Divine Mercy

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Monday, 6 October 2014 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bruno, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Luke 10 : 25-37

Then a teacher of the Law came and began putting Jesus to the test. And he said, “Master, what shall I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What is written in the Scripture? How do you understand it?”

The man answered, “It is written : ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbour as yourself.'” Jesus replied, “What a good answer! Do this and you shall live.” The man wanted to justify his question, so he asked, “Who is my neighbour?”

Jesus then said, “There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him and went off, leaving him half-dead. It happened that a priest was going along that road and saw the man, but passed by on the other side.”

“Likewise a Levite saw the man, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan also was going that way, and when he came upon the man, he was moved with compassion. He went over to him, and cleaned his wounds with oil and wine, and wrapped them in bandages. Then he put him on his own mount, and brought him to an inn, where he took care of him.”

“The next day he had to set off; but he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend on him, I will repay when I return.'”

Jesus then asked, “Which of these three, do you think, made himself neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” And Jesus said, “Then go and do the same.”

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(Usus Antiquior) Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Memorial of St. Placidus and Companions, Martyrs (II Classis) – Sunday, 5 October 2014 : Introit and Collect

Introit

Psalm 118 : 137, 124, 1

Justus es, Domine, et rectum judicium Tuum : fac cum servo Tuo secundum misericordiam Tuam.

Beati immaculati in via : qui ambulant in lege Domini.

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

English translation

You are just, o Lord, and Your judgment is right. Deal with Your servant according to Your mercy.

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.

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

Da, quaesumus, Domine, populo Tuo diabolica vitare contagia : Et Te solum Deum pura mente sectari. Per Dominum…

English translation

Grant Your people, we beseech You, o Lord, to shun the defilements of the devil, and with pure hearts to follow You, the only God. Through our Lord…

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Friday, 3 October 2014 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today in the Scriptures we heard about how Jesus sent His curses and warnings against the cities of Galilee, that of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum, on their lack of faith and refusal to listen to the truth which Jesus had brought into the world, into their very midst, while at the same time, saying how in Tyre and Sidon, if such truth was delivered, they would have believed.

Then in the Psalms we heard how God is so great and powerful, and how in all things within our lives, He had His role to guide and lead us into the ways of the righteous, to lead us so that we may find our way to Him and not to be lost to the darkness of the world, and how indeed we ought to recognise Him and what He had done for us, to deliver us from certain destruction.

And lastly, in the first reading taken from the Book of Job, was the reply which God gave in the end, after the long series of lamentations, complaints and words from the suffering Job, who suffered tremendously at the works of Satan to test his faith in the Lord, and God reminded Job how the vastness of the Lord and His wonders, as well as the infinite nature of His thoughts and plans, could not possibly be understood by Job and his human mind and intellect. And Job realised how God did not abandon him and in fact was about to bless him for his constant faith, and through his repentance, he gained blessings and graces.

In this we see the very importance for us to put our trust in God, and to listen to Him in all of His words. We should not put forward our pride or our ego, which are indeed great obstacles to our ability to reach the Lord and all His goodness. Pride and human ego lay in the path towards of our salvation, especially because they lead us to believe that we are saved, because of our greatness, our superiority and others that separate us from the love of God.

In order to fully understand and discern the meaning of the Gospel today, we have to understand the kind of prejudice and opinion prevailing in the society of the people of God at Jesus’ time. The Jews lived in the land once given to their ancestors, but they did not live there alone. Just as their ancestors once had lived among the nations, they also lived among many nations, the Samaritans, the Nabataeans, to which King Herod the Great and their descendants belonged to, and the people of the region of Tyre and Sidon, north from Judea, the land where the Jews lived in.

Some Jews also lived in Galilee, occupying cities such as Capernaum, Bethsaida and Chorazin among many others, including the village of Nazareth where Jesus lived with His parents on earth early in His life. And the Jews at the time, particularly among the caste of the Pharisees, were very puritan and fanatical in their faith and lives, to the point that they disdained all the foreigners living in their midst.

They thought highly of themselves, thinking that they alone among all the races and peoples of the world who deserved salvation and grace in the Lord, and that all others were condemned to hellfire. They thought of that because they considered themselves being the people chosen by God, they deserved that salvation, and they looked down on the ways of those who lived in their midst.

But they failed to understand that God does not desire the destruction of the righteous, just as He did not desire the destruction and the suffering of Job, His faithful servant. God therefore did not act with prejudice against those whom He did not choose first, and He will also save them if they are indeed righteous and just, and walk in His path.

This is why, God Himself had spoken through His prophets, through Isaiah and others, that even the Gentiles would come and see the light of God, and revel in its wonder. This is to presage the flock and throngs of the non-Jewish peoples coming to seek salvation in God by following Christ and His teachings. Isaiah at the same time also mentioned, how a new light has dawned in the land of Issachar and Zebulun, which is exactly at the place where Jesus lived, in the land of Galilee.

But we have to take note indeed, that no matter what the Lord had done, and even when the light of God has arrived in the world, if those to whom the Lord had intended it to, never paid attention and ignored it, then it will be of no use to them. And this was exact what had happened. The people of God saw the miracles which Jesus had performed in the areas around His hometown of Nazareth, including the three cities mentioned in the Gospel.

Yet, they would not believe in Him, although they were awed by what He had done, and those who knew who He was in life even rejected and ridiculed Him, and none worse than His own hometown relatives and acquaintances, who ridiculed Him as they thought that He was a mere carpenter’s Son. The people of God refused to listen to the Lord and believe in what He had done, and that is why, He bypassed them for those who truly are worthy of Him.

Many of the non-Jewish populations, including a widow from the region of Tyre and Sidon, the Samaritans and others believed in Jesus and His truth, despite them being looked down and ridiculed by the people of God, especially by the Pharisees. Yet, their actions were clear, and they were faithful not just in words but also deeds, and as such, they would indeed receive the promised salvation of God.

Those who only believed superficially and gave only lip-service to the Lord, such as the Pharisees and those who refused even after Jesus revealed to them the truth about Himself through His actions, were doomed to oblivion and suffering. They did not understand that, in their own little minds, they thought they have everything and they were able to do as they please, but of course they were wrong.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all come to reflect about these words of the Lord which we should ponder within our hearts. That we should aim to be closer and closer to our Lord, seeking always His mercy and love, that in all things, we may grow to be more like Him, and be found righteous and just in all our ways, and thus merit the salvation which God had promised to all those who walk in His ways, not just by mere words, but also with actions. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 29 September 2014 : Feast of the Holy Archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a great feast day of the Church, that is the feast of the Holy Archangels of God, and primarily of which, is the Prince of all heavenly hosts, the leader of all the angels of God, that is St. Michael the Archangel, the faithful servant of God and one of the seven holy Archangels serving before the throne of God, the vanquisher of Satan, who defeated the forces of evil and all the fallen angels, and cast them out of heaven.

The Holy Archangels, three of whom were named, St. Michael the prince and leader of angels, St. Gabriel the messenger and the voice of God, and St. Raphael the healer and the mercy of God, all of them represent the different aspects of God, and they are the greatest servants of the Lord, sending and giving His messages to all whom the Lord wills to reveal Himself to.

The Archangels of God are also the chiefs of our protectors, the leaders and the ones in charge of our guardian angels, and all the angelic hosts and forces of heaven, who are locked in constant and regular combat and battle against the forces of darkness, led by the prince of evil, that is Satan. Satan desires nothing but for our destruction, for in his jealousy of the Lord, he desires to destroy all that is dear to God, especially all of us mankind, the greatest and the most beloved of all His creations.

Satan himself was once a great Archangel, and in fact was once the mightiest, most beautiful and the greatest of the angels of the Lord, created with such perfection and beauty, and with such might and authority, that the bright and mighty Archangel, Lucifer, was filled with great pride about himself. But it is this same pride which became his greatest undoing and became rightly, as the greatest sin of all.

For in his pride, he chose to rebel against God and His love, thinking that he is mightier than his own Creator, the Lord of all the universe. The creation failed to realise that despite all of his power, might and beauty, and despite all of his perfections, that he is still merely a creature, and not the Creator. And he is still nothing compared to the Lord of all, who is perfect in all things that He has, and He truly has everything.

Satan, who was Lucifer, the lightbringer, boasted that in his majesty, glory and power, he would raise his throne above the throne of God, and thus rule over all creations. He brought many of his fellow angels into sin and darkness, what we now know as the fallen angels. But his pride is his undoing, and instead of rising up in glory, he was thrown down in shame. The one who led the hosts of the faithful angels was Michael the Archangel, who was made the chief of all the angelic hosts.

St. Michael the Archangel was made the chief of all heavenly angels and all the heavenly hosts not because he was great and mighty, nor because he was proud and beautiful as Lucifer or Satan was, but because he obeyed the will of God fully and completely, as an obedient servant of God Most High. It was said that St. Michael always trembled before the presence of God, not because he was fearful or afraid, but because he knew that he was in the presence of the Lord and Creator of all the universe, and he is nothing before Him.

That was why, God rewarded him such as to make him chief of all the heavenly hosts, as a great protector and role model for all of us the faithful. Remember that Jesus always said that the mighty would be humbled, and the humble would be glorified? This is the exact thing that had happened. Lucifer was cast down for his pride, to suffer for eternity the torture of hell and the lake of fire, while Michael the humble was raised to a position of honour.

St. Gabriel the Archangel and St. Raphael the Archangel also followed and obeyed the will of God in their own way, listening to God in all things and carrying out His will into the world. St. Gabriel the Archangel delivered the Good News of the Lord to Mary in Nazareth, while St. Raphael was sent to the family of Tobit the Israelite exile, and to help exorcise the demon Asmodeus from Sara, the soon-to-be wife of Tobit’s son, Tobias.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we rejoice together as one to celebrate the feast of St. Michael the Archangel and his fellow Archangels, let us all realise our frailty and our prone nature towards sin, and how we can follow the examples of the holy Archangels to lead our lives to come into closer relationships with our God. Let us heed the examples of the holy angels of God, who fought day and night at all times to protect us from the depredations of the evil one and his forces.

Evil is never at rest, brethren, for Lucifer, fallen and shamed, as Satan had enmity on us mankind, and this was why he tempted our first ancestors into sin, so that through that disobedience we might also follow in his footsteps, and therefore end up in eternal suffering and destruction. But the Lord clearly does not want this to happen, and that was why He sent us Jesus His Son to be our Saviour and Redeemer.

And the angels constantly are on guard against the attacks of the evil one, but they certainly cannot fight on their own. We too should take part in this fight and resistance against the evil forces, and thus rebuke the devil who is trying to set us up against the Lord. Therefore, let us all reflect on our own actions, so that we may know how to be a true follower of Christ and thus gain salvation through Him.

May all of us be able to cast away our pride and arrogance, knowing full well that all of us are sinners who are unworthy of God’s love and presence, for our disobedience and the disobedience of our forefathers, but it is the love of God our Lord and Father, who made us whole again, by sending us love Himself through Jesus, who shed His life so that we may live once again, not just any life, but life supported by the love and the grace of God.

Let us be like the holy Archangels, obedient and faithful, always listening to God in all things, faithfully carrying out His will. And what is God’s will for us? None other than so that we can love, first that is to love God Himself, with all of our hearts, with all of our souls and with all of our minds and strengths, and then to show the same love to our brethren around us, in particular those who are in the greatest need.

May Almighty God guide us on our ways, so that we may find our way towards Him, not by pride or arrogance, nor through our power and might, but through our sincere desire to be reunited with Him, and to seek His mercy and love, so that, with the help of the angels and the holy Archangels of God, St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael, with His Blessed Mother and His saints, we may attain salvation and eternal life, in the loving grace of God, leaving Satan to suffer by himself with his fellow rebel angels, for eternity, while we enjoy the fruits of our good labour in this world.

St. Michael the Archangel, and all the holy Archangels and angels of God, pray for us, and protect us in battle, that we may always triumph against anything that the devil, Satan, that old snake and deceiver has put in our path, that we may rebuke him and profess our faith and love for the Lord our God. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Wenceslaus, Martyr (II Classis) – Sunday, 28 September 2014 : Homily and Scripture Reflections

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate together the feast of St. Wenceslaus, martyr of the faith, Duke and ruler of Bohemia, a holy, devoted and pious leader of his people, and ultimately, the humble and good servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, and who walked in His path so faithfully, that he brought good things to those entrusted under his care, and he even obeyed Him all the way unto death in the hands of his enemies.

The key of our readings from the Holy Scriptures on this holy day is that we ought to be exemplary and faithful in our lives, so that in every things that we do, we do it in e Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that through our every words and deeds, we may give glory to our Lord, and so all those who see us will know who the Lord is, and that we belong to Him, and we are saved by our works.

For the Scriptures had said, that even the Gentiles would come to proclaim the Lord as Lord and God, even though they once did not know who He was, until the Apostles came to them and deliver to them the Good News of God’s salvation which He had first proclaimed to the world through the coming and the works of Jesus, His Son. The Apostles became living witnesses of His works, and thus from them, they passed on that knowledge to others, who in turn became witnesses of the faith.

Jesus Himself showed to His people, how to live as a faithful and good servant of our Lord. The cardinal virtues of faith, hope and love are always indeed at the forefront, and we should always keep these in mind. And in all things, we ought to think not of ourselves first, but we ought to keep the Lord ever first in our minds and our hearts, and then also our brethren around us.

Jesus criticised the Pharisees and the elders of the people of God, who failed to look beyond the words of the Law of God, on the matter pertaining to the sabbath day and its observations. They failed to understand the meaning of those laws which God had given His people, and instead, they oppressed the people by their strict and unbending word-to-word obedience to the law. But, as Jesus made it clear to them their folly, that what they did was in fact feeding on their own ego and obeying their own human-made laws and not the law of God.

For the Law of God is in essence, love. And love will not cause or bring unnecessary suffering among the people whom He loved greatly. What He seeks after all is not empty promises and empty profession of faith, or empty observances of the laws and the events, but rather, a true and sincere love which mankind, His people, has for Him. He seeks for our hearts and our love, not our appearances!

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is why St. Paul and the Apostles, as well as all the saints and holy men and women of God were witnesses to the love of God, and what He desired out of us. They showed not by mere words or appearances, as the Pharisees and the elders had once done. Where these people showed off their supposed ‘piety’ in the common places by praying loudly and openly in the sight of the people for their praise, the Apostles and disciples of Christ toiled and worked, in the defense of their faith and in the effort to bring the Good News to the people, to us all.

And St. Wenceslaus, the saint whose feast we celebrate today is no different indeed. He was born into privilege, into the ruling house of Bohemia and Moravia, which today corresponds to the territories of both the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and St. Wenceslaus became the Duke of Bohemia, a great lord and a respected position in Christendom.

St. Wenceslaus was one of the first Christian rulers of his people, together with his father. Many of the people under his care remained as pagans and beyond the reach of the Church. St. Wenceslaus was a wise and great ruler, who truly cared for his people. He built many churches and other facilities, designed to help the people of God, both in things physical and spiritual. He helped the faith to grow and spread among the faithful, bringing countless souls closer to salvation.

He led by example, and practiced his faith by real and concrete example, serving the people of God humbly even though he is mighty and powerful. He brought the people he has been entrusted with closer to the love of God, as a faithful shepherd and servant of God. He had his enemies of course, and those plotted against him, assassinating him while he was on his way to a celebration, the enemies of all the faithful and the agents of Satan who had done this to remove this holy servant of God.

Yet they have failed in the end, as the examples of St. Wenceslaus shone very brightly for all to see and follow, and he was made a saint, truly because of his great virtues in life, and he now is our intercessor in heaven, who together with the many other holy men and women, pray for us unceasingly before our Lord, that we too may repent from our sins, and endeavour to be faithful in all of our actions.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all be examples to one another, that in our actions and deeds, we show our faith in God, and we show how devoted we are to the Lord, not just by empty promises and professions, but through real action, founded upon the three cardinal virtues of our faith, that is faith, hope and love, and love for God as well as love for our fellow men. God bless us all, brethren, now and forever. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Wenceslaus, Martyr (II Classis) – Sunday, 28 September 2014 : Introit and Collect

Introit

Psalm 85 : 3, 5, 1

Miserere mihi, Domine, quoniam ad Te clamavi tota die : quia Tu, Domine, suavis ac mitis es, et copiosus in misericordia omnibus invocantibus Te.

Inclina, Domine, aurem Tuam mihi, et exaudi me : quoniam inops, et pauper sum ego.

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

English translation

Have mercy on me, o Lord, for I have cried to You all the day; for You, o Lord, are sweet and mild, and bountiful in mercy to all who call upon You.

Bow down Your ear to me, o Lord, and hear me, for I am needy and poor.

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

Tua nos, quaesumus, Domine, gratia semper et praeveniat et sequatur : ac bonis operibus jugiter praestet esse intentos. Per Dominum…

English translation

Let Your grace, we beseech You, o Lord, ever go before us and follow us, and may it make us to be continually zealous in doing good works. Through our Lord…

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Saturday, 27 September 2014 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 89 : 3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17

You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, o mortals!” A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night.

You sow them in their time, at dawn they peep out. In the morning they blossom, but the flower fades and withers in the evening.

So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart. How long will You be angry, o Lord? Have mercy on Your servant.

Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. May the sweetness of the Lord be upon us; may He prosper the work of our hands.

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Thursday, 25 September 2014 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the wisdom and power of God, which transcends far beyond even the greatest of human intellect, wisdom and understanding. There is none like God, and no matter what we try to understand and find out about God, it is truly futile if we do not first understand what He had done to us through Jesus His Son, the embodiment of God’s perfect love for all mankind.

For we are creations of the Lord, whom God made out of simple dust and soil, unto which He breathed His life-giving Spirit. Therefore, we are bound to the Lord who created us, and our lives are in His hands. He is the Lord of life, and One who has authority over life and death. Thus, whatever is His will for us, it will definitely happen to us, without any exceptions.

The problem with us and our world today is exactly that mankind are often too concerned and too worried about themselves, to the point that they are unable to look beyond their inherent selfishness and thus fall prey into the machinations of the evil one, who always prod us with more and more selfishness and temptations which would end up turning us further and further away from the way to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have often been too fixated on our prosperity and well-being, and in this modern day world, our lives have revolved around the concepts of material goods and material possessions, and if we look at the kind and the amount of the advertisements and promotions we see in our media, we can easily see that it is so easy for many of us to be devoured into the streams of greed and desire in the world.

Many of us try to look for more things in the world to satisfy ourselves, be it our desire, our curiosity or our sense of belonging, and our desire for love. But many of us failed to understand that we have to first seek the Lord before anything else. If we put God aside and instead seek the numerous things that satisfy our desires and pleasures in the world, then we lose our focus and our true purpose in this world.

We often occupy ourselves with thoughts and matters such as the desire to know more about God, and in our world today, we can see that there are increasingly more and more hostile groups of people who are adamantly opposed to the idea of God, and who contended that God does not exist, because they could not prove His existence and whether He truly is present with us and among us, and if He is as what our Faith had taught us.

This is all in fact because, as mankind grew to know more about the things around them, and as their curiosity accordingly grew, they became more and more revelling in their own sense of superiority and greatness, which was further helped by the culture and habit of competition in the society, where only the best can persist and prosper amid the increasingly more and more demanding world.

As such, men grew to care more and more about themselves and less about others, and they grew more and more detached from the Lord, thinking that it is their own efforts and achievements that had brought them to where they are now. People are fighting and toiling over possessions and prestige, and they strived to gain more and more fame and honour, that their names may be glorified among the people.

However, as the Scriptures tried to remind us, that all these pursuits are eventually futile, if we leave God behind in pursuit of all these. Ultimately, it is the salvation of our souls that matter, and as Jesus said that, it is meaningless indeed if someone is to gain the whole world just to lose his or her soul. Rather, indeed, it is better for someone to lose what he has in the share of the world, so that he may receive the salvation of the soul.

Therefore, brethren, let us all seek the Lord from now on with all of our hearts, and with all of our devotions and our dedications, that with all the strengths of our beings, we may bring glory to God and draw ever closer to His presence and love. May we learn to let go of the things that keep us away from Him, namely the excessive attachments to the things and pleasures of this world.

May Almighty God sharpen the edge of our humility and of our desire to seek Him with all sincerity and love, and dull the edge of our ego, our pride, our greed and our desire, so that we may learn to love Him unconditionally, just as He had once done unto us. Let us also love one another tenderly and with grace. That eventually we may let go of all things that keep our pride held high, and realise the love which God our Lord and Creator had given us through this life. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 23 September 2014 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are exhorted yet again, to be faithful and dedicated followers of our Lord, through our real and concrete actions, and not just empty promises and dedications. In the first reading from the Book of Proverbs, we are also reminded of the very fact, that what God desires from us is our love and commitment, and not just mere sacrifice.

And today, we commemorate the feast of a great and renowned saint, one who lived just less than a hundred years ago, and in fact he passed away just less than five decades ago. His deeds were still renowned throughout the world and the Church, as a holy man and servant of God, thoroughly dedicated in the service of God and the love he possessed both for God and for his fellow men.

That holy servant of God was St. Pius of Pietrelcina, more commonly known by his name of ‘Padre Pio’, a Franciscan monk and priest who was renowned for his great piety and devotion to God, and for his gift of the stigmata, or the wounds of Jesus Christ that appeared on his feet and his hands, which became for him a source of both great inspiration and strength, as well as of pain and suffering.

St. Padre Pio was a simple man and a simple priest, humble and unassuming, noted for his great piety since early in his youth. He joined the Franciscans and dedicated his whole life to the Lord. He was noted for his dedication to his calling and his work as the servant of God Most High. His charitable acts were numerous and his zeal unquestionable. He would have been perfectly satisfied in his condition and life at the time, if not for God having another plan for him.

Through St. Padre Pio, God wanted to reawaken the spirit of faith that have long been laid dormant in the hearts and minds of men, and through His servant, He revealed His glory and majesty, as He revealed them through the actions and deeds of St. Padre Pio, who worked faithfully and zealously, even though he faced many difficulties, challenges, oppositions, and even ridicule and doubts by the people around him.

St. Padre Pio was therefore like the ones who had obeyed and followed the Lord in His laws and precepts, and as such, he was honoured and glorified through the miracles which He performed through the person of Padre Pio. Through this example, we know that the Lord loves and cares for His people, and all who place their trust in Him will not be disappointed.

This is just exactly like what Jesus said to the people, when He referred to those who do the will of God as His brothers and sisters, and as His relatives. This was said when His mother Mary and His relatives came to visit Him and wanted to meet with Him in the midst of His teachings. Indeed, if one were to just look at the words Jesus said literally, this would be quite an insult to His own mother and also to His relatives, by apparently snubbing at them and rejecting them in the public.

However, if we look at it closely, there is no greater honour that Jesus could do, other than what He had done. As a matter of fact, Jesus had praised and honoured Mary in public, for the very devotion and actions that she had done, the most faithful and devoted of all the servants of God. In the same way, God had also honoured St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Padre Pio for his piety and great service, and obedience to the Faith. The same therefore, will also be our due if we honour our part in the covenant with Christ and follow His ways in all of our deeds and actions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from what we have heard today, and from what we had reflected in the life of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, and in the faith and devotion which the Blessed Virgin Mary had shown in her life, as the mother of God and the most faithful servant of all the servants of God, we are therefore also urged to follow their examples, which means for us to reject all forms of evil and impiety in all of our actions, words and deeds.

In this way also, our faith will be real, concrete and living, so that we can avoid committing sins in our lives which will corrupt our hearts, minds and soul and therefore end up subverting our true goodness and undermining our effort to seek out the Lord. We must intensify our own efforts to walk in the footsteps those who have walked before us in the path of the Lord, namely the holy saints, and model our own lives after theirs.

May Almighty God guide us on our way, so that all of us may turn ever closer and more convincingly towards Him, that we may find our way towards Him, and together with those who are still lost, receive justification and salvation through our dedicated actions, which are based on the laws and ways of the Lord. God bless us and guide us, and may the prayers of St. Pius of Pietrelcina be upon us always. St. Padre Pio, pray for us! Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Double II Classis) – Sunday, 21 September 2014 : Homily and Scripture Reflections

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God is merciful just as He is loving. He is Love Himself, the embodiment of perfect love and mercy. Why so? That is because He showed His ultimate love for all of us, by dying on the cross, so that through His death, He might open a new path for us, a path filled with hope and love, which leads directly to the Lord our God.

He gave us all who believe in Him, His own Body and Blood, the flesh and the matter of which became for us life-giving food and drink. This is because Jesus Himself is the Lord of all life, and the Lord over life and death. Hence, this is why we heard about the son of the widow of Naim, who died and was resurrected by Jesus, as a sign for all to see. This is to put yet another emphasis that in God there is life and hope of eternal life, and if we put our trust rather in ourselves or in the world, then there is little hope for us.

We have to get rid of the numerous obstacles that lie on the path between us and the Lord, namely our pride, our arrogance, our greed and our desires, as these will eventually lead us into committing evil against others around us, through jealousy, selfishness and other forms of actions not befitting our status as the children of God. However, in order to remove these obstacles, great effort is needed.

Mankind had been tainted by sin ever since our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman, first sinned against God by listening to Satan the deceiver and the traitor, instead of listening to the loving and life-giving word of our God. Hence, they were cast out of Eden, and the promise of life eternal and joy was lost from them. They had to endure sufferings of the world as a punishment for their disobedience, just as their descendants would suffer as well.

But this is not what God intended from us, as He never intended suffering and death for us. He Himself wants us to be living and living in glory and love with Him, for eternity in the glory of heaven, which He had intended and prepared for us. He is forever faithful, even to the ones like us and our ancestors, who had blatantly left and abandoned Him behind for the company of Satan and the darkness of the world.

The faithful Lord and God cannot avoid but to act, so that His most beloved creations, whom He had created at the last day, from His own image and with His own breath that gave them life may not be lost to eternal death, but be brought back into life. That is why, He gave us Himself through Jesus, His Son, who came into the world, not to condemn it or to judge it, but to bring it into life and salvation.

And He particularly looks for sinners, that means those who are still lost in the darkness, and this is why He rebuked the Pharisees by saying that He was sent not to the healthy ones but to those who are sick, that they may be healed. This refers to the sickness of the spiritual body, that is of our soul. And if we are sick spiritually, namely that if sin taints our body and soul, we will not be worthy of salvation and also the inheritance God has promised us.

Jesus our Lord therefore came to heal us from our afflictions, both body and soul, to make us anew and renew our lives, so that we may be found worthy of entry into the kingdom of God. We ought to be grateful for this love and dedication which our Lord had shown us, even unto death, and death on the cross, bearing our burdens, that is the great burdens of sins which we have committed.

He is the Lamb of God, who willingly gave Himself as the perfect sacrifice, so that as He carried that burden up the hill to His crucifixion, and through His death, we may be liberated from those burdens and thus gain justification through Him. We too will have our own burdens in life, if we choose to follow Christ. Remember that Jesus said to His disciples? That if anyone want to follow Him then they must carry their cross and follow Him?

But we cannot carry our burden alone, brothers and sisters in Christ, as alone we are unable to survive the great burden that awaits us. Instead, we ought to share the burden we have with one another, so that as St. Paul instructed the faithful in the Epistle reading we heard today, we may be justified together and receive salvation together as one united people, and together as one Church we are blessed by God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all embrace each other in faith, in hope and in love, that all of us may together shore up each other’s burden in life, going through suffering and persecution together, resisting the temptations of the flesh and of the world, and rebuking Satan who tries day after day to tempt us into sin. Let us realise the great love which our Lord has for us, and His eternal desire to free us from our afflictions and our burdens that is sin and death.

May Almighty God be with us always, and may He guide us so that we together as the Church of God may find our way towards the salvation He had promised us and made concrete through Jesus and His loving sacrifice on the cross. May He strengthen our resolve to love Him, regardless of the opposition and difficulties we may encounter if we choose to walk in His path, and also that may our solidarity and companionship be ever stronger, that we may find in each other, a strong support in our crusade against evil.

God bless us all, and may He bless all of our endeavours, that we may also bear witness to His Holy Gospels and the Good News He had proclaimed, so that more souls may be saved, through our works and dedications. God be with us all, till the end of time. Amen.