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Thursday, 6 March 2025 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we embark on this journey through the penitential and contemplative time of the Lenten season, let us all reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures that we have received on this day. We are reminded that as Christians all of us must make the decision to consciously follow the Lord and His path in our lives, and make the conscious effort and commitment to persevere in this path no matter what challenges, trials and tribulations may be in the journey that we have towards God. There is likely going to be plenty of obstacles in our path, but we must not allow these to be barriers preventing us from coming towards the Lord with genuine faith and devotion. Instead, they should make us even more committed and willing to follow the Lord more faithfully each day.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Deuteronomy in which Moses, the leader of the Israelites during the time of the Exodus from Egypt presented before the Israelites the rules and the commandments which the Lord had revealed and passed to them, and the expectations that accompany the Covenant which God had made with them, His beloved people. Moses reminded the people of the path that they ought to choose in their lives, whether they wanted to follow the Lord and obey Him, His Law and commandments, or whether they wanted to walk their own path of disobedience and rebellion against God. Moses made it clear the choices that lay before the people, and how their choices are truly important, in deciding their eventual fate.

What Moses had said to the Israelites highlighted the way that the Lord has always been loving and caring towards His people, and He has always been patient in helping and leading them all to Himself. However, at the same time, He also gave them the free will and the freedom to choose their course of actions in life, the gift that the Lord gave to each one of us. He does not impose on us His will, and He gave us the freedom to walk the way that we choose. At the same time, Moses made it clear that if we put our faith and trust in God, then in the end, we will receive the fullness of His grace and blessings, and we will not regret our choice, as despite the challenges and trials that we may face, we will be vindicated by the triumphant glory with God. On the other hand, if we choose to walk away from God, in the end, there will only be suffering and eternity of regret in Hell.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel of St. Luke the Evangelist, we heard of the Lord telling His disciples plainly and frankly about what He Himself would experience in the midst of His upcoming Passion, the culmination of His worldly ministry. The Lord said it clearly that He, the Son of Man, would have to suffer rejection, persecution and oppression from none other than the leaders of the people, the chief priests and the elders, to be handed over to His enemies, and to be punished and persecuted although the fault was not His own. And yet, He would obey willingly to follow the path that His heavenly Father has shown Him, the path of redemption for all mankind, which He would accomplish by His most selfless and loving sacrifice on the Cross.

He also predicted His own Resurrection on the third day, and also how the same sufferings would be part of the disciples’ life, mission and journey. He reminded them all that just as the world has rejected and opposed Him, thus it is likely that they would also face the same challenges and obstacles that He had been facing. And they cannot be His true disciples and followers unless they carried their own crosses and follow Him wholeheartedly and faithfully. This is the reality that the Lord presented to His disciples, reminding especially those among them who might be expecting good and comfortable life if they were to follow Him as their Lord and Master. Some among the disciples at the time had the misconception thinking that the Messiah was to come to usher the era of peace and glory, the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel, and this is what the Lord wanted to remind them about the truth.

All of us are reminded that as Christians, as the disciples and followers of the Lord, we must always be ready to face persecution and difficulties in our path, and we should not expect that our lives will be good and smooth. This does not mean that God will not bless us, as He will surely bless us abundantly and give us His guidance and strength. However, we have to put our faith and trust in God whenever the challenges and trials come by us, or else we may be easily tempted and swayed to abandon our faith in the Lord and abandon His path, choosing to embrace instead the other allures of worldly temptations and solutions to our struggles and issues. All these may lead us astray in our journey in life, and in the end, we may end up being lost forever to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we enter into this time and season of Lent, we are all called to turn over a new leaf in our lives, embracing the truth of God and His love, His path wholeheartedly as we all should have done. We have been given these many wonderful opportunities by the Lord which we should never squander, and we should try our best such that we use them well in changing our way of life and our attitudes, putting ourselves wholly in the path of righteousness and virtue, doing our very best to live in accordance to the manner that the Lord has shown us. We have been given the freedom to choose our path in life, and we have been reminded and shown what each of those paths will lead into, and therefore we should really spend the time to discern how we are to move forward in life from now on.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to strengthen and encourage us all in our lives, each and every moment of these precious lives we have been blessed with. Let our Lenten practices and observances be truly good, worthy and fruitful in leading us ever closer towards the Lord, and help us to remain true and faithful to this path towards God’s salvation and eternal life. May all of us not easily be swayed or tempted to abandon our struggles and perseverance despite all the challenges and difficulties that we may have to face in this journey. May God bless us all in our every good efforts, works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 6 March 2025 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 9 : 22-25

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the elders and chief priests and teachers of the Law, and be put to death. Then after three days He will be raised to life.”

Jesus also said to all the people, “If you wish to be a follower of Mine, deny yourself and take up your cross each day, and follow Me! For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for My sake, you will save it. What does it profit you to gain the whole world, if you destroy or damage yourself?”

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Thursday, 6 March 2025 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the man who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the Law of YHVH and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For YHVH knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.

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Thursday, 6 March 2025 : Thursday after Ash Wednesday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Deuteronomy 30 : 15-20

See, I set before you on this day life and good, evil and death. I command you to love YHVH, your God and follow His ways. Observe His commandments, His norms and His laws, and you will live and increase, and YHVH will give you His blessing in the land you are going to possess.

But if your heart turns away and does not listen, if you are drawn away and bow before other gods to serve them, I declare on this day that you shall perish. You shall not last in the land you are going to occupy on the other side of the Jordan.

Let the heavens and the earth listen, that they may be witnesses against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life that you and your descendants may live, loving YHVH, listening to His voice, and being one with Him. In this life for you and length of days in the land which YHVH swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

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Wednesday, 5 March 2025 : Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is Ash Wednesday, the very first day of the penitential season of Lent, the forty days plus period of spiritual renewal and reorientation of our lives, so that we may prepare ourselves well for the upcoming important celebrations and events during the Holy Week and Paschal Triduum towards the glorious season of Easter. During this time and period of Lent, all of us as Christians commit ourselves to a renewal of our lives and reattune ourselves to the Lord. We remind ourselves that as God’s holy and beloved people, each and every one of us ought to live our lives worthily and devote ourselves to His ways, distancing ourselves from all the corruptions of evil and sin, from the various temptations of the world around us so that we may truly be faithful disciples and followers, worthy of the Lord, our most loving God and Father.

Today we recall our weakness and mortal nature, as sinful men and women, who because of our disobedience and sins against God, had been sundered from the fullness of God’s love and grace. This is why the blessed ashes imposed on us is a reminder of this fallen state and our mortality, with the words of the priest imposing the ashes, ‘Remember man, that you are dust, and to dust you shall return’, linking to the fact that God crafted and made us all from the dust of the earth, and when we die, our bodies shall rot and perish, returning back to the earth where it came from. No matter how great or glorious our background or life may be, in the end, all of us will have to face death and the end of our earthly existence. But with God there is an everlasting life and existence beyond this life we have in this world.

Alternatively the priest would also have said as he imposed the ashes, ‘Repent, and believe in the Gospel’, which again highlights the penitential nature of this time and season. On this Ash Wednesday, all of us are required to fast and abstain from meat, in which these practices are meant for us to restrain our physical bodies and desires, our worldly wants and pursuits, and reminding us all to purify ourselves, our bodies, minds, hearts and our whole being so that through this repentance and purification of our beings, we may truly be worthy once again, through God’s grace and forgiveness, to be His holy and beloved people, filled with the fullness of His grace and love. We are all required to fast today, eating just one main meal and two smaller meals called collations, and the aforementioned abstinence to remind us of the futility of worldly glory and desires, and to focus ourselves to the Lord once again.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Joel, we heard of the words of the Lord spoken through this prophet calling on all the people of God to return to their Lord and Master with repentance and sincere desire to turn themselves towards His mercy and forgiveness. The prophet Joel was sent by God to minister to the people of the southern kingdom of Judah, the southern half of the kingdom of God’s people, to remind them all of the Lord’s Law and commandments, calling upon all of them to restore the faithful practices of their ancestors and for them to turn away from their sins and wickedness. At that time, the kingdom of Judah and the people of God had fallen far away from the path of the Lord, disobeying and disregarding the commandments which God had taught to them and their ancestors and requiring them to follow and obey. And as a result, they had been beset by troubles, difficulties and persecution from their enemies.

But the prophet Joel highlighted how God is truly loving and merciful, and all of us ought to come to Him seeking His mercy and forgiveness, as He forgives those who sincerely seeks Him and wants to be forgiven. Through our repentance, our fasting and abstinence done with the right intentions and desire for us to be rid of our impure and corrupt thoughts, desires and other temptations, we shall gain the grace of God, the generous love and compassionate mercy that our loving Father has always had for us. Nonetheless, this is as always, easier said than done, as despite our best intentions, there will always likely be temptations and other things which may hinder us on our path and journey towards God, and it is during this time of Lent that we should do our best to reorientate our lives towards the Lord and be more aware of the dangers of sin and the temptations around us.

In our second reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Corinth, the Apostle reminded all the faithful there of the great grace and mercy which God has shown to all of them, the beloved people of God, and how they all should seek the compassionate love and mercy from God because this very moment is indeed the favourable time to seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. What St. Paul told to the faithful among the Corinthians is also a reminder for all of us that we should not procrastinate or delay in our efforts to seek the Lord, as some among us may delay in doing so because we think that we still have ample amount of time in our lives to be forgiven from our many sins and wickedness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we must be reminded again of the reality of our mortality and the fact how any one of us can be called to account for our lives before the Lord at any moment. No one knows for certain when we will meet the end of our lives, beside the certainty that we will indeed face death in the end of our earthly life and existence, be it that we have a long or short life. All of us are mortals who will not endure and exist forever in this world, and hence, we should make good use of all the opportunities and means that the Lord has generously given to us, to seek Him and His ever generous love and kindness. We must not wait until it is too late, when all of our means to reach God has been exhausted, and we can no longer attain His forgiveness. Let us all be quick to seek to repent from our sins, and receive regularly the forgiveness from God through the Sacrament of Reconciliation in the Church.

Then from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle, we are reminded of the matter of practices of our faith and things related to what we do during this time and season of Lent such as fasting and abstinence, prayers and almsgiving among others. As the Lord made it clear to His disciples and all those gathered to listen to Him, when we fast, abstain, make our prayers and do other things that we often do during this time of Lent, we must not make a show out of it. We also should not do these actions in order to be praised and adored by others around us. Instead, we should do them because we are truly and sincerely repentant over our many sins and wickedness, realising the depth of our unworthiness and iniquities before God.

As we receive the blessed ashes on our heads and foreheads, we are all reminded of the need for repentance and renewal in our lives, as we are called to embrace God’s rich and merciful love, making use of the chances that had been provided to us to turn once again towards God, and as His children, full of love for our Father, let us all beseech Him for His mercy and kindness, knowing that in Him alone we can find true forgiveness and peace, salvation and eternal life, and if we are willing to commit ourselves to the path that God our Father has shown us, then God will surely forgive us our sins and allow us to be reconciled with Him. And hence, as we symbolically wear the ashes on our heads and foreheads, we are reminded of this sinfulness that is in us, and of the commitment required from us to abandon these sins for the righteousness of God.

The Gospel passage also reminds us all of the three important pillars of our Lenten practices in order to prepare us all well for the upcoming celebrations of Holy Week and Easter. These as mentioned earlier on are fasting and abstinence, as well as prayer, and lastly being almsgiving. Each one of these practices were meant to help direct our focus and attention towards the Lord, and through them hopefully we may be ever more restrained in our greed, desires and ego in life, and become more attuned to the Lord and His path. We should not do these just in order to satisfy Church requirements and laws, or do them for the sake of doing them. We should also appreciate and understand the significance and importance of each one of these practices so that we may benefit most wonderfully from each one of them in bringing ourselves ever closer to God this Lent and beyond.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let our fasting, abstinence, prayers and almsgiving be truly centred on God, and may they help us to continue to grow in faith and dedication to the Lord, and remind us all of our own frailty, mortality and also our sinfulness so that we may truly be humble in life, in desiring and seeking healing and forgiveness from God. Let us all come towards our merciful and ever loving Father and Creator, our Lord and Master with contrite hearts, asking Him to heal us from our afflictions and corruption by sin, and help us all to enter into His glorious inheritance, to bring us all into the eternal life and true happiness that He has promised us, through our genuine reconciliation and reunion with Him. May all of us have a truly blessed and fruitful season of Lent, and be blessed by God in our every good works, efforts and endeavours this Lent. Amen.

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Wednesday, 5 March 2025 : Ash Wednesday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 6 : 1-6, 16-18

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Be careful not to make a show of your righteousness before people. If you do so, you do not gain anything from your Father in heaven. When you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted before you, as do those who want to be seen in the synagogues and in the streets, in order to be praised by the people. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.”

“If you give something to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift remains really secret. Your Father, Who sees what is kept secret, will reward you. When you pray, do not be like those who want to be seen. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have already been paid in full.”

“When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father Who is with you in secret; and your Father Who sees what is kept secret will reward you. When you fast, do not put on a miserable face as do the hypocrites. They put on a gloomy face, so that people can see they are fasting. I tell you this : they have already been paid in full.”

“When you fast, wash your face and make yourself look cheerful, because you are not fasting for appearances or for people, but for your Father Who sees beyond appearances. And your Father, Who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.”

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Wednesday, 5 March 2025 : Ash Wednesday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

2 Corinthians 5 : 20 – 2 Corinthians 6 : 2

So we present ourselves as ambassadors in the Name of Christ, as if God Himself makes an appeal to you through us. Let God reconcile you; this we ask you in the Name of Christ. He had no sin, but God made Him bear our sin, so that in Him we might share the holiness of God.

Being God’s helpers we beg you : let it not be in vain that you received this grace of God. Scripture says : At the favourable time I listened to you, on the day of salvation I helped you. This is the favourable time, this is the day of salvation.

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Wednesday, 5 March 2025 : Ash Wednesday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 5-6a, 12-13, 14 and 17

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

For I acknowledge my wrongdoings and have my sins ever in mind. Against You alone have I sinned; what is evil in Your sight I have done.

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me again the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. O Lord, open my lips, and I will declare Your praise.

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Wednesday, 5 March 2025 : Ash Wednesday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Joel 2 : 12-18

YHVH says, “Yet even now, return to Me with your whole heart, with fasting, weeping and mourning. Rend your heart, not your garment. Return to YHVH, your God – gracious and compassionate.” YHVH is slow to anger, full of kindness, and He repents of having punished.

Who knows? Probably He will relent once more and spare some part of the harvest from which we may bring sacred offerings to YHVH, your God. Blow the trumpet in Zion, proclaim a sacred fast, call a solemn assembly. Gather the people, sanctify the community, bring together the elders, even the children and infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his bed, and the bride her room.

Between the vestibule and the altar, let the priests, YHVH’s ministers, weep and say : Spare Your people, YHVH? Do not humble them or make them an object of scorn among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples : Where is their God?

YHVH has become jealous for His land; He has had pity on His people.

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Tuesday, 4 March 2025 : 8th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Casimir (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is the last day before the beginning of the season and time of Lent, which will begin tomorrow with the imposition of the blessed ashes on Ash Wednesday, the very first day of the Lenten season. On this day, as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, let us all remind ourselves of the calling which all of us have received from the Lord for us to follow Him and the path that He has shown to us so that we may continue to walk down the path of righteousness and virtue in life. We have been reminded of God’s great and most generous love and mercy, and we should make great use of the opportunities that God has granted to us to reach out to Him and to be fully reconciled and reunited with Him.

In our first reading today, taken from the continuation of the exhortation from the prophet Sirach we have been listening to for the past few weeks, we heard of the words of the prophet reminding all the faithful people of God and hence all of us to be generous in offering ourselves to the Lord because He is truly full of love and mercy, and if we do what is right and just, worthy in the eyes of the Lord, committing ourselves to His cause and be good in all of our actions, words and deeds, then all of us will truly be blessed and rewarded by the Lord in the end. It is a reminder for all of us to live our lives worthily in the best way we can, to be good inspiration and role models tor our fellow brothers and sisters around us by our living and vibrant faith.

Then in our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard of the words of the Lord affirming His disciples, who, led by St. Peter, had declared their commitment and loyalty to Him, stating how they had left behind everything to follow the Lord, their family, their loved ones and their worldly possessions. The Lord reassured them all and said that no one who had devoted themselves and made sacrifices to follow Him would be found wanting, echoing what the prophet Sirach had mentioned in our first reading passage today. Essentially it is a reminder for us all that the Lord loves the righteous and virtuous, and those whom He deems to be worthy shall be truly blessed and cared for by Him, and they shall not be lost from Him.

On the other hand, if we are wicked and evil in our ways, disobeying God’s Law and commandments, then we likely have to face the consequences of our actions and disobedience, our wickedness and evils. While God loves us all most dearly, He also despises the sins and wickedness which we have committed in our lives, and no wickedness, evil or sin can exist in His Holy Presence. If we continue to commit wickedness and evils, sins and all sorts of disobedience against God, then in the end, it is by those disobedience and wickedness which we will be judged by, and if we are not careful, we may end up in eternity of suffering and regret in the damnation of Hell. This is something that the Lord does not want to happen to us, and He has provided us with all the means to avoid it, but it is up to us to make the conscious effort to come back towards the Lord with repentance and virtuous life.

That is why as Christians all of us ought to strive to live our lives each day with careful actions and virtuous way of life, rejecting the temptations of worldly glory and ambitions, the sins of the world around us, and all the coercions and pressures to embrace this path of wickedness and pleasures. We must not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by those pressures and temptations, and instead we should continue to be resolute in our dedication and commitment to the path of the Lord and His righteousness. We must do our best to live our lives worthily and distancing ourselves from the evil ways. This is of course something much easier said than done, but we must make the conscious effort to adhere ourselves to the path of God, or else, we may easily be pulled into the path of sin and darkness, and we should look for inspiration from among our holy predecessors.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Casimir, also known as St. Casimir of Poland, who was a royal prince of the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He was a bright and pious person even since his early youth and he was brought up well in the various areas of education and knowledge, and he grew up to be a fine young man, who was full of vigour and also care for the less fortunate and the needy, and was also inclined to the religious life and calling. While in the secular world he encountered failures such as the failed efforts by his supporters and family to install him as the King of Hungary due to the claims that his family on the Hungarian throne, but in the spiritual matters, St. Casimir was well known for his devotion to God, his pious and worthy lifestyle, and his care for the needs of the people.

St. Casimir was known for his great humility and other virtues in life, refusing the commonly debauched ways of the people and nobility of his time, especially with regards to women and merrymaking. He spent his time frequently in prayer and charitable works, and he continued to lead a life that was worthy of God, refusing the match proposed to him by his family, while also sensing and knowing that he did not have long to live in the world. Shortly afterwards, St. Casimir fell seriously ill and eventually passed away due to the illness at a relatively young age of twenty-five. While his earthly life and existence was short, nonetheless, through his exemplary faith and actions, St. Casimir has shown many people who were his contemporaries and many others throughout time, even to this present day, how we all ought to be as disciples and followers of the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have reflected from the words of the Sacred Scriptures and from the life and examples of St. Casimir of Poland that we have just discussed, all of us are reminded to be good role models and inspirations for our fellow men and women, living our lives with righteousness and grace, to be truly faithful in all things and circumstances. We should be the shining beacons of God’s light, hope and Good News in our darkened world, corrupted and filled with sin and evil. Through our commitment to God, our righteousness and virtue, we should bring God’s light into our world, inspiring many others around us to follow the Lord as well. It is by our good life and examples that we can do this, to fulfil what the Lord has entrusted to us. 

Let us all therefore do our part as Christians, to be the faithful and devoted missionaries and evangelising disciples, doing our best to proclaim the Lord to all. And as we all enter into this time and season of Lent tomorrow, let us all continue to strive to resist the temptations of sin, and continue to keep our lives truly holy and worthy of the Lord, now and always. Amen.