elders of Israel

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Saturday, 6 September 2014 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how Jesus again rebuked the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law on the matter of the observance of sabbath, the day of rest according to the law of Moses. Jesus rebuked these hypocrites for their lack of faith and lack of understanding of the true nature of the Law and sabbath itself, why it was conceived in the first place.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law adopted a very puritan and literal approach of the Law, and they truly oppressed the people with such a strict interpretation of the Law of God. That law on the establishment of the sabbath day was made when the Lord revealed His laws and precepts through Moses during the time when the Israelites went on their long exodus and journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.

We should first go back to the time when God first did His work of creating the world and the entire universe. God created the world in the seven days mentioned in the Book of Genesis, when He made all things from nothingness, creating the stars, the sun, moon, earth and all living beings and organisms, and made eventually all of us humans.

And He created all things through the Word, for six days, and He rested on the last day. This seventh and last day therefore became sort of the basis for the development of the sabbath day in the Jewish religious practice and tradition. And similarly, we too, who believe in Christ, also implemented it in our own faith, by committing one day as a day dedicated to the Lord, that is our Sundays.

Why do you think the Lord made it part of His commandments that is the third commandment, to honour the Holy Day of the Lord? That is because it is beyond just to imitate the example of the Lord who rested on the seventh day of His creation work, but in fact because the people of God was so rebellious and contemptuous of His laws and precepts, to the point that He had to discipline them and to ensure that they follow the path of righteousness.

It was to ensure that amidst the busy things and commitments they have in life, and amidst the temptations and corruptions of the world, so that the people of God would keep closely to His ways and not be diverted or distracted by the ways and the corrupt things of the world and therefore end up in damnation and destruction. God loves us, and we have to keep this fact always in mind. And so much is His love for us, that He always wants to talk with us and be with us, and that is why the institution of the sabbath, to keep this wayward people in check.

But He never intended such measure to be a burden or worse, oppression to His people. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law burdened the people with excessive emphasis on the exterior applications of the laws, and they oppressed the people, punishing them if they failed to do even the slightest and the smallest of the law. Yet these Pharisees and elders of the people truly failed to understand the true meaning of the Law of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we come together on this day to glorify the Lord and to spend time with Him, let us all come to realise how much God had loved us, that He gave us Jesus, His own Son out of that love. And we know that Jesus came to deliver the truth to mankind, that God desires not what the Pharisees had imposed on the people to do. He did not desire empty professions of faith, but true devotion and love, which we can show by spending our time sincerely with God.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important for us to grow stronger in faith, as well as in realisation that when our faith and the Church made it compulsory for us to attend and participate in the Sunday Mass, it is not an obligation or a forced attempt that should be our primary desire in coming to the Holy Mass. Rather, it should be our sincere desire to seek Him and love Him, and also to ask Him for mercy, to forgive the sins we have committed in this life.

May Almighty God awaken the love we have for Him in our hearts, and the devotion we ought to have for Him, so that we may seek to follow Him and His ways in all the things we say and do. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 20 August 2014 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are presented with the very fact of how much the Lord loves us and how He had given us so many opportunities in this life to change our ways and repent, so that we may not be lost but we may gain eternal life and redemption through His most merciful and loving heart. This is what the essence of the parable of the workers in the vineyard is about.

God cares for all of us with all of His heart. And it is truly painful for Him to see all of us scattered and trampled to the dust in the darkness of the world. This is why He was very angry in the first reading we heard today, how the very shepherds whom He had entrusted His peoples to, had abused their power and authority, and ended up causing untold suffering for the people of God, who were manipulated, treated badly and led to the wrong paths by their leaders’ inaptitude and unfaithful nature.

What was said in this Book of the prophet Ezekiel, which happened during the time of the Babylonian exile of Israel, about over five hundred years before the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, was truly fulfilled during the lifetime of Jesus, as the supposed shepherds of Israel, the Pharisees and elders, the scribes and the Sadducees, all the leaders of Israel had misused their authority and power, in order to satisfy their own desires and ambitions.

These shepherds misled the people by not doing what they had preached to the people. In essence, they became hypocrites who did differently as the words that they had spoken to the people. They cared only for themselves and not for the sake of God’s people whom they ignored and led instead to the darkness. They were expected to be role models of the faithful people of God, and yet they miserably failed God’s expectations of them.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Pharisees and the elders of Israel at Jesus’ time were obsessed with one thing, that is the security and prosperity of their own livelihoods. They did not care about any other things so long as their lives were secure and good. And they were very jealous of their power and influence, unwilling to let go their hold over the people, even if prophets would come to rebuke them. In fact, they resented even what Jesus the Saviour had done, and refused to see the truth in Christ.

The Pharisees and the elders of Israel enforced among the people of God, an extremely literal and rigid interpretation of the laws of the Lord revealed through Moses, the Mosaic laws. They were very zealous in pursuing the details of the rigid enforcement of the rules and regulations built up after centuries of interpretations of the Mosaic laws. And Jesus rightly criticised them for these, as these led the people away from the Lord.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Bernard the Abbot, also known as St. Bernard of Clairvaux. St. Bernard of Clairvaux was a truly renowned saint who was a very devout religious who lived during the Medieval era France, and he was particularly known for his efforts to combat heresy among the faithful and bring unity to the Church of God.

St. Bernard exhibited a very exemplary life and devotion to the Lord through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. And he was truly very influential among the numerous people whom he had touched with his teachings and love. St. Bernard brought many souls back on the path towards salvation and into salvation itself, not by imposing rules and laws on the people, or by acting all high and mighty, but through love and dedicated service.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux led the people of God through example, by practicing what the Lord had taught us, and he also wrote extensively and taught indiscriminately, to bring the various segments of the lost ones in the Church and beyond back to the Lord through repentance, as well as to reunite the divisions that existed in the Church of God.

St. Bernard gave us all the examples on how to live our faith in our lives meaningfully, away from all the worldly temptations and worries, which were the things that made the Pharisees and the elders of Israel such bad and wicked shepherds, to whom the Lord would no longer entrust His sheep to. The contrast between the works and life of St. Bernard and the leaders of Israel of Jesus’ time serve as a reminder for us, that in living our faith, we cannot be divided between God and this world as the Pharisees had done.

Instead, let us all follow in the footsteps of St. Bernard of Clairvaux and many other holy men and women of the Lord, who had dedicated themselves in service to God’s beloved children, all of us. Let us all help one another on our way towards the Lord that in the end, all of us may reach the Lord and be reunited to Him and His love. May God be with us all. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 17 August 2014 : Holy Gospel

Sequentia sancti Evangelii secundum Lucam – Continuation of the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Luke 18 : 9-14

In illo tempore : Dixit Jesus ad quosdam, qui in se confidebant tamquam justi et aspernabantur ceteros, parabolam istam : Duo homines ascenderunt in templum, ut orarent : unus pharisaeus, et alter publicanus.

Pharisaerus stans, haec apud se orabat : Deus, gratias ago Tibi, quia non sum sicut ceteri hominum : raptores, injusti, adulteri : velut etiam hic publicanus. Jejuno bis in sabbato : decimas do omnium, quae possideo.

Et publicanus a longe stans nolebat nec oculas ad caelum levare : sed percutiebat pectus suum, dicens : Deus, propitius esto mihi peccatori.

Dico vobis : descendit hic justificatus in domum suam ab illo : quia omnis qui se exaltat, humiliabitur : et qui se humiliat, exaltabitur.

English translation

At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves as just, and despised others : Two men went up into the Temple to pray, one was a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

The Pharisee standing prayed thus with himself : “O God, I give You thanks that I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also this publican. I fast twice in the week, and I give tithes of all that I possess.”

And the publican standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven, but struck his breast saying, “O God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

I say to You, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, because every one that exalted himself shall be humbled, and he who humbled himself shall be exalted.

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Sunday, 17 August 2014 : 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear a very clear and concerted message from the Lord, on the faith of those who heard the word of God, acted on them and internalised these into their hearts, and became truly faithful to the Lord. And that was what the Lord tried to show the people in the reading taken from the Old Testament, how even foreigners would come and serve the Lord faithfully and became light among the nations, and in how Jesus dealt with the Canaanite woman who showed her genuine faith in God.

If one is to read just literally what Jesus did and said in the Gospel today, then he or she may think that what was Jesus thinking of saying such things? Surely He must know that He was acting arrogantly and totally insulted the poor Canaanite woman whose daughter was in difficulty? Was it what Jesus truly meant? What did He mean to do with those words? Was He not out of His character?

Yes, all these questions, doubts and uncertainties may come into our minds if we do not understand what Jesus wanted to do, and what He wanted to show the world, through both words and actions, in fulfillment of what the Lord had revealed through His prophets long ago. Jesus wanted to show all that the Lord cares not just for a certain group of people or chosen ones to the detriment of others, but instead, He cares for and loves all equally.

For ultimately, all of us had been crafted in the very image of God, and to us He had granted us the breath of life and authority even over the entire creation, and the entirety of this world and all the other creatures God had created. And therefore, all of us are essentially equal before God, and what truly differentiates us is the actions and deeds that we do in this life, on whether they follow or whether they are against God’s ways.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have to understand the mentality of the Jews of Jesus’ time, and even that of other times. This will definitely help us to understand why Jesus did what He had done, and why He said things as He had said it to the Canaanite woman. We all know that Abraham had been blessed by God in the days long past, long before the coming of Jesus, and because of his great faith, God chose to bless him and his descendants.

And from among his descendants, God had chosen Isaac, the son whom God promised to Abraham and his wife, Sarah. To Ishmael, the other son of Abraham, whom he had with Hagar, his slave, the blessing of God was upon him and his descendants too, but not that of the same kind or degree as the inheritance given to Isaac, the heir of Abraham and his descendants.

And then, from among the two sons of Isaac, God had chosen Jacob, the younger son, to be Israel, the one whom He had chosen among the sons of Abraham as the progenitor of a people He chose among all the nations. To Esau, the elder son of Isaac, a lesser inheritance was given. This first caused great struggle and enmity between the brothers, but eventually they reconciled themselves.

The people of Israel was born from the twelve sons of Jacob, who eventually became the twelve tribes of Israel, and all of whom migrated to Egypt during the time of Joseph, and who were enslaved by the Pharaoh and the Egyptians until the salvation of the Lord came to them through His servant Moses. God performed His power before His people and their oppressors, liberating them and bringing them to the land He had promised their ancestors, Abraham and his sons.

As ages passed and years went by, the people of God alternated between faithfulness and rebelliousness to God, and as years passed on, they became more and more restless and unfaithful to the Lord who had blessed them so much, to be the examples for the other nations. Yes, this is what God intended for His people, that the ones He had chosen among many may be examples of faith and goodness, like their father Abraham of old, that others may also follow in their footsteps.

Instead, they looked upon their chosen status as a privilege and a sign of elite status, which they interpreted as themselves being the chosen people of God, as those who are superior, greater and better than all others, than all mankind who also dwell on this earth. This is the very root of the problem which the Lord, through His prophets, and through what Jesus did and said to the Canaanite woman, intended to do.

The Jews of Jesus’ time were the descendants of the returned exiles from Babylon, the survivors of the exile from the destruction of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. They took pride of themselves as the guardians of the faith in the Lord, and many of them zealously looked down upon the others, especially those whom they considered as different from themselves, and who dwelled in the land with them. This was exactly why they looked down so much on the Samaritans and the Gentiles, namely the Canaanites and the Greeks.

The Canaanites were the descendants of those people who lived in the land of Israel since before the people of Israel received that promised land from the Lord. They were conquered and enslaved and treated badly by the people of Israel, but they managed to persevere throughout many ages and many years, and in today’s Gospel, one of them, a woman with a sickly daughter, sought help not from anyone else, but from the Lord Himself.

What Jesus said to the woman was in essence, intentionally trying to show the typical prejudice, stereotype and judgmental attitudes that many of the Jews of Jesus’ time had on these others, whom they deemed to be inferior than themselves and worthy of hellfire, just as much as they thought that their ‘devoutness’ is worthy of heaven. The disciples exhibited this attitude, and the Pharisees and the elders exhibited it to an even greater degree, even to the point of judging the Jews themselves of not being worthy if certain so and so fail to fulfill their ‘criteria’ of faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what is the message and the aim that God desires from us in this Sunday’s readings? That we realise that our faith is faith, and our love is love, and our hope is hope, no matter who we are, what blood we have, or whose descendant we are. We are all the same human beings, sinners descended from Adam and Eve, whose disobedience brought us out of the glory of heaven, like those Israelites of the past who disobeyed God and be destroyed.

We have to throw away all forms of prejudices and judgments on others, regardless of who we are and what we have done in this life. We should never, ever look down on others who also sincerely look towards the Lord and especially those who are trying hard to reach out to God. Instead of looking down on them or scoffing at them, thinking that we are better than them, we should rather offer them a helping hand and a friendly hug, to welcome them into the kingdom of God together with us.

Jesus taught us that if we are faithful and devoted to God with true sincerity, we will all be called the chosen ones of the Lord, and become His beloved children. That was why He praised the Canaanite woman’s great faith, as example for all others who followed and listened to Him. It is because that woman had such a faith not even possessed by many among the supposedly chosen people of God, many of whom ended up betraying the Lord and persecuted Him and His disciples.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we use this opportunity today to renew our faith in the Lord? And renew our love for Him and also for our brothers and sisters around us? Much has been given to us, and much is expected from us. We should help one another to reach out to the Lord and not to be judgmental on others, be it by appearance, action or anything.

Let us rather redirect all our efforts and attentions towards loving God and loving each other with true love and sincerity, that all who sees us, sees and experiences the love of God and may also therefore come towards the salvation in God. God bless us all and be with us in all of our endeavours. Amen.

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Tuesday, 5 August 2014 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Dedication of a Basilica)

Matthew 15 : 1-2, 10-14

Then some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. And they said to Him, “Why do Your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders? In fact, they do not wash their hands before eating.”

Jesus then called the people near Him, and said to them, “Listen and understand : What enters into the mouth does not make a person unclean. What defiles a person is what comes out of his mouth.”

After a while the disciples gathered around Jesus and said, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended by what You said?” Jesus answered, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted. Pay no attention to them! They are blind leading the blind. When a blind person leads another, the two will fall into a pit.”

Alternative reading (Mass for Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major)

Luke 11 : 27-28

As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, “Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!”

Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”

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Saturday, 19 July 2014 : 15th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 12 : 14-21

Then the Pharisees went out, and made plans to get rid of Jesus. As Jesus was aware of their plans, He left that place. Many people followed Him, and He cured all who were sick. Then He gave them strict orders not to make Him known.

In this way Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled : Here is My Servant whom I have chosen, the One I love, and with whom I am pleased. I will put My Spirit upon Him and He will announce My judgment to the nations. He will not argue or shout, nor will His voice be heard in the streets.

The bruised reed He will not crush, nor snuff out the smoldering wick. He will persist until justice is made victorious, and in Him all the nations will put their hope.

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Saturday, 12 July 2014 : 14th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 10 : 24-33

A student is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. A student should be glad to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If the head of the family has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of the family! So, do not be afraid of them.

There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. What I am telling you in the dark, you must speak in the light. What you hear in private, proclaim from the housetops.

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but have no power to kill the soul. Rather be afraid of him who can destroy both body and soul in hell. For only a few cents you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father knowing.

As for you, every hair of your head has been counted. Do not be afraid : you are no less worthy than many sparrows! Whoever acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before My Father in heaven. Whoever rejects Me before others I will reject before My Father in heaven.

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Saturday, 31 May 2014 : Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the roughly three months period after the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus our Lord was visited by the Archangel Gabriel, when she conceived Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Today’s feast of the visitation to Elizabeth by Mary and its relative date is based on the Gospels, through which we know that at the third month since the annunciation, the Blessed Virgin Mary visited her cousin, Elizabeth who was then heavily pregnant with John the Baptist.

Mary is the culmination of the Lord’s long-planned plan for the salvation of all mankind, God’s beloved creations, and it is through her, that the Lord exercised His power and made available a new hope for all of us, through Jesus, the Son of God, and also Son of Man through Mary His mother, the fulfillment and perfection of the Law and the prophecies of the prophets about the Lord and Messiah who would come to save His people.

Remember in the Book of Genesis, early in the history of Creation when God created mankind and they disobeyed Him by listening to Satan instead of Him? God did not destroy mankind nor did He abandon them entirely even though they had been unfaithful. God foretold the coming of salvation which would come through the descendant of men, and also foretold is that while Satan the snake would latch to the feet of the sons and daughters of man, the woman would crush Satan the snake under her feet.

This woman is Mary, the mother of Jesus our Lord. Through her the salvation of all men came forth, and with her obedience and complete surrender to the will of God, mankind was saved. Satan had indeed had a great dominion and mastery over mankind for a very long time, and he reigned over fallen mankind with absolute tyranny and impunity. But in Mary, he knew that he would meet his end, and there he would be defeated in a total finality. Thus he feared Mary.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Elizabeth and the baby inside her, St. John the Baptist knew this truth about Mary and the Son inside her, Jesus, the Son of God Most High. Elizabeth and John the Baptist were the ones who had been appointed and chosen by God to be the harbinger and the proclaimer of the Lord’s coming into the world as its Saviour.

If John the Baptist paved the way for Christ and introduced Him to the world, then Elizabeth his mother, as we heard in today’s reading, was the first to proclaim Mary the mother of our Lord, as well as Jesus her Son, to the world. Nevertheless, sadly, just as the people, in particular the Pharisees and the elders disregarded the call of John the Baptist to repentance and to welcome the Lord, nobody regarded Mary the mother of our Lord at that time either.

Such was indeed the situation and the simplicity with which our Lord came into the world. The elders and the Pharisees by their human wisdom and limited understanding failed to understand that the Messiah when He came would not be some sort of an all-conquering Lord who would judge all and bring glory to Israel. These people were looking at nothing sort of a miraculous appearance of a King who would liberate them from the Romans, but they missed entirely the gist of the plan of salvation.

For in the Lord, salvation means as we know it, the complete giving and surrender of Himself and His divinity to come down to us as a humble Man, born of Mary the virgin, the woman whom the Lord had promised to be the one to bear salvation for mankind from the hands and dominion of Satan. And Satan realise that with her, his days in power was numbered, and his doom was waiting for him.

We all, therefore, should rejoice just as Mary had rejoiced, filled with the Holy Spirit, in her song, which we now know as the Magnificat, a song filled with pure joy and praise for God who had made all things happen. And for Mary, and for us, there is no greater reason to celebrate than because of all these, we have been granted a new hope, a new light that pierced away the darkness that used to fill our hearts and our world, giving us a fighting chance to gain everlasting happiness in God.

Let us all renew our commitment to God, rejoice in Him who had come upon this world and saved it through His death. God is kind and loving, and He has shown His favour upon us. We need to return His love and kindness, brethren, that we will all remain in God’s grace and be worthy of the salvation which He had made available for us.

Let us also pray and ask for His beloved mother Mary, to intercede for us and help us that we too may be like her in the obedience and dedication that she had shown. Let us be dedicated in our faith and no longer be complacent in our lives. May God show His mercy and grace to us, and keep us always in His love. Amen.

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Tuesday, 20 May 2014 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Bernardine of Siena, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 14 : 19-28

Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and turned the people against them. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the town, leaving him for dead. But when his disciples gathered around him, he stood up and returned to the town. And the next day he left for Derbe with Barnabas.

After proclaiming the Gospel in that town and making many disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconium and on to Antioch. They were strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain firm in the faith, for they said, “We must go through many trials to enter the Kingdom of God.”

In each church they appointed elders and, after praying and fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had placed their faith. Then they travelled through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia. They preached the Word in Perga and went down to Attalia. From there they sailed back to Antioch, where they had first been commanded to God’s grace for the task they had now completed.”

“On their arrival they gathered the Church together and told them all that God had done through them and how He had opened the door of faith to the non-Jews. They spent a fairly long time there with the disciples.”

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Friday, 16 May 2014 : 4th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 26-33

Paul said, “Brothers, children and descendants of Abraham, and you also who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent. It is a fact that the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognise Jesus. Yet in condemning Him, they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath but not understood.”

“Even though they found no charge against Him that deserved death, they asked Pilate to have Him executed. And after they had carried out all that had been written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.”

“But God raised Him from the dead, and for many days thereafter He showed Himself to those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They have now become His witnesses before the people. We ourselves announce to you this Good News : All that God promised our ancestors, He has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus, according to what is written in the second psalm : ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.'”