Doctors of the Church

by

Wednesday, 20 August 2025 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all gather together and listen to the words of the Lord contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that we should not allow ourselves to be swayed and dragged by our own worldly desires and ambitions, all the things which may often cause us to fall into temptations and lose sight of our focus and attention in the Lord, and instead, we may end up walking down the wrong path towards damnation and destruction, especially if we continue to follow the path of worldliness. And we have been given this reminder hopefully that we may turn away from all those temptations and desires before it is too late for us. But the question is, are we willing to commit ourselves to reject the path of worldliness and embrace instead God’s path, His wisdom and truth? This is something that we need to decide on, brothers and sisters.

In our first reading today taken from the Book of Judges detailing to us the activities of the Judges of Israel, in which we heard of the details of the strife that happened that time in Israel between the sons of Gideon, whose exploits we heard in our first reading yesterday. During the time of the Judges, the Lord sent those judges, called from among His own people the Israelites to lead them all out of their predicament and troubles, from those who have oppressed and subjugated them like the Midianites in the case of Gideon. The Israelites had sinned against God by their stubbornness and disobedience, and yet, God still showed His mercy and compassion on them, by giving them the Judges to lead them out of their troubles, to govern and guide them in the right path.

And Gideon managed to defeat and liberate the Israelites from the domination of the Midianites with the guidance and strength of God, and he reigned for a while as the Judge and leader of all the Israelites. According to the Scriptural evidence, he went on to have many children, numbering seventy all in all, and one among them, who was mentioned in the first reading today, Abimelech, had a great ambition to become a Judge succeeding his father and even as king, and was indeed made king of Shechem. And in his attempts to do that, after the passing of Gideon the Judge, he gathered all of his father’s other children and massacred all of them, except for one who escaped, the one known as Jotham. When Abimelech sought to be chosen and crowned as king over Shechem, Jotham appeared in that city and cried out before them, speaking God’s words against Abimelech.

Essentially, the words of Jotham inspired by God highlighted the disapproval that God has over how Abimelech rose to power and massacred his own brothers in his efforts to rise to power and dominion over the people of Shechem, one of the major centres of the Israelites at the time. Abimelech rose to power on violence, and his reign over Shechem was also dominated by violence and conflict, and eventually, as the fulfilment of whatever Jotham had courageously spoken before the people of Shechem, Abimelech would be killed by a woman who threw down a stone from the tower that Abimelech and his forces was besieging in his ambitious efforts to expand his power and dominion. This is a reminder for all of us not to allow ourselves to be swayed by worldly ambitions or else, we may fall into the path to our downfall and destruction. 

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the parable that the Lord Jesus spoke of to His disciples, sharing with them the story of a vineyard owner and master who sought workers for his vineyard, and how the owner kept on going to various places, to the roadsides and other places to find people to work in his vineyard, even right up to the eleventh hour, that is just an hour or so before the end of the work day at sunset. And the owner gathered all those who agreed to work in his vineyard, and by the end of the day, he gave all of them the reward which he had promised to them, and they were all paid equally as agreed, only for those who had started to work earlier in the day to grumble because they were not being paid more than those who started later.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is a representation of what God has called us to do, what He has presented to us and what He has promised us. The master of the vineyard represents the Lord Himself, our God and Master, while each of the people whom He had called represent each and every one of us those whom He had called from the world. Some indeed He called earlier on and responded earlier on, while others responded much later and some even hesitated and tarried, but eventually they also went to follow the Lord as well. This is also an important reminder for all of us that our salvation and ultimate reward from God is the same for all of us, and unlike how we usually think of it in this world, we cannot quantify or compare them among us, as we are all ultimately, equally beloved by God and precious to Him.

That is why we should not be jealous at those whom God had called later on in their lives, or think that in any way that we are better or superior than them simply because we think that we deserve more or better, or that we are more beloved or precious than those whom we are prejudiced and biased against. The Lord wants each and every one of us to realise that all of us are brothers and sisters, all of His children that He truly loves wholeheartedly, and that is why we should always show care, concern, love and compassion to one another. We should not allow ourselves to be swayed by the desires for glory and greatness to the exclusion of others, and we should not be discriminatory to anyone in our actions and interactions. That is what we are expected to do as Christians, as those whom God has called and chosen.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Bernard, a holy and renowned Abbot and honoured as one of the Church’s Doctor of the Church. St. Bernard, also known as St. Bernard of Clairvaux, was born into a noble French family in Burgundy, and he was third of seven children. He was eventually convinced of becoming a priest after having gone through education with the priests of his local school, and this led to St. Bernard of Clairvaux joining several others in founding a community of monks that followed the Rule of St. Benedict, known as the Order of Cistercians, with St. Bernard himself as one of the founders of the Order. His epithet ‘of Clairvaux’ stemmed from the foundation of this monastery that he established for his community in Clairvaux, and over which he was the abbot of.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux spent many years in managing his Clairvaux Abbey and community, and at the same time also spent a lot of time outside the monastery as a preacher and a trusted diplomat of the Pope. He preached in many places and gained a large following, gaining more popularity for his growing Cistercian Order, and was also involved in the promotion of the efforts of the Crusades at the time. He was also a mystic and received visions from God, and he wrote extensively on many matters, and his great preachings, all of these eventually led him to be honoured after his passing, not just as a revered saint but also as one of the Doctors of the Church, a rare honour reserved to those who have contributed a lot to the Christian theology, teachings and have extensive writings and homilies attributed to them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, inspired by the faith and examples of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, let us all therefore remember that our primary objective in this world is not to amass for ourselves worldly riches, glory and fame, and that all of these cannot truly satisfy us. Instead, we should always put our focus in the Lord, remembering that we have been given such a great grace and blessing by God, and the expectation of true and everlasting joy with Him. We should not therefore take what God has given us for granted, and we should strive to live our lives to the fullest with the genuine efforts and work to live lives that He has called us to do. We should do our best to glorify Him by our lives and to do things for the good of everyone around us.

May the Lord continue to help and strengthen us in our journey in life, and may He bless our every good efforts and works, all the things that we do for the good of others and for the greater glory of His Name, in every circumstances and opportunities which He had provided us. May all of us continue to be worthy bearers of His truth, Good News and salvation, to all those whom we encounter daily in life. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 20 August 2025 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 20 : 1-16a

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “This story throws light on the kingdom of heaven : A landowner went out early in the morning, to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay each worker the usual daily wage, and sent them to his vineyard.”

“He went out again, at about nine in the morning, and, seeing others idle in the town square, he said to them, ‘You also, go to my vineyard, and I will pay you what is just.’ So they went. The owner went out at midday, and, again, at three in the afternoon, and he made the same offer.”

“Again he went out, at the last working hour – the eleventh – and he saw others standing around. So he said to them, ‘Why do you stand idle the whole day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ The master said, ‘Go, and work in my vineyard.'”

“When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wage, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ Those who had gone to work at the eleventh hour came up, and were each given a silver coin. When it was the turn of the first, they thought they would receive more. But they, too, received one silver coin. On receiving it, they began to grumble against the landowner.”

“They said, ‘These last, hardly worked an hour; yet, you have treated them the same as us, who have endured the heavy work of the day and the heat.’ The owner said to one of them, ‘Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on one silver coin per day? So take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last the same as I give to you. Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Why are you envious when I am kind?'”

“So will it be : the last will be first.”

by

Wednesday, 20 August 2025 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 20 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

The king rejoices in Your strength, o YHVH, and exults in Your saving help. You have granted him his desire; You have not rejected his request.

You have come to him with rich blessings; You have placed a golden crown upon his head. When he asked, You gave him life – length of days forever and ever.

He glories in the victory You gave him; You shall bestow on him splendour and majesty. You have given him eternal blessings, and gladdened him with the joy of Your presence.

by

Wednesday, 20 August 2025 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Judges 9 : 6-15

Then all the lords of Shechem and the whole council assembled together by the oak of the pillar in Shechem, and proclaimed Abimelech king. When Jotham was told about this, he went to the top of Mount Gerizim. There he cried out to them, “Listen to me, lords of Shechem, that God may listen to you!”

“The trees once set out to find and anoint a king. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’ The olive tree answered, ‘Am I going to renounce the oil by which – thanks to me – gods and people are honoured, to hold sway over the trees?'”

“The trees said to the fig tree : ‘Come and reign over us.’ The fig tree answered them, ‘Am I going to renounce my sweetness and my delicious fruit, to hold sway over the trees?'”

“The trees said to the vine : ‘Come and reign over us.’ The vine answered, ‘Am I going to renounce my juice which cheers gods and people to sway over the trees?'”

“Then the trees said to the bramble bush : ‘Come, reign over us.’ The bramble bush answered the trees, ‘If you come in sincerity to anoint me as your king, then come near and take shelter in my shade; but if not, let fire break out of the bramble bush to devour even the cedars of Lebanon.'”

by

Friday, 1 August 2025 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us listened from the readings of the Sacred Scriptures in which we are reminded of the need for all of us to centre our lives on the Lord, to put our whole activities and everything that we do in Him, so that we will always continue to journey together with Him, doing everything that we can to glorify Him through each and every moments of our lives. We should allow the Lord to lead us in our paths in life and not to be distracted by all sorts of worldly ambitions and desires that may lead us astray through selfishness and sin. Each and every one of us as Christians should always be good role models and examples for one another, to be faithful and worthy bearers of our Christian faith at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Leviticus, we heard of the instructions from the Lord to His people through Moses in which He detailed the various Festivals and celebrations that the people should partake in throughout the whole year. There were the Festival of the Unleavened Bread, marking the time of the original Passover in Egypt and its aftermath, when the people of Israel brought unleavened bread with them as they hurried on their way out of Egypt, with no time to wait for the bread to set and to rise with the addition of yeast or leaven. There were also the Festival of the Tents, also known as the Sukkot, which in tradition marked the memorial of the time when the Israelites were travelling in the desert, under the open skies and staying in tents, and how these celebrations ought to be celebrated each year according to the tradition and Law of the Lord.

We heard how the Lord detailed the various rules and expectations on how each of the Festivals were to be celebrated. In general each festivals required the people to put their focus and attention on celebrating the events covered in the Festival and taking a break from their usual daily routines and works, much like the Sabbath that is observed on each week. This observation of those Festivals serve as a reminder for all the people of God that their lives and activities should always be done in God’s Presence and that God should always be at the very heart of all things, being reminded to everyone in each and every one of those celebrations, done periodically so that all may know that God is truly present in their midst, and it is also therefore a reminder for all of us to keep God in our lives and our communities as well.

In our own way of life as Christians, we should also remind ourselves of the important Feasts and celebrations of our faith, which are also partly modelled and inspired from the Jewish feasts and festivals. We should keep in mind that as we continue to progress through the liturgical year, marking important events and celebrations that the Church had placed throughout the year, all of us should continue to focus our attention on the Lord as we live our lives and do our actions and activities. We should not allow ourselves to be so preoccupied by our many busy details, pursuits and ambitions in life so that our daily activities and business ended up distancing us and keeping us away from God. And this is why it is important that we should regularly participate in the daily Mass and taking part in the Sacraments.

Then from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist we heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus was in Nazareth in Galilee, in His hometown. At that time, the Lord was teaching in the synagogue and spoke with great wisdom and eloquence. But the people of Nazareth, many of whom had known the Lord since He was very young, doubted Him and refused to believe in Him simply because they took offense at the fact that He was merely the Son of the town or village carpenter, a profession that was indeed noble but was very lowly considered at that time, and they thought that a mere carpenter’s Son could not have gained such Wisdom and performed such miraculous wonders and works just as they must have heard from their surrounding regions where the Lord performed His works.

This is where we are reminded that our own human prejudices and arrogance can often come in between us and our faith in the Lord. The people of Nazareth thought that they knew it better because they used their own human judgments and ideas instead of trusting and believing in God. And that was why they failed to believe in Him, just as how many others across Galilee and Judea also refused to believe in the Lord Jesus, like those Pharisees and teachers of the Law, as they allowed themselves to be tempted and swayed by their own ego, pride and ambition, refusing to believe that the Lord could have manifested Himself in a mere carpenter’s Son, the Saviour of the whole world, the prophesied King of Kings and Son of David. And yet, the Lord showed them all that this was indeed the truth, and not their prejudices and false ideas.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Alphonsus Liguori, the famous founder of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer, also known as the Redemptorists. St. Alphonsus Liguori was born in the southern region of Italy, near the city of Naples as the eldest of the seven children of a naval officer. As his health condition prevented him from joining the military like his father, he was prepared for a career as a lawyer, and then he excelled in his education, gaining doctorates in civil and canon law at the mere age of sixteen. He carried out his legal profession for more than a decade but after having experienced a moment of distress when he lost an important case, he felt the calling to leave behind the law profession and then serving the Lord.

That was how he then joined the Oratory of St. Philip Neri and desiring to become a priest. He managed to gain his father’s permission despite the latter’s initial opposition, but he did not join the congregation of the Oratory as a compromise, and instead, spent time to serve the poor and the marginalised in his home area of Naples. He became a very popular priest due to his simple and yet touching sermons, which were frequented by many people. He was credited with the foundation of the ‘Evening Chapels’, places like chapels where the faithful gathered for prayers and activities, and also other social and communal activities related to the faith, and where more and more people flocked towards as St. Alphonsus continued to do more wonderful works, and many were turned towards God through his homilies and preaching.

Eventually, as he would later be famous for, he founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a religious congregation that was dedicated to the service of the poor and the marginalised, focusing on the work of preaching and teaching in the slums, countryside and in other places where the last, the lost and the least were gathered in. His foundation of this Order of the Redemptorists were also rooted in the then rampant heresy of Jansenism which focused on excessive moral rigorism and blame on the human nature as sinners. Through his efforts and the Redemptorist missionaries, the faithful were reminded of the great love and mercy of God, the Redeemer of all, Who had indeed died for all of our sins, and calling on all those who had been separated and away from the Church to return to the Lord, their Redeemer.

St. Alphonsus Liguori continued to serve the Lord faithfully in various capacities, as the founder and the leader of the Redemptorists first and foremost, and then later on in his ministry as a bishop when he was appointed by the Pope as the Bishop of Sant’ Agata de Goti in the southern part of Italy. He was a humble man, who tried to refuse the appointment by citing his age and health problems, but eventually obeyed and faithfully dedicated himself to the missions which had been entrusted to him. He reformed the local church, its seminary and formation of the faithful, addressing various abuses of the clergy and the lack of discipline among those priests, while devoting himself to the care of the poor and the needy in his diocese. He also faced hardships and persecution even from his fellow priests, being dismissed from the very Redemptorist congregation he had founded, but he remained firmly faithful to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the good life and examples which St. Alphonsus Liguori had shown us all, and as we have been reminded by the readings of the Sacred Scriptures earlier on, let us all strive to put the Lord our God at the very centre of our lives and existence. Let us all be the faithful and worthy bearers of God’s truth and Good News to everyone, and the best way that we can do this is indeed by living our lives most worthily as Christians, in doing everything in accordance to what the Lord Himself had taught and shown us. Let our whole lives bear witness of our great and courageous faith in the Lord, and may God continue to bless us always in everything we do, now and forevermore. Amen.

by

Friday, 1 August 2025 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 54-58

At that time, Jesus went to His hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did He get this wisdom and these special powers? Is He not the carpenter’s Son? Is Mary not His mother and are James, Joseph, Simon and Judas not His brothers? Are not all His sisters living here? Where did He get all these things?” And so they took offence at Him.

Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is his hometown and in his own family.” And He did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

by

Friday, 1 August 2025 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 80 : 3, 4, 5-6ab, 10-11ab

Start the music, strike the timbrel, play melodies on the harp and lyre. Sound the trumpet at the new moon, on our feast day, when the new moon is full.

This is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob, a statute He wrote for Joseph when he went out of Egypt.

There shall be no strange god among you, you shall not worship any alien god, for I, YHVH, am your God.

by

Friday, 1 August 2025 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Leviticus 23 : 1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37

YHVH spoke to Moses, “Then there are appointed feasts of YHVH at the times fixed for them, when you are to proclaim holy assemblies. At twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month is YHVH’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of this month it is YHVH’s feast of Unleavened Bread.”

For seven days you shall eat bread without leaven. On the first day there will be a sacred assembly and no work of a worker shall be done. For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to YHVH and on the seventh day you shall hold a sacred assembly and do no work of a worker.”

YHVH spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them : When you enter the land that I will give you and you reap its harvest, you will bring to the priest a sheaf, the first fruits of your harvest and he shall wave the sheaf before YHVH for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”

“From the day after the Sabbath, on which you bring the sheaf of offering, you are to count seven full weeks. The day after the seventh Sabbath will be the fiftieth day and then you are to offer YHVH a new offering. The tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly. You must fast, and you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH.”

“The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of Tents for YHVH, lasting seven days. The first day you shall hold an assembly; you must do no work of a worker. For seven days you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH. It is a day of solemn assembly in which you shall do no work of a worker.”

“These are the appointed feasts of YHVH in which you are to proclaim holy assemblies for the purpose of offering offerings by fire, burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings to YHVH, according to the ritual of each day.”

by

Wednesday, 30 July 2025 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that God has given each and every one of us truly great blessings and graces, all the wonders that He had done for us, all the great things that He had prepared and intended for us. That is why we should never take them for granted and ignore what God has provided to us, or to settle for things that are less in value, in worldly ambitions and pursuits that can distract and keep us away from following the Lord wholeheartedly. We should always remember that each and every one of us as God’s holy and beloved people are meant for greatness in life, and we are all expected to seek our true treasures in life that we can find in the Lord alone.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Exodus, we heard of the account of Moses descending down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets with his whole face and countenance transformed from his encounter with God, as his face reflects the bright radiance of God. Moses was one of the very few in the Old Testament who had encountered God and lived, as it was believed that God’s glory and righteousness would have destroyed a person should he or she be in the presence of God and look upon His holy and glorious face. But Moses looked upon God in the face and was there atop Mount Sinai where God descended and wrote on the tablets of the Ten Commandments, while revealing to him His Law and commandments to be passed to the Israelites.

In this case, God has given His people, all the Law and commandments by which He wanted to teach all of them how they could obey and follow Him faithfully and wholeheartedly, and not be distracted by worldly temptations and vices. Through Moses He had shown the people that His path and His ways are truly holy and worthy, while the path of worldliness, all of the people’s disobedience and wickedness, all sorts of licentiousness and evils are truly wicked, just as how prior to this occasion depicted today from the Book of Exodus, the Israelites rebelled against the Lord by erecting for themselves a golden calf idol and treating it as their ‘god’, instead of trusting in the same Lord and God Who had saved them and led them all out from the land of their slavery in Egypt.

The Israelites were reminded of the Covenant which God had made with all of them, and how God had been so kind in extending to all of them His mercy and love, all the compassion that He has shown them so generously despite the disobedience and rebelliousness that His people has shown Him. He has always been loving and forgiving to all of them, and He wanted all of them to return to Him and to be reconciled fully with Him. That is why He has also never given up on any one of us, loving us all generously and wonderfully in the same way. Just as the Israelites were God’s first chosen people, now all of us Christians, who have become parts of God’s Church, are also God’s holy, beloved and chosen people, and we are all equally beloved in the same way. 

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist,
we heard of the parables which the Lord Jesus used to highlight what the Kingdom of Heaven is like to His disciples and followers and to all others who were listening to Him. The Lord used the parables to help His audience to understand better what He wanted to tell them, comparing the Kingdom of Heaven to that of a great treasure hidden in the field, or to a pearl of great value. Through those parables, it is indeed clear that the Lord wanted to highlight the great importance of being part of the Kingdom of God, and for us all, it is being part of God’s Church, His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, together with all the Law and commandments that God had given to us all.

Through His gift of His beloved Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, God Himself had made His Kingdom and Dominion tangible in this world, establishing His Church in our midst, gathering all of us, the lost sheep of the Lord’s flock, scattered all over the whole world in darkness with His light and hope, so that all of us may once again be together as one flock of Christ, our One and True Good Shepherd, the One through Whom we have received the assurance and hope of God’s salvation and eternal life. Through Christ Himself we have also received the true revelation of God’s Law and commandments, of their meaning and purpose, and how we all can truly obey the Lord faithfully and wholeheartedly in the manner that He wants from us, to be truly loving and committed to Him at all times.

As Christians, all of us should always seek the Lord and aim to make our lives truly worthy of Him by living our faith with sincerity and commitment, in the manner of how we love ourselves and our fellow brothers and sisters, in how we interact with each other, with our loved ones and even with all those whom we encounter daily in life. Through God’s Law and commandments, including the Ten Commandments that are at the core of our beliefs, we are all expected to love the Lord our God in the same manner that He has shown and given to us, in His infinite and ever enduring love, in how we love everyone around us, from those whom we loved and also to all those whom we encounter, even strangers and even to those who persecuted and hated us. That is what Christ Himself has shown us by Him loving and forgiving even those who have persecuted and oppressed Him.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Peter Chrysologus, a holy bishop, servant of God and a Doctor of the Church. St. Peter Chrysologus was born in the region of northern Italy during the waning years of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, in the early fifth century, and he eventually became a deacon and rose to the position of archdeacon in the Church. St. Peter Chrysologus was then appointed by the Pope as the Bishop of Ravenna, and this happened according to the Church tradition due to the vision which the Pope received by inspiration, and the man in his vision as the next Bishop of Ravenna was none other than St. Peter Chrysologus himself. He was ordained as a priest and then bishop, and became the faithful shepherd of the flock in that city and region.

He was known as ‘Chrysologus’ or the ‘Golden-worded’ because of his great and yet simple, eloquent and inspiring homilies, which touched the hearts and minds of so many among the faithful that he was known later as the ‘Doctor of Homilies’ and was made not just as a saint of the Church but also revered as one of the few honoured as Doctors of the Church. He devoted his time and effort to minister to his flock in Ravenna and to others beyond, in defending the true, orthodox Christian faith against all the heresies that were then quite rampant throughout the Christendom. He encouraged the faithful to deepen their relationship with God through daily reception of the Holy Eucharist and devotions to the Blessed Mother of God, among other spiritual activities and works. He spent the rest of his life as a faithful bishop and servant of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, just as we have heard from today’s Scripture readings and inspired by the examples and the life of St. Peter Chrysologus, let us all therefore do our very best in our own lives, in each and every moments so that we may be good role models and examples to everyone around us. Let us all be the good and worthy beacons of God’s light and hope, His love and compassion, and bring forth His truth and Good News to all those whom we encounter in our daily lives, with our loved ones and everyone else. May God bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 30 July 2025 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Matthew 13 : 44-46

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure, hidden in a field. The one who finds it, buries it again; and so happy is he, that he goes and sells everything he has, in order to buy that field.”

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a trader, who is looking for fine pearls. Once he has found a pearl of exceptional quality, he goes away, sells everything he has and buys it.”