feast of saints

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Wednesday, 7 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard that familiar word from the Gospel, “Come to Me all you who labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” And also another one, “For My yoke is good and My burden is light.” In this we see God as One in Whom we can find rest and succour amidst our burdens of life and amidst the challenges and difficulties we often encounter in this world.

However, the problem lies in the fact that the devil is never tired of trying to pull us away from God’s salvation, by presenting to us temptations and persuasions, making it seems as if his way is more attractive and a better option for us, because it seems to be less challenging, lighter and easier on us as compared to the way that God offers to us.

As human beings, it is in our nature to be lazy and to be slothful, preferring the easier way out than the difficult ones. We tend to seek the path that is favourable to us, and most beneficial to us. But what we have to take note of is the outcome at the end. Are we going towards eternal life and salvation, or are we instead heading to damnation in hell for eternity?

The path of the Lord is light and yet we often perceived as difficult and troublesome, because we are often focused on the sufferings at the moment. We tend to focus on the challenges we encounter as a follower of the Lord, as His disciples and bearers of His Good News. We think that it is too difficult for us to carry on when we are faced with ridicule, rejection and even persecution because of our faith and because of what we believe in the Lord.

And therefore, there are several ways we can go ahead with this, that is either we conform with the expectations of the world, meaning that we choose instead the path other than the path God has provided us with, following instead what the world expects us to do, enjoying ourselves and living without restraint from sinning, or we can also pretend not to know the way of the Lord, which was exactly as what St. Peter did when he was asked three times by the bystanders on whether he knew the Lord. He denied Him all the three times.

The other way is for us to endure the path of the Lord, by being true to our faith despite the challenges and difficulties. This is the path followed by the saints and the martyrs, all those who have remained true to the Lord despite of the persuasions to do otherwise. They chose to remain true because they know that, while there are difficulties to be faced at present, what awaits them is an eternity of joy and happiness with God. The current challenges are only temporary.

The way that the devil offers us seems to be easier, less difficult to be done, with no opposition and challenge to us. However, if we follow this path through sinning and disobeying God, while now we enjoy the time and the present moment we have, we are looking forward to an eternity of despair, suffering and torment, when the Lord judges us for our failure to remain faithful to Him, and He will cast us all into hell where we suffer because of that eternal separation from God’s love and grace.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we have been given an opportunity to reexamine our lives, on our actions and deeds. Have we been truly faithful to the Lord amidst challenges and difficulties? Have we instead chosen to conform to the way of the wicked because we fear the repercussions or because we are ambivalent and lukewarm about our faith?

Today we commemorate the feast of St. Ambrose, the great and renowned Church father and Doctor of the Church from the early days of the Church, who was the Bishop of Milan and one of the most influential leaders of the Church of his time. He was a Roman noble who was renowned for his great piety to the Lord, who was an administrator and governor of the region now known as northern Italy.

But at that time, there was a great discord within the Church, due to the heresy of Arianism, a false teaching proclaiming that Jesus our Lord is mere Man and not God. And many of the faithful were swayed by this false teaching and followed the way of heresy, including even many of the priests and bishops, and also those in power, even the Roman Emperors themselves.

At a time when there was a dispute in the succession of the Bishop of Milan and disagreement of the two parties, the Holy Spirit guided the Church to elect St. Ambrose as Bishop by acclamation, and since then, he devoted himself wholly to the Church and his flock despite his initial doubt and uncertainty. And soon, St. Ambrose promoted the teachings of the true faith among his flock, and encountered many troubles with those in power, those who believe in the Arian heresy.

But St. Ambrose did not give up, and even it was said that he openly rebuked the Roman Empress for her Arian heresy and for her attempt to promote the Arian heretics to positions within the Imperial court and the Church. And later on, when the true faith returned to the leadership of the Empire, St. Ambrose was renowned for his courageous act of formally rebuking and excommunicating the Roman Emperor Theodosius the Great for his involvement in the massacre of the people of the city of Thessalonica.

The Emperor regretted his sins and openly repented for his sins before St. Ambrose and the faithful, and St. Ambrose welcomed the Emperor back to the Church. From all these examples, we see how St. Ambrose is such a great role model for us on how we should live our lives faithfully before the Lord. We must not be afraid to stand up to our faith and indeed, point out to each other so that we may help and guide each other that we may remain strong in our faith and stay on the right track towards our salvation in God.

Let us all ask for St. Ambrose to intercede for us, that he may ask God to strengthen our courage and commitment to Him, and in all that we say and do, we may be able to show all others that we are the disciples and followers of the Lord, and be examples for one another to lead us all towards the Lord. May the Lord bless us and help our endeavours. Amen.

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Wednesday, 7 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Matthew 11 : 28-30

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “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, 7 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White
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, 7 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
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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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened again to the words of the Scripture from the prophet Isaiah and from the Gospel according to St. Matthew about the coming of hope for mankind, and how God Who loves us all His children and His people, will not abandon us in the darkness, but indeed He will seek us all who have been lost to Him, like a shepherd looking for his lost sheep, even if there is only one who was lost.

That is the reason why Jesus our Lord came into the world, which we celebrate in Christmas. Many of us celebrate Christmas with joy and revelry, with dancing and partying, but without truly understanding what is it that we are really rejoicing about. And many of us are celebrating like how the rest of the world celebrate Christmas, with joy and happiness in the family, in the exchanging of gifts and presents, in our feasts and in our sumptuous dinner parties, but let us ask ourselves, have we put Christ at the centre of our celebrations?

If our answer to this question is no, that means those who have not put Christ at the centre of our joy and celebration this Christmas have not celebrated Christmas in the right way. It is easy indeed for us to fall into the temptation of this world, which constantly bombards us with many persuasions and temptations, and misleading us into seeking for a materialistic and Christ-less Christmas rather than a Christmas joy centred in Christ.

Perhaps in this, we can be inspired by the example of a holy servant of God, whose feast we celebrate on this day, namely St. Nicholas of Myra, a Bishop of a small diocese in what is now Turkey, in the region of Asia Minor in the early years of tolerance of Christianity in the Roman Empire. This same St. Nicholas of Myra is what the secular world had adapted and became the legend of Santa Claus, which image is certainly ubiquitous especially as Christmas approaches.

Many of us would know of Santa Claus as a bearded old man who is kind and who like to give many gifts to young children at Christmas. And many of our youths recognise Santa Claus, and are indeed waiting for him to give them presents. We hang red and white coloured socks at the fireplace or at the window hoping that Santa Claus would come and put some gifts inside of them. And indeed, everyone always look forward to our Christmas gifts and presents, but let us all ask ourselves, are we really not missing something from all of that?

St. Nicholas of Myra was indeed a kind and loving bishop, who always showed tender love, mercy and care for his flock, and he liked to give gifts to children who came to him for his blessings. And it was from this that it was likely the twisted legend of Santa Claus was born, one that was sadly not focusing on another aspect of St. Nicholas of Myra that we all really need to know.

For all of his loving and kindly ways, St. Nicholas of Myra is an ardent defender of the true faith, which happened at that time came under great threat from the heretical ways of Arianism, as taught by the false prophet and heretic Arius, which unfortunately divided the Church in many places and swayed countless souls away from the true way leading to the Lord and His salvation. Arius preached that Jesus our Lord is merely Man and not God, while the truth is that He is both Man and God at the same time.

Many people were swayed by the false teachings of Arius, even among the priests and bishops. But St. Nicholas of Myra were among those bishops who refused to listen to the falsehoods of Arianism and fought hard to restore the true faith to the many people who had been lost to the false and heretical ways. At the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in the year 325 AD, convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine to resolve the issue of Arianism and the true teaching of the Church about the divinity of Christ, it was told that St. Nicholas of Myra even punched the heretic Arius at the face.

Eventually Arianism was condemned by the decision of the Ecumenical Council, and defeated after many years of long struggle. Yet all of us must not overlook and forget the role of St. Nicholas of Myra in trying to defend the true faith from all these aberration and heresies. He acted as a true shepherd, a good shepherd modelled after the Lord Himself, the Good Shepherd, who are concerned about the well-being of his flock, especially those who have been lost.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, there are two things which all of us must understand and appreciate, so that our preparation in this Advent will be fruitful, and our Christmas celebration will be meaningful. Firstly, we need to return Christ to Christmas, putting Him back at the centre of our effort and our joy in Christmas. Whenever we plan for Christmas, let us all remember that we rejoice because of Him, because of the love He has shown us.

And thus it brings us to the second point we need to take note of, that we have to appreciate how God wants us to be redeemed and be forgiven our sins, for as what St. Nicholas of Myra had shown, the fate of our souls is indeed very important. Since if we fell into damnation and are lost from God, what await us is nothing but despair and eternal regret. The Lord has sent His servants to help and guide us through the turbulent world, so that we will be able to persevere through and avoid falling into temptation.

Therefore, let us all as Christians renew our faith and renew our effort to help one another to prepare ourselves, by deepening our relationships with God, and by seeking repentance and forgiveness for our sins. Let us all make use of this time of Advent to prepare ourselves, not just preparing how we will celebrate Christmas, but also prepare ourselves in our hearts and minds, that we will be ready to welcome the Lord with joy at Christmas, and share this joy with one another. May the Lord bless us and keep us in His grace. Amen.

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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Matthew 18 : 12-14

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “What do you think of this? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside, and go to look for the stray one? And I tell you : when he finally finds it, he is more pleased about it than about the ninety-nine, that did not get lost.”

“It is the same with your Father in heaven : your Father in heaven does not want even one of these little ones to be lost.”

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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Psalm 95 : 1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12a, 12b-13

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name; proclaim His salvation day after day.

Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds. Say among the nations, “He will judge the peoples with justice.”

Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound; let the fields exult and everything in them.

Let the forest, all the trees, sing for joy. Let them sing before the Lord Who comes to judge the earth. He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.

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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Isaiah 40 : 1-11

Be comforted, My people, be strengthened, says your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, proclaim to her that her time of bondage is at an end, that her guilt has been paid for, that from the hand of YHVH she has received double punishment for all her iniquity.

A voice cries, “In the wilderness prepare the way for YHVH. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley will be raised up; every mountain and hill will be laid low. The stumbling blocks shall become level and the rugged places smooth. The glory of YHVH will be revealed, and all mortals together will see it; for the mouth of YHVH has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry.” And I say, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will forever stand.” Go up onto the high mountain, messenger of Good News to Zion, lift up your voice with strength, fear not to cry aloud when you tell Jerusalem and announce to the cities of Judah : Here is your God!

Here comes your God with might; His strong arm rules for Him; His reward is with Him, and here before Him is His booty. Like a shepherd He tends His flock : He gathers the lambs in His arms, He carries them in His bosom, gently leading those that are with young.

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Friday, 25 November 2016 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we approach the closing of the current liturgical year, all of the Scripture readings which we heard and received all have that ‘Apocalyptic’ slant, that is, many of them are talking about what will happen soon, in the future, when as foretold in the Book of the Revelations of St. John the Apostle, our Lord will come again in His glory to save all of those who are faithful to Him.

And we are told about what will happen at the great and Last Judgment of all the things living and the dead, as we pronounce every time we recite the Creed, when the Lord Jesus, the Great Judge of all will give His judgment on every single one of us, from the lowest among us to the greatest, from the richest to the poorest, from the kings to the lowliest peasants and beggars, all will receive judgment according to their deeds in life, as written in the records of the Lord.

And we are also told how those whose lives have been worthy in the eyes of the Lord have their names written in the Book of Life, while those who have been wicked and been against the Lord and His ways in their lives do not have their names written in that Book. It is a measure of comparing between those worthy and unworthy in the sight of God.

And the Lord’s Judgment is simple, that those who have been found worthy and whose names are in the Book will receive the eternal glory and joy promised to them, and the others whose names are not found in the Book will receive for their part, eternal damnation and suffering, separated from God’s love and grace without any hope of escape or succour.

In the Gospel, we heard Jesus telling His disciples and the people about knowing and being able to discern the sign of times, so that we will not be caught unaware of what will happen, as we have just discussed earlier on. We cannot remain ignorant and complacent in how we live our lives, as many of us tend to do, for the danger is that when the Lord suddenly comes again, we may be caught unprepared, and by then, no amount of regret is going to save us from what is to come.

And how do we prepare ourselves, brothers and sisters in Christ? Then let us all heed what Jesus told His disciples in another occasion in the Gospels when He told them about what will happen at the Last Judgment when He will separate the worthy ones from the unworthy and wicked ones. All of what Jesus told them is about the failure of the wicked ones to stretch out their hands to help out those who are needy, poor, naked, suffering and in prison, while those who are worthy have already done something to help these.

Therefore, that is what we need to do, brothers and sisters in Christ, by making ourselves readily available to help those who are weak, the least and the ostracised ones in our society, those who are unloved and those who have no one to care for them, poor and in need of help. This is what we need to do as Christians, as our form of Christian love and charity to our brethren, what God has asked us all to do.

Today we also celebrate the feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, who is a devout and holy woman whose examples can be our inspiration on how we should live out our lives in faith. It was told that she was a noble by birth and was renowned by her beauty and also her piety, who converted to the Faith through visions she received from the Lord.

She showed concern for all of her fellow Christians who were suffering under persecution by the then Emperor Maxentius, by challenging the Emperor himself to rescind his persecution order and let the Christians be. The Emperor was told to have gathered over fifty best philosophers to argue with St. Catherine, but they were all soundly defeated by the wisdom of God found in the holy woman and servant of God. Many of them in fact were converted to the faith and would later be martyred together with her.

St. Catherine was arrested and put in prison, and while in prison, her courageous faith and zeal continued to bring forth even more good fruits, and more people converted because of her, and it was told that even the Empress herself believed and was converted, and thus, even the Empress would join St. Catherine in her martyrdom. She met her end knowing fully that God is with her, and through her, many good deeds have been done. She is therefore truly worthy of the Lord and His promise.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by her examples, by her piety and devotion, and by her dedication and commitment to live a life filled with faith and devotion to God. We should do our best to help one another, and to give our life into a dedication of service to our less fortunate brethren, so that in the end, when it is time for us to give an account of our own lives and be judged, our names will be written in the Book of Life and we shall receive the fullness of God’s promise. May the Lord guide us in this endeavour and bless all of us. Amen.

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Friday, 25 November 2016 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)
Luke 21 : 29-33

At that time, Jesus added this comparison, “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as their buds sprout, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.”

“Truly, I tell you, this generation will not pass away, until all this has happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”