faith

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Wednesday, 20 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

John 8 : 31-42

Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in Him, “You will be My true disciples, if you keep My word. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do You mean by saying : you will be free?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave doesn’t stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free. I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want to kill Me because My word finds no place in you. For My part, I speak of what I have seen in My Father’s presence, but you do what you have learnt from your father.”

They answered Him, “Our father is Abraham.” Then Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did. But now you want to kill Me, the One who tells you the truth – the truth that I have learnt from God. That is not what Abraham did; what you are doing are the works of your father.”

The Jews said to Him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God.” Jesus replied, “If God were your Father you would love Me, for I came forth from God, and I am here. And I didn’t come by My own decision, but it as He Himself who sent Me.

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Wednesday, 20 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Daniel 3 : 14-20, 91-92, 95

King Nebuchadnezzar questioned them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden statue I have set up? If you hear now the sound of horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other instruments, will you fall down and worship the statue I made?”

“If you won’t, you know the punishment : you will immediately be thrown into a burning furnace. And then what god can deliver you out of my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we need not defend ourselves before you on this matter. If you order us to be thrown into the furnace, the God we serve will rescue us. But even if He won’t, we would like you to know, o king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s face reddened with fury as he looked at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of his strongest soldiers to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the burning furnace.

Then king Nebuchadnezzar suddenly rose up in great amazement and asked his counselors, “Did we not throw three men bound into the fire?” They answered, “Certainly.” The king said, “But I can see four men walking about freely through the fire without suffering any harm, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who sent His angel to free His servants who, trusting in Him, disobeyed the king’s order and preferred to give their bodies to the fire rather than serve and worship any other god but their God.

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Tuesday, 19 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent, Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of Blessed Virgin Mary (Second Reading)

Today also marks the Papal Inauguration of the 266th and current Pope, Pope Francis

Romans 4 : 13, 16-18, 22

If God promised Abraham, or rather his descendants, that the world would belong to him, this was not because of his obeying the Law, but because he was just and a friend of God through faith.

For that reason, faith is the way and all is given by grace; and the promises of Abraham are fulfilled for all his descendants, not only for his children according to the Law, but also for all the others who have believed.

Abraham is the father of all of us, as it is written : “I will make you father of many nations.” He is your father in the eyes of Him who gives life to the dead, and calls into existence what does not yet exist, for this is the God in whom he believed.

Abraham believed and hoped against all expectation, thus becoming father of many nations, as he had been told : “See how many will be your descendants.” This was taken into account for him to attain righteousness.

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Tuesday, 19 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent, Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Today also marks the Papal Inauguration of the 266th and current Pope, Pope Francis

 

Psalm 88 : 2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29

I will sing forever, o Lord, of Your love and proclaim Your faithfulness from age to age. I will declare how steadfast is Your love, how firm Your faithfulness.

You said, “I have made a covenant with David, My chosen one; I have made a pledge to My servant. I establish his descendants forever; I build his throne for all generations.

He will call on Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.’ I will keep My covenant firm forever, and My love for him will endure.

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Monday, 18 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor (Scripture Reflection)

Jesus taught us today that we need to become true witnesses and witnesses that are faithful and obsessed with the truth, just as He is truthful, the perfect witness with God the Father, who brought witness to the truth He taught while He was in this world, dispelling lies and all the evils that had ravaged our world since the beginning of time.

It is not easy to remain truthful, since our world itself is full of lies and deceit that is of the devil. He spreads lies and falsehoods so that we will be divided among ourselves, among fellow brothers and sisters in faith. This will weaken us in our struggle to fight against evil, and also reduce our resolve to life this life as God wants us, that is a life filled with love, truth, and faith in Christ.

Instead, indeed, many of us succumbed to the temptations of the world, and temporal pleasures, especially that of the flesh. This was what had happened to the two elders appointed over the people of Israel, given authority and responsibility, but failed in their given ministry, all due to the failure to restrain themselves and let themselves to be taken in by worldly temptation. Indeed, as we can see what unfolds for them in the end, they had given up the true happiness in heaven, as righteous and just servants of the Lord, for moments of temporary and unguarded lust, to seek the faithful wife, Susanna.

They have abandoned their duty and their ministry in search of what the devil offers for them, through lust and disobedience, they almost brought an innocent soul in the eyes of God, into condemnation to death. This is because they acted not as a witness based on love for justice and for the truth of God, but they acted as witness out of lies, and human selfishness, of self preservation and of greed and lust.

Because they wanted to gain the noble woman, which they failed, and in their minds, their lust turned into hatred and deceitful plot to destroy that woman before it can destroy them. It is as if they want to approach sinful actions, but they never realised the effects of those acts until they had already committed the acts.

Instead of humbling themselves before God and asking for forgiveness, they instead misused their power and the authority given to them as witnesses to persecute the weak and attempted to remove evidences against them. This is what the Lord wants us to avoid, so that we will not be witnesses of falsehoods and lies, but rather follow in the example of Christ, who taught the truth to the people of Israel, with God as His witness.

Today, we also celebrate the feast of a great saint of the early Church, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, who was a distinguished theologian of the early Church, and he was very pious and zealous in defending the truth on his ministry, which his opponents constantly attacked with falsehoods in order to remove him from his position as Bishop of Jerusalem. He defended the faithful as a strong witness for the truth that Christ had brought into this world, and stood firm against false teachings of the heretics at that time, Arians, Monophysites, and many other false witnesses of the Lord.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, have we done our part in proclaiming the Gospel of our Lord? To be His witnesses in this world? That no one can say like the Pharisees did, that asking and questioning the Lord’s power through need of witness, which they themselves, blinded by those same human weaknesses and faults that had blinded the two elders at the judgment of Susanna.

Let us strive to love one another, and to be truthful and honest in all dealings that we make, so that we reflect the truth of our God, Jesus Christ, who came to bring the true witness of the love of God, as we have read in the Gospels. That we may also be able to follow the examples of St. Cyril of Jerusalem in being true witness of the truth, and stood firm against any form of falsehoods and lies about the Lord and our faith. May God bless us all. Amen.

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My oath of obedience to our new Pope, Pope Francis. God bless our Pope!

God, the Lord of the Universe, who through Jesus Christ Your Son, has brought salvation upon this world. Hear me now I pray, with Your holy angels and holy saints as witness before Your Holy throne in Heaven.

I promise and offer my full and unconditional obedience on Franciscus, our Pope Francis, whom through the Holy Spirit You have inspired the Cardinals to elect, as the one to continue the mission of Peter, Your Apostle, upon whom You entrusted the keys to Your Kingdom, and upon whom You built Your very own Church, that is Your Most Precious Body, in union with all who believes in You, now led by Francis, as one indivisible union, the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

I call upon the angels and the saints as witness on this promise, and I ask them too to pray for our Holy Father, that he will be strengthened in his new ministry, not just as the Bishop of Rome, but also the Successor of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, as the leader of the Universal Church, all over the world.

May he be strengthened in faith, hope, and love, and exercise great charity as his namesake St. Francis of Assisi had done, and at the same time, profess to defend the Sacred Tradition of the Holy Apostles, and the orthodox Catholic faith, as it is, unchanging, since the beginning, now, and ever shall be, forever and ever! Amen!

On this Holy Gospel I make solemn my oath and promise, and I hope that not only that I will remain faithful to it, but also help our dear Holy Father, Pope Francis, in his mission to evangelise the Word of God to all corners of this world, through whatever means I can, including this humble blog of mine.

Ad multos annos, Papa Franciscus! Pontifex maximus et Beati Petri Apostolorum Principis succesori, Episcopus Romanus.

Tu es Petrus et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam, et tibi dabo claves regni caelorum. Quodcumque ligaveris super terram, erit ligatum et in cælis, et quodcumque solveris super terram, erit solutum et in cælis.

(You are Peter, and on this Rock, I will build My Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against It, and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on this earth, it will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loosen on this earth, it will be loosened in heaven).

 

+Peter Canisius Michael David Kang

(Ut Omnes Unum Sint, ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam – That they all may be One, for the greater glory of God)

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Monday, 18 March 2013 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor (Psalm)

Psalm 22 : 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.

He guides me through the right paths for His Name’s sake. Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are beside me : Your rod and Your staff comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

Goodness and kindness will follow me, all the days of my life. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord, as long as I live.

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Saturday, 16 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s readings we see how, the righteous ones and the ones sent by the Lord, the prophets, and even our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, received slander, persecution, and were actively rejected by many in the society, not least by those who indeed should have been closer to God than that of the rest of the society.

These people are the Pharisees, the priests and the experts in the Law of God, passed through Moses, they are also expert in the Torah and the writings of the words of the prophets, that it is why they could say that no prophet is ever said to come from Galilee, because basically they really know the prophets, their sayings, and the Law itself. But yet, they have failed to see God, and failed to see His works, when it was already in fact right in front of their eyes.

The reason for their failure to see the good works of the Lord is that they have been blinded, their eyes had been blocked by the very arrogance and pride that clouds their heart and hardened that heart against the love of God. Jealousy became the order of the day, as these priests, instead of being happy and supportive of Christ’s good works, they slandered Him, accused Him of using the devil to perform miracles, and plotted against Him to kill Him. They would eventually succeeded in capturing Him after the Lord’s Last Supper, put Him on trial, and brought Him to Pilate to be condemned to death, death on the cross.

We should not follow their examples, and we too should lower our pride and our selfishness before God. We must put the Lord ahead of men, and put our attention on the Lord ahead of any personal glorification through majesty, wealth, or even simplification, and publicity. Priests and leaders of the Church must strive to remain humble in their ministry.

But remember, very importantly, never dabble in the false sense of humility through excessive display of humility or simplification, especially and certainly, we must never let the Holy Mass be simplified to the point that it loses the sanctity and meaning, as the Holy Sacrifice where Jesus offers us His Most Precious Body and Blood.

Very often people has misunderstood the noble simplicity as mentioned in the Vatican II document, Sacrosanctum Concilium, focusing way too much on the simplicity, that it is no longer noble. There is a need for balance, that the liturgy does not become too flagrant a display of excessive wealth and worldliness, but at the same time also there should be proper decorum and avoidance of insertion of non-liturgical elements into the Mass, and also avoidance of stripping the Mass so much that it ceases to be solemn and devout.

Instead, the way is to live a life of prayer and dedication to God, and strive to put the Lord ahead of ourselves, and to make God the centre of our lives. Through the Mass, the centre of our faith, we can make the Lord indeed as the centre of our life, via the solemn and magnificent liturgy and execution of the Mass, that the Lord is glorified at the Mass.

Remember that the Mass is not about self, and it is not to be centred at the priest-celebrant, but to be centred to the Lord Himself. The vestments, the beautiful adornments, and the solemn atmosphere in the Mass is dedicated entirely to God, that we glorify the Lord, and through these external glorification, we bring mankind closer to God, simply by unearthly experience that all of us can experience in the Mass, through a solemn and devout liturgy of the Mass.

We humble ourselves before the Lord, and focus our attention on the glorious cross of Christ, both for us behind the altar, and for the priest, the altar cross, according to the Benedictine Altar arrangement, that all of us will put our full attention in Christ, and not on men. The cross must be the centre of our focus, our attention, and also be the focus of our hearts, that we continue to keep Christ in all things that we do, so that in whatever good that we do, God will be present, and will justify us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us rediscover our faith, particularly in this Holy Year of Faith, that we can grow much deeper in our understanding of the Mass and its liturgical contents, and learn to place the Lord at the centre of our lives, and grow stronger in our faith and love of God day by day. May we follow in Christ’s footsteps and not be proud, neither be vain, by discarding the darkness and veil of pride that blocks our heart from truly receiving the love and grace of our God. Amen.

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Saturday, 16 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Psalm 7 : 2-3, 9bc-10, 11-12

O Lord, my God, in You I take shelter; deliver me and save me from all my pursuers, lest lions tear me to pieces with no one to rescue me.

See my righteousness; You see that I am blameless. Bring to an end the power of the wicked, but affirm the just, o righteous God, searcher of mind and heart.

You cover me as a shield, o God, for You protect the upright. A righteous judge is God, His anger ever awaiting those who refuse to repent.

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Thursday, 14 March 2013 : 4th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

John 5 : 31-47

If I bore witness to Myself, My testimony would be worthless. But Another One is bearing witness to Me, and I know that His testimony is true when He bears witness to Me. John also bore witness to the truth when you sent messengers to Him, but I do not seek such human testimony; I recall this for you, so that you may be saved.

John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a while you were willing to enjoy his light. But I have greater evidence than that of John – the works which the Father entrusted to Me to carry out.

The very works I do bear witness : the Father has sent Me. Thus He who bears witness to Me is the Father who sent Me. You have never heard His voice and have never seen His likeness; therefore as long as you do not believe His Messenger, His word is not in you.

You search in the Scriptures, thinking that in them you will find life; yet Scripture bears witness to Me. But you refuse to come to Me, that you may live. I am not seeking human praise; but I have known that love of God is not within you, for I have come in My Father’s Name and you do not accept Me. If another comes in his own name, you will accept him.

As long as you seek praise from one another, instead of seeking the glory which comes from the only God, how can you believe? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father. Moses himself, in whom you placed your hope, accuses you. If you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?