eternal God

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Friday, 12 September 2014 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Mary)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate yet another feast honouring the Mother of our Lord and God Jesus Christ, that is the Blessed Virgin Mary. And today we rejoice together in the honour of her Most Holy Name, at which even Satan and all his allies tremble, just as they tremble and cower in fear when the Name of her Son is mentioned.

We all first should understand why we all have names with us. The reason is so that we can be easily identified by others around us. Some people indeed can remember names better than they can remember the looks and faces. And remember, brethren, that in most cases, especially in the past, after we die and pass away from this world, only our names would be left behind as the memory for others to see and judge.

Yes, we mankind are most prominently and easily known and remembered through our names, be it in our deeds and actions, be these actions good or bad, or if we have done nothing in particular, in which our names will generally be quickly forgotten. But there are those names that upon which, when we utter it, even the demons and Satan would tremble in fear.

If we utter the name of the holy angels and saints, Satan and his allies fear them because these men and women, and the holy angels remained staunch despite the temptations of the world and the temptations of free will and desire, and they remained faithful servants of God, and in the end, they receive heavenly glory and be with the Lord, interceding for us all day and all night long. Satan knows that those holy saints and angels are interceding for us even now, and when we utter their names and ask for their intercession, Satan knows that God is with us, and he can do nought to crush us.

And even more fearsome therefore is the Holy Name of Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by that virtue and by the virtue of her perfect and upright behaviour, as well as total obedience to the will of God, is the greatest of all of God’s creations, the greatest among all the children of God and the foremost of all saints and rule even over the angels of God.

Satan flee in fear whenever he hears the Names of Jesus and Mary, because he knows that he has no power and no authority over them, and his doom is at hand. And if we refer to the Book of Genesis, just after mankind had sinned by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God Himself prophesied the coming of salvation for mankind through a woman, who would be the descendant of men, and who would bear a Son, as we heard in the prophecy of Isaiah and the other prophets, and the snake, or Satan the deceiver would be crushed.

It is through Mary that the salvation of this world was made possible by her obedience to take part in God’s plan for salvation, and in her acceptance of the role as the Mother of our Lord and Saviour. This was evident later as Mary had to endure much physical and spiritual sufferings, as she followed on the life and works of her Son, who was met with such opposition and hostility, even unto death on the cross.

Truly, Mary agreed to be part of this very difficult and challenging task, but she did not even complain or resist when the news was brought to her by the Archangel Gabriel. She obeyed completely and fully, surrendering herself to the will of God and to His plans for her. From then on, Mary became the one who made the salvation of mankind possible, because through her, the Word of God was incarnate into flesh and blood, becoming our Lord Jesus, fully man through her mother Mary, and fully God, as He was conceived by the Holy spirit.

Satan, having been dealt a terrible and crushing defeat by Jesus through His triumphant sacrifice on the cross, rightly feared Mary, because she is the Mother of Jesus, who walked with Him and guided Him towards the triumph of the Lord and all that is good against evil and all its forces. In addition, Satan, whose goal is the corruption and destruction of all mankind rightly feared Mary, because in her we have a great and perfect example of a paragon of love and virtue, who obeyed the Lord in all things.

If we follow the example of Mary’s obedience, love and devotion to God, we cannot go wrong. That is why Satan feared Mary, because she is like a beacon of light that shine brightly on our path as we go towards her Son, Jesus Christ our. Lord. Thus we know the phrase, Ad Iesum per Mariam, or ‘To Jesus through Mary’. Following Mary and her examples are the best ways for us to be closer to God and to attain salvation in Jesus.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all whenever we are tempted to sin and to do what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, that we should utter the Most Holy Name of Mary, that Satan who tempts us when he hears that Name would flee in fear, and that our soul will remain pure and clean from his corruptions and evil. Satan knows that he is doomed, and the Name of the mother of the One who had defeated him will certainly remind him that, and make him flee in fear.

Let us not fear Satan and his darkness, for Mary is with us, this blessed one among all women and all creations of God is caring for us as our mother, who prays for us incessantly and constantly before the throne of her Son, our Lord in heaven. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you amongst women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Thursday, 11 September 2014 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 138 : 1-3, 13-14ab, 23–24

O Lord, You know me : You have scrutinised me. You know when I sit and when I rise; beforehand You discern my thoughts. You observe my activities and times of rest; You are familiar with all my ways.

It was You who formed my inmost part and knit me together in my mother’s womb. I thank You for these wonders You have done, and my heart praises You for Your marvellous deeds.

Search me, o God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts. See if my steps are going astray, and lead me in Your eternal way.

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(Usus Antiquior) Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 7 September 2014 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion, and Post-Communion Prayer

Offertory

Psalm 30 : 15-16

In Te speravi, Domine, dixi : Tu es Deus meus, in manibus Tuis tempora mea.

English translation

In You, o Lord, I have hoped. I said, You are my God, and my times are in Your hands.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Propitiare, Domine, populo Tuo, propitiare muneribus : ut, hac oblatione placatus, et indulgentiam nobis tribuas et postulata concedas. Per Dominum…

English translation

Look with favour upon Your people, o Lord, look with favour upon their gifts. That, being appeased by this oblation, You may give us pardon and grant us what we ask. Through our Lord…

Communion

Wisdom 16 : 20

Panem de caelo dedisti nobis, Domine, habentem omne delectamentum et omnem saporem suavitatis.

English translation

You had given us, o Lord, bread from heaven, having in it all that is delicious, and the sweetness of every taste.

Post-Communion Prayer

Sumptis, Domine, caelestibus sacramentis : ad redemptionis aeternae, quaesumus, proficiamus augmentum. Per Dominum…

English translation

Having received Your heavenly sacraments, o Lord, we beseech You that we may profit unto the increase of everlasting salvation. Through our Lord…

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(Usus Antiquior) Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 7 September 2014 : Introit and Collect

Introit

Psalm 73 : 20, 19, 23, 1

Respice, Domine, in testamentum Tuum, et animas pauperum Tuorum ne derelinquas in finem.

Exsurge, Domine, et judica causam Tuam, et ne obliviscaris voces quaerentium Te.

Ut quid, Deus, repulisti in finem : iratus est furor Tuus super oves pascuae Tuae?

Response : Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper : et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

English translation

Have regard, o Lord, to Your covenant, and forsake not to the end the souls of Your poor ones.

Arise, o Lord, and judge Your cause, and forget not the voices of those who seek You.

O God, why have You cast us off unto the end? Why is Your wrath enkindled against the sheep of Your pasture?

Response : Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Collect

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, da nobis fidei, spei et caritatis augmentum : et, ut mereamur assequi quod promittis, fac nos amare quod praecipis. Per Dominum…

English translation

Almighty, eternal God, grant us the increase of faith, hope and charity; and that we may deserve to attain what You did promise, and make us to love what You did command us. Through our Lord…

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Sunday, 7 September 2014 : 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we come together to be with the Lord on this holy day of His, we are called together as the members of the Church of God to be responsible, loving and caring for one another, so that each one of us may help one another in our effort to seek our Lord and God, and so that all of us may be saved and be freed from the tyranny of sin.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the Scripture readings of this day called us to ponder and reflect on the attitude we adopt in this life, and in how we live our faith in this life. Mankind are by nature a social creature, and we often need others around us as we live and as we face the daily challenges and opportunities presented before us, and how we behave would certainly be greatly affected by who we interacted with and what we did together with others around us.

That is why today in the readings, the main theme that we heard is in fact on the nature of the Church, and on how the Church should work together to ensure the salvation of all of its members, that means all of us gathered here this day, and also many others who have fallen along the way. The Church here does not refer to just the buildings and the institution of the Church as we know it. The Church of God as a whole, is the assembly and the gathering of all the faithful ones in Christ, united to His Body, as a member of the same Body by which we are made one, and made righteous in the Blood of the Lamb of God.

That is why in the Church, the whole Church refers to the entire body of the faithful, all over the world, from the greatest to the least, from the Pope to the common layman, from the ordained ministers and the religious brothers and sisters to all common faithful ones like us, and from the youngest ones to the oldest, and both the newly baptised and those who had been long counted among the faithful.

Following the tradition and teachings established by Jesus as we read in the Gospel today, the Church indeed rightly should be concerned on the fate of the faithful and the salvation of their souls. Why is this so? This is because mankind are by nature disobedient, restless and easily manipulated, and we are also easily tempted by our own personal ego, pride and other emotions, which in many cases likely resulted in us drifting away further and further from God and into damnation.

That was why over the course of the past two millenia, since the establishment of the Church and the faith, countless peoples have tried to subvert the faith and to corrupt it to suit their own purposes. And worse still, they did so not just for themselves, but they also spread their false ideas and teachings to many others around them and thus condemning and risking not just themselves, but also many others who are around them and even those entrusted to their care.

Among these could be counted the ranks of princes, kings, lords, even priests, bishops and the top hierarchy of the Church at times, and also among the laity, the educated, the rich and the poor. What they have thought about, spoke about and taught about were incompatible to the faith and what Jesus had taught to His disciples. In time, the Church came up with varieties of words to describe their actions, that is anathema, heresy and many others.

Those who studied the history of the Church and the faith must have been surprised by the staggering number of times the punishment and measure known best as excommunication, had been used. And in fact, excommunication remains to be used this day to correct the behaviour and awaken the spirit of repentance of those whose ideas and teachings are in direct or indirect contradiction to the faith and to the teachings of the Church.

Many detractors of this measure had argued and even became violently opposed to the actions of the Church both in the past and in the present, so that they criticised the use of excommunications as a tool to remove opposition to the Church and to gain more influence for itself. And some even alleged that the Church used them to silence the voice of those who wanted for reform or change in the Church.

Yes, it is true indeed that sometimes, excommunication had been used inappropriately, but in most cases, they have been intended not to punish, but to awaken the spirit of repentance and genuine desire to seek forgiveness from the Lord, which is that desire to admit their errors and return to the full embrace of the loving God through His Church.

We have to first understand the history of how excommunication come about, using what we know from the Scriptures and from what we heard today in the readings, especially from what Jesus mentioned in the Gospel today. In the past, during the time of the people of Israel, after the Exodus, God gave them His laws, commandments and precepts through Moses.

In that Law, some dealt with how certain people should be treated. Those who were found to have the disease of leprosy were obliged to leave their houses and the community of the faithful, and they have to wander outside the community, in the barrens and the desert until they are healed or cured. And when this was so, they had to show themselves to the priests who would certify them to return once more to the society.

Indeed, it was inevitable that those who contracted leprosy at that time to be ostracised and intimidated against by the rest of the society. They were considered to be uncleaned and as leprosy can spread from one person to another, this helped the exclusion and the bad treatment of the leprosy patients, even after they had been cured from their afflictions. But God did not intend for this to happen.

And in a similar spirit, the Lord Jesus told us through His disciples precisely how to deal with those among us in the Church who had contracted the same ‘leprosy’. This leprosy no longer refers to the physical disease that affects the body, but in fact refers to the leprosy of the soul, that is the degeneration of the state of our faith and soul to the point that we become defiant and unwilling to listen and to obey the teachings of the Church and the fundamentals of our faith.

We have many peoples such as these, and what I am going to mention to you are not the only ones there are out there. The Gnostics of the second century after the birth of Christ mixed the teachings of the faith with the contemporary pagan religions, idols and philosophical pursuits that ended up as a syncretic movement and faith totally incompatible with our true faith.

Then came the Arians, the Donatists, the Monophysites and others who taught doctrines incompatible against the faith, and who tried to subvert the faithful to their cause, telling them lies and inaccurate statements about the faith, on the nature of Jesus our Lord Himself, so that the people who were confused were easy to lure into their corrupting hold. As such, many were led away from salvation in God and into damnation, despite the best efforts by those in the Church to resist and fight back against their corrupting influences.

Then we have many others like the the Albigensians or the Cathars, the Hussians, the Bogomils, Paulicians, Iconoclasts who taught numerous lies and confused theology to the faithful, ending up in corrupting the people in the same way, pulling them away from salvation in the Church into damnation and eternal suffering in hellfire. Those people were misguided by many who thought that their human wisdom were better than the teachings of the Lord preserved in the traditions of the Church and the faith.

Then lastly came the great heresy of the Protestant ‘reformation’, where many of the faithful came to take it on themselves to rebel against the authority of the Church and by willingly splitting themselves from the Church, a rebellion which continues even to this day. Yes, we have so many Protestant denominations, to the point that it may not be wrong to say that there are as many denominations, or splinter groups as there are heads.

People like King Henry VIII, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli and many other prominent persona of the Protestant ‘reformations’ like many others before them, Arian, Jan Hus, and others were truly the one mentioned by Jesus as the brethren who refused to listen to reason and chose to break away from the Church. They walked their own path, in open rebellion against God and the Church, leading and guiding many people into their rebellion and thus condemned countless souls to damnation.

The effects of their actions can still be felt today. Many remained separate from the Church and thus from the grace of God, and the lies perpetuated by those leaders mentioned earlier and their successors continued to poison their thoughts and that is why many remained with great contempt to the Church and all it represented.

The Church excommunicated them as well as many of the earlier members of the Church, who even included high ranking nobles and clergymen, and even kings, as they have erred in their path. However, as I have mentioned earlier, the purpose of this move was not to punish those afflicted, but rather to make them realise of the gravity of their errors, so that they may come to understand how their actions had caused grief wounds on the fabric of the Church and the faithful.

And thus, many of those who had been excommunicated had returned to the Church in penitence and seeking God’s forgiveness. A famous example would be that of the excommunication of Emperor Theodosius I of the Roman Empire, who was cut off from the communion of the Church by the famous St. Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan, for the Emperor’s implicit and direct role in a massacre of the city of Thessalonica, where thousands of the faithful were ruthlessly murdered and the city ransacked.

The meaning of excommunication itself was to exclude the person afflicted from the Communion of the Church, and if this word sounds familiar, that is indeed what we receive in the Holy Communion, which is none other than the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Real Presence of the Most Holy Eucharist. All of us in the Church belongs to the Church, that is the Body of Christ precisely because all of us received the same Eucharist and thus are united to each other through our unity with the Lord.

And when a person is excommunicated, like that of the Emperor Theodosius and many others, they were severed from this unity and communion, and thus they were not able to receive the Eucharist, as they were also in a state of sin, and they were not able to exercise anything pertinent to the faith. Thus, that was why Jesus mentioned that those ought to be treated like a pagan or a publican, that means outside the Church, just like the lepers of old.

However, once again, the focus here is on mercy, and on the desire to see these people attaining forgiveness and justification, becoming once again a member of the Church and thus capable of attaining salvation once again. And to wrap up the story on the Emperor Theodosius, the Emperor went on to make a public display of humility and penance, wearing sackcloth to the Church and was once again welcomed into the Church by Bishop St. Ambrose.

That is, brothers and sisters in Christ, the purpose and intention of excommunication. Not as a punishment, but as a means through which the wayward ones and the staunchly rebellious among us may find our way back to God through the Church, through sincere repentance and penitence. Sadly, of course, many of those names and groups mentioned earlier never repented their sins and continued in their rebellions, some of which continued even today.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect on these readings of today, let us recall the words of God to the prophet Ezekiel, how the faithful are tasked with the guardianship of the faith of one another, which means that we should be ready to intervene whenever we see around us there are those who begin to veer away from the path of the Lord.

It is only then if the person persisted in their rebelliousness, then we should refer it to the Church as a whole, and if he or she continued to persist to disobey the Lord, only then they should be cast out of the assembly of the faithful, in what we know as the excommunication, hoping that the person may in that time that remains for him or her, found his or her way back to the Lord and repent.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore work together to maintain the unity and the faith in the Church. May Almighty God guide us in our endeavours and help us to keep this faith alive and well. Let us all renew our commitment to the Lord and awaken in one another the love we truly should have for God, casting away all impurities and unworthiness. Let us all not reject and condemn those who have sinned and erred, and those who had been excommunicated, for indeed, many saints too were once sinners and excommunicants, who returned to the Lord and be reconciled with the Church. May God bless us all. Amen.

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(Usus Antiquior) Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (II Classis) – Sunday, 31 August 2014 : Offertory, Secret Prayer of the Priest, Communion and Post-Communion Prayer

Offertory

Precatus est Moyses in conspectu Domini, Dei sui, et dixit : Quare, Domine, irasceris in populo Tuo? Parce irae animae Tuae : memento Abraham, Isaac et Jacob, quibus jurasti dare terram fluentem lac et mel.

Et placatus factus est Dominus de malignitate, quam dixit facere populo suo.

English translation

Moses prayed in the sight of the Lord his God, and said, “Why, o Lord, is Your indignation enkindled against Your people? Let the anger of Your mind cease. Remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to whom You had sworn to give a land flowing with milk and honey.

And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil, which He had spoken of doing against the people.

Secret Prayer of the Priest

Hostias, quaesumus, Domine, propitius intende, quas sacris altaribus exhibemus : ut, nobis indulgentiam largiendo, Tuo Nomini dent honorem. Per Dominum…

English translation

Graciously behold, we pray to You, o Lord, the sacrifices which we lay upon Your sacred altars, that, in bringing us plentiful forgiveness, they may give honour to Your Name. Through our Lord…

Communion

De fructu operum Tuorum, Domine, satiabitur terra : ut educas panem de terra, et vinum laetificet cor hominis : ut exhilaret faciem in oleo, et panis cor hominis confirmet.

English translation

The earth shall be filled with the fruit of Your works, o Lord, that You may bring bread out of the earth, and that wine may cheer the heart of man, that he may make the face cheerful with oil, and that bread may strengthen man’s heart.

Post-Communion Prayer

Vivificet nos, quaesumus, Domine, hujus participatio sancta mysterii : et pariter nobis expiationem tribuat et munimen. Per Dominum…

English translation

May the holy partaking of this mystery, we pray to You, o Lord, vivify us, bringing us at once forgiveness and strengthening. Through our Lord…

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Sunday, 31 August 2014 : 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the readings from the Holy Scriptures today all had a single and most important meaning as well as purpose, that is to remind us that, in all things and in all that happen in our lives, they are not within our control, and in everything, we should defer to the will of God, that is what God wanted for us to do in this life.

Brethren, God always means well for us, even when often it does not seem as such. That was exactly why the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading we heard today, while he grumbled for the difficulties, challenges and persecutions he faced, he eventually acknowledged that the Lord and His will had him in the best interest, and that God continued to help and support him amidst all the challenges, and thus Jeremiah continued on to preach the word of God to the people of Judah.

And St. Paul in the second reading, in his letter addressed to the Church in Rome, the great Apostle urged the people there to listen to and heed the will of God, understanding what the Lord wanted from them rather than following the ways and the norms of the world, which were filled with wickedness and injustice unworthy of God’s chosen peoples in the Church. And he also urged the people to live and bound themselves to God’s great mercy, making themselves a favourable sacrifice in heart and prayer to Him.

And lastly we heard how Jesus rebuked Satan, who entered Peter’s heart, to remind both St. Peter and all of us, by our listening and understanding of the message of that encounter, of the need and importance for us to follow and obey the will of God in all things. St. Peter commented on how Jesus should not have said that He would suffer persecution and rejection in Jerusalem by the Pharisees and the chief priests, because he was afraid and fear filled his heart.

And the same applied to us all, brethren, because we all also often feel fear and are afraid of many things. We are easily concern about many aspects of our own well-being, as we mankind are by our nature selfish. And the many things in this world served to fuel our insecurities further, often leading us to carry out deeds and works that often benefit ourselves but disadvantage and even hurt others. Often, this means that we are also frequently disadvantaged by others when others acted in self-preservation out of the same fear.

Some fears that we have, be it we are rich or poor, weak or strong, young or old are the fear of death, the fear of suffering and pain, the fear of loss of properties and material goods, and many others. We are insecure over these, and it is easy for us to think that when times are difficult, when things do not go our way, and when someone who loved are lost through various means, be it old age or even unexpected events such as accidents, we often feel such despair and anger in us over the loss that we often think and even say, where is God in all these?

Yes, brethren, it is very easy for us to blame God and put the fault at Him for such apparent ‘neglect’ of His beloved creations. However, this is because many of us did not understand the nature of God and the nature of our relationship with the Lord. If we look into our lives, we can often see that we frequently overlook the presence of God in our lives, and we often only turn to Him whenever we are in dire strait and in trouble. And many of us misunderstood our relationship with our Lord, thinking and expecting that the Lord will ‘listen’ to our petitions, prayers or even whining and demands.

That is because for many of us, prayer to God is nothing more than a litany of requests and even demands, which we bombard the Lord with, with the familiar, constant and ubiquitous phrases of ‘Lord I want that…’, ‘Lord I wish for…’, ‘Lord, please do something…’, ‘Lord, give me…’ and other similar phrases, without giving a chance for the Lord to speak to us in our hearts.

Yes, as we all should know, the essence of prayer is not for us to bombard the Lord with all these. We did these exactly because we feel insecure and fearful, and we think that God is someone who can just fulfill and admit all of our wishes. But He is not our slave nor our servant, in the sense that we can just order Him around for anything. On the other hand, we are the ones who actually should live according to what God wants from us, and yet many of us failed to do so.

We have to realise that we live in this world not just for ourselves, and we have to live with one another in faith, peace and love. We have to learn that the true meaning of prayer is for us to open our hearts and all sorts of our senses to the Lord, who will then converse with us in the silence of our hearts, in the deepest part of our selves, which we have often overlooked and forgot, in the midst of all the things we are so concerned about in life.

God is always there for us, and He always watches over us. He wants to speak to us all the time, and yet we always find our excuse or pretend to be ignorant, refusing to listen to His words. We always think that God does not listen to us, or that He does not care for or love us, and we even think that He had abandoned us to the forces arrayed against us, but we often never stop to think that the Lord is always with us and around us, and it is we who have often shut ourselves from. His care and love.

We are surely familiar with the story of someone who walked in the beach, on the seashore, where he walked with God. There were two sets of footsteps, one that belonged to the man and one that belonged to the Lord. Then the man encountered great difficulties in life and he suffered from it. He looked at the footsteps and realised that there was only one footstep there. The man complained and protested against God, alleging that God had abandoned him and did not care for him.

When the Lord asked him what he thought, he presented the evidence of the one set of footsteps to accuse the Lord of leaving him back there alone during his time of troubles. But the Lord patiently and lovingly told the man, that when the man was in his most difficult moments, the Lord carried the man on His own shoulders, and thus the footsteps that the man saw, actually belonged to the Lord who carried and guided the man in his difficulty, even without him knowing it.

Thus, brothers and sisters, learning from the Scriptures which we have heard today, and what we have reflected and pondered on this day, we have to keep always in our hearts. First, we mankind cannot presume what is in God’s mind, and we have to learn to trust in the Lord, as whatever He has for us in His will and mind, it is the best of the best for us. Second, we have to always trust in His providence and love for us, as God is always with us and He will never leave us even for a moment, and in fact it is men who left Him first.

And lastly, we all have to know that to follow the Lord means that challenges, difficulties and persecutions from the world and all in it will be part and parcel of our lives. What we need to do is to carry our cross and follow the Lord, as Jesus Himself said. If Christ had suffered and was rejected by the world, we who are part of Christ as His disciples and servants are bound to suffer in the same way as well.

Jesus told us to get rid of from our hearts all desires of self-preservation, selfishness itself and seek to be upright and righteous in all things. If we do so, we will save our souls, as the Lord who sees all and who knows all will reward us for our hard works. And we ought to do this by showing love, care and concern for our fellow men.

Those who are so concerned for themselves, fearing the loss of their properties, their other concerns in life will be paralysed by that fear, or act in ways that hurt or disadvantage others, and the Lord who sees this, will cast them out of His presence into eternal damnation, and hence, saving the world and their glory in the world but losing their soul for eternity.

We can do our part, brethren, by changing our lives if we have not done so, or do even better if we have indeed done as the Lord had taught us. Be courageous to defend the weak and the oppressed, and be courageous to defend our faith as well. Live our faith consciously and actively by loving acts and dedications to our brethren around us, especially those who are in need. And lastly, keep a good, vibrant and healthy prayer life, spending time with God whenever we are able to. And in our prayers, keeping silent and focused on the Lord, so that He may speak in our heart and that we may then know His will for us.

May Almighty God bless us, protect us and be with us always as He had always been all this time. May His light shine upon us that we may find our way to Him and may all souls in this world be saved, by following the only God and Saviour Lord, Jesus Christ, Saviour of all mankind. Let us all also bear our crosses of suffering in this life together, that in the end, the Lord may transformed those crosses into the crosses of His glory and power. Amen.

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Friday, 29 August 2014 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Passion of St. John the Baptist (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the memorial feast of St. John the Baptist and his passion, that is when he faced his sufferings and last moments on this world, enduring imprisonment and incarceration by Herod, the king of Galilee, son of Herod the Great, the king who once tried to kill Jesus in His infancy. St. John the Baptist was imprisoned as he spoke bluntly and harshly against the king’s adulterous behaviour with the wife of his deceased brother.

In the Jewish society and according to the laws of Moses, the wife of one’s brother is the same as one’s own sister, and this is related to how in marriage, the man and the woman are no longer separate peoples, but had been joined together by God to be one, and that what God had made one, let no one separate, as Jesus had said it. And even when the brother of king Herod died, that does not mean that the bonds of marriage and unity blessed by God had been broken. This is why the action of Herod in making her brother’s wife as queen is considered adultery.

But one may then ask, is not according to the laws of Moses that the brother of a deceased man ought to take care of and marry the deceased man’s wife, taking her as his own? This is what happens when people did not understand the purpose of the Law, as it is clear that Herodias and Philip, the brother of king Herod had a daughter, the one whom the king was pleased with in the festival and celebrations we heard in the Gospel today.

The Law stated that the allowance for this practice is such that the deceased man may have a child that will continue his name and inheritance even after he died, and that child will be his brother’s child biologically, but legally considered as the deceased man’s child. But this was created in fact to cater and accommodate to the obstinate and hard-headed behaviours of the people of Israel, who constantly and continuously complained against the Lord during their forty years journey in the desert.

Jesus came to perfect the Law of God and to reveal the fullness of truth about them, that the Law truly was meant for the good of mankind, and to guide them in the ways of the Lord, that they would not steer away from it, and thus fall into the corruption of sin and the flesh. And through this, it was why the actions of Herod and Herodias were truly abominable before the Lord, as not only that Herod and Herodias committed an inappropriate relationship before the Lord, but also that they committed many other sinful deeds on their own persons.

Today we are reminded that courage which was shown by St. John the Baptist in defending the truth of the Lord, by speaking up not just against the corrupt Pharisees and elders of Israel, but even against a king and his queen, who was engaged in adultery. St. John the Baptist did not flinch or be afraid to do and say what is right, and speak out against what is wrong.

It is exactly what the Lord had said to the prophet Jeremiah in the first reading today, where we heard how God called him out of the people of Judah, to be his spokesperson and representative, to be the one who spoke His words and judgments to the people of the kingdom of Judah. The kingdom of Judah was then a shadow of its former glory, and the people of God had not been faithful, often they worshipped pagan gods and did not remain true to the commandments and laws of God.

Hence, Jeremiah was called and sent to speak to this rebellious and unfaithful people, so that they hopefully might listen to the Lord speaking through Jeremiah and repent from their sinfulness. Jeremiah suffered and was persecuted, opposed and imprisoned for his works and devotions to God and His people. The people to whom Jeremiah had been sent to, continued to rebel and disobeyed the Lord ever more, which eventually led to their destruction at the hands of the Babylonians.

The same too had happened to St. John the Baptist, who was sent to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, who was none other than Jesus, the Son of God Himself. St. John the Baptist was sent to make straight the path for the coming of Christ, and He did his duties responsibly and filled with zeal and faith to God. He too was rejected and doubted by the Pharisees and the elders, and these people refused to listen to the word of God and repent, just as they would later refuse to listen to Jesus.

Yet, what we can learn from this is that, while those to whom these saints were sent to did not listen and persecute these holy servants of God, God did not leave these holy servants of His alone. He gave them strength and encouragement to continue to persevere through the difficulties and oppressions they had to go through in life. And in that, they become an example for us to follow.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today let us all reflect on our lives, on whether we have been righteous and faithful in our actions, or whether we have erred and walked away from the path of the Lord. We should avoid the actions of king Herod who gave in to his desires and human weaknesses, submitting to the power of the temptation of the flesh. Instead we should strengthen our faith and solidify within us the faith that God had placed in our hearts, like what Jeremiah and St. John the Baptist had done.

May Almighty God bless us and keep us, that in all things we may be ever faithful, that we may be ever ready to defend our faith, this faith, devotion and love we have for God, that the Lord will find us worthy at the last day when the Lord will judge us for our actions and deeds, and bring us into the everlasting glory He promised for us. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 24 August 2014 : 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time, Lay Apostolate Sunday (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard of the Lord and all the truth about Him, which Peter His Apostle proclaimed about Him. Yes, that Jesus is truly the Lord of all, the very Son of the living God and the promised Saviour which many prophets had proclaimed for many ages. And it is this truth that we also believe in, and this is essentially what our faith is all about, that is about we believing in Jesus as the Son of God, He who is the Word made flesh, and born of the Blessed Virgin Mary to be our Saviour.

And today we ought to look at the example of Peter, the disciple of Christ who courageously and without doubt, proclaimed the truth about Christ, that He is the One whom the people of God had awaited for, for a very long time and yet they failed to recognise Him when He came into the world. Some thought He was one of the prophets and some even considered Him as a fraud and an outcast, such as the Pharisees, the elders and the teachers of the Law who were always against Jesus and His works no matter where He went to.

Today we celebrate with the whole Church, the occasion of the Lay Apostolate Sunday, in which we commemorate the role of the laity in the Church of God, and what the laity are expected to do, as part of their role and contribution towards evangelisation and the growth of the Church through the spreading of the Good News of the Holy Gospels.

First we have to understand what is meant by the term laity, which in fact refers to the people of God in the Church who are not part of the group of those who had been ordained to the sacred priesthood or to totally devoted life in religious professions and vocations. The laity or as they are also called the laypeople formed the bulk of the members of the Body of the Church of God.

So what can the laity do as part of the Church, in order to bring forth the truth of the Lord to all the nations? That is why today we celebrate this Lay Apostolate Sunday, for indeed the laity has many things they can do on their hands to help the priests and all the other servants of the Lord, contributing in various ways to help the Church of God, be it in terms of time, money, or other forms of dedications for the good of the faithful.

The priests we have with us today are the successors of the faithful disciples of the Lord, the numerous servants of the Lord since the early days of the Church. And our bishops and popes are the successors of the Apostles of the Lord, who passed on their teaching and healing authority to them through a continuous succession of bishops across the many ages of the past.

But they and their predecessors did not work alone, and the laity, namely the non-ordained members of the Church in their various parts and professions contributed greatly to the efforts of evangelisation and survival of the Church and the faith. Many of the early Church martyrs were of the laity, who in their staunch defense of the faith did not allow themselves to be tempted by the lure of worldly vanities and temptations. They would rather lose their life rather than losing their faith in God.

We have to remember the efforts and the hard work of the laity of the bygone days and strive not to fall on our way towards the Lord. We have to follow in the footsteps of many holy men and women who had gone before us to the Lord, both of the laity and those of the ordained alike. We are an integral part of the Church, and through our actions and our help, we can bring our fellow brethren who are still living in darkness, ever closer to the light of God.

All of us had been called, and some of us may eventually take up the vocations and dedicate ourselves wholly to the Lord to join the priesthood or those others who devoted themselves completely to God. Many of us will remain in our usual life in this world, carrying on what we have always done while remaining faithful to the Lord and to the orthodox teachings and values of the Church. And it is our duty in this increasingly difficult time for the faith, to shore up the defenses of our faith together and help each other to persevere against the increasing persecution of the faithful by the forces of Satan and his allies.

We must be like Peter, who courageously proclaimed his faith and belief in God, and although his faith was shaky at first, even denying Jesus when He was brought in for trial and betrayed by His own people, but Peter persevered on, and eventually he proclaimed his faith and undying devotion to Jesus, who duly therefore made him the one in charge of His flock on this entire world, to lead His holy Church.

Our faith too, is often like that of Peter in the beginning, shaky and uncertain, and we can often be tempted by the temptations of the devil and sin so that we veer away from the way to the Lord. However, this is in fact part and parcel of our role as a member of the Church of God. Temptations and persecutions will definitely be on our way, and it will never be an easy path for us to seek and reach for the Lord.

But we cannot give up, as St. Peter and many other of the faithful had done across the ages. Many of the laity contributed much to keep the faith amidst even the greatest of persecutions. The people worked together to spread the Word of God through good works and testimonies of their faith. They spoke with many, and showed the love of God through their charities, and in doing so, they made many to turn towards the Lord and atone for their sins.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we come together to celebrate with the Lord the Sacrifice He had done on the cross for us, we have to be mindful of the part we ought to play in the Church’s works to spread the Good News and in the salvation of mankind. We have our part to play, brothers and sisters, and we should dedicate as much time and effort as possible to help one another and especially those who are still lost in the darkness.

May on this occasion of the Lay Apostolate Sunday awaken in us the spirit of courage and strength to be the bearers of the Good News to others, working hand in hand with the ordained ministers and servants of the Lord, for the good of all of us and all of our fellow brethren in the world. May God bless our endeavours and shine His light upon us. Amen.

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Friday, 22 August 2014 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 9 : 1-6

The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. A light has dawned on those who live in the land of the shadow of death.

You have enlarged the nation; you have increased their joy. They rejoice before You, as people rejoice at harvest time and as they rejoice in dividing the spoil. For the yoke of their burden, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressors, You have broken it as on the day of Midian.

Every warrior’s boot that tramped in war, every cloak rolled in blood, will be thrown out for burning, will serve as fuel for the fire. For a Child is born to us, a Son is given us; the royal ornament is laid upon His shoulder, and His Name is proclaimed : “Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

To the increase of His powerful rule in peace, there will be no end. Vast will be His dominion, He will reign on David’s throne and over all His kingdom, to establish and uphold it with justice and righteousness from this time onward and forever. The zealous love of YHVH Sabaoth will do this.