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Monday, 12 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded to obey the Lord as we are all His people, and we are all created by Him and are all under His dominion and rule. At the same time, we are also reminded to show the same obedience to the laws and customs of the land, to the place and the states that we have pledged allegiance to, as far as we continue to carry out our obligations and responsibilities as God’s faithful and committed disciples and followers. Today’s Scripture passages and discourses are reminders for us that we can indeed be both faithful Christians and also dutiful and law-abiding citizens of our respective countries, states and territories.

In our first reading today, we heard of the passage from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel in which the moment when Ezekiel saw a heavenly vision from God was told to us. In that vision, Ezekiel saw the glory of God shown to him, manifested as the Great Throne of God and the Lord enthroned on it, above the Angels, the Seraphim and Cherubim surrounding Him, and the Thrones, the Angels supporting His Throne, revealing God Himself in all of His Divine and Almighty glory. The Lord showed Himself as a truly great and amazing Being beyond the comprehension of man, full of glory and power, and this is in fact a good reminder for us today, as people living in the world where many people have lost their faith in God in this much secularised world, where many marginalised God and His Presence in our midst, and others still also made God to be so personal and human-like that we end up forgetting that He is the Almighty God, Lord and Master of the whole Universe.

Through His Incarnation in the flesh, by His coming into our midst as the Son of Man, in Our Lord Jesus Christ, God has indeed made Himself to be visible, approachable and within our reach, unlike how God had been depicted and shown in the Old Testament, such as what we have heard in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel we have just discussed, and also other occasions like that of Moses’ encounters on the Lord and the prophet Elijah who also encountered God face to face. Earlier on, no one could look at the Lord and live, except for those whom God allowed it, but even then, like what Ezekiel did, he still looked down and fell on his face when he saw God in all of His glory. Through His incarnation, God made Himself personal and approachable to us, by sharing in our human existence. However, this does not change the fact that He is still the same Almighty God, Lord and King over all of us, Whom we ought to obey and follow.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard from the Gospel according to St. Matthew in which we heard of the Lord Who told His disciples that He would soon face trials, tribulations and challenges, to be handed over to His enemies and suffer death. This was a premonition of what would soon happen during the time on the Cross, during His Passion, His suffering and death for the sake of all of us mankind. In that, He was telling them all that He was obeying His Father’s will, to do what He has wanted to do for us, to open for us the path to redemption and eternal life. Through His selfless and most loving sacrifice on the Cross, He, as our Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God, offered Himself to be the most worthy sacrifice and offering for the atonement of our sins and wickedness, for all the things that had caused us to be separated from God, His love and grace.

Then, we have also heard how the Lord spoke to them with regards to the matter of paying taxes to the temple, when they were confronted by the temple officials. At that time, all the Jewish people had to pay the temple taxes which were levied to them on top of the other taxes that they had to pay to the local rulers and their Roman overlords. The Lord told them all that because they were all God’s children, they were all free and not bound to anything, save that of the Lord Himself, their obligation and obedience to Him. However, the Lord also said that they all ought to follow the rules and ways of the land, and to do what they were all asked to do by the temple officials. Thus, all of us as Christians, we also should do our part in obeying the laws, rules and regulations of our countries and states, of any organisations or places that we belong in, as long as they do not directly contradict our obligation and obedience to God, to His Law and commandments.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, a religious whose life and devotion to God, action and great piety can serve as great inspiration for all of us to follow in how we ought to live our own lives as faithful and dedicated people of God. She was born in Dijon in France to an influential family and she was raised up well to be a refined and beautiful woman. She married Baron de Chantal who gave her the surname she would be later known as, and had a sizeable loving family. She was known as an excellent manager of her family’s estates and was a good daughter-in-law to her husband’s father, and was also renowned for her great charitable actions and works in the community, caring for the poor and needy in her community. When later on her husband was killed in a hunting accident, she took on a vow of chastity and devoted herself henceforth to God.

She eventually became a close friend of St. Francis de Sales and wished to become a nun, eventually establishing the order of the Nuns of the Visitation after she left all of her property and matters to her children. Together with the other sisters in her then small congregation, she was unusual in her approach to her ministry in that they all courageously went forth to the community to minister to the people who were needy and poor, neglected and unloved instead of staying cloistered in the monasteries. Her great piety and sanctity soon inspired many people to follow her examples and to be touched in their hearts, leading many ever closer to the Lord and His path. The great faith and examples shown by St. Jane Frances de Chantal should also therefore be inspiration for every one of us to follow her great examples in our own lives, and to be truly faithful to God while also being an active and contributing citizens of our respective countries and states, and as members of our various organisations.

Let us all therefore as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people continue to be truly faithful in all things, dedicated and committed in everything that we say and do so that we may always be sincere in our actions, our words and deeds, in everything that we do in life, so that we ourselves, like St. Jane Frances de Chantal, we may be good role models and examples for our fellow brothers and sisters around us. May all of us be blessed and strengthened by God, and may God continue to empower and encourage each and every one of us to live our lives to the fullest and to the best of our abilities in all things and circumstances. May God bless our every good works and endeavours, all for His greater glory and for the good of our fellow men and women. Amen.

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Monday, 12 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Matthew 17 : 22-27

At that time, when Jesus was in Galilee with the Twelve, He said to them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. But He will rise on the third day.” The Twelve were deeply grieved.

When they returned to Capernaum, the temple tax collectors came to Peter and asked him, “Does your Master pay the temple tax?” He answered, “Yes.” Peter then entered the house; and immediately, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Simon? Who pay taxes or tribute to the kings of the earth : their sons or strangers and aliens?”

Peter replied, “Strangers and aliens.” And Jesus told him, “The sons, then, are tax-free. But, so as not to offend these people, go to the sea, throw in a hook, and open the mouth of the first fish you catch. You will find a coin in it. Take the coin and give it to them for you and for Me.”

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Monday, 12 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Psalm 148 : 1-2, 11-12, 13, 14

Alleluia! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the heavenly heights. Praise Him, all His Angels; praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.

Kings of the earth and nations, princes and all rulers of the world, young men and maidens, old and young together.

Let them praise the Name of the Lord. For His Name alone is exalted; His majesty is above earth and heaven.

He has given His people glory; He has a praise to His faithful, to Israel, the people close to Him. Alleluia.

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Monday, 12 August 2024 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Ezekiel 1 : 2-5, 24-28c

On the fifth of the month (it was the fifth year of the exile of king Jehoiachin) the word of YHVH came to Ezekiel, son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the Chaldeans by the banks of the Kebar. There the hand of YHVH was upon me.

I looked : a windstorm came from the north bringing a great cloud. A fiery light inside it lit up all around it, while at the centre there was something like a glowing metal. In the centre were what appeared to be four creatures with the same form.

I heard the noise of their wings when they moved, similar to the roar of many waters, similar to the voice of the Most High, the noise of a multitude or of a camp. When they were not moving they lowered their wings. I heard a noise above the platform over their heads. Above it was a Throne resembling a sapphire; and high on this Throne was a Figure similar to that of a Man.”

“Then I saw a light as of a glowing bronze, as if fire enveloped Him from His waist upwards. And from His waist downwards it was as if fire give radiance around Him. The surrounding light was like a rainbow in the clouds after a day of rain. This vision was the likeness of YHVH’s glory. On seeing it I fell on my face.

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Sunday, 11 August 2024 : Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures presented to us, we are all called to remember God’s providence and love for each and every one of us, in how He has constantly reached out to us with generous love, kindness and compassion at all times. He has provided us through His various means, helped us all when we have difficulties and challenges, in His own unique and mysterious ways. Essentially, He never abandoned us and has always wanted us all to be truly blessed and provided for, at all times. Ultimately, He gave to us the ultimate gift in His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, through Whom God has saved all of us and gathered us all once again, giving to us all the gift of the Living Bread from Heaven.

In our first reading this Sunday, taken from the First Book of Kings of Israel and Judah, we heard of the moment when the prophet Elijah, who had been sent to minister to the people of God in the northern kingdom of Israel. At that time, Elijah had been persecuted and oppressed by the Israelites and their king, Ahab, and his wife, Queen Jezebel, both of whom had disobeyed God and persecuted His prophets. The latter in particular was very hostile against Elijah because of his role in leading to the deaths of four hundred and fifty priests of Baal, the false god promoted by Queen Jezebel, as Elijah showed everyone that God is truly the one and only True God against the false god Baal at Mount Carmel, where a contest was held between Elijah, the sole representative of God, and Baal’s four hundred and fifty priests. The Lord showed His power before His people, while Baal was impotent.

Elijah was persecuted afterwards, and he had to flee into the desert. We heard his frustrations and sufferings when he expressed it to the Lord there. But God reassured Elijah and strengthened him, giving him the courage and resolve to carry on with his mission despite the challenges and trials he had to face. He sent to Elijah an Angel bearing food and drink for him to consume and to be strengthened in his body. Through the food that he received, he was empowered, and making the journey of forty days and forty nights, he eventually went all the way to the Mountain of God, Mount Horeb or Mount Sinai, where the Israelites once established a Covenant with God at the time of their Exodus, and where God revealed Himself to all of them. It was there that God would appear to Elijah as well, reassuring him and strengthening his resolve to continue to minister to the stubborn and rebellious Israelites.

Then in our second reading this Sunday, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, we heard of the reminders with St. Paul told the people of God of the great grace and love which all of them had received through the Lord, by the grace of His love, of the loving Father the Creator, the presence of the Son in this world in our midst, and by the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit in all of us, who have received the gift of the Spirit of God from the Father Himself through His Son. That is why all of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, each and every one of us should always strive to be ever faithful and committed to Him, and to be exemplary in all of our lives and actions. We should always be righteous and just in all of our dealings and attitudes in life.

And as St. Paul himself mentioned to the Ephesians, that they all had to imitate the Lord’s own examples in loving us and in showing us His commitment to the Covenant which He had made with us and constantly renewed with us. God has always shown us all His patient and ever enduring love, His most generous love and kindness, His compassion and mercy which He has kindly extended to each one of us without exception. Even the greatest of sinners have access to God’s generous love and mercy, and He has always been patient in guiding and leading us all to Himself. He has given us all ample opportunities, moments and times for us to embrace Him and His loving kindness, His mercy and forgiveness, and for us to repent from our sins and change our ways in life. But that is up to us to choose, to make a stand and be faithful to the Lord in all of our lives.

In our Gospel passage, from the Gospel according to St. John, we heard the continuation of the discourse on the Bread of Life which we have begun last Sunday, when the Lord told them that He is the Living Bread from Heaven, the Bread of Life, through Whom God wanted to give us all the assurance, nourishment and promise of eternal life, that all who worthily partake of His Body and Blood, all shall receive the fullness of His grace and love, and receive the promise of eternal life. We heard how the Jewish people and many among those who have heard Him openly grumbled and doubted Him because He told them that He is the Bread from Heaven, the Bread of Life that God would give to His people, comparing Himself to the manna, the heavenly bread that their ancestors had received and consumed, and how this Bread of Life is far better than all that manna in the past.

The Lord reiterated again that He is the Bread of Life, and this is a precursor and premonition of what would soon happen, when the Lord Himself offered His Body and His Blood at the moment when He accomplished and perfected His mission through His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross. By His willing acceptance and shouldering of all of our many sins and wickedness, our faults and mistakes, God through His Son, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, had taken up upon Himself, as the Paschal Lamb, the Sacrificial Victim to be offered on the Altar of the Cross for the forgiveness of all of our sins. Through His offering of this most perfect and worthy of offerings, He Who is also our Eternal High Priest, had created for all of us the New and Eternal Covenant, the one Covenant through which God reconciled us all to Himself and restored us to the state of grace.

And all of us receive from Him, through His Institution of the Most Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper, which we commemorate every year on Holy Thursday, His very own Most Precious Body and Most Precious Blood, which have been broken and shed for us from His Cross, the same ultimate sacrifice that He has performed and offered on Calvary on Good Friday. Each and every one of us who partake of His Most Precious Body and Blood receive this same Bread of Life that Christ our Lord had promised to us, and He therefore dwells in us, making us all part of the same Body, the Body of Christ, the Church of God, uniting us all into one people, one flock of those whom God had called, chosen and saved from this world. It is through God Himself that we have been saved, and we should not squander this great opportunity that has been granted to us.

Through what we have therefore heard from the Scripture passages this Sunday, each and every one of us are reminded of God’s most generous love and kindness which He has always given to us, His providence, love and patient nurturing and care, which He has always given us freely. Therefore, recognising this fact and reality that we are truly blessed to have been loved in such a manner by the Lord, our most loving God and Father, let us all strive to live our lives worthily for Him, to love Him first and foremost in all things and distance ourselves from any forms of sin or corruptions that can prevent us from coming towards the Lord and His loving Presence. Let us also realise that while God’s love and mercy have been extended to us freely and generously, as mentioned earlier, we need to embrace His love and mercy, and act upon them so that we can be truly reconciled and reunited with Him.

Hence, let us all continue to do our part as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, so that in each and every moments of our lives we will always put our faith and trust in Him, believing in His Providence and help, in all the guidance, strength and all the things that He will bless us all with in our respective journeys in life. There will likely indeed be challenges, trials and difficulties we may encounter in our journey, but as long as we remain faithful to the Lord and trust in Him throughout our journey, in the end, we will be triumphant with Him, and we will receive the fullness of all the wonders and blessings, the graces and all the good things that God has promised and reassured us with, through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. May all of us continue to walk faithfully in the path that Our Lord has shown us, and let us all continue to inspire one another to do the same, to be ever faithful at every moments of our lives. Amen.

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Sunday, 11 August 2024 : Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

John 6 : 41-51

At that time, the Jews murmured because Jesus had said, “I am the Bread Which comes from heaven.” And they said, “This Man is the Son of Joseph, is He not? We know His father and mother. How can He say that He has come from heaven?”

Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless he is drawn by the Father Who sent Me; and I will raise him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets : They shall all be taught by God. So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to Me. For no one has seen the Father except the One Who comes from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”

“I am the Bread of Life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the Bread from heaven, so that you may eat of It, and not die. I am the living Bread from heaven; whoever eats of this Bread will live forever. The Bread I shall give is My Flesh, and I will give It for the life of the world.”

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Sunday, 11 August 2024 : Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Ephesians 4 : 30 – Ephesians 5 : 2

Do not sadden the Holy Spirit of God, Who you were marked with. He will be your distinctive mark on the day of salvation. Do away with all quarrelling, rage, anger, insults and every kind of malice : be good and understanding, mutually forgiving one another as God forgave you in Christ.

As most beloved children of God, strive to imitate Him. Follow the way of love, the example of Christ Who loved you. He gave Himself up for us and became the offering and sacrificial victim Whose fragrance rises to God.

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Sunday, 11 August 2024 : Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 33 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

I will bless the Lord all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.

Oh, let us magnify the Lord, together let us glorify His Name! I sought the Lord, and He answered me; from all my fears He delivered me.

They who look to Him are radiant with joy, their faces never clouded with shame. When the poor cry out, the Lord hears and saves them from distress.

The Lord’s Angel encamps and patrols to keep safe those who fear Him. Oh, see and taste the goodness of the Lord! Blessed is the one who finds shelter in Him!

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Sunday, 11 August 2024 : Nineteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Kings 19 : 4-8

Elijah himself disappeared into the desert going on a day’s journey. Then he sat down under a broom tree and prayed to die, “That is enough, YHVH, take away my life for I am dying.”

He lay down and went to sleep under the broom tree. Then an Angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” Elijah looked and saw, at his head, a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and went back to sleep. The Angel of YHVH came a second time to him, saying, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too long for you.”

He got up, ate and drank, and on the strength of that food, he travelled for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.

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Saturday, 10 August 2024 : Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Lawrence, holy deacon and martyr, who was remembered for his great faith and commitment to the Lord and to His Church, and for his contributions to the needy and the less fortunate in the Church which he called the ‘true treasures of the Church’. Through all the great examples of this holy man of God, all of us as Christians are reminded of our duty and obligations, calling and mission as God’s beloved and chosen people so that we may truly embrace what He has entrusted to us, all the talents, gifts, opportunities and all that He had provided to us so that we may truly be fruitful in all of our lives and actions, in living our lives as true and worthy Christians at all times.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Corinth in which we heard of God’s providence to all of us, the gifts and blessings which He had imparted upon us all, in its many diversity and uniqueness, all that He has endowed and granted to us. He has given us all those things so that we may make good use of them for the benefit of everyone around us. That was why St. Paul mentioned about how those who sow meagrely would also reap meagrely while those who sow generously, they would reap great and rich harvests. This is a reference to how the Lord would want us to make good use of the many blessings and gifts that He has given to us so that by our actions and contributions, many great and wonderful things may happen amongst us and our brethren around us.

We should not be selfish and keep whatever God had given to us, or else, what we have been given would be taken from us and given to others who would be more deserving of those gifts. God does not want any one of us to be idle and He wants each and every one of us to be ever active in committing ourselves to His cause and to all the missions and works He had entrusted to us. In our Gospel passage today, we heard of this reminder through the account of the Gospel according to St. John in which the Lord Jesus told His disciples that ‘Unless a grain of wheat shall fall upon the earth and dies, it remains alone, and it only bears much fruits if it dies, blessing others with great bounty of its fruits.’ This signifies first of all the premonition of what the Lord Himself would have to suffer, as He would suffer and die on His Cross, at the moment of His Passion, for the salvation of the whole world.

But it also symbolises and represents the need for all of us Christians to be like Christ in obeying the Lord’s will, His Law and commandments, and to follow His examples in doing whatever He had done out of His great and ever enduring love for each and every one of us. As Christians, that is as God’s holy and beloved people, each and every one of us have been called and entrusted with the various missions and opportunities in our respective areas in life that God has led us into, and which He has directed us all to journey through. That is why, as His people, His followers and disciples, each and every one of us should do our best in whatever we can do, so that our lives, our every actions, words and deeds may always be filled with God’s grace and love, and that we will always glorify Him by our every actions, in every moments of our lives.

As Christians, our actions should always embody our faith in the Lord, and we must always be sincere in living our lives as God’s followers and disciples. In all of our interactions with each other, we should always continue to show love and kindness to one another, to our fellow brothers and sisters around us. We must always love one another, our fellow brethren, especially those who are less fortunate and troubled, and the more blessed we have been by God, the more we are reminded and called to share our bountiful blessings with one another. This is why we are reminded on this day to be truly loving towards our brethren, to be genuine in our every actions, words and interactions, ever filled with generous love just as the Lord Himself has loved us most generously all these while.

As mentioned earlier, today we mark the glorious memory of St. Lawrence, holy deacon and martyr. He was born in the region of Valencia in eastern part of Spain today, and was a Christian whose parents were St. Orentius and St. Patientia, which according to the traditions of the Church were martyrs of the faith. He encountered the future Pope St. Sixtus II in Zaragoza nearby from Valencia, and they both moved from there to Rome. Later on, Pope St. Sixtus II was elected as Pope and leader of the Universal Church, and he ordained St. Lawrence as a deacon, entrusting him to be among the seven deacons in Rome, and then as the Archdeacon of Rome, a very important position in the Church at the time, as he was entrusted with whatever possessions, treasury and riches that the Church possessed, and their distribution to the poor and the needy in the community.

At that time, the Roman Empire was launching another round of intense persecutions against Christians during the reign of the Emperor Valerian. All those who were arrested and convicted, made to suffer and condemned to death also had their properties and wealth seized for the state, as a way for the state to gain and enrich itself from the sufferings of the righteous and innocent Christians throughout the Empire. Thus, when the Pope himself and many other Christians were martyred, St. Lawrence knew that sooner or later he himself would be arrested, persecuted and martyred, and thus, he quickly worked to distribute the treasures and riches available to the Church to the poor and the less fortunate, and to others who were deserving of these. When he was eventually arrested by the authorities and ordered to surrender the treasures of the Church under his care, St. Lawrence gathered the poor and the needy of the community and told his persecutors, that they are the treasures of the Church. He was martyred shortly afterwards, a courageous servant of God to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be encouraged and strengthened in our commitment to God, and be active part of His Church and the missions to reach out to everyone in this world, to those who have not yet known the Lord and to those who have been facing hardships and difficulties in life. From the examples, courage and commitment showed by St. Lawrence, Holy Deacon and Martyr, let us all therefore be always active in our lives as Christians, to be truly loving and missionary in all of our actions, words, deeds and interactions with others around us. Let us all be generous in giving and sharing our blessings with one another, helping each other to carry our own crosses in this life and to follow the Lord ever more faithfully. Let our lives be truly enriching and life-giving to everyone around us, now and always. Amen.