Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyr)
Psalm 24 : 4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14
Teach me Your ways, o Lord; make known to me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and instruct me, for You are my God, my Saviour.
Good and upright, the Lord teaches sinners His way. He teaches the humble of heart and guides them in what is right.
The ways of the Lord are love and faithfulness for those who keep His covenant and precepts. The Lord gives advice to those who revere Him and makes His covenant known to them.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyr)
2 Timothy 2 : 8-15
Remember Christ Jesus, risen from the dead, Jesus, Son of David, as preached in my Gospel. For this Gospel I labour and even wear chains like an evildoer, but the word of God is not chained. And so I bear everything for the sake of the chosen people, that they, too, may obtain the salvation given to us in Christ Jesus and share eternal glory.
This statement is true : If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him; if we endure with Him, we shall reign with Him; if we deny Him, He will also deny us; if we are unfaithful, He remains faithful for He cannot deny Himself.
Remind your people of these things and urge them in the presence of God not to fight over words, which does no good, but only ruins those who listen. Be for God an active and proved minister, a blameless worker correctly handling the word of truth.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the exchanges between Jesus and the Sadducees, an influential and powerful group in the Jewish society at the time, namely those who practiced and believed in pragmatism and rejecting spirituality and matters beyond what can be deduced with human reasoning, one of the greatest of which is the matter of the resurrection from the dead.
The Sadducees did not believe in spirits, in Angels, in all things that are beyond this world. That is why they were particularly unhappy and angry at what Jesus had been telling the people about the matters of the life after death, the afterlife, and the promise of the eternal life after the death of the physical body. That is why they confronted Him and tried to discredit Him and brought Him into trouble by asking Him a difficult question to trap Him in His own words.
But Jesus gave them a perfect answer and rebuke, when they asked about whose wife would the woman attached to seven brothers be in heaven. Jesus rebuked them for their naivety and failure to look beyond matters of this world. These thought of things that are not important, thinking of woman as mere property and marriage as a mere formality.
They could not comprehend all these because they were thinking in worldly terms. They thought of living at the moment, living for the world that is now, and they even tend to fear of what is to come when people die. That is because firstly they did not believe in life after death, and death is feared as the end of everything. But they were very wrong indeed.
Indeed, all of us Christians have that core faith and belief in God, that we believe in the life of the world to come. That is placed prominently at the very end of our Creed, the Nicene and the Apostles’ Creed, which we recite with faith at every celebrations of the Holy Mass on Sundays. And we also believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who suffered, died on the cross and rose again gloriously at the Resurrection.
The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the hope for all of us Christians, and indeed, for all mankind, for through His own resurrection, all of us have been given an undeniable and solid proof of life beyond death, of our eventual triumph over death, and that death does not have the final say over us. We feared death because we saw it as an end, but in fact, death is not the end, rather the beginning of something new.
Today therefore, as in our first reading, as what St. Paul had written to St. Timothy, all of us are urged to stand up for our faith and live with devotion to our God. We must not fear and be afraid just because our faith and beliefs are against that of the world, or if the world persecutes us because we believe in God and His ways. This is how it is supposed to be, and what we must do as those who follow the Lord and His ways.
Today, we commemorate the feast of St. Justin the Martyr, a renowned servant of God whose life can indeed be inspiration for all of us. St. Justin was known especially for his many writings and works, particularly regarding the nature of God, on the nature of the Incarnation of the Logos, the Divine Word of God, Who became Man for our sake, Jesus Christ.
St. Justin explained many of the tenets and aspects of the faith through his many works, and thanks to him, many people grew firmer in their faith and many others were converted from their pagan ways. St. Justin did not fear the opposition of the world and openly preached his faith among the many communities of the faithful at that time. But the world did not remain quiet, and in the end, they persecuted the faithful, including St. Justin, who endured martyrdom for his faith.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, St. Justin was courageous in his faith and devoted his whole life to serve the Lord, even amidst persecution and challenges laid in his path by the world and the Roman authorities. But, because of his hard works and his devotion to the faith, he has led many others into salvation, by his inspiring examples, which helped to call many more people to remain faithful to God and His ways.
Shall we all therefore also follow his examples and live our faith and our lives with zeal and devotion? We should not be afraid of the world’s rejection, but rather, we should grow ever bolder and stronger in standing up for our faith and our beliefs, against the ways of this world that are against the Lord’s ways.
Let us all hold firm in our beliefs, in what Jesus had taught us all through His Church, that we may not be swayed by the falsehoods of the world. In the Risen Lord, His resurrection has given us the sure hope and the certainty of the future for us if we believe in Him and keep our faith in Him alive. May God help us to remain firmly faithful to Him at all times. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Mark 12 : 18-27
At that time, the Sadducees also came to Jesus. Since they claim that there is no resurrection, they questioned Him in this way, “Master, in the Scriptures Moses gave us this law : if anyone dies and leaves a wife but no children, his brother must take the woman, and with her have a baby, who will be considered the child of his deceased brother.”
“Now, there were seven brothers. The first married a wife, but he died without leaving any children. The second took the wife, and he also died leaving no children. The same thing happened to the third. In fact, all seven brothers died, leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. Now, in the resurrection, to which of them will she be wife? For all seven brothers had her as wife.”
Jesus replied, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God? When they rise from the dead, men and women do not marry, but are like Angels in heaven. Now, about the resurrection of the dead, have you never had thoughts about the burning bush in the book of Moses?”
“God said to Moses : ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’ He is the God not of the dead but of the living. You are totally wrong.”
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 122 : 1-2a, 2bcd
To You I lift up my eyes, to You Whose throne is in heaven. As the eyes of the servants look to the hand of their master.
As the eyes of maids look to the hand of their mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till He shows us His mercy.
Liturgical Colour : Red
2 Timothy 1 : 1-3, 6-12
From Paul, Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of His promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus, to my dear son Timothy. May grace, mercy and peace be with you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I give thanks to God Whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my ancestors did, as I remember you constantly, day and night, in my prayers. For this reason I invite you to fan into a flame the gift of God you received through the laying on of my hands. For God did not confer on us a Spirit of bashfulness, but of strength, love and good judgment.
Do not be ashamed of testifying to our Lord, nor of seeing me in chains. On the contrary, do your share in labouring for the Gospel with the strength of God. He saved us and called us – a calling which proceeds from His holiness. This did not depend on our merits, but on His generosity and His own initiative.
This calling given to us from all time in Christ Jesus has just been manifested with the glorious appearance of Christ Jesus, our Lord, Who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light in His Gospel. Of this message I was made herald, Apostle and teacher.
For its sake I now suffer this trial, but I am not ashamed, for I know in Whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is capable of taking care of all I have entrusted to Him until that day.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about St. James speaking in his Epistle, about the way we should act in our lives. He criticised those who made many plans about how they would go about their days, and thinking that they would seek to make more money or income in so and so city or place.
And the reason he put forward was indeed true, brethren, that the Lord is the Master of all, the Lord and Master over our lives and all that we do. He has control and power over all things, and our own lives will not be ours to go about and do as we like. We may plan all that we want to do and what we wish to do with our lives, but ultimately, it is the will of God that will triumph in the end.
Ambitious men and women had from time to time trying their luck and putting the efforts in trying to bring glory to themselves. And they made a lot of effort in order to satisfy what they want, and immersed themselves in their busy schedules and in their plans. But what they did not realise is that, God can take away the life He has given them at any time, as He willed it. Our lives are in His hands, brothers and sisters in Christ.
There is no point for us to be so busy in planning ahead, that we fail to enjoy the fullness of it. If God is to take our life and bring us back to Him tomorrow, will that therefore be a waste then, all that we have planned for ourselves? I am not saying that we should be carefree and disregard anything in life, or leave it entirely to chance and luck in how we live our lives. Rather, it means that we must not let our lives, all of its busy and hectic schedules to control us and swallow us.
If we notice, in our world today, all around us, in our own communities and families, can we tell how many of us are so preoccupied with what we are doing to the point of forgetting everything else? It is because we are so focused with ourselves, our work, our desires and wants, that we have lost sight of the greater picture of life. We become our own slaves, slaves to our desires and needs.
We live in period of selfishness, where everything is about consideration for ourselves and we spare little or none for others around us. And as a result, we do not show love when we are capable of showing love, and we do not show care and concern for one another when we need to show these to our brethren and neighbours around us who need them.
In the Gospel today, Jesus spoke about those who were doing good works and yet not belonging to the group of the Apostles and the disciples. The disciples were trying to stop what those people had done as they did not belong to their group. But the Lord rebuked them and said that they should not stop these good works as those who did not oppose the Lord belongs also to God.
In this, we see the contrast with what was shown by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who were furiously and actively trying to oppose the works of Jesus and His disciples, as they saw Jesus and His disciples as bitter rivals and opponents to their own teaching authority and influence. They selfishly tried to stop the good works of the Lord to serve their own purpose and sinned in doing so.
This is precisely what we have to avoid, brethren. We cannot act in the same way as these people, unless if we want to fall into the same trap as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. In this, perhaps we should follow in the footsteps of the saint whose feast we celebrate today, namely that of Pope St. John I, Bishop of Rome and leader of the Universal Church during its early days and a holy martyr of God.
Pope St. John I reigned during the time of conflict between the powers of the world, between the Roman Emperor Justinian in the east and the king of the Ostrogothic kingdom, Theodoric the Great, who ruled the city and province of Rome at the time. The conflict extended into the matters of the Church, made worse as the Ostrogoths believed in the heresy of Arianism, while the faithful Romans kept the true faith.
As such, conflict grew and the faithful people of God became caught in the entanglement of the conflicts. Pope St. John I worked hard to keep the Church strong amidst the difficulties and persecutions, working for peace among the factions. And yet, the Ostrogoths suspected the Pope as plotting against them with the Romans and thus imprisoned and tortured him.
But Pope St. John I refused to give in to his persecutors’ demands, and he remained strong and resolute in the face of the opposition, and in the end, he met his death at the hands of the enemies of the people of God, but before having shown to the people of God, the examples of faith and commitment which he had shown to God, in not seeking his own personal glory, but instead in bringing forth and proclaiming the glory of God.
Let us all heed his examples, and reflect on the readings from the Holy Scriptures, and learn to live faithfully from now on. Let us all go forth to renew our lives, filled with renewed commitments to God, our Lord and Master. May all of us find our path to our Lord, and through our acts, bound and filled with love, be our justification before His holy presence. May God be with us all, and may He awaken in all of us the selfless love for one another. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Mark 9 : 38-40
At that time, John said to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone who drove out demons by calling upon Your Name, and we tried to forbid him because he does not belong to our group.”
Jesus answered, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My Name can soon after speak evil of Me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 48 : 2-3, 6-7, 8-10, 11
Hear this, all you peoples! Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, high and low together, rich and poor alike!
Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers ring me round – those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?
For no ransom avails for one’s life, there is no price one can give to God for it. For redeeming one’s life demands too high a price, and all is lost forever. Who can remain forever alive and never see the grave?
For we see that the wise die, and pass away like the fool and the stupid leaving to others their fortune and wealth.
Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
James 4 : 13-17
Listen now, you who speak like this, “Today or tomorrow we will go off to this city and spend a year there; we will do business and make money.” You have no idea what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? No more than a mist which appears for a moment and then disappears.
Instead of this, you should say, “God willing, we will live and do this or that.” But no! You boast of your plans : this brazen pride is wicked. Anyone who knows what is good and does not do it, sins.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 