Lord and exceedingly to be praised, in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.

Response : 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.

Collect

Largire nobis, quaesumus, Domine, semper spiritum cogitandi quae recta sunt, propitius et agendi : ut, qui sine Te esse non possumus, secundum Te vivere valeamus. Per Dominum…

English translation

Ever graciously bestow upon us in abundance, we beseech You, o Lord, the spirit of thinking and doing what things are right, that we, who cannot exist without You, may have the strength to live in conformity with You. Through our Lord…

by

(Usus Antiquior) Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 27 July 2014 : Gradual and Alleluia

Psalm 33 : 12, 6 and Psalm 46 : 2

Venite, filli, audite me : timorem Domini docebo vos.

Response : Accedite ad eum, et illuminamini : et facies vestrae non confundentur.

Alleluja, alleluja.

Response : Omnes gentes, plaudite manibus : jubilate Deo in voce exsultationis. Alleluja.

English translation

Come, children, harken to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Response : Come all of you to Him and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be confounded.

Alleluia, alleluia.

Response : O clap your hands, all you nations, shout unto God with the voice of joy. Alleluia.