divine majesty

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(Usus Antiquior) Third Sunday after Epiphany, Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul and Feast of St. Peter the Apostle (II Classis) – Sunday, 25 January 2015 : Introit and Collect

Liturgical Colour : Green

Introit

Psalm 96 : 7-8, 1

Adorate Deum, omnes Angeli Ejus : audivit, et laetata est Sion : et exsultaverunt filiae Judae.

Dominus regnavit, exsultet terra : laetentur insulae multae.

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

English translation

Adore God, all you His angels. Sion heard, and was glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoiced.

The Lord had reigned, let the earth rejoice, let many islands be glad.

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, infirmitatem nostram propitius respice : atque, ad protegendum nos, dexteram Tuae majestatis extende. Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivis et regnas in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Almighty, eternal God, look with mercy upon our infirmities, and stretch forth the right hand of Your majesty to protect us. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, who with You lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

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Saturday, 24 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the works of Jesus which had brought about redemption and salvation to mankind. Many people did not understand at first what He had done. Even those among His own family thought that He was not right in His mind, as the Gospel today would show. But all this just show us how little mankind could comprehend the minds of the Lord.

While mankind were still by their earthly and worldly desires, while the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were still obsessed by the worldly laws and human laws they have made, our Lord Jesus Christ had brought the truth of God into the world, dispelling all of the lies of the devil, who tried to mislead us away from the truth of the Lord in Jesus.

What we have to realise, brothers and sisters in Christ, is that we have to know what our Lord had done for our sake, to liberate us from the clutches of Satan, from the chains of sin that binds us to suffering and death. The devil, Satan, by nature will definitely not want to let us to be released from our bonds to him, that is the bonds of everlasting suffering and eternal death, that is the fate of Satan.

For Satan had rebelled against God in his vanity and pride, and as he was cast down and condemned, together with many of his fellow rebel angels, thus, he wanted to bring us down as well, God’s most beloved and most perfect creations, the race of mankind. And that was why he brought down our first ancestors, by tempting them and luring them into sin, and to disobey the Lord, our God.

It is the love of our God, our loving Father which had made Him to send His Son, Jesus Christ, a part of Himself in the Holy Trinity, the Word made Flesh, for our salvation and liberation. Yes, it is to liberate us from the chains of sin, from the bonds that bound us to the rebellion of Satan, that is the sins of pride, greed, jealousy, wrath, sloth and many other vices we committed in this life.

And by the shedding of His Blood and the scourging of His own Body, Christ our Lord brought new life to us all, by His perfect and selfless sacrifice, bearing the sins which we should have borne, up the hills of Calvary, bearing that cross of sin and shame, and transformed it into the cross of victory and triumph against evil. This is our faith, and this is what we believe in. The world may not believe in us and it may ridicule us just as they had done to Jesus, but the truth remains, that the love of our Lord had saved us.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Francis de Sales, a holy bishop and the renowned founder of the Salesian religious order, and also a Doctor of the Church for his many and various works that helped to anchor the truth of God among the faithful ones of God in His Church. St. Francis de Sales was a brave and courageous defender of the faith, as the Bishop of Geneva, during the greatly turbulent times of the false Protestant ‘reformation’, the heresy brought by the confusion of Satan, designed to tempt and misled mankind to follow the path of sin.

St. Francis de Sales was a humble and hardworking servant of God and of His Church, humbly taking on the responsibilities which had been given to him, and carried them out with great patience and zeal. He preached the truth of God to the countless multitudes of people who had been misled by Satan, and managed to bring many back to the one true Faith and reconciled them to the Church.

Despite of the difficulties and the ridicules he faced, as well as the numerous threats against his life, St. Francis de Sales persevered, and through his many works, devotions, and writings, he became a great inspiration for many, as the light in the darkness for countless souls lost in the lies of Satan, bearing the Light of Christ to them, in order to guide them to return to the truth of Christ.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, inspired by the examples of St. Francis de Sales, we should be walking in his footsteps, to live our faith faithfully and devotedly, through real actions and commitment to God. We should no longer be afraid to proclaim the truth of the Lord, for He had given Himself, selflessly sacrificing Himself on the cross for our sake, that we may receive salvation through Him. Let us all be glad, for the love of God is with us, and let us ensure that many more souls can be brought back to the Lord, through our works. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 23 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard two main things in the readings from the Holy Scriptures. The first, from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews spoke about the new covenant which Christ brought with Him and sealed with mankind, superseding the old covenant of God with Abraham and the people of God. And them the second, from the Holy Gospel according to St. Mark, is the calling of the Twelve Apostles, whom Jesus made as the chiefs of His disciples.

Today’s readings talk about the change brought about by Christ, to establish at last the promises which He had made to His people over the millennia. After long ages and years of difficulty, conflict and disobedience by the people of God, finally He came to straighten things out and remade things anew. And this is to remind us also that while we are ever disobedient and unfaithful, but our Lord is ever faithful to us, to the point of coming down Himself to seal the covenant, the new covenant with all of us.

The old covenant of Abraham and God was set after he obeyed the Lord’s call, who called him from his ancestral lands, to follow where the Lord instructed him to go to. Abraham was faithful, and he followed the Lord throughout his life, and he was even willing to sacrifice his own son, as a sign of that undying and ultimate faith which he had to the Lord. And for that faith, God rewarded him and promised him the great and rich inheritance and blessings which He would provide him and his descendants if they remained true to their part of the promise and the covenant.

The covenant which God established with Abraham and His descendants had been broken many, many times, and just as their ancestors had done, they disobeyed the Lord and broke their part of the covenant. They forgot about the Lord, abandoned Him, found and worshipped other gods instead of the one true God. The people of God had been rescued and protected from various harm and liberated even from the Egyptians, and yet still they had the nerve to complain against God and rebel against Him.

That was why the wrath of God was against them, and He scattered them over the nations. But this does not mean that He wanted their destruction or annihilation, but rather that they may return to Him and turn back on the evils that they have committed. And that covenant, having been broken by the disobedience of the people of God, had become a useful and empty covenant, without use or benefit, and that is why He sent us our Lord Jesus Christ, to be the Mediator and the bearer of the New Covenant.

And what is this new covenant? If we look at the first covenant, God established that covenant following the faithfulness of Abraham in following His will, and upon the sacrifices of animals, lambs and goats, the blood of those animals, He established the first covenant, but being based on imperfect offering of animal blood, it is not a steady and firm covenant, and it is dependent on both sides of those involved in the covenant, and if one party does not fulfill their part of the covenant, then it would be null and void.

That is why our Lord Jesus Christ established the new covenant with us all, which was sealed not by a mere offering of bull’s blood and lamb’s blood, but by the very blood of the Lamb of God, Christ Himself, who let Himself to be led to the slaughterhouse by His enemies, and allowed Himself to be humiliated and scourged, to be wounded for our sins, and thus to die for the sins we have committed, for all the rebelliousness and disobedience which we have committed through all time.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we have to realise that we have all been given a second chance by our loving God. He has given us this new chance through the sacrifice of His Son, who died on the cross for us. Are we grateful for the wonderful gifts which He had given us? Have we been thankful for all the love and mercy He had shown us all?

If our answers for all these are no, then we should really rethink our lives and reflect deep in our lives. Do we see the Lord as our loving Father, and as the One who has provided us with all that we need? Do we see the Lord as our Saviour who had freed us from the debts of sin which weighed us down and prevented us from being liberated from the bonds of Satan?

Therefore, brethren, let us all from today on, renew our commitment to the Lord our God, be faithful to Him and no longer commit anything that is wicked in the eyes of the Lord. Let us all realise that with every sin we committed, we brought great pain and sorrow for our Lord who desires nothing else but our salvation and liberation from death, which is caused by our sins.

Let us all change our ways for the better, sinning no more and following what our Lord had shown us. May Almighty God be with us all, and may He guide us all to life eternal, through the loving sacrifice which He had shown to all of us. Amen.

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Thursday, 22 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent, Deacon and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 39 : 7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 17

Sacrifice and oblation You did not desire; this You had me understand. Burnt offering and sin offering You do not require. Then I said, “Here I come!”

As the scroll says of me, to do Your will is my delight, o God, for Your Law is within my heart.

In the great assembly I have proclaimed Your saving help. My lips, o Lord, I did not seal – You know that very well.

But may all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; and may all who love Your saving grace continually say, “The Lord is great.”

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Wednesday, 21 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 109 : 1, 2, 3, 4

The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand till I make Your foes Your footstool.”

From Zion the Lord will extend Your mighty sceptre and You will rule in the midst of Your enemies.

Yours is royal dignity from the day You were born in holy majesty. Like dew from the womb of the dawn, I have begotten You.

The Lord has sworn, and He will not take back His word : “You are a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

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Tuesday, 20 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees as well as with the teachers of the Law, who confronted Him on His apparent disregard and disobedience against the Law of God, which to them, the law of the sabbath was one of the most important of them all. But in that, they have entirely misread and misunderstood the true meaning and purpose of the Law.

The Pharisees were very particular about the observation of the many laws of the Lord as revealed to the world through Moses, of which according the elders there were six hundred and thirteen laws and customs in all the people should follow and obey to the last word, and not to disobey them in any way. And the law of the sabbath was the most important of all, just as the people of Israel today still observe it with full severity.

The sabbath day is the seventh and last day of the week, which is the day when the Lord rested from His work in creating the universe, as written in the Book of Genesis. As such, the seventh day is a day to be dedicated to the Lord, as a Holy Day consecrated to God, where everyone ought to also rest from their work and commitments and focus their attention solely on the Lord.

Then, one may just ask, did God not give the law of the sabbath and spell it out clearly in the Law itself, that no one ought to do or commit anything on the sabbath day? Then why did our Lord Jesus disregard the Law by allowing His disciples to pick from the grains of the field and heal the sick on the sabbath day? There must surely be a good reason for that, and indeed, the reason is nothing less than, because our Lord loves us all with all of His heart.

The Sabbath and its laws was never meant to put an obstacle to the people of God or to make their lives difficult. Sabbath is meant for the people to rediscover the Lord and find His love for them by shutting themselves out of the distractions of the world and refocus their attention on the Lord. This was done because by nature the people of God was always so stubborn to the point that God had to be hard on them so that they would not go astray.

But the people misunderstood the Lord’s intentions, and they thought of Him as a tough and strict God who only cared about obedience and devotion, who punishes those who disobeys Him and brings His wrath upon them and their children. But in truth, our God loves us all, and if He was not compelled to do as He had done, He would likely not have done what He had done.

God is concerned about all of us, about our wellbeing and our safety, and that is why He imposes such a rule on His people, Israel, who had disobeyed Him many, many times, abandoning the Lord for pagan gods and idols, and therefore, they were meant to be destroyed, but God instead gave them another chance, which He gave through Jesus His Son.

What He is concerned about, is not whether the people obeys His Law and commandments or not, but He is primarily concerned about whether the people would receive the word of God and act accordingly according to the word which has been revealed to them through Jesus His Son. Thus, what our Lord Jesus had told us this day is the revelation of God’s truth, the simple truth that God loves us all mankind.

Thus, Jesus said that sabbath was made for men, and not men for the sabbath. It was always meant for men from the beginning, that they might avoid temptations and resist against it, by the dedication of a holy day to be spared for the Lord within a week. There are too many distractions in this world, and it is not easy for us all to resist those temptations. By the dedication of such a day, it is the attempt to help us to refocus our attention on the Lord.

However, it should not be an excuse to stifle us from doing good deeds according to the will of God. What the Sabbath is meant is to restrain us from committing the same evil that had permeated our entire lives. But Sabbath should not stop us from doing the works of God, or otherwise, it would be defeating its own purpose. Whe we do the will of God, it is essentially the same as praising and glorifying the Name of God, and hence, what Jesus rebuked the Pharisees with hit them right at the spot.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Fabian, Pope of the Church and martyr of the Faith, and St. Sebastian, another holy martyr of the faith. These two holy and great men were important pillars of the Church and the Faith, whose lives can truly be inspiration to all of us. St. Fabian was a great worker of the faith whose works had helped the Church greatly in the midst of opposition by the world, that is the persecution by the Roman Empire.

Pope St. Fabian worked to maintain the unity of the Church amidst persecution and led the Church in an era of difficulty. He also strived to spread the Gospels to the areas where the people have yet to hear of the Good News of the Lord. But eventually, he too was martyred for the faith when the persecution against the Church intensified under the Emperor Decius. He led the faithful in the firm refusal of the demands of the Emperor to worship the pagan idols and the Emperor himself.

Meanwhile, St. Sebastian was a soldier in the Roman army, who was a covert Christian under the Emperor Diocletian, who was famous for his stubborn opposition against the Faith and for the great persecution he launched against the Church and the faithful. St. Sebastian was tasked to bring punishment to saint brothers who refused to give offerings to the pagan gods and to the Emperor, but instead, he freed them, and from his works, he also converted many others including his own peers whom he persuaded to abandon the falsehoods of the pagan gods and embrace the true Faith.

St. Sebastian was eventually punished by the Emperor for his betrayal and he was sentenced to death by being shot with arrows while being tied to a tree, which is the depiction we now often see of St. Sebastian. He was also a defender of the Faith and a faithful servant of the Lord, who did not fear of the rejection and the oppression of the world in spreading the true faith in God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, may the example of St. Sebastian and Pope St. Fabian be an encouragement to all of us the faithful, that we will always strive to reject the approaches of Satan and the dark forces in this world, and instead to remain faithful to our Lord, by following what He had taught us, and share the love He had given us through Jesus, His Son, by loving one another and caring for our fellow brethren. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 20 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 110 : 1-2, 4-5, 9 and 10c

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.

He lets us remember His wondrous deeds; the Lord is merciful and kind. Always mindful of His covenant, He provides food for those who fear Him.

He has sent His people deliverances and made with them a covenant forever. His Holy Name is to be revered! To Him belongs everlasting praise.

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Monday, 19 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today in the Gospel and the readings, we heard about the nature of the incompatibility of the beliefs and practices of the people of God, Israel, between the ancient practice of animal offerings and harvest offerings to God at the Temple, the shedding of the blood of lambs and the offering of fats, which priests offered daily for various purposes, namely thanksgiving, giving praise, and most importantly, sin offering, for the remission of the people’s sins.

The priests offered the offerings of goat and birds’ blood for his own sins and for the sins of the people, but this is only a temporary measure to remit one’s sins, and thus the offering had to be made again and again, for the simple fact that no amount of animal offering, even the best fats of the lamb can account for the vastness and the depth of mankind’s sins and wickedness.

And all of the practices of the people of Israel, as the elders described them and included them in the customs, such as the ritual washing and purification, as well as the observation of fasting and penitence, are all external application of the people’s desire to be made pure and clean from the defilements of the world as they come to celebrate and worship the Lord.

But all those had been turned obsolete by the action of a single Man, who single-handedly carried all of the sins of mankind past, present and future, every single man from Adam the first man to the last man, that He might absolve them by His action as a priest, and indeed not just as any priests, but as the one sole High Priest of all creation, of all mankind, that is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, our Lord Jesus Christ is our High Priest, just as the Letter to the Hebrews had highlighted in our first reading today. He is the High Priest who offered the perfect offering and sacrifice, the only one that is worthy to absolve and erase our sins, once and for all, for all eternity. And that sacrifice is none other than the very sacrifice that He had made on Calvary, the place of the skulls, where He laid down His life for us on the cross.

He offered not the blood of lambs, goats or doves, but His own Blood, the Most Precious Blood of the Lord, which is perfect beyond any others and the only one that is worthy enough to pay the entire debts of our sins, once and for all. He therefore offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sake. His suffering, the wounds He sustained and endured, and the nails that pierced His holy hands and feet are the manifestation of His love for us, that He was willing to endure all that so that we can be saved.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all these shows why the old ways and customs which the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law stubbornly clinged to, are no longer valid and necessary. The sacrifice of Jesus had made it unnecessary to offer regularly the animal sacrifices and the oblations which they persistently insist, along with the various laws and observations they imposed on the people of God.

The way of the Pharisees were filled with human laws and human interpretations of the Law, which is often flawed, and indeed, in its execution, they lost the true focus of why they observe the laws of God, that is to serve God and to follow His will. They end up serving human purposes and even misuse them to glorify themselves and bringing human praise to themselves.

That is what Jesus meant by His parable of the cloth and the wineskins. One cannot patch old and new cloth together, as they are incompatible. When you wash the two together, they will shrink differently and thus will tear apart from each other. And old wineskin cannot be filled with new wine, and vice versa for the same reason. Things that are incompatible will not be able to match, and they will bring about difficulties and conflict, just as the Law of Christ are incompatible with the laws of men advocated by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.

Then some of us may ask, why then, our priests and the Church continue to celebrate the Holy Mass daily and regularly? The Holy Mass is a sacrifice, the Sacrifice which our Lord Jesus had made on the cross. Does this mean then that Jesus is crucified again and again? Does this mean that we ignore the fact that Christ died once and for all, for us?

No, brothers and sisters in Christ, for the Holy Mass is the same sacrifice that Christ had offered at Calvary, and not a new sacrifice. The priests represent Christ Himself, as Alter Christus, who offered the same offering on the cross at Calvary. The Holy Mass is united in meaning and purpose, in substance and reality to the same sacrifice made that day when Christ laid down His life for us.

And that is why we also believe in the Real Presence in the Eucharist, for the bread and wine which the priest by the power of God invested in him as the Christ personified, are truly transformed in material and spirit, into the Real Body and Real Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, even though in appearance, they remain as bread and wine. This is our faith and this is what we believe in, for our salvation.

Remember that Jesus told His disciples and the people that those who eat of His Body and drink of His Blood will live forever and not die. And thus this is what will happen to all of us who believe and worthily accept Him into ourselves. If we choose to believe in Him and follow Him, we can be assured that we will be well taken care of. Thus, we need to support our priests, who are working hard, and who daily celebrate the Mass for our sake, that through the Mass which is the same Sacrifice of Jesus our Lord, we may receive eternal life through His sacrifice.

May Almighty God be with us all, bless us all and guide us in our life. Let us no longer be stubborn in our sinfulness, but remain faithful to the Lord and be grateful ever for the love He had shown us all. God bless us. Amen.

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Monday, 19 January 2015 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 109 : 1, 2, 3, 4

The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand till I make Your foes Your footstool.”

From Zion the Lord will extend Your mighty sceptre and You will rule in the midst of Your enemies.

Yours is royal dignity from the day You were born in holy majesty. Like dew from the womb of the dawn, I have begotten You.

The Lord has sworn, and He will not take back His word : “You are a Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

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Sunday, 18 January 2015 : Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, World Day of Migrants and Refugees and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 39 : 2 and 4ab, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10

With resolve I waited for the Lord; He listened and heard me beg. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.

Sacrifice and oblation You did not desire; this You had me understand. Burnt offering and sin offering You do not require. Then I said, “Here I come!”

As the scroll says of me, to do Your will is my delight, o God, for Your Law is within my heart.

In the great assembly I have proclaimed Your saving help. My lips, o Lord, I did not seal – You know that very well.

 

Homily and Reflection :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/18/sunday-18-january-2015-second-sunday-of-ordinary-time-world-day-of-migrants-and-refugees-and-week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity-homily-and-scripture-reflections/