early Church

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Wednesday, 5 October 2016 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Galatians 2 : 1-2, 7-14

After fourteen years I again went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and Titus came with us. Following a revelation, I went to lay before them the Gospel that I am preaching to the pagans. I had a private meeting with the leaders – lest I should be working or have worked in a wrong way.

They recognised that I have been entrusted to give the Good News to the pagan nations, just as Peter has been entrusted to give it to the Jews. In the same way that God made Peter the Apostle of the Jews, He made me the Apostle of the pagans.

James, Cephas and John acknowledged the graces God gave me. Those men who were regarded as the pillars of the Church stretched out their hand to me and Barnabas as a sign of fellowship; we would go to the pagans and they to the Jews. We should only keep in mind the poor among them. I have taken care to do this.

When later Cephas came to Antioch, I confronted him since he deserved to be blamed. Before some of James’ people arrived, he used to eat with non-Jewish people. But when they arrived, he withdrew and did not mingle anymore with them, for fear of the Jewish group.

The rest of the Jews followed him in this pretence, and even Barnabas was part of this insincerity. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas publicly : If you who are Jewish agreed to live like the non-Jews, setting aside the Jewish customs, why do you now compel the non-Jews to live like Jews?

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Tuesday, 4 October 2016 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Galatians 1 : 13-24

You have heard of my previous activity in the Jewish community; I furiously persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it. For I was more devoted to the Jewish religion than many fellow Jews of my age, and I defended the traditions of my ancestors more fanatically.

But one day God called me out of His great love, He Who had chosen me from my mother’s womb; and He was pleased to reveal in me His Son, that I might make Him known among the pagan nations. Then I did not seek human advice nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were Apostles before me.

I immediately went to Arabia, and from there I returned again to Damascus. Later, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to meet Cephas, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. But I did not see any other Apostle except James, the Lord’s brother. On writing this to you, I affirm before God that I am not lying.

After that I went to Syria and Cilicia. The churches of Christ in Judea did not know me personally; they had only heard of me : “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith he tried to uproot.” And they praised God because of me.

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Monday, 3 October 2016 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Galatians 1 : 6-12

I am surprised at how quickly you have abandoned God Who called you according to the grace of Christ, and have gone to another gospel. Indeed, there is no other gospel, but some people who are sowing confusion among you want to turn the Gospel of Christ upside down.

But even if we ourselves were giving you another gospel different from the one we preached to you, or if it were an Angel from heaven, I would say : let God’s curse be on him! As I have said I now say again : if anyone preaches the Gospel in a way other than you received it, fire that one.

Are we to please humans or obey God? Do you think that I try to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, that the Gospel we preached to you is not a human message, nor did I receive it from anyone, I was not taught of it but it came to me as a revelation from Christ Jesus.

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Sunday, 2 October 2016 : 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
2 Timothy 1 : 6-8, 13-14

For this reason I invite you to fan into a flame the gift of God you received through the laying on of my hands. For God did not confer on us a spirit of bashfulness, but of strength, love and good judgment. Do not be ashamed of testifying to our Lord, nor of seeing me in chains. On the contrary, do your share in labouring for the Gospel with the strength of God.

Follow the pattern of the sound doctrine which you have heard from me, concerning faith and love in Christ Jesus. Keep this precious deposit with the help of the Holy Spirit Who lives within us.

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Monday, 26 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cosmas and St. Damian, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the Scripture passage taken from the Book of Job, the faithful servant of God, whom the devil or Satan had persecuted and troubled, because he was jealous of the great faith and devotion that this man of God is showing the Lord and the world. Satan is told to be our accuser and our enemy before God, casting out our sins and our wickedness, our shortcomings and evils before Him that we will be condemned to eternity with Satan and his angels in hellfire.

Indeed, Satan and his allies desire our destruction and demise, but then we may be confused as to why God would allow the devil then to have his ways on us as he had done with Job, the faithful man of God? After all, he had been faithful all of his life, and then God would allow Job to be tested by Satan, who destroyed all of his possessions, all of his cattle and herds, stole away all of his belongings and even destroyed his beloved ones, his sons and daughters.

It is easy for us all to accuse God of wrongdoing in this manner, that He had deliberately abandoned His servant in his time of need, allowing an enemy to strike at him and destroy him, crushing him with sorrow and despair. However, if we look through the entirety of the Book of Job, we should realise that it was not God Who desired our destruction, and neither would He deliberately allow us to be crushed, as if that was the case, He could have easily just cast Job into hell to be tormented for eternity.

But that was not what God had done to Job, and neither had He done that to any of us mankind. After all, He Who created us all out of love would not have destroyed us without good reason, and there is truly no reason good enough for each and every one of us has that same potential for conversion and change. But no, we all suffer in this world because of none other than ourselves, because of our sins and our disobedience against God which had made us to go astray from the Lord.

In the first place, God created us to enjoy forever the bliss and happiness with Him in Eden, where everything was created good and perfect, and then it was our ancestors’ inability to hold and bridle their desires which led them to disobedience and sin, and as a result, by their own actions they had brought suffering upon themselves, and as a result as well, death becomes a part of our life. Death is the consequence for our sins, but it was not the intention of the Lord to burden us with it.

And our death is not going to last forever, because we who believe in the Lord know that He is the Life-giving Lord, Who blesses all of His faithful ones with the promise of everlasting life, which He Himself had declared through Jesus Christ His Son, by His death on the cross, as well as then through His glorious resurrection from the dead, which led to the hope for each and every one of us, that there is a way out of our suffering in this world.

And that way is through believing in God, putting our trust in Him as Job had done. Job has remained true to his faith in God throughout all those sufferings and difficult years, and even amidst all the persuasions and the pressures from others to do otherwise. He did complained against God as being unjust in dealing with his situation, but nonetheless, he remained truly faithful to the very end.

Because of his obedience and faith, God rewarded Job with much more than what he had once lost, a proof of God’s ever-present love for His beloved people. Indeed He will not abandon us to the darkness, but He will ever love us with ever more and more care and attention, so long as we too learn how to love Him and show Him our faith and appreciation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we should also heed the examples of St. Cosmas and St. Damian, the two saints and holy martyrs whose memory we remember and celebrate today. St. Cosmas and St. Damian were told to be brothers who were good physicians who often tended to the sick and to the poor in their community, who often tended to these people without asking for money or payment.

For their great and sincere love for their brethren, many were touched and inspired by their examples, and came to believe in the Lord as these brothers had as well. They have brought many into the embrace of the Lord, and many were saved because of them. But eventually, they were found out by the local authorities, who at that time, at the height of the last great persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, arrested and tortured these two saints, and martyred them.

The good works and the perseverance of these two saints, the obedience and faith of Job should be inspiration to all of us. Let our faith be like that of a child’s faith, pure and true, unbridled and unlimited by our desires and worldly wants, but instead, we should learn to welcome the Lord into our hearts, that just like how Jesus welcomed the children brought to Him, He too may embrace us and welcome us all into His presence.

May God bless us all and keep us in His love always, and may He grant us the gift of grace and life everlasting He has promised to all of us, His beloved and faithful ones. Amen.

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Monday, 26 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cosmas and St. Damian, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Luke 9 : 46-50

At that time, the disciples were arguing about which of them was the most important. But Jesus knew their thoughts, so He took a little child and stood him by His side. Then He said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in My Name, welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes the One Who sent Me. And listen : the one who is found to be the least among you all, is the one who is the greatest.”

Then John spoke up, “Master, we saw someone who drives out demons by calling upon Your Name, and we tried to forbid him, because he does not follow You with us.” But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him. He who is not against you is for you.”

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Monday, 26 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cosmas and St. Damian, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 16 : 1, 2-3, 6-7

Hear a just cause, o Lord, listen to my complaint. Give heed to my prayer for there is no deceit on my lips.

Let my defence come forth from You. Your eyes see what is right. You have probed my heart, searched me at night, tested me by fire, and You have seen no wickedness in me.

I call on You, You will answer me, o God; incline Your ear and hear my word. For You do wonders for Your faithful, You save those fleeing from the enemy as they seek refuge at Your right hand.

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Monday, 26 September 2016 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Cosmas and St. Damian, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Job 1 : 6-22

One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before YHVH, and Satan came with them. YHVH asked Satan, “Where have you been?” Satan answered, “Going up and down the earth, roaming about.” YHVH asked again, “Have you noticed My servant Job? No one on earth is as blameless and upright as he, a man who fears God and avoids evil.”

But Satan returned the question, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not built a protective wall around him and his family and all his possessions? You have blessed and prospered him, with his livestock all over the land. But stretch out Your hand and strike where his riches are, and I bet he will curse You to Your face.”

YHVH said to Satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power. But do not lay a finger upon the man himself.” So Satan left the presence of YHVH. One day, while his sons and daughters were feasting in the house of their eldest brother, a messenger came to Job and said, “Your oxen were plowing, and your donkeys were grazing nearby when the Sabaeans came and carried them off. They killed the herdsmen, I alone escaped to tell you.”

While he was still speaking, another messenger came, “God’s fire fell from the sky and burned all your sheep and the shepherds as well. I alone have escaped to tell you.” He had hardly finished speaking when another messenger arrived, “Three raiding teams of Chaldeans have killed your servants and carried off your camels. I alone have escaped to tell you.”

He was still speaking when another messenger came and said to Job, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking in the house of their eldest brother when suddenly a great wind blew across the desert and struck the house. It collapsed on the young people and they all died. I alone have escaped to tell you.”

In grief Job tore his clothes and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshipped, saying, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked shall I return. YHVH gave, YHVH has taken away. Blessed be His Name!” In spite of this calamity, Job did not sin by blaspheming God.

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Wednesday, 21 September 2016 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Ephesians 4 : 1-7, 11-13

Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you to live the vocation you have received. Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love. Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace. Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to all.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God, the Father of all, Who is above all and works through all and is in all. But to each of us divine grace is given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. As for His gifts, to some He gave to be Apostles, to others prophets, or even evangelists, or pastors and teachers.

So He prepared those who belong to Him for the ministry, in order to build up the Body of Christ, until we are all united in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Thus we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity and sharing the fullness of Christ.

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Sunday, 18 September 2016 : 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
1 Timothy 2 : 1-8

First of all I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone, for rulers of states and all in authority, that we may enjoy a quiet and peaceful life in godliness and respect. This is good and pleases God. For He wants all to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.

As there is one God, there is one Mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, Himself human, Who gave His life for the redemption of all. This is the testimony, given in its proper time, and of this, God has made me Apostle and herald.

I am not lying, I am telling the truth : He made me teacher of the nations regarding faith and truth. I want the men in every place to lift pure hands in prayer to heaven without anger and dissension.