feast day

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Sunday, 22 December 2013 : Fourth Sunday of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 7 : 10-14

Once again YHVH addressed Ahaz, “Ask for a sign from YHVH, your God, let it come either from the deepest depths or from the heights of heaven.”

But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask, I will not put YHVH to the test.” Then Isaiah said, “Now listen, descendants of David. Have you not been satisfied trying the patience of people, that you also try the patience of my God? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign : ‘The Virgin is with child and bears a Son and calls His Name Immanuel.'”

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Saturday, 21 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Priests)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of one of the great saints of the past centuries, that is of St. Peter Canisius, also known as Peter Canis or Petrus Canisius. He was a German who joined the then growing and newly established Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola. St. Peter Canisius also happen to be the saint whose name, together with that of St. Peter the Apostle, I adopted as my own name at baptism, because both of them are truly inspiring role models to me.

St. Peter Canisius lived during a time of great difficulty for the Church, because at that time, numerous people were swayed under the heresy of Protestantism, which spread like wildfire, based on ignorant and fallacious teachings and ideas of men. These ideas were manipulated by some to gain followers and broke apart the unity of the Church. This was particularly bad in Germany, where numerous occurrences of the mentioned heresies happened.

Yet St. Peter Canisius was not to be daunted by challenges, and he put his full trust in the Lord and spearheaded the efforts countering the damaging effects of the Protestant heresy. He and several other leaders such as St. Ignatius of Loyola were crucial in the process of Counter-Reformation, where these courageous leaders fought to stem the tide of corruption on the faithful and return them to the one true faith in God.

The problem was that we have grown lax in our faith, and we no longer stay truly faithful to the Lord. And neither did we put our trust in the Lord, trusting rather more the forces of this world, and our own feeble abilities and desires. Faith is weakened when we no longer put ourselves completely in God’s hands, and evil may enter our hearts. The same, then, happened as it had, during the heresy, which sadly continues all the way until even today.

At that time, indeed, the Church had grown powerful, and it had gained many worldly properties and accumulated much influence and wealth. That was when human desires and the corrupting power of Satan entered into the Church. The Church became a nest of impurities, debauchery, and sinfulness, far from being the holy congregation of the Lord’s faithful ones. Popes, cardinals, bishops and priests were influenced by the forces of the world and quite a few of them were corrupted.

Indeed, many of those who had submitted themselves to Protestant heresies, would argue that the very reason why they broke away from the one and only Church of God was because of its impurities, such that as if the Church no longer had any legitimacy or spiritual authority over the faithful. They elected their own leaders and established their own so-called ‘churches’ in the delusion of righteousness that they experienced.

Yes, that delusion in fact served the purposes of the devil. Some of the proponents and leaders of the heresies had truly noble intents in their actions, but many if not all were eventually succumbed to the designs of the evil one. Instead of helping to reform the Church and purge the impurities out of the holy Church, they succumbed to their own human vanity, pride, and stubbornness, and broke apart the unity of the One Body of Christ, that is the Church.

Remember what the Lord had said, that He is the vine and we are the branches. In the unity of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, the one and only Church, that is our Church, we live in grace and love because of the love and life-giving strength that God bestowed upon us through that unity. Broken and torn apart from that unity, those splinters withered and died, just as history itself had proven to us.

“There were as many churches as there were heads.” Such was the sayings that time, when numerous churches were founded and established, and each with their own ideas and own way of interpreting the messages of the Lord, and therefore, confirming further the devil’s hold on many souls and on the hearts of mankind. Many of these ‘heads’ could not agree upon each other on what they were to believe in God and about God.

They quarrelled, fought, debated, and wasted much energy doing nothing but attacking each other and badmouthing each other, blaspheming that in doing so, they obeyed and followed God’s will. The devil sowed the seeds of distrust, division, and strife among the people of God. Instead of the intended good, only evil and division came out of the events.

That was what St. Peter Canisius was so eager to combat, the divisions within the Church and among the faithful ones. He championed both the reform within the Church as well as the deliverance of those who had lapsed and went outside of the saving grace of Christ in the Church. He led the Jesuit order to restore the faith in his native Germany. And he made great successes there, converting many thousands upon thousands back to the true faith.

St. Peter Canisius stemmed the tide of heresy, from what is an unstoppable wave into a controllable tide. He championed reaching out to those who had fallen away from the faith and explaining to them in great clarity and truth, the truth about the One and True faith, our Catholic faith. That was why St. Peter Canisius was also well known for his contribution to Catholic education. He educated the faithful of the future, as well as future zealous and dedicated teachers of the faith who would bring back the faithful back into the Church.

The Catechisms written by St. Peter Canisius helped many to return to their true faith in God, explaining the faith in clear terms to the people. His Mariology and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was also exemplary, and in fact laid the foundations of much of the devotion to the Blessed Mother of God as we know today. It was he who included the phrase, ‘Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners” to the Hail Mary prayer.

Indeed, seeing the examples of the life of this saint, St. Peter Canisius, we see how much we need to come closer to God, and dedicate ourselves even more intimately to Him. We cannot separate ourselves from the Lord, or we risk the corruption of evil, through the ways of this world. To keep ourselves close to the Lord, with the help of His Blessed mother, is to keep our faith pure and acceptable to the Lord.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we come even closer to the celebration of Christmas, and as we rejoice in this feast day commemorating the great Doctor of the Church and the Defender of the Faith, St. Peter Canisius, let us heed the lesson on the importance of our faith, and how important it is to make sure that we adhere to the teachings and to the will of God, putting aside our human ego, our human weaknesses, and all the temptations of the world.

Instead, let us open ourselves fully and completely to the Lord, and the Lord who loves us completely and dedicatedly will grant us His endless blessings and graces. Let us also follow in the footsteps of St. Peter Canisius, preaching the truth about the Lord, especially to our separated brethren. Proclaim the truth to them and reveal to them the fullness of the Lord’s saving power, and what is true faith in the Lord, that is in the teachings of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, the one and only Church of God.

St. Peter Canisius, pray for us, and help us that we may be strong in our faith and remain vigilant against the powers and temptations of the evil one. May the Lord too watch over us, and love us dearly and tenderly as He had always done. May the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ, Ut Omnes Unum Sint, that they all may be one, come true, that all the faithful ones in God can be reunited once again, purging themselves of all the errors of human judgments, emotions, and thinkings. Amen.

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Saturday, 21 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Priests)

Luke 1 : 39-45

Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me?”

“The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”

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Saturday, 21 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Priests)

Psalm 32 : 2-3, 11-12, 20-21

Give thanks to Him on the harp and lyre, making melody and chanting praises. Amid loud shouts of joy, sing to Him a new song and play the ten-stringed harp.

But His plan stands forever, and His heart’s design through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord – the people He has chosen for His inheritance.

In hope we wait for the Lord, for He is our help and our shield. Our hearts rejoice in Him, for we trust in His Holy Name.

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Saturday, 21 December 2013 : 3rd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Priests)

Song of Songs 2 : 8-14

The voice of my lover! Behold He comes, springing across the mountains, jumping over the hills, like a gazelle or a young stag. Now He stands behind our wall, looking through the windows, peering through the lattice.

My lover speaks to me, “Arise, my love, my beautiful one! Come, the winter is gone, the rains are over. Flowers have appeared on earth; the season of singing has come; the cooing of doves is heard.”

“The fig tree forms its early fruit, the vines in blossom are fragrant. Arise, my beautiful one, come with me, my love, come. O my dove in the rocky cleft, in the secret places of the cliff, let Me see your face, let Me hear your voice. Your face – how lovely! Your voice – how sweet!”

Alternative Reading

Zephaniah 3 : 14-18a

Cry out with joy, o daughter of Zion; rejoice, o people of Israel! Sing joyfully with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem! YHVH has lifted your sentence and has driven your enemies away. YHVH, the King of Israel is with you; do not fear any misfortune.

On that day they will say to Jerusalem : Do not be afraid nor let your hands tremble, for YHVH your God is within you, YHVH, saving Warrior. He will jump for joy on seeing you, for He has revived His love. For you He will cry out with joy, as you do in the days of the Feast.

I will drive away the evil I warned you about.

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Wednesday, 11 December 2013 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, Pope (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Popes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Lord lies our rest, and in Him lies our true joy and hope, and the hope of true happiness in Him. This hope of joy is not the same as the joy of this world, of that which is offered by the evil one to us, through the pleasures of this world. In God only lies all the comfort and satisfaction that the world cannot give.

It may seem to us that following the Lord is not an appealing option to us, and we would prefer indeed to follow the ways of the world, enjoying what is there in the world to give us, rather than troubling ourselves with the burdens of following the ways of God. But this is exactly where we are mistaken, for indeed, the burdens that are laid upon us if we follow the Lord, are temporary, but the burdens that we will have to endure, if we deny the Lord, is heavier and eternal.

Our God loves us in ways that all of us can never completely comprehend, due to the vastness and infinite nature of this divine love. He never gives up on us, even as we fell into sin and evil, and even as we betrayed Him and caused Him suffering, as He bore our sins down with Him on the way to Calvary, and onto the cross. He loves us all the same, even after all of that.

He is rich in mercy and great in compassion. We might have caused Him much sorrow, for our constant rebellions and disobedience against His will, but He did not give up His love and care for us all, unless we ourselves continue to defy Him, all the way to the end, and reject His offer of love and forgiveness. It is our defiance and arrogance that ultimately will lead us to ruin.

Following the Lord and to walk in His ways is not easy, not easy indeed for us. This is because we who have been tempted by Satan, in our ancestors, are predisposed to temptation by sin, and to be tempted to veer away from the true path towards salvation. We are easily swayed, by the goodness of the other way, that is the evil’s way, easier but deadly. We are also easily tempted by the offers of Satan, who gave us the offering of all the goods that he can give.

And as often mentioned, the ways of this world and the way of the Lord frequently do not match, and therefore, there will be displeasure and difficulties should we decide to follow the path of righteousness. There will be even jeers, mockery, and even hatred towards us, because we are different. Yet, such are the little price that we ought to pay, for the greater price of our salvation.

Today we celebrate the feast of Pope St. Damasus I, one of the saints who were also jeered, mocked, and opposed in his ministry. This is exactly as how the Lord Himself had been opposed and rejected by those who walked in the ways of evil. Pope St. Damasus I was opposed by his own people, many of whom supported a rival candidate as Pope, nominating him as an Antipope. Nevertheless, Pope St. Damasus I did not fear nor was he affected by all those negative opinions about him.

Pope St. Damasus I stood strong in the face of those oppositions and campaigned against them with the fury and wrath that is of the Lord Himself. He was particularly staunch in his opposition against heresy, particularly Arianism, which was truly widespread in Christendom at the time, poisoning the minds of many people against the true faith.

Pope St. Damasus I worked hard to strengthen the faith in many people and many areas under his care, as the Vicar of Christ. He was also credited with the codification of the Holy Scriptures and its translation of the Scripture into the Latin language in the Vulgate Bible as done by St. Jerome. Pope St. Damasus I was the patron of that great saint and Doctor of the Church.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you have seen how walking in the way of the Lord and to be His servant, is by no means easy. There will be many challenges and opposition, precisely as what had been experienced by Pope St. Damasus I, and by many other saints and the Apostles themselves. But they did not let these to hinder them, and instead these oppositions helped to further push them on to work even harder for the sake of the Lord.

Pope St. Damasus I and the other saints showed us that, we should not worry or fear rejection from this world, for after all, it has first rejected the Lord Himself. Instead, we should put our complete faith and trust in the Lord, in whom we will have true joy and true rest. For indeed, the Lord did offer us a burden, because His path is not an easy one, but that burden is a light one, and at the end of the way, He will lift up that burden from us, and give us an unparalled crown of unending and heavenly glory.

May the Lord with the intercession of Pope St. Damasus I and other holy men and women who ceaselessly praise Him daily with the angels, continue to watch over us, strengthen us, and reinforce our faith in Him. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 December 2013 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Popes)

Matthew 11 : 28-30

Come to Me, all you who work hard and who carry heavy burdens, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart and you will find rest. For My yoke is good, and My burden is light.

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Wednesday, 11 December 2013 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Popes)

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 8 and 10

Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His Holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger; He does not treat us according to our sins, nor does He punish us as we deserve.

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Wednesday, 11 December 2013 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of Pope St. Damasus I, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Popes)

Isaiah 40 : 25-31

To whom, then, will you liken Me or make Me equal?, says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and see : who has created all this?

He has ordered them as a starry host and called them each by name. So mighty is His power, so great His strength, that not one of them is missing.

How can you say, o Jacob, how can you complain, o Israel, that your destiny is hidden from Me, that your rights are ignored by YHVH?

Have you not known, have you not heard that YHVH is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth? He does not grow tired or weary, His knowledge is without limit.

He gives strength to the enfeebled, He gives vigour to the wearied. Youth may grow tired and faint, young men will stumble and fall, but those who hope in YHVH will renew their strength. They will soar as with eagle’s wings; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and never tire.

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Saturday, 23 November 2013 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr, and St. Columban, Abbot (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Abbot and Mass of our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the fact on the lack of faith that mankind has in the Lord. Mankind has grown feeble in the faith that they have in God, preferring their own reasoning, their own ideas and their own wisdom rather than putting their trust and faith in the One and True God. They refused to believe and hardened their hearts against God.

Yes, that was what the Sadducees had done, when they opposed Jesus and tried to test and challenge Him with questions about the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees are the moral and theological opposite of the zealous Pharisees, being influential Jews that in our modern terms can be equated as being secular in nature, even to the point of atheism, that is disbelief in the presence of the divine God.

They refused to believe in anything spiritual and otherworldly, preferring to trust in their own human senses and judgment. They did not believe in angels, in saints, and in the resurrection of the dead, and believe indeed that their lives in this world is to be savoured in its entirety, that they ought not to worry about the life that is to come. They thought of death as the end of our lives, a definitive end.

But to us, brothers and sisters in Christ, we know and believe that death is not the end of all things. Indeed, death marks the beginning of a new and eternal life in God. That is proven by none other than Jesus Himself, the One who rose from the dead in glory, and in the process, gaining mankind to Himself, and releasing them from the slavery of sin, providing them with an exit from death’s grasp.

For death is the fate of us all mankind, who had disobeyed the Lord and went astray from His laws and His precepts. Beginning from Adam and Eve, our first ancestors, mankind had been trapped in the cycle of death. Death is the punishment for disobedience, for our waywardness have led us away from God and His love. But the Lord loves us so much, that He would not let death have the final word.

He sent deliverance into this world, pretty much as what He had done as witnessed in our first reading, from the Book of the Maccabees, which retells the story of how a people was saved from the hands of evil. The forces of the world struck against the faithful ones of the Lord, through the hands of the Greek king, Antiochus Epiphanes. And yet, the Lord raised up the Maccabees family, beginning with Judas, who led the people in a sort of holy war, in order to preserve their purity and sanctity against the forces of evil arrayed against them.

They rose up, cast out the forces of the Greeks, and regained their righteous freedom. And in the same way therefore, the Lord has come as the source of deliverance for all, through Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh. He led the salvation of all and dealt the forces of evil a final defeat, and gained a final victory for all creations. And this, most importantly will not happen, without resurrection.

For resurrection is the Lord’s answer to death, and therefore, is His answer to sin, and to evil that had engulfed our world, and all of us, that through the resurrection of Jesus, which happened on the Easter Sunday, three days after His death on the cross, the sovereignty and power that death has over us is cast down. Without the resurrection, there is no hope for all of us. With it, and the with the Risen Christ, we have a new hope, that at the end of our journeys in this world, if we keep faith in God and attach ourselves to His ways, we will be saved.

Today, we celebrate the feast of Pope St. Clement I, one of the early and direct successor of St. Peter the Apostle as the leader of the entire Universal Church. He was also a holy martyr and a dedicated leader of the faithful, who dedicated his life in the complete service to the Lord. And in him today, we rejoice. That is because, if not Pope St. Clement I’s death in holy martyrdom would have been in vain, if there is no life after death.

Pope St. Clement I was one of the great early leaders of the Church, leading the faithful through difficult times, both against external oppositions and challenges, as well as internal disputes and rivalries. Pope St. Clement I wrote extensively many letters to the Universal Church, giving them encouragement and directions to keep strong and true the faith in God. And the core of that faith in God is the faith in the resurrection, for it is from the resurrection that our Faith is born.

Pope St. Clement I faithfully served the people of God, and he followed them even into custody, prison, and persecution. He was tortured by the Roman authorities who persecuted Christians, sent him into exile, and finally he was executed by drowning. Pope St. Clement I did not back down, and he kept his faith to the end, the faith in the Risen Lord. For he knew that there is hope in the Risen Christ, and through his hard works he had been rewarded with life eternal in the fullness of the glory of God.

St. Columban is another saint whom we commemorate today. He was an abbot and a pious worker of the faith who travelled across different areas and territories for many years, spreading the Good News and the teachings about the faith in those areas. St. Columban is a great missionary, who went around many areas of Western Europe, converting many to the cause of Christ, and bringing people closer to the salvation in the Risen Lord.

St. Columban worked hard and laboured for the faith, across the modern day France, and went on to many parts of Celtic Europe in the British islands. St. Columban worked in the islands and spread zealously the word of God as far as Ireland, where he spent significant amount of time in. He led the example for many to follow a dedicated religious life to God, giving of oneself in prayerful service to God and the fellow men.

Both the saints we celebrate today, in their own ways, proclaim the greatness of the Lord and testify for His glorious resurrection, through which the salvation of this world came about, delivering many souls from their intended path towards doom and eternal death. Through the hard works of these two saints therefore, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is therefore brought even closer to us, as Pope St. Clement I himself showed through his martyrdom, how he did not fear the suffering at the hands of men nor death, because he knew that, as St. Columban and all the other saints and holy men and women knew, that the glory of God and all the rewards are awaiting us at the other end of the tough road, if they remain faithful to the end.

We are shown how, death did not have the final say. For Jesus had made His appearance and through His own death, He had definitively proven to the entire creation, that the One with all the authority and power over life and death is God, and just as God did not intend us for death, for we have been made for perfection, so for those who remain true to His ways, God will grant everlasting life, if we will just believe, and keep on strongly to that faith. Amen.