Liturgical Colour : Red
Luke 8 : 1-3
At that time, Jesus walked through towns and countryside, preaching and giving the Good News of the kingdom of God. The Twelve followed Him, and also some women, who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases : Mary called Magdalene, who had been freed of seven demons; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Suzanna, and others who provided for them out of their own funds.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 16 : 1, 6-7, 8b and 15
Hear a just cause, o Lord, listen to my complaint. Give heed to my prayer for there is no deceit on my lips.
I call on You, You will answer me, o God; incline Your ear and hear my word. For You do wonders for Your faithful, You save those fleeing from the enemy as they seek refuge at Your right hand.
Under the shadow of Your wings hide me. As for me, righteous in Your sight, I shall see Your face and, awakening, gaze my fill on Your likeness.
Liturgical Colour : Red
1 Corinthians 15 : 12-20
Well, then, if Christ is preached as risen from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is empty and our belief comes to nothing.
And we become false witnesses of God, attesting that He raised Christ, whereas He could not raise Him if indeed the dead are not raised. If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith gives you nothing, and you are still in sin. Also those who fall asleep in Christ are lost.
If it is only for this life that we hope in Christ, we are the most unfortunate of all people. But no, Christ has been raised from the dead and He comes before all those who have fallen asleep.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the messages from the Sacred Scriptures, talking to us about the gifts which God had imparted upon His disciples, the Apostles and all others who devoted themselves to Him. To each and every members of the Church were given the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which manifested differently among the members of the Church, which is the united communion of all the faithful in the Body of Christ.
How do we understand this, brethren? We are all members of the Church, and we are the Church of God. The Church is not just its buildings and edifices, but also all of us, the faithful people of God. And in the Church there are many parts just as a body has many parts. We know that in a body, different parts and organs have different functions and purposes. Things will not work well if every parts are doing the same job and function.
Thus even in the Church, we have different people who have different calling, different missions and actions, but all with the same purpose, that is to bring greater glory to God, and to preach and deliver the Good News to as many people as possible. But everyone cannot be preachers at the same time, nor can everyone be those who are in the priestly and religious order, or otherwise, how can the Church support itself in that way?
There are many people who misunderstood the purpose and the workings of the Church. Some are even thinking that the laity has no role in the Church or has no part or participation in it. And some others are also thinking that the Church and its matters are the sole domain of the priests and the religious alike, and others have no interest or business in them. They cannot be further mistaken than this.
The fact is that the laity must work in tandem with the priests and the religious, all working together to support the good works of the Church for the sake of the Lord and for His people. In fact, the laity are the ones who contributed much of the Church’s effort for the help of the poor, the needy and all those who are in need of help. It is the contributions from the people, mostly from the laity, which enabled the Church to perform its extensive and numerous charitable activities.
Meanwhile the priests and the religious help to guide the Church and the faithful in their journey to God, providing them with the necessary spiritual guidance and help along the way. Thus, all the different parts of the Church working together in tandem and harmony is very important in ensuring that the works of the Lord made through His Church will be successful and feasible.
That said, we should be working to encourage vocations in the Church, that many more people whom God had called and chosen will be willing to join Him in a life of service and total commitment to Him and to His Church. In this world today, one of the greatest challenges facing the Church has been its lack of sufficient priests and also the dearth in the number of seminarians preparing themselves to be priests and also among the religious vocations as well.
Temptations of this world are hard to resist, and for many to let go of many of these in order to serve the Lord and His Church may be quite a difficult task for them. Therefore we have to help each other, and help to support the works of the entire Church so that the Church as a whole will be great and efficient in how it administers its functions and works.
Perhaps the example of the great saint, St. John Chrysostom will help to inspire us all in our faith and in our commitment to the Church. He was an important figure in the early Church, very important in his role in establishing the role of the Church and its members in the society. As the Archbishop of Constantinople, the eastern capital of the Roman Empire, his works and commitments had far-reaching effects in inspiring many others to follow in his footsteps.
Based on his name suffix title, he was known as the golden-mouthed, due to his many and constantly inspiring and encouraging homilies and sermons, through which he had called many people into repentance and into the salvation in God. He was hardworking and was thoroughly dedicated to help the people to find their way to the Lord. Many were inspired by his hard work and many respected him for his many contributions.
We too can follow in his footsteps, and we can commit ourselves to help the Church as its members, spending our time, effort and even money to help its works. Let us all devote ourselves and no longed be hesitant in contributing to the Church and to the works of God. May the Lord help us and bless us, and may He keep us in His grace at all times. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 7 : 11-17
At that time, a little later after Jesus healed the servant of a captain, He went to a town called Naim. He was accompanied by His disciples and a great number of people. As He reached the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; there followed a large crowd of townspeople.
On seeing her, the Lord had pity on her and said, “Do not cry.” Then He came up and touched the stretcher, and the men who carried it stopped. Jesus then said, “Young man, I say to you, wake up!” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
A holy fear came over them all, and they praised God saying, “A great Prophet has appeared among us; God, has visited His people.” This news spread throughout Judea and the surrounding places.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 99 : 2, 3, 4, 5
Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people, the sheep of His fold.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and bless His Name.
For the Lord is good; His love lasts forever and His faithfulness through all generations.
Liturgical Colour : White
1 Corinthians 12 : 12-14, 27-31a
As the body is one, having many members, and all the members, while being many, form one body, so it is with Christ. All of us, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, have been baptised in one Spirit to form one body and all of us have been given to drink from the one Spirit.
The body has not just one member, but many. Now, you are the body of Christ and each of you individually is a member of it. So God has appointed us in the Church. First Apostles, second prophets, third teachers. Then come miracles, then the gift of healing, material help, administration in the Church and the gift of tongues.
Are all Apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Can all perform miracles, or cure the sick, or speak in tongues, or explain what was said in tongues? Be that as it may, set your hearts on the most precious gifts.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, when we all celebrate together the birthday of the Mother of our Lord, who was born of her parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne, and destined from the moment of her conception, immaculate and free from the taints of sin, to be the bearer of God’s salvation.
On this day, we celebrate together the birth of the one who would eventually become the Ark of the New Covenant, the bearer of the Messiah and the Saviour of the world. Today is a significant event, for the birth of Mary heralded the beginning of the time of grace, as God’s long awaited plan of salvation for His people was being fulfilled through her.
And as we listened to the message of the Sacred Scriptures, surely all of us would wonder why then the Lord would bother to go through so much trouble just in order to deal with us His people. We must be wondering why would He go through all these to help us and to bring us out from the darkness and into the light of His salvation. But that is exactly the wonder of the mysteries that God had revealed to us, that is His love.
God loves us all so much, so much so that in His love, He certainly would not want to see us suffer and perish in the darkness together with Satan and his allies who He had condemned into the eternal damnation. For us, there is still hope if we are able to commit ourselves to change our ways and to repent from all those sins and the things that kept us separated from God.
But in order to establish firmly the covenant and promise which He had made with us mankind, His beloved people, He has given us the perfect gift in His own Son, the Divine Word Incarnate, the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord. And as promised by Himself to us through His prophets and servants, He would Himself come and dwell among us, to be one with us, that we may be His people, and He may be our God.
If at the ancient times, God descended among His people in pillars of cloud and fire, then God has since then decided to dwell among us, to be with us His beloved ones, and what way is better than for He Himself to come down upon us and dwell among us as one of us? He took up our flesh through the intermediary of His mother Mary, that as He share in our flesh and existence, so will He share with us His glory and the eternal life He has promised us.
And through Mary, His mother and along with her, He has shown us the examples of how we ought to live our lives that we may be considered and be counted among His faithful and righteous ones. She is a role model for us all in how she had been faithful to the mission which has been entrusted to her. Mary since her birth has been a devoted servant of the Lord, pious and righteous in all her ways.
But most importantly, even though there were uncertainties and doubts in her heart, she gave her all and devote herself completely to the care and love for her Son, Jesus our Lord. She persevered through all the challenges, protecting and guiding her Son through His life. And having followed Him through her life, following Him even through the moments of His Passion, looking at His suffering at the hands of His tormentors and enemies, and eventually witnessing His death on the cross, certainly what she had done was not merely something ordinary.
Having stood by faithfully and committed herself completely to the Lord, and by being righteous, upright and just in all of her actions and deeds in life, Mary is indeed the best role model for all of us the people who are faithful to God and members of His Church. By following her, we will be able to find the best path to reach out to the Lord our God.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we rejoice and celebrate today in commemoration of the birth of the mother of our Lord, Mary, the Mother of God, let us all also take some time to reflect on our own actions in life, and see in what way we can emulate and follow in the footsteps of Mary. May the Lord help us in this endeavour, and guide us that we may find our way to reach Him and the salvation which He has promised us all. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Matthew 1 : 1-16, 18-23
This is the account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of Abraham.
Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron of Aram. Aram was the father of Aminadab, Aminadab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon.
Salmon was the father of Boaz. His mother was Rahab. Boaz was the father of Obed. His mother was Ruth. Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of David, the king. David was the father of Solomon. His mother had been Uriah’s wife. Solomon was the father of Rehoboam. Then came the kings : Abijah, Asaph, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah.
Josiah was the father of Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the deportation to Babylon. After the deportation to Babylon, Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel and Salathiel od Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud, Abiud of Eliakim, and Eliakim of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Akim, and Akim the father of Eliud.
Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar of Matthan, and Matthan of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus Who is called the Christ – the Messiah. There were then fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, and fourteen generations from David to the deportation to Babylon, and fourteen generations from the deportation to Babylon to the birth of Christ.
This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.
While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”
All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us.
Alternative reading (shorter version)
Matthew 1 : 18-23
This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.
While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”
All this happened in order to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet : The virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and He will be called Emmanuel, which means God-with-us.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 12 : 6ab, 6cd
But I put my trust in Your unfailing love, my heart will rejoice on seeing Your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me!
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 