Doctor of the Church

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Saturday, 1 October 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church, Patroness of Missions (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Isaiah 66 : 10-14

Rejoice for Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her. Be glad with her, rejoice with her, all you who were in grief over her, that you may suck of the milk from her comforting breasts, that you may drink deeply from the abundance of her glory.

For this is what YHVH says : I will send her peace, overflowing like a river, and the nations’ wealth, rushing like a torrent towards her. And you will be nursed and carried on her arms and fondled upon her lap. As a son comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you.

At the sight of this, your heart will rejoice; like grass, your bones will flourish. For it shall be known that YHVH’s hand is with His servant, but His fury is upon His enemy.

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Saturday, 17 September 2016 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture spoke to us about the moment when Jesus mentioned the parable of the sowers and the seeds to His disciples. We are all quite familiar and aware of this parable, in which Jesus spoke about a sower of seeds who spread the seeds in a field, and while some of the seeds fell on rich and fertile soil, but others fell on the roadside, or on the rocky ground or on place with thorns and brambles.

And in this parable which we heard, those seeds spread by the sower represent our faith, our hope and our love for the Lord, the three fundamental aspects of our lives, that is faith, hope and love. The sower of the seeds is the Lord, Who spread the seeds of faith, hope and love in each of our hearts and minds. And the fates awaiting the seeds in the different places that they have landed represent what we as human beings are doing to those seeds and gifts God has given us.

Those seeds that fell on the roadside and got eaten up by the birds, as mentioned by the Lord are those who have received the word of God, but they were tempted by the seemingly better offering of the devil and his allies, and instead of following God, they walked that other path instead. As a result, not only that the gifts of the Lord remained dormant in them, but they drift further and further away from the Lord.

And those that landed on rocky ground did not manage to grow roots deep into the soil, and they perished from the heat of the sun. According to the Lord, these are those who have not internalised the gifts and the words that they received, and as a result, the word of God, His love, hope and faith has no place in their hearts. And thus, similarly, they also drifted away from the Lord into oblivion.

While those who were growing with the thistles and brambles were choked by those thistles and brambles, which took the life away from the growing plant, eventually killing them. These refer to those who worry too much about their worldly affairs that in the end those worries, fears and uncertainties swallowed them and prevented the Lord’s works from bearing fruit in them and becoming a reality.

Only those seeds that fell on the rich soil were able to grow up into healthy plants bearing many good and bountiful fruits. These bear fruits many multiplefold, and this is when each and every one of us, the people of God, are willing to receive the word of God, the gifts of the Lord of faith, hope and love, and then internalise them, understand them and do our best to do what we can to cultivate these and allow them to grow.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now the question is, have we done all that we can in order to fulfil what the Lord expects from us? In the first reading taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Corinth, he spoke of how all of us Christians, those who have chosen to believe in God, are people of the Spirit, for God Himself had sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in us.

And through Christ Who had made Himself Man for all of us, and Who had died for our sake on the cross, we have shared in that same death, that we die to our old selves, to our past sinfulness and all the evil deeds we have done, and instead now we walk on the path of grace, sharing in our Lord’s resurrection from the dead. Thus, we too have been made to rise from our death in darkness, and we entered into a new life blessed by God, that is a Christian life.

Yet we all know how many Christians still do not act and behave as how Christians should be like. Many of them preferred to walk their own paths and behaved in ways that are scandalous to the Lord, to His Church and to the people of God. And as a result, many of them brought scandal and trouble to the Church and to the faithful. They closed the doors of salvation to many others who then came not to believe in God because of what they have done.

These are those whose seeds of faith, hope and love have fallen far away from the fertile and good soil. They did not cultivate their gifts from God properly and responsibly, and as a result, they are responsible for the terrible state of affairs that led to the loss of not just themselves but even many others from the salvation in God. And that is why all of us should reflect on this and learn from it.

Perhaps we also can learn from the examples of St. Robert Bellarmine, the holy saint and servant of God whose feast we are celebrating today. St. Robert Bellarmine was a very devoted servant of God of his time, as a member of the Jesuits or the Society of Jesus, which was very active in its role in counter-fighting the effects of the terrible Protestant ‘reformation’, a great heresy that had caused many people in Christendom at that time to lose their faith and followed false teachings of the devil.

He was devoted to make the teaching of the true faith available to the people, and he performed many great works, both in preaching and writing, to bring the knowledge of the word of God to many. His writings were numerous and still influence many people and the faithful even to this very day. In that capacity, the Church recognised his works and talents, and made him to be a Prince of the Church, as a Cardinal.

But that did not make him slow down or to become lazy in his works. Instead, he devoted himself and his efforts all the more in trying to undo the damages caused by the false and heretical teachings, and spreading the truth of God via proper education and catechism. And his many works did bear great fruits as countless masses of people flocked back to the Church through his works as well as the works of his many fellow compatriots in faith, and repented their sinfulness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us can do the same as well. We are all called to be active in our Christian life, and not just be a passive bystander. And that means in our life, we must act in the way that we have been taught to do by our Lord, which through His Church, He had revealed to us all how to live in accordance to His ways.

Let us all devote ourselves to the Lord anew. Let us give our heart’s effort and abilities to help the works of God in saving mankind, by doing what is right and just in our own lives, avoiding and shunning sins and wickedness. If we are faithful and dedicated, then others will also believe in us and follow us all as well. May the Lord bless us and help us, and may He strengthen our faith and help us to remain true to Him at all times. Amen.

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Saturday, 17 September 2016 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Luke 8 : 4-15

At that time, as a great crowd gathered, and people came to Jesus from every town, He began teaching them with a story : “The sower went out to sow the seed. And as he sowed, some of the seed fell along the way, was trodden on, and the birds of the sky ate it up.”

“Some seed fell on rocky ground, and no sooner has it come up than it withered, because it had no water. Some seed fell among thorns; the thorns grew up with the seed and choked it. But some seed fell on good soil and grew producing fruit, a hundred times as much!” And Jesus cried out, “Listen then, if you have ears to hear!”

The disciples asked Him, “What does this story mean?” And Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. But to others it is given in the form of stories, or parables, so that seeing they may not perceive, and hearing they may not understand.”

“Now, this is the point of the parable : The seed is the word of God. Those along the wayside are people who hear it, but immediately the devil comes and takes the word from their minds, for he does not want them to believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are people who receive the word with joy, but they have no root; they believe for a while, and give way in time of trial.”

“Among the thorns are people who hear the word, but, as they go their way, they are choked by worries, riches, and the pleasures of life; they bring no fruit to maturity. The good soil, instead, are people who receive the word, and keep it in a gentle and generous mind, and persevering patiently, they bear fruit.”

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Saturday, 17 September 2016 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Psalm 55 : 10, 11-12, 13-14

My enemies turn back when I call on You for help; now I know that God is for me.

In God Whose word I praise, in God I trust without fear. What can mortals do against me?

I am bound to You by vows, o God; I shall offer my thanksgiving. For You have rescued my soul from death and my feet from stumbling, that I might walk in God’s presence in the light of the living.

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Saturday, 17 September 2016 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
1 Corinthians 15 : 35-37, 42-49

Some of you will ask : How will the dead be raised? With what kind of body will they come? You fools! What you sow cannot sprout unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body of the future plant but a bare grain of wheat or any other seed.

It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in decomposition; it will be raised never more to die. It is sown in humiliation, and it will be raised for Glory. It is buried in weakness, but the resurrection shall be with power. When buried it is a natural body, but it will be raised as a spiritual body.

For there shall be a spiritual body as there is at present a living body. Scripture says that Adam, the first man, became a living being; but the last Adam has become a life-giving Spirit. The Spirit does not appear first, but the natural life, and afterwards comes the Spirit.

The first man comes from the earth and is earthly, while the second One comes from heaven. As it was with the earthly one, so is it with the earthly people. As it is with Christ, so with the heavenly. This is why, after bearing the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly One.

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Sunday, 28 August 2016 : 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are called to remember what God had said to us through His words in the Sacred Scriptures, beginning from our first reading which was taken from the Book of the prophet Sirach. What the prophet Sirach mentioned was the very important concept of our life which all of us should take on deep into ourselves and embrace with vigour and zeal.

The greater the power you have, the humbler you should become. And through humility and our faith, we shall be blessed and be glorified by God. For the Lord treasures not the power and might of the world, and neither did He value the wealth and the riches of this earth which we have obtained for ourselves. For all these things cannot last, and even fire, water and moth will be able to destroy them in a mere short moment.

And that is where this day’s wonderful Scripture passages are directing us to, that is to understand that while it is easy for us to succumb to our pride and our desire to have power, influence and authority, fame, glory and renown in this world, it is much more difficult to let all these go and resist the temptations of the flesh and of the pleasures and wonders of this world.

As Jesus mentioned in His parable today about the wedding guests in wedding parties and the position of honour, we have to reflect on our own lives and experiences. It is natural for us all to desire fame, position, honour, glory and all the other things which we mankind have craved and wanted, as ever since desire and greed entered into our hearts, we have been enslaved to those desires and greed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, ever since Adam and Eve our ancestors desired knowledge of good and evil, eating the fruits from the forbidden tree of knowledge, we have fallen into this trap set upon us by Satan, who was loathe to see us brought into joy and happiness with God while he himself, out of his pride, was cast out of heaven and cursed to remain forever in the darkness and despair of hell.

We always tend to seek for better places for ourselves, for better positions, for better incentives and to gather more of the things that bring pleasure to us. And it does not help that this world is doing exactly what encourages us to live through this hedonistic and materialistic lifestyle. From ages to ages, we have seen rich people, kings, nobles, lords and other people with privilege who desired for more of what they had, and this had led them into oppressing the poor and the weak, or to confront each other, desiring one another’s possessions.

Wars and conflicts had arisen because of people’s greed and insatiable desires. That is the reality of how things often work in this world. And mankind often would not have enough even if they had achieved or attained what they wanted. Sooner or later, they would crave for more and desire for more, unless they make the conscious effort in order to rein those desires and practice to resist the lures of worldly pleasures.

Perhaps, the great saint whose feast we celebrate today can help us to shed some light on what we can do, and indeed what we need to do, based on his own life experiences, in order for us to be able to find our way to reach out to the salvation in our God. He is St. Augustine of Hippo, also known as St. Augustine the Great, one of the Four Original Doctors of the Church, and an important pillar of Christendom.

St. Augustine however was not always as great or holy as he is now known to be. Many of his great works and writings reflect the greatness of his mind and intellect, as well as his great faith and devotion to the Lord. Yet, in his youth, which many were not aware of, he was a great sinner who lived in wickedness and debauchery, far from the reach of the Lord’s salvation and grace.

He was born into a rich and influential family, and his father was an important official and administrator in the government of the Roman Empire at that time, and he was also a pagan like his father was, though his mother, St. Monica, whose feast we have just celebrated yesterday, was a devout Christian. St. Augustine received the best of educations and privileges, enriched with learnings from the philosophers and intellectuals of the Greek and the Roman world.

And it was then that St. Augustine fell into a life of hedonism, materialism and desire. He fell into the lure of the Manichaean heretical teachings after having been influenced by his friends and peers, a wicked and confused teaching that was a mix and match of elements from different ways of thought and cultures that intermingled at the time.

For a while, the hedonistic and materialistic practices of Manichaeanism and his peers influences on him satisfied his needs, desires and wants. Being a philosopher that he was, he also craved for more knowledge and for more satisfaction in this world, and yet even after many years, he still felt that something in him was lacking and incomplete, and he went on to search for that longing to complete himself, and that was where and when he found the Lord.

His mother, St. Monica, had always hoped and tried fervently in order to bring him back to the Lord, to receive Him as his Lord and Saviour, and to turn away from all of his sinful ways. Despite him having disappointed her many times, as St. Augustine in his youth led a very debauched way of life, moving from one relationship to another, and even having a child out of marriage, she did not give up.

Eventually, St. Monica’s persistence and prayers, as well as St. Augustine’s own growing dissatisfaction with the Manichaean beliefs, his then lifestyle and work as a teacher of philosophy and rhetorics, and finally his meeting and interaction with another great saint and Doctor of the Church, St. Ambrose of Milan brought him to convert to the Faith.

It was in God that St. Augustine found his true fulfilment and satisfaction, all of which the world could not give. For God gives His people and His faithful ones the richness of His love, one that cannot be destroyed by fire, or by water or by any other earthly forces. And unlike banks and institutions we often place our money and possessions in, entrusting to these our living and our goods, which when they collapse and perish, our goods also perish with them, God is the only One Who is truly trustworthy.

From this lesson we learn of St. Augustine of Hippo, his life and experience, there are a few things that we can benefit and learn from even as we live our lives now in this world. First of all, while God is loving and forgiving, it is really up to us to make the difference in our lives. God calls all sinners and wicked people to return to Him, and yet, if we are the ones who refuse His offer of mercy, then there will be no way open for us to reach the salvation of God.

Secondly, it was told that in one occasion, God appeared to St. Augustine in a vision as he walked along a coastline as a young boy, who used a seashell to pour the seawater into a small hole he made on the beach. St. Augustine was then very fascinated at the Bible, as he was very much into reading the Scriptures after he converted to the Faith. He wanted to understand and comprehend the nature of God and His mysteries, and God appeared to him in that vision to clarify things with him.

St. Augustine asked the boy about why he was doing such a meaningless task, as such a feat of emptying the sea into that small hole was indeed an impossible thing to do. Then the small boy, God, told St. Augustine that what he was doing in trying to understand and comprehend the mysteries of God was equally meaningless and useless, as God was too great and far beyond our understanding to be understood by our simple minds.

This is a reminder for us that, no matter how great we are in this world, we are still nothing compared to God, and truly, we are nothing without God. We may boast all we like about what we have, about our power, wealth, fame, glory, family and many other things we are used to boasting for, but in the end, none of these will matter in the end.

This is precisely what the Lord told us about in His parable, that the first would be last, and the last would be first. That means, those who pride themselves in their worldly greatness, boasting their wealth, fame and glory would be last and considered last when the Lord comes to judge all the people. Why is this so? That is because, when we boast of ourselves, we close our hearts to others, including God. Rather, as St. Paul made it clear in his Epistle to the Corinthians, let all those who boast, boast of the Lord.

When we are so focused on ourselves, that is when we tend to ignore others who need our presence and our help. We become ignorant of those in need and therefore not only that we do not do as what our Lord wanted from us, but we also end up even causing pain and suffering, either intentionally or unintentionally and thus leading us into sin.

But third and last of all, the example of St. Augustine of Hippo also showed us that sin does not have the last say over us. Even he was a great sinner in his youth, and later on changed his life so profoundly and completely that probably no one would have recognised him in his later life, a great sinner turned to be a great saint. God did not hate us the sinners, but He does hate our sins.

Therefore, brethren, what are we waiting for? Are we waiting until it is too late for us to change our ways and be redeemed? Are we still too engrossed with ourselves, our deeds and our achievements in this world? Let us all take this opportunity to reflect and to think deeply about our actions and their impacts on ourselves and others around us. Have we been truly faithful to God? Have our actions been done in accordance with what God wanted from us?

May we be able to find our way to the Lord by deepening our relationship with Him, and may God also be our guide in this journey, that walking in the footsteps of St. Augustine of Hippo, we too may be turned from being creatures of sin and darkness, into the worthy and loving children of God. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 28 August 2016 : 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green


Luke 14 : 1, 7-14

At that time, one Sabbath Jesus had gone to eat a meal in the house of a leading Pharisee, and He was carefully watched.

Jesus then told a parable to the guests, for He had noticed how they tried to take the places of honour. And He said, “When you are invited to a wedding party, do not choose the best seat. It may happen that someone more important than you had been invited; and your host, who invited both of you, will come and say to you, ‘Please give this person your place.’ What shame is yours when you take the lowest seat!”

“Whenever you are invited, go rather to the lowest seat, so that your host may come and say to you, ‘Friend, you must come up higher.’ And this will be a great honour for you in the presence of all the other guests. For whoever makes himself out to be great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be raised.”

Jesus also addressed the man who had invited Him, and said, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends, or your brothers and relatives, or your wealthy neighbours. For surely they will also invite you in return, and you will be repaid. When you give a feast, invite instead the poor, the crippled, the lame and the blind. Fortunate are you then, because they cannot repay you; you will be repaid at the resurrection of the upright.”

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Sunday, 28 August 2016 : 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Hebrews 12 : 18-19, 22-24a

What you have come to is nothing known to the senses : nor heat of a blazing fire, darkness and gloom and storms, blasts of trumpets or such a voice that the people pleaded that no further word be spoken.

But you came near to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem with its innumerable Angels. You have come to the solemn feast, the assembly of the firstborn of God, whose names are written in heaven. There is God, Judge of all, with the spirits of the upright brought to perfection.

There is Jesus, the Mediator of the new Covenant.

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Sunday, 28 August 2016 : 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 67 : 4-5ac, 6-7ab, 10-11

But let the righteous be glad and exult before God; let them sing to God and shout for joy. Sing to God, sing praises to His Name; the Lord is His Name. Rejoice in His presence.

Father of orphans and protector of widows – such is our God in His holy dwelling. He gives shelter to the homeless, sets the prisoners free.

Then You gave a rain of blessings to comfort Your weary children. Your people found a dwelling and in Your mercy, o God, You provided for the needy.

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Sunday, 28 August 2016 : 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Sirach 3 : 19-21, 30-31

The greater you are, the more you should humble yourself and thus you will find favour with God. For great is the power of the Lord and it is the humble who give Him glory. Do not seek what is beyond your powers nor search into what is beyond your ability.

As water extinguishes the burning flames, almsgiving obtains pardon for sins. The man who responds by doing good prepares for the future, at the moment of his downfall he will find support.