Domine non sum dignus

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Saturday, 30 June 2018 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Matthew 8 : 5-17

At that time, when Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached Him, to ask His help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralysed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, He was astonished; and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown out into extreme darkness; there, they will wail and grind their teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the captain, “Go home now. As you believed, so let it be.” At that moment, his servant was healed. Jesus went to Peter’s house and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever. He took her by the hand and the fever left her; she got up and began to wait on Him.

Toward evening, they brought to Jesus many people possessed by evil spirits; and with a word, He drove out the spirits. He also healed all who were sick. In this way, what was said by the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled : He bore our infirmities and took on Himself our diseases.

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Monday, 4 December 2017 : 1st Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Priests)

Matthew 8 : 5-11

At that time, when Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached Him, to ask His help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralysed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, He was astonished; and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.”

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Monday, 18 September 2017 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 7 : 1-10

At that time, when Jesus had finished teaching the people, He went to Capernaum. A Roman military officer lived there, whose servant was very sick and near to death, a man very dear to him. So when he heard about Jesus, he sent some elders of the Jews to persuade Him to come and save his servant’s life. The elders came to Jesus and begged Him earnestly, saying, “He deserves this of You, for he loves our people and even built a synagogue for us.”

Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house, when the Roman officer sent friends to give this message, “Sir, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy to welcome You under my roof. You see, I did not approach You myself. Just give the order, and my servant will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers, and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes; and to the other, ‘Come!’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”

On hearing these words, Jesus was filled with admiration. He turned and said to the people with Him, “I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” The people, sent by the captain, went back to his house; there they found that the servant was well.

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Monday, 28 November 2016 : 1st Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet
Matthew 8 : 5-11

At that time, when Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached Him to ask His help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralysed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.”

When Jesus heard this He was astonished, and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.”

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Saturday, 25 June 2016 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard firstly from the Book of Lamentations of the sorrows of Israel, the people of God, whom God had rejected because they had disobeyed Him and persistently refused to walk in His ways, preferring the company and worship of the pagan idols and gods. God had given them up to the hands of their enemies, and they looked for Him without avail, for they had been left behind.

But God Who loved all of His people would not abandon them forever. He extended His mercy and love to them, and called them back to Him. But their salvation and liberation required their repentance and their genuine faith, that is the genuine desire to seek Him and to change their ways wholeheartedly so that in all that they do, they would no longer do what displeased God but instead be faithful to Him from then on.

Yet, there were many obstacles for that path, as the people of God, as men are, are very susceptible for their desires and greed, and they were also renowned for their pride. It is not easy for sinners to come to terms with their sins and regret them, as their pride often came in the way. Pride caused men to refuse God’s mercy, love and forgiveness, and it made them to persevere and continue in their sinfulness.

And this is where Jesus came in with His experience with the captain of the guard, which we heard in our Gospel today. The captain of the guard had a servant who was ill with paralysis and suffered from it terribly, and he wanted Jesus to heal his servant that he might be whole once again and be freed from his sufferings. Here it may be just seen as another of Jesus’ healing miracles where He touched the person and that person was healed, but yet, there is something very important there which all of us should take note of.

And that is regarding what the captain had said to Jesus as He went on His way to the house. The captain said politely that he was not worthy to receive Jesus under his roof, for he was a sinner. And for us to be able to understand the meaning of these words fully, we have to understand the context and the situation facing that captain and then we will be able to know more what we ourselves are to do in our own lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the captain of the guard was not specified in the Gospel whether he was a Jew or a Roman, but firstly, if he was a Roman, then at that time, the custom of the Jews was that for a non-Jew like a Roman, and after all, a pagan, it was a taboo for a Jew to come and visit the house of a Gentile. And even if he was a Jew, being a soldier, his lifestyle and work which dealt with killing people and violence must have made him felt uneasy to welcome such a great Master to his place.

But he threw away all of his pride and fear, and he also overcame all of his anxieties and uncertainties, and came humbly begging for Jesus with complete faith in Him, that He would be able to heal his servant. And he bared it before all the people who followed Jesus, that he was unworthy, sinner, unclean and his conscience told him that he should not let the Lord to be besmirched by his unworthiness.

What does this tell us brethren? The captain of the guard showed us all how we should act as Christians before the Lord our God. God saw his great faith and praised him, and He listened to his petitions and fulfilled them. He healed the servant and showed the example of his faith to those who followed Him. That captain was an example of how we should live our lives faithfully before God, and most importantly that we must seek our God with great humility, owning up all of our sins and asking Him for forgiveness.

We may think that this is something trivial and easy to be done, but in fact, it is not. All of us must have experienced and knew how difficult it is for us to own up our mistakes, and we tend to hide them or to conceal them with lies and sweet words, so as not to ask for forgiveness and destroy our ego. But this is where our downfall comes from, and if we do not act, then I am afraid that it may drag us deeper into the darkness and from there into eternal damnation.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all reflect on today’s Scripture readings, and let us all commit ourselves anew to God, promising to live our lives more faithfully from now on, and no longer be afraid to seek Him and to confess our sins before Him. If we have not gone to confession for a while, then it may be the time right now for us to do so. Remember, we must not wait until it is too late, as we do not know when the time is up for us.

May God strengthen our faith in us, and may He empower us to live our lives faithfully and devote ourselves ever more strongly to Him. May He forgive us our sins and help us to walk more faithfully in His presence, that we may find our way to Him and receive the grace of salvation and eternal life. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 June 2016 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Matthew 8 : 5-17

At that time, when Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached Him to ask His help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralysed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.”

When Jesus heard this He was astonished, and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness; where they will wail and grind their teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the captain, “Go home now. As you believed, so let it be.” And at that moment, his servant was healed. Jesus went to Peter’s house and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever. He took her by the hand and the fever left her; she got up and began to wait on Him.

Towards evening they brought to Jesus many possessed by evil spirits, and with a word He drove out the spirits. He also healed all who were sick. In doing this He fulfilled what was said by the prophet Isaiah : He bore our infirmities and took on Himself our diseases.

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Saturday, 27 June 2015 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops or Saturday Mass of our Lady)

Matthew 8 : 5-17

At that time, when Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached Him to ask His help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralysed and suffers terribly.” Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.”

When Jesus heard this He was astonished, and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness; there they will wail and grind their teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the captain, “Go home now. As you believed, so let it be.” And at that moment, his servant was healed. Jesus went to Peter’s house and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever. He took her by the hand and the fever left her; she got up and began to wait on him.

Towards evening they brought to Jesus many possessed by evil spirits, and with a word He drove out the spirits. He also healed all who were sick. In doing so, He fulfilled what was said by the prophet Isaiah : He bore our infirmities and took on Himself our diseases.

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

Liturgical Colour : Green

Sequentia Sancti Evangelii secundum Matthaeum – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew

Matthew 8 : 1-13

In illo tempore : Cum descendisset Jesus de monte, secutae sunt eum turbae multae : et ecce, leprosus veniens adorabat eum, dicens : Domine, si vis, potes me mundare. Et extendens Jesus manum, tetigit eum, dicens : Volo. Mundare. Et confestim mundata est lepra ejus.

Et ait illi Jesus : Vide, nemini dixeris : sed vade, ostende te sacerdoti, et offer munus, quod praecepit Moyses, in testimonium illis. Cum autem introisset Capharnaum, accesit ad eum centurio, rogans eum et dicens : Domine, puer meus jacet in domo paralyticus, et male torquetur.

Et ait illi Jesus : Ego veniam, et curabo eum. Et respondens centurio, ait : Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum : sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur puer meus. Nam et ego homo sum sub potestate constitutus, habens sub me milites, et dico huic : Vade, et vadit; et alii : Veni, et venit; et servo meo : Fac hoc, et facit.

Audiens autem Jesus, miratus est, et sequentibus se dixit : Amen, dico vobis, non inveni tantam fidem in Israel. Dico autem vobis, quod multi ab Oriente et Occidente venient, et recumbent cum Abraham et Isaac et Jacob in regno caelorum : filii autem regni ejicientur in tenebras exteriores : ibi erit fletus et stridor dentium.

Et dixit Jesus centurioni : Vade et, sicut credidisti, fiat tibi. Et sanatus est puer in illa hora.

English translation

At that time, when Jesus came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him, and behold a leper came and adored Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” And Jesus stretching forth His hand, touched him, saying, “I will, be cleansed.” And his leprosy was cleansed.

And Jesus said to him, “See that you do not tell this to anyone, but go and show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded you for a testimony to them.” And when He had entered into Capernaum, there came to Him a centurion beseeching Him, and said, “Lord, my servant lies at home sick of the palsy, and is grievously tormented.”

And Jesus said to him, “I shall come and heal him.” And the centurion making answer, said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. For I am also a man subject to authority, having soldiers under me. And if I say to this man, ‘Go’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this’ and he does it.”

And Jesus hearing this, marvelled, and said to those who followed Him, “Amen, I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel. And I say to you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast into the exterior darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

And Jesus said to the centurion, “Go, and as you have believed, so it shall be done to you,” and the servant was healed at the same hour.

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Monday, 1 December 2014 : First Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple or Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s readings talk about us as the people of God, ought to go and seek the Lord, to find Him and follow His ways. Thus, we are urged to live according to what the Lord had taught us, and there are many ways to do this. But I would like to bring to your attention, our Gospel of today, which is about the faith of an army centurion or captain, whose faith in Jesus was so great that it was truly amazing for him to exhibit such a faith and Jesus praised him for such faith.

It is in fact also the kind of faith which all of us should have, a faith that is strong, genuine and sincere, and yet at the same time, it is humble, unassuming and also undeterred. What the centurion did was exactly what we always say to the Lord at the celebration of the Holy Mass, every time the priest shows us the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ after the singing of the Agnus Dei. Remember the words? ‘I am not worthy, that You should enter under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed.’

These words are almost a direct representation from the words of the centurion, who said to Jesus, that he was unworthy to have Jesus to come to his house, sinful as he was, and he asked only that for the Lord to give the word, and then his servant shall be healed, by the power of Jesus. That is a true, sincere and genuine faith, the kind which our Lord seeks from all of us.

It is important then that we understand the circumstances, the background and the reality behind the story of the Gospel today. Judea at that time was under the rule of the descendants of king Herod the Great, but in reality their role and power was mostly just honorary. The real power and authority lie with the Romans. The military at the time was also dominated by the Romans, with some local and Temple guards, but the army were mostly Roman, the legions stationed in Judea as a garrison army.

Therefore, the army centurion was likely not a Jew in origin, and even most likely might have been a Roman, and to the Jews, the Romans, as with the other Gentiles or the non-Jewish people were considered pagan, unclean and unworthy of God. And the army centurion was likely fully aware of this fact. Thus, even though he was truly desperate to have his servant healed and brought from the brink of death, he was aware that inviting Jesus to his house might have dire implication for himself, and even more so, for Jesus.

He likely did not want Jesus to be harassed and badmouthed by the Pharisees and the Temple authorities for associating with one such as himself. These people had already made it difficult for the Lord by slandering Him for His associations with the tax collectors, the prostitutes, the Gentiles and many other people, whom the Pharisees and the Temple authorities deemed to be sinners and unworthy of salvation.

But did Jesus care about what they thought of Him? No, not at all! That is because He is solely concerned about the salvation of the souls of mankind, of sinners who has no one else to turn to but God. This concern is what made our Lord to go out and seek the sinners and the condemned, in order to bring them back from the precipice of darkness and damnation, and to return them into the light and the grace of God.

The army centurion was fully aware of his unworthiness, and he came forth to beg the Lord’s love and mercy, and with complete and full trust in the Lord, he knew that, while he was unworthy to receive the Lord in his own house, but whatever the Lord would do for his sake, would truly come true. This is the kind of great faith which the army centurion had, and which the Pharisees and the Temple authorities did not have.

Do we all remember about the doubting disciple, Thomas, who doubted the resurrection of Christ? Who refused to believe until the Lord Himself showed Himself to him? The same therefore occurred for the Pharisees, the Temple authorities, and to be frank, with many if not most of us. We want physical and visual evidence when we want to believe in something, and if we are not shown what we want to see, then we will not believe.

Yet, we have to notice that the army centurion did not even ask for Jesus to come and heal his servant physically and directly, so that he might see and believe. No, in fact he had already believed even not by seeing, and by his faith and belief in Jesus, he put his trust completely in God, and what he asked for was fulfilled completely. The Pharisees on the other hand, they had frequently seen and witnessed what Jesus had done throughout His ministry, in their futile attempts to discredit and destroy Him in their jealousy. And indeed, they failed to see the truth of God’s works in Jesus and they did not have the faith.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, we have a choice today, and on this season of Advent, there is indeed no better time to do so, that is to reflect on our own faith and on our own life. Have we been faithful in the way of the Pharisees and the Temple authorities? Is our faith like theirs, that is proud, unbending, arrogant and self-serving? Do we recognise the Lord when He comes again? Or are we too caught up in our own self-preserving attitudes, pride, jealousy and greed that we fail to recognise Him?

Certainly, we want to avoid this. And the way to truly live our lives is to be like the army centurion. Let us truly mean what we always say every time at the Mass, ‘I am not worthy, not worthy’, and not worthy we are indeed of the Lord, for we have sinned before God. Far less worthy we are indeed to even receive Him into ourselves. We have to realise this and be humble, just as the army centurion was, he who had admitted publicly that he was not worthy for Christ to come to his house and heal his servant.

And yet, our Lord Jesus, out of His great and infinite love for us, desires us to be reconciled to Himself, and He has the power and authority to heal us and make us whole, just as He had healed the servant of the army centurion. All that we need to do, is just ask, like the army centurion. He asked in great humility, sincere devotion and genuine faith, and he received his reward.

The Lord had already said to us, that we need to only ask, and we shall receive, and we need to only knock at the door, and the door shall be opened for us. Thus, this Advent season, let us use the opportunity given to us, to respond to God calling deep in our hearts, for us to repent and change our ways, and for us to walk in His ways and follow Him once again. Let us put our complete trust in Lord like the centurion, who have strong and genuine faith, without the need for doubt or proof. Do not be like the Pharisees, who have seen plenty, and yet refused to believe.

May Almighty God be with us all, and guide us all this Advent, that He may bring us all ever closer to His salvation and eternal glory, by making our faith more and more like the faith of the centurion. May we grow stronger and deeper in our humility and in our love for God. Doubt no more but believe! And let us prepare for the Lord who will come again to claim us all His people and bring us into His eternal kingdom. God bless us all. Amen.

 

First Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/30/monday-1-december-2014-first-week-of-advent-first-reading/

 

Psalm :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/30/monday-1-december-2014-first-week-of-advent-psalm/

 

Gospel Reading :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2014/11/30/monday-1-december-2014-first-week-of-advent-gospel-reading/

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Saturday, 28 June 2014 : 12th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr, and the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of our Lady or Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary) or Red (Martyrs)

Matthew 8 : 5-17

When Jesus entered Capernaum, an army captain approached Him to ask His help, “Sir, my servant lies sick at home. He is paralysed and suffers terribly.”

Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The captain answered, “I am not worthy to have You under my roof. Just give an order and my boy will be healed. For I myself, a junior officer, give orders to my soldiers. And if I say to one, ‘Go!’ he goes; and if I say to another, ‘Come!’ he comes; and if I say to my servant, ‘Do this!’ he does it.”

When Jesus heard this He was astonished, and said to those who were following Him, “I tell you, I have not found such faith in Israel. I say to you, many will come from east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob at the feast in the kingdom of heaven; but the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown out into the darkness; there they will wail and grind their teeth.”

Then Jesus said to the captain, “Go home now. As you believed, so let it be.” And at that moment, his servant was healed. Jesus went to Peter’s house and found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with fever. He took her by the hand and the fever left her; she got up and began to wait on Him.

Towards evening they brought to Jesus many possessed by evil spirits, and with a word He drove out the spirits. He also healed all who were sick. In doing this He fulfilled what was said by the prophet Isaiah : He bore our infirmities and took on Himself our diseases.