Doctors of the Church

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Wednesday, 13 January 2016 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Mark 1 : 29-39

At that time, on leaving the synagogue, Jesus went to the home of Simon and Andrew with James and John. As Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with fever, they immediately told Him about her.

Jesus went to her and, taking her by the hand, raised her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. That evening at sundown, people brought to Jesus all the sick and those who had evil spirits : the whole town was pressing around the door.

Jesus healed many who had various diseases, and drove out many demons; but He did not let them speak, for they knew who He was. Very early in the morning, before daylight, Jesus went off to a lonely place where He prayed. Simon and the others went out also, searching for Him; and when they found Him, they said, “Everyone is looking for You.”

Then Jesus answered, “Let us go to the nearby villages so that I may preach there too; for that is why I came.” So Jesus set out to preach in all the synagogues throughout Galilee; He also cast out demons.

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Wednesday, 13 January 2016 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Psalm 39 : 2 and 5, 7-8a, 8b-9, 10

With resolve I waited for the Lord; He listened and heard me beg. Blessed is the one who relies on the Lord and does not look to the proud nor go astray after false gods.

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

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

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

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Wednesday, 13 January 2016 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Hilary, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

1 Samuel 3 : 1-10, 19-20

The boy Samuel ministered to YHVH under Eli’s care in a time in which the word of YHVH was rarely heard; visions were not seen. One night Eli was lying down in his room, half blind as he was. The lamp of God was still lighted and Samuel also lay in the house of YHVH near the Ark of God.

Then YHVH called, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel answered, “I am here!” and ran to Eli saying, “I am here, did you not call me?” But Eli said, “I did not call, go back to sleep.” So he went and lay down.

Then YHVH called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel stood up and went to Eli saying, “You called me; I am here.” But Eli answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.”

Samuel did not yet know YHVH and the word of YHVH had not yet been revealed to him. But YHVH called Samuel for the third time and, as he went again to Eli saying, “I am here for you have called me,” Eli realised that it was YHVH calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if He calls you again, answer : ‘Speak, YHVH, Your servant listens.'”

Then YHVH came and stood there calling as He did before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant listens.” Samuel grew; YHVH was with him and made all his words become true. All Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was really YHVH’s prophet.

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Saturday, 2 January 2016 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the humility of John the Baptist, the holy servant of God, the Herald of His Messiah, Who came into the world in order to save it and all of mankind. John the Baptist came before Jesus in order to prepare His way, and he baptised many people at the Jordan, calling them to repentance and to turn away from their sinful ways.

And even though many people listened to him and hearkened to his call for repentance, and although many people flocked to him and he was truly famous and respected by many, but in numerous occasions, as what we have also heard in the Gospel today, he denied that he was the Messiah, that is he denied that he was the Saviour that was to come into the world as prophesied.

He humbly revealed that he was merely the servant, the voice calling out in the wilderness to call the people of God to prepare themselves for the coming of the Lord and to prepare them to receive His salvation. He refused the temptation to be a great person himself, the temptation of power and worldly glory, and he preferred to remain faithful to the mission which he had come into this world for.

We can relate this to the first reading which we had today, the Epistle which St. John had written to the faithful to remind them to be true to their faith and reject all the falsehoods and lies, and to reject and resist all the false teachings of the false prophets and the antichrists, whose ways are not of the Lord but of the devil, and whose temptations on the faithful could cause these to lose their track on their way towards salvation and fall into damnation instead.

Just as Adam and Eve, these false prophets and antichrists were tempted by the devil with the false promises and the lies of worldly power and glory, if only that they would abandon their God and disobey Him, following rather the path of their own hearts’ desires and wants. And they succumbed to the temptation and followed the devil in his ways, and then they also preached the same falsehoods to mislead many others from among the faithful.

Throughout the ages, we have encountered many of them, the heretics such as Arius, Nestorius, and many others, including that of Martin Luther, Calvin and Zwingli in the more recent time. These people have turned the hearts of many of the faithful into the wrong paths, because instead of adhering to the teachings of the Lord as what had been kept faithfully by the Apostles and the Church fathers, they allowed their own judgments and ideas to supersede the truth.

And now, let us see the examples of the two very important saints whose feast we celebrate today, namely St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen. Both of these saints were widely honoured, especially in the eastern half of Christendom, where they were credited with the defence of the true faith against the dangerous heresies that threatened to divide and tear apart the Church of God.

St. Basil the Great was the Bishop of Caesarea who lived and worked at about the same time of his contemporary, St. Gregory Nazianzen or St. Gregory of Nazianzus, who was the Archbishop of the new capital city of the Roman Empire, Constantinople. Both of them worked together in the effort to counter the influence and the false teachings of the heretics such as the Arians and the many other sects which taught teachings contrary to the orthodox and true Church teachings.

Many of the faithful were divided against each other, with those who refused to leave behind the truth of God and join the heresies against those who have given themselves up to the false and twisted teachings. It fell to St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory Nazianzen and their fellow elders of the Church as well as the faithful among the laity to resist the advances of those seeking to destroy the Church and its truth.

It was not an easy journey, as many challenges awaited and faced them. All those who are opposed to the two saints made things difficult for them, the priests and bishops aligned with the heretical teachings constantly challenged them and made things difficult for the faithful people of God. Nevertheless, St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen never gave up, and with clarity of Christian teachings and truth in their hands, they worked hard and managed to turn many back to the true path towards the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard the examples of the faithful saints of God, and also that of John the Baptist who faithfully carried out his mission, rejecting the temptation of the evil one and the world, and humbly fulfilling what has been expected of him, let us all also reflect on these and walk in their footsteps, following their examples by doing the same in our own lives.

Let us all reject our human pride and desire for worldly glory, for these are the tools with which the devil will be able to easily manipulate us and tempt us to do what is sinful and wicked. We all have to stay together and to work together to maintain our faith life, and deepen our spiritual connection with the Lord by doing all that God had asked us to do, loving one another and serving each other with love.

Thus, after all that we have done, God Who rewards all who are faithful to Him will bless us and keep us in His grace, and He will not let us to suffer in the hands of the unfaithful, but He shall bless us with ever richer abundance of grace. God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Saturday, 2 January 2016 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 1 : 19-28

This was the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” John recognised the truth, and did not deny it. He said, “I am not the Messiah.”

And they asked him, “Then who are you? Elijah?” He answered, “I am not.” They said, “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Tell us who you are, so that we can give some answer to those who sent us. How do you see yourself?”

And John said, quoting from the prophet Isaiah, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness : Make straight the way of the Lord!” Those who had been sent were Pharisees; and they put a further question to John, “Then why are you baptising, if you are not the Messiah, or Elijah, or the Prophet?”

John answered, “I baptise you with water, but among you stands One Whom you do not know; although He comes after me, I am not worthy to untie the strap of His sandal.”

This happened in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptising.

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Saturday, 2 January 2016 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.

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Saturday, 2 January 2016 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of St. Basil the Great and St. Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 22-28

Who is the liar? The one who denies that Jesus is the Christ. This is an antichrist, who denies both the Father and the Son. The one who denies the Son is without the Father, and those who acknowledge the Son also have the Father.

Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you, too, will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise He Himself gave us : eternal life.

I write this to you thinking of those who try to lead you astray. You received from Him an anointing, and it remains in you, so you do not need someone to teach you. His anointing teaches you all things, it speaks the truth and does not lie to you; so remain in Him, and keep what He has taught you.

And now, my children, live in Him, so that when He appears in His glory, we may be confident and not ashamed before Him when He comes.

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Monday, 14 December 2015 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, as we draw ever closer to the commemoration of Christmas, and as we continue to prepare ourselves during this Advent season, let us all heed the messages of the Sacred Scriptures that are being conveyed to us even as we listen to them. The readings today spoke of putting our trust in the works of God, and what we ought to do in order to keep ourselves faithful to Him.

In the first reading, the seer Balaam blessed the people of Israel after he had been tasked and brought by an enemy king to curse them. But Balaam was a seer who saw the will of God and listened to Him, and there is no way for him to contradict the Lord by cursing the people whom He loved, and thus, he blessed them just in accordance with the will of God, and instead of a curse to destroy them, God made them to be even stronger.

This is to remind us that God is always with His people, and despite the challenges and the opposition that faces all of us, as long as we cling strongly in our faith to our God, nothing is impossible and we shall not fail or perish. We see the example of how there are such oppositions, with the example of Jesus, Whom the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law opposed, and these people tried at every possible opportunities to question Him, to doubt Him and to strike against Him and His disciples.

They have had the privilege of witnessing and experiencing directly the works of God’s mercy, and they have seen directly the miracles and the healings attributed to our God, and yet they stubbornly refused to believe and continued to walk in the path of sin and wickedness. They placed themselves as arbiters and judges of the actions and works of others, and yet they themselves failed to look into and judge at their own actions and works.

Yes, they judged others for their shortcomings and for apparently not following the Law as how they followed it, but yet in their hearts, although they outwardly showed their piety and devotion, God was not in their hearts and minds. They were not serving the interests of God and His people first, but instead their own interests and needs. They strove hard to be seen as holy and pious among men, but what they have done had no meaning and empty.

And because of this, they did not understand the Lord and all that He had done for His people. And because the Lord was not in their hearts, they failed to understand the actions that Jesus had done, and they refused to listen to His teachings, for to them, it was them and their own ways that were the only right ones. And this is the very same reason why, this world which has its own ways and which was unable to understand the Lord, also persecutes us all who believe in our God and all who walk in His ways.

But we should not be disheartened or be afraid, for God is always with us. He will guard us and protect us so long as we are faithful to Him, and no harm will ever come our way. In this, let us follow the footsteps and examples of St. John ofthe Cross, the faithful servant of God and saint whose feast we celebrate on this day. He was a Carmelite who was renowned for his role in serving the poor and in helping to reform the Church and religious orders, and who himself encountered many oppositions and even persecuted for persevering in doing what he had done in faith.

St. John of the Cross lived during a time of the so-called Protestant ‘reformation’ heresy, when many of the faithful were lured away from the Church and salvation by the lies and the lures of the devil, and inside the Church itself, many of its members became engrossed in material excesses and followed a path of vice, sin and moral corruption unbecoming of the children of God and as His servants.

St. John of the Cross worked hard to serve the poor and to care for those who are destitute and have less or none on themselves. He also strove hard to enact reforms on the way how the faithful, in particular the religious order of the Carmelites that he was a part of, in how they ought to live out their lives in devotion to God and to their brethren, suppressing and condemning the excesses that had characterised the Church at the time.

But in doing so, St. John of the Cross encountered many significant oppositions and made many enemies. He nevertheless continued to push on in doing good for the sake of the Church and for the people despite all the sufferings he had to endure, the rejection, the ridicule, the oppression, and even persecution in prison and slander by those who refused to repent their ways of sin and continued to live in wickedness.

In the end, it was not all those people who lived by the ways and standards of the world who were to receive the eternal blessings and graces of God. It was St. John of the Cross, the many other saints and martyrs who had been persecuted for their faith and their steadfast dedication to God’s truth that had merited them to be glorified and to be recognised as those who deserve directly the glories of eternal life and heaven.

Therefore, let us all reflect on this, and let us all think of our own actions. Have we been truly faithful to God despite all the challenges from the world and despite all the obstacles that had been placed on our paths? Can we dedicate ourselves and commit ourselves anew to God, and place our complete trust in Him. God will not fail us in the way that men’s strength will fail us. Even though the world will fail and be destroyed, the anchor of faith we have in the Lord will last forever.

Let us all pray and ask for the intercession of St. John of the Cross, that we may be given the grace by God to be strengthened in our faith, and so that our minds and hearts be ever more attuned to Him and to His words, practicing what we believe actively in our own daily lives. May God be with us all. Amen.

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Monday, 14 December 2015 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 21 : 23-27

At that time, Jesus had entered the Temple and was teaching, when the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and the Jewish authorities came to Him, and asked, “What authority have You to act like this? Who gave You authority to do all this?”

Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you a question, only one. And if you give me an answer, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. When John began to baptise, was it a work of God, or was it merely something human?”

They reasoned out among themselves, “If we reply that it was a work of God, He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ And if we say, ‘The baptism of John was merely something human’, we have got to beware of the people, for all hold John as a prophet.”

So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what right I do these things.”

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Monday, 14 December 2015 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 24 : 4-5ab, 6 and 7bc, 8-9

Teach me Your ways, o Lord; make known to me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and instruct me, for You are my God, my Saviour.

Remember Your compassion, o Lord, Your unfailing love from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, but in Your love remember me.

Good and upright, the Lord teaches sinners His way. He teaches the humble of heart and guides them in what is right.