feast of saints

by

Thursday, 30 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard in the first reading taken from the Book of Exodus, how God had instructed Moses to establish the Holy Tent, also known as the Tent of Meeting, as the place where He would dwell among His people on earth, which His presence is signified by the presence of the great pillar of cloud during the day, and as a great pillar of fire at night time, providing light to all who need it in the darkness of the night.

In this we see God who did not just stay far and apart from His people, nor did He remain aloof from His people’s concerns and thoughts, but He Himself had chosen to dwell among them, to be really present among them, walking and moving about around them, as God who is real, true and exists among all mankind, and not just some abstract beings carved on stones, wood, gold or silver, like that of the pagan idols.

And then in the Gospel, we heard how Jesus spoke to His disciples and to the people about the kingdom of God, which is to come, and how it will be like on the day of judgment, when all mankind shall be judged by their merits, actions and their faith in God. And those who have not been faithful would receive their just reward that is to suffer for eternity the agony of hell and separation from God’s love.

But those who are faithful would not be disappointed, for God would be with them and bless all of them, and He would welcome all of them into His glorious kingdom, to enjoy forever the happiness and joy which He had promised for all those who had laboured and even suffered for His sake. God will always be with His people, and He will be with His people who walked in His ways and followed Him faithfully.

For we all have to remember that God had devoted Himself so much for us, that He was willing to descend upon us and dwell among us, and in the end even to give Himself to be the redemption of our sins. Yes, for the redemption of us all, sinners and unworthy people who have piled wickedness and sins, one after another. And yet, such is the love which God has for us, that even while we are still sinners, He was willing to suffer and give up Himself for our sake, that we may be saved.

And by renewing the covenant which He Himself had established with His people, He had proved His love, by giving Himself in the form of His Body and Blood, which He offered Himself freely for us, so that all of us who partake in them may have life in us, because the Lord Himself would therefore dwell within us, in our bodies and within our hearts.

On this day, we can also reflect on the life of St. Peter Chrysologus, who was a great bishop and later declared as a Doctor of the Church, for his many dedicated works and devotions to both God and to His people, that is to the brethren around him. St. Peter Chrysologus was a very renowned preacher and shepherd of the people of God who lived during the later years of the Roman Empire, during the years of turbulence and difficulties, and even troubles for the faithful.

He was especially known for his powerful speeches, sermons and teachings which all encouraged countless peoples to return from their path of sin, and repent back to the favour and grace of God. He explained the truth of the faith and the truth about the Scriptures and the Lord God with great clarity and understanding, such that all who ever heard from him, would repent from any of the heretical thoughts that they had espoused and returned to the true, orthodox faith.

His conviction and great dedication to love the Lord and to explain His love and truth to the people should be an inspiration to all of us. That is because all of us also have the capacity to bring each other closer to God, and by our own words and actions, we can help each other to find our way to the Lord, and to repent from our sinfulness and faults which has kept us away from salvation.

Therefore, on this day, let us all pray to the Lord, that we may discover the strength within us to carry on living our lives with renewed commitment to the Lord and walk always in His ways. This means that we truly should find the way to live our lives ever more faithfully. This means that in all of our actions, we truly should practice our faith with love, loving one another and loving our Lord ever more devotedly from day to day.

May the examples of St. Peter Chrysologus be an inspiration to all of us, and may our loving Father, our Almighty God be with us always in this endeavour that is our lives. Amen.

by

Thursday, 30 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Matthew 13 : 47-53

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a big fishing net let down into the sea, in which every kind of fish has been caught. When the net is full, it is dragged ashore. Then they sit down and gather the good fish in buckets, but throw the worthless ones away.”

“That is how it will be at the end of time; the angels will go out to separate the wicked from the just, and to throw the wicked into the blazing furnace, where they will weep and gnash their teeth.”

Jesus asked, “Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered. So He said to them, “You will see that every teacher of the Law, who becomes a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a householder, who can produce from his store things both new and old.”

When Jesus had finished these parables, He left that place.

by

Thursday, 30 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Psalm 83 : 3, 4, 5-6a and 8a, 11

My soul yearns, pines, for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young, at Your altars, o Lord of hosts, my King and my God!

Happy are those who live in Your house, continually singing Your praise! Happy the pilgrims whom You strengthen, they go from strength to strength.

One day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be left at the threshold in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked.

by

Thursday, 30 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Chrysologus, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Exodus 40 : 16-21, 34-38

Moses did this; he did exactly as YHVH had commanded him. The Holy Tent was set up on the first day of the first month in the second year. Moses set up the Holy Tent. He fixed the bases for it, put up its frames, put its crossbars in position, set up its posts.

He spread the tent over the Holy Tent and on top of this the covering for the Tent, as YHVH had commanded Moses. He took the Covenant and placed it inside the Ark. He set the poles to the Ark in place and put the mercy Seat on it. He brought the Ark into the Holy Tent and put the screening veil in place; thus he screened the Ark of YHVH, as YHVH had commanded Moses.

Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and the Glory of YHVH filled the Holy Tent. Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because of the cloud that rested on it and because of the Glory of YHVH that filled the Holy Tent. At every stage of their journey, whenever the cloud rose from the Holy Tent the people of Israel would continue their march.

If the cloud did not rise, they waited and would not move their camp until it did. For the cloud rested on the Holy Tent by day, and a fire shone within the cloud by night for all the House of Israel to see. And so it was for every stage of their journey.

by

Wednesday, 29 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martha (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of an important persona in the Bible, a woman by the name of Martha, sister to Mary and Lazarus, and a good friend and companion of our Lord Jesus Christ. She and her siblings followed Jesus and helped Him many times during His journey, as the companions to His disciples.

St. Martha showed us by what she had interacted with the Lord at that time, when she was very busy preparing for dishes and things for the guests, including Jesus Himself, that she forgot the most important thing which she should have remembered. And that most important thing is to love and treasure our Lord and God, who has first loved us all beyond any compare.

God has shown us the ultimate love of all, by sending His own Son into the world, that through Him, all people may be saved from their fate of certain death. This was because of our own rebelliousness that had sundered us away from the Lord and His love, which caused us to suffer the consequences of sin that is death and hell. But God is love Himself, and He does not wish to see us suffer that fate, and thus, He offers us another chance through His Son, Jesus.

Jesus showed St. Martha how she is busying herself with the many things she thought to be important, but truly these are none other than distractions that keeps us away from the Lord and His teachings and ways, which truly should be our one and only true treasure in life. After all, if we reflect on this, we should know how many of us in our own lives fail to look at the real treasure that is our Lord.

How many of us seek instead the comfort of wealth, worldly pleasures and joys? How many of us worry about what we are to eat, what we are to have on every single day, what we are to wear on this day and on the other days, what we are going to do and what we are going to give another and what we are going to receive? All these are certainly constantly in our minds, filling up our minds with endless concerns.

All these are tools of the evil one to keep us away from God and to keep us from paying attention to His words and teachings. The example of Mary and Martha can give us a clue in this, as Mary listened attentively to the Lord, while her sister Martha was busied by her many chores to even pay attention to a single word or utterance of Jesus, which Mary kept close attention to and kept in her heart.

Let us look into ourselves, in terms of how many times we have placed our worldly concerns in front of the Lord? How many of us placed our worldly desires first ahead of all else? This is surely what many of us have often done, sometimes even without realising it. Do we not know that our Lord cares for us greatly in all things? He provides for us in all things so that we truly do not have to worry at all, as those who worry truly have no life in them.

May Almighty God strengthen our faith in Him, that we may grow ever more devoted to Him in all things, so that in all things we may always put our trust in Him, look up to Him and no longer be distracted by the many temptations that is present in the world. May God bless us all and be with us always. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 29 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martha (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 11 : 19-27

At that time, many Jews had come to Martha and Mary, after the death of their brother, to comfort them. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house. And she said to Jesus, “If You had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.” Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection, at the last day.” But Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, shall live. Whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Martha then answered, “Yes, Lord, I have come to believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, He who is coming into the world.”

Alternative reading

Luke 10 : 38-42

At that time, as Jesus and His disciples were on their way, He entered a village, and a woman called Martha welcomed Him to her house. She had a sister named Mary, who sat down at the Lord’s feet to listen to His words. Martha, meanwhile, was busy with all the serving, and finally she said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the work? Tell her to help me!”

But the Lord answered, “Martha, Martha, you worry and are troubled about many things, whereas only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away from her.”

by

Wednesday, 29 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martha (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 33 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11

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!

Revere the Lord, all you His saints, for those who fear Him do not live in want. The mighty may be hungry and in need, but those who seek the Lord lack nothing.

by

Wednesday, 29 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martha (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 4 : 7-16

My dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Those who do not love have not known God, for God is love. How did the love of God appear among us? God sent His only Son into this world that we might have life through Him.

This is love : not that we loved God but that He first loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if such has been the love of God, we, too, must love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love comes to its perfection in us.

How may we know that we love in God and He in us? Because God has given us His Spirit. We ourselves have seen and declare that the Father sent His Son to save the world. Those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in them and they in God. We have known the love of God and have believed in it. God is love. The one who lives in love, lives in God and God in him.

by

Friday, 24 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about how God revealed to His people through Moses His servant, the Laws and Commandments which would later on be known as the Ten Commandments, the heart of the Law and Covenant which He had established with His people. God had given His laws and words, and sought to plant them on the soil of this world, that is within all of our hearts.

And this is linked closely to what we have heard in the Gospel reading today, where Jesus spoke of the parable of the sower and the seeds, where seeds falling on different places and different soils ended up having different fates and direction. In this we can compare directly, on the notion that the seeds mentioned referred to the same word and Law of God, which God had spread over all of us, and yet in how we live our lives, those seeds given to us by God will develop and grow differently.

In the Gospel, we heard how only the seed that fell on the fertile soil bore rich and plentiful fruits, while those that fell elsewhere met various ends that did not bear anything. This has to be understood first as the seeds refer to the word of God, His ways, His laws and precepts, which He has given to us mankind, to be followed and cultivated in our own lives, so that from what we have received, we may produce bountifully the good fruits of faith.

Those whose seeds fell on the roadside and were picked up by birds of the air were those who have been tempted and failed to persevere against Satan and his lies. As a result, the word of God, His laws and commandments did not remain with them and were lost, amidst all the distractions and things that Satan and his allies had sown in our hearts. We ended up following him instead of following our Lord and God.

Those seeds that fell on rocky ground were not able to grow deep roots and therefore they were unable to grow properly and die because they were unable to take up water and nutrients from the soil. This can be compared with those who have received the Law and the commandments, heard the word and teachings of God and yet they did not allow these to take deep roots in them, in all of their actions and deeds.

As a result, their faith is not firm and shaky, built on uncertain and weak foundations, and when difficulties, problems and temptations came upon them, they are quick to give in and let go of their faith and righteousness for the sake of saving their own faces and to fulfil their own needs. They would not hesitate to abandon the Lord and His ways for worldly things.

Those who were represented by seeds choked by thistles are those who have faith in the Lord, but at the same time, they were unable to resist the temptations and the allures of the world, which brought them to forget about what the Lord had taught. We by our nature are easily tempted by the many offerings of the world, and our flesh is weak. This means that, as our Lord said it, we may have faith in the Lord but our worries and the concerns of our flesh overpowered us.

This is a lesson for all of us, that we all ought to nurture in us a fertile ground for the growing of the Law and the commandments of God. That means, unlike the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who observed the Law in its external piety and appearances only, and failed to understand the true nature of why God gave us the Laws in the first place, we must therefore seek to understand the Law, its true meaning and how it can benefit all of us.

The Law of God is love, the love which God had shown us, which we ought to return to Him and which we ought to show to our fellow brethren as well. That is the essence of the Ten Commandments which we have heard today. Love God with all of our hearts’ strength, with all of our might, and then love one another equally in the same way as we have loved ourselves.

If we practice these in our own lives, in our own actions and deeds, then surely what God had given us will by itself produce a rich bounty of the fruits of our love. We may think that what we are doing is not significant and will not have a great effect, but do we all know that whatever we are doing to others will have a ripple effect? Even a small act of love and kindness can spread and influence others to do the same, and as a result, although what we have done may be small, but the overall impact can be huge.

Today let us also be inspired by the saint, whose life we commemorate on this day, namely that of St. Sharbel Makhluf, a holy man hailing from the region now known as Lebanon, one of the Maronite Christians, who devoted himself deeply and completely to the Lord, and whose works and teachings still continue to inspire many people even until today.

St. Sharbel Makhluf was renowned as a very pious monk who led a very solemn and holy life, filled with dedication to the Lord and service to mankind. He performed many healing miracles and other forms of wonders after his death through the piety he had in the Lord. Yet, throughout life he remained humble and devoted, and did not become proud or haughty of his piety, and he lived a life of solitary and yet filled with love for God.

And even after death, he continued to bring God’s love to many, by his healing miracles, through his tomb and incorrupt body, which became a source of goodness and inspiration to many. Indeed, it should be an inspiration to all of us as well, because those who followed the Law of God, and placed it deep in their hearts, and practicing them in real life shall indeed bear many fruits as St. Sharbel Makhluf had done.

May Almighty God bless us and awaken in us the desire to follow Him in all of His laws, precepts, ordinances and rules, that we may always walk straight in His path and not to be distracted and corrupted by the wickedness of Satan and his forces of darkness. May all of us be faithful always and be forever devoted to the Lord our God. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Friday, 24 July 2015 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Priests)

Matthew 13 : 18-23

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “Now listen to the parable of the sower. When a person hears the message of the kingdom, but does not take it seriously, the devil comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is seed that fell along the footpath.”

“The seed that fell on rocky ground stands for the one who hears the word, and accepts it at once with joy. But such a person has no roots, and endures only for a while. No sooner he is harassed or persecuted because of the word, than he gives up.”

“The seed that fell among the thistles is the one who hears the word, but then the worries of this life and the love of money choke the word, and it does not bear fruit. As for the seed that fell on good soil, it is the one who hears the word and understands it; this seed bears fruit and produces a hundred, or sixty, or thirty times more.”