Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3c-4
Sing to YHVH a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.
YHVH has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love, nor His faithfulness to Israel.
The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you, lands, make a joyful noise to YHVH, break into song and sing praise.
Liturgical Colour : White
Romans 15 : 14-21
As for me, brothers and sisters, I am convinced, that you have goodwill, knowledge, and the capacity to advise each other; nevertheless, I have written boldly in some parts of this letter, to remind you of what you already know. I do this, according to the grace God has given to me, when I was sent to the pagan nations. I dedicated myself to the service of the Good News of God, as a minister of Christ Jesus, in order to present the non-Jews to God, as an agreeable offering, consecrated by the Holy Spirit. This service of God is, for me, a cause of pride, in Christ Jesus.
Of course, I would not dare to speak of other things, but what Christ, Himself, has done, through me, my words and my works, with miracles and signs, by the power of the Holy Spirit – so, that, non-Jews may obey the faith. In this way, I have extended the Good News to all parts, from Jerusalem to Illyricum.
I have been very careful, however, and I am proud of this, not to preach in places where Christ is already known, and not to build upon foundations laid by others. Let it be as Scripture says : Those not told about Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the word of God in the Scriptures, warning us against believing in the false prophets of doom and all those who claimed to know of the coming of the kingdom of God, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes again in glory at the end of time, in order to claim all those who have been faithful to Him and bring them into the glorious eternal life.
These are false prophets, brothers and sisters in Christ, and some even perhaps acted in the conjunction with the devil, for he wants to confuse us and sow divisions among us, by sowing the seeds of uncertainty and fear in us. They divided us and brought us to false paths, so that for the sake of their own desires and wishes, they have misled many souls even into eternal damnation.
This is a reminder for each and every one of us as Christians, that we should not let these false shepherds to misguide us and to lead us to the wrong paths. And God had provided help for us in that case, by establishing His solid foundation in this world, His own Body, consisting of all of us the faithful people of God, that is the Church, which had endured all sorts of tribulations in the past many centuries, weathering through falsehoods and lies, heresies and waywardness.
And that is why we should adhere strongly to the ways of our faith, to the truth espoused in the teachings of the Church, which is the teachings passed down to us from the Apostles themselves, who disseminated them through their successors to our bishops and priests, and they themselves received those truth and teachings from none other than their Master, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Today we celebrate the memory of one of the great saints, who was once the one at the helm of the great Church, leading all of the faithful people of God through the world and its temptations and troubles. Pope St. Leo I or Pope St. Leo the Great was a leader of the early Church during the middle years of the fifth century after the birth of Christ as the successor of St. Peter the Apostle, Vicar of Christ and Bishop of Rome.
Pope St. Leo the Great was perhaps more well-known for his role in mediating peace between the Roman Empire at that time with the marauding Hun invaders, where it was told that he came out by himself out from the city of Rome to speak to the King of the Huns, Attila, who was infamous for his great cruelty and aggressiveness. It was told that at that time, a great vision of the Lord created great fear among the Huns and their king, and they withdrew from Rome and from the territories they have conquered and pillaged.
That story was relatively well-known, and the role of Pope St. Leo the Great in saving Rome and its people were recognised, but what is often not known and remembered is his great achievement and contribution in combatting and opposing heretical and false teachings in the Church, through his many writings and works supporting the true teachings of the Church, upholding the divine and human nature of Christ again those heresies who claimed that Jesus was a mere Man or just mere God with separate natures.
He courageously spread the true teachings of our faith even when there were those who were opposed to him. By persuasion and his hard work, he helped to steer the Church through those difficult and turbulent times, riddled with challenges, false prophets and false teachings, and in the end, the Church and the faithful persevered through until this very day.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the challenges we face today are the same as what Pope St. Leo the Great faced during his time. Heresies, false teachings and other aberrations are still abound today, trying to tempt us away from reaching out towards God’s salvation and grace. Following in the footsteps of Pope St. Leo the Great, we all should be role models for each other, adhering closely to the Church and its teachings, and help one another to resist the temptations and the reject the falsehoods spread by the devil designed to mislead us into our downfall.
May the Lord help us and keep us always in His grace, blessing us with His love and tender mercy, so that each and every one of us will always be in His favour and grace, and in the end of the day, we may together raise to the glorious life He had intended for us, for those who have remained true and faithful to Him. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 17 : 20-25
At that time, the Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God was to come. He answered, “The kingdom of God is not like something you can observe, and say of it, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘See, there it is!’ for the kingdom of God is within you.”
And Jesus said to His disciples, “The time is at hand, when you will long to see one of the glorious days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. Then people will tell you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go with them, do not follow them. As lightning flashes from one end of the sky to the other, so will it be with the Son of Man; but first He must suffer many things, and be rejected by this generation.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 145 : 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
The Lord is forever faithful; He gives justice to the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free.
The Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord straightens the bent. The Lord loves the virtuous, but He brings to ruin the way of the wicked. The Lord protects the stranger.
The Lord sustains the widow and the orphan. The Lord will reign forever, your God, o Zion, from generation to generation. Alleluia!
Liturgical Colour : White
Philemon 7-20
I had great satisfaction and comfort on hearing of your charity, because the hearts of the saints have been cheered by you, brother. Because of this, although in Christ I have the freedom to command what you should do, yet I prefer to request you in love. The one talking is Paul, the old man, now prisoner for Christ. And my request is on behalf of Onesimus, whose father I have become while I was in prison.
This Onesimus has not been helpful to you, but now he will be helpful both to you and to me. In returning him to you, I am sending you my own heart. I would have liked to keep him at my side, to serve me on your behalf while I am in prison for the Gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your agreement, nor impose a good deed upon you without your free consent.
Perhaps Onesimus has been parted from you for a while so that you may have him back forever, no longer as a slave, but better than a slave. For he is very dear brother to me, and he will be even dearer to you. And so, because of our friendship, receive him as if he were I myself.
And if he has caused any harm, or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, write this and sign it with my own hand : I will pay it…. without further mention of your debt to me, which is you yourself. So, my brother, please do me this favour for the Lord’s sake. Give me this comfort in Christ.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard the words of our Lord Jesus Christ about the ten lepers who asked for God’s mercy and healing, and after they have been healed from their afflictions, only one of the ten healed lepers went back on his way and sought Jesus, in Whom he knew that he had been healed, and by Whose power he had been made whole once again.
Meanwhile, the other nine lepers went on their way filled with joy, just as the Samaritan leper who sought Jesus. Yet the difference was that, while the Samaritan sought to give thanks to God for having healed him and made him whole again, the other ten were too engrossed in their own happiness and joy, that they forgot entirely to give thanks to God. Either that, or they were too proud to admit that they have begged the Lord to heal them.
That was why the Lord praised the Samaritan for his gratitude and the due honour that he had shown to the Lord. He had genuine and true faith in Jesus, for he knew that it was not by his own power or ability that he had been healed, and it was the Lord Who heard his prayers and petitions, and listening to his pleas and wishes, granted him the wish for healing he had asked for.
Of course we can see here obviously, that God did not rescind the healing which had been given to the other nine lepers. Neither did He curse them or be angry at them for not having thanked Him as they should have done. Rather, He was likely indeed sad for them, as these nine people went back to their old lives and acted as if nothing had happened. And since they did not give God thanks for what He has done for them, then it is likely that they might just return to their old sinfulness.
Why is this important for us all to take note of? It is because of all the diseases and afflictions that affected us or can affect us, the worst and the most dangerous one is sin, which is the affliction and disease of the soul. And unlike the diseases of the flesh that afflicted the body and the flesh, the disease of sin afflicts the very centre of our beings, that is our souls.
Sin separates us mankind from God, and the corruption it caused to our hearts, minds, flesh and whole being is a great harm for us as we may be brought down into eternal damnation because of those sins which made us wicked and unworthy of God’s blessings and grace. And the worst of it all, is that sin also inherently makes us all unwilling to change for the better and to abandon those sins, for just like cancer, sin grows and solidifies its hold on us as we proceed on in our lives, unless we receive the healing and mending by the Lord.
It is often for us to lose track of our path in the Lord, and many of us became too engaged and occupied with our own worldliness, tempted by all the various temptations of this world, be it money, pleasure, or other forms of wickedness and engagements that distract us from our true focus on the Lord and His precepts and laws. This is also why many of us often forget to thank God for all that He had done for us, and for all of His blessings, as we never think about the Lord unless we are in trouble or difficult times.
This was just what happened when the lepers sought the Lord to be healed, and once they were healed, save for one, they all forgot about Him and went on joyously to their own lives as if the sickness never happened at all. And this amnesia is dangerous as forgetting our sins and evil, we have the tendency to return to them and fall back into sin. Thus, so many people in the past had fallen because of their lack of commitment to the Lord.
In this matter therefore, we should heed the examples of St. Martin of Tours, whose feast day we are celebrating on this day. St. Martin of Tours as his namesake suggested us, was the Bishop of Tours during the waning days of the Roman Empire, the greatest city in what is now southern France. But he was not always a religious from the start, for indeed he came from a military background. He became a Christian at a young age after he attended the Church sessions in his youth.
During his service in the Roman Army, it was noted that St. Martin of Tours despite of his harsh and rigorous training and life as a soldier, he was a good man at heart and is always caring to others around him, and as an army commander, he always took good care of his soldiers wherever they were, practicing his faith in God through action. And on one occasion, which is now famous, the Lord Himself tested him for his devotion.
It was told that one day, during a cold day, St. Martin of Tours was travelling on the horseback wearing his army commander’s mantle when he passed by a poor man on the street who had little clothing and suffering from the cold and the elements. Without second thoughts, St. Martin of Tours, who was then on the process of being accepted into the Church as a catechumen, cut his own cloak into two pieces, and gave one piece to cover the poor man’s body.
That very night, St. Martin of Tours received a vision of Christ Who came to him and showed how He was that poor man, and wearing the half of the cloak given to Him by St. Martin, He praised him in the presence of the angels, praising him that he was still just a catechumen, but yet his faith and devotion was so strong. After all, do we all remember what Jesus said when He spoke about the final judgment? That whatever we do for the sake of our least and weakest brethren, we are doing it for God? That was what St. Martin of Tours had done.
And throughout the rest of his life, and after he was chosen as bishop by his flock, St. Martin of Tours continued to live his life with zeal and dedication to the Lord, and his many works and devotions continue to be our inspiration even to this day. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we also walk in his footsteps? Let us all remember to thank God for all of His blessings and grace, and let us all remember always all of His goodness.
May we all be able to then share all of our joys and blessings with those who have less or none, emulating what St. Martin of Tours had done in giving generously to the poor and the needy. Let us all devote ourselves on the path to become better children and followers of our Lord, that we may be found truly worthy of God’s everlasting inheritance and joy in His kingdom. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 17 : 11-19
At that time, on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus passed through Samaria and Galilee, and as He entered a village, ten lepers came to meet Him. Keeping their distance, they called to Him, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” Jesus said to them, “Go, and show yourselves to the priests.”
Then, as they went on their way, they found they were cured. One of them, as soon as he saw that he was cleansed, turned back, praising God in a loud voice; and throwing himself on his face before Jesus, he gave Him thanks. This man was a Samaritan.
Then Jesus asked him, “Were not all ten healed? Where are the other nine? Did none of them decide to return and give praise to God, but this foreigner?” And Jesus said to him, “Stand up and go your way; your faith has saved you.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 81 : 3-4, 6-7
Give justice to the weak and the orphan; defend the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the helpless and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
“You are gods,” I said, “You are all sons of the Most High.” But now you will die like the others; you will all fall like any mortal.
Liturgical Colour : White
Wisdom 6 : 1-11
Listen, o kings, and understand; rulers of the most distant lands, take warning. Pay attention, you who rule multitudes and boast of the numerous subjects in your pagan nations.
For authority was given you by the Lord, your kingship is from the Most High Who will examine your works and scrutinise your intentions. If, as officials of His kingdom, you have not judged justly or observed His Law or walked the way God pointed out, He will oppose you swiftly and terribly; His sentence strikes the mighty suddenly.
For the lowly there may be excuses and pardon, but the great will be severely punished. For the Lord of all makes no distinction, nor does He take account of greatness. Both great and lowly are His work and He watches over all, but the powerful are to be judged more strictly.
It is to you then, sovereigns, that I speak, that you may learn Wisdom and not stumble. For those who keep the holy laws in a holy way will be acknowledged holy, and those who accept the teaching will find in it their defence. Welcome my words, desire them and they will instruct you.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 