Feast of St. Angela Merici

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Saturday, 27 January 2018 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the Scripture passages, telling us first of all, the anger of God directed to His servant David, king of Israel, because of his disobedience and waywardness, when he plotted the killing of Uriah, the husband of a woman who he desired to be his own wife. The Lord delivered His words through the prophet Nathan, who severely rebuked the king for his sins.

However, unlike his predecessor, king Saul, David regretted his sins and immediately humbled himself before God, recognising how unworthy he was because of what he has committed. And this made a great difference between him and Saul, and one of the many qualities which made the Lord to be pleased with David, and confirmed him in his role as the king and leader of His people.

Nonetheless, he still committed a serious sin before the Lord, and for that, as the prophet Nathan mentioned, the son born of the relation between David and Bathsheba would die. David implored the Lord and begged Him to spare the life of his son, even to the point of fasting and humbling himself all the more before Him. But God did not relent, for it was just punishment that He had inflicted on David, and the king accepted that fate.

David’s moment of weakness is something truly extraordinary, considering that he was such a faithful servant of God, devoted wholeheartedly to Him, and was exalted by God as His great servant. But we must not forget that David was still a man, just like each and every one of us, and therefore a sinner. All man are susceptible to sin and to fall into temptation, and David did fall in that one occasion and another.

That is a lesson for all of us, that we must be ever vigilant in our lives, that we do not allow the devil any opportunity for him to tempt us or to persuade us by his false promises and persuasions, so that we will be less likely to fall into his trap and sin against God. The Gospel passage today is yet another reminder for this, that we should put our trust in God and not be swayed by the worries of the world.

We heard about the moment when the ship boarded by Jesus and His disciples in the Lake of Galilee was hit by a great storm, with strong winds and waves battering on the ship, threatening to sink the ship. But Jesus remained calm and did not panic, unlike the disciples, who were filled with fear. They could have chosen to abandon the ship and jump into the water in order to save themselves, but thankfully, they did not.

Brethren, do you know that the Church is often portrayed and compared to that of a big ship? The Lord in the ship actually represents Him as the Head of the Church, and all of the disciples in that ship represent all of us who belong to God’s Church. And that storm, the winds and the waves represent the difficulties, challenges and the temptations that many of us have to face day after day, one after another in our respective lives.

But if we abandon the Church and the Lord, just because we think that we can save ourselves, we will end up sinking just as if those disciples were to jump into the water, thinking they could save themselves. If we put our trust in the Lord, He will guide us and protect us, and in the end, even though we had to suffer and face difficulties, we will be triumphant with Him and share His glorious inheritance.

Today, we happen to celebrate the memory of a holy saint and a dedicated virgin, St. Angela Merici, who dedicated her life to the Lord, a renowned educator and founder of a society of like-minded individuals who committed themselves to the education of young Christian girls, especially from those who were poor and did not have the opportunity to have a proper education.

St. Angela Merici and her fellow religious sisters also opened up many schools and orphanages to support their work and mission, caring for many of those who have none to take care of them, and giving them the love which they lacked before. And this should inspire each and every one of us as Christians, to live our lives with faith and commit ourselves to the Lord by our loving actions to one another.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, may the Lord continue to strengthen in us our faith, so that we will always persevere through the many challenges and difficulties in life. May we find our way to the Lord, by our commitment and dedication, following the examples set by our predecessors in faith, especially that of St. Angela Merici and her contributions to the faith and the salvation of many. St. Angela Merici, pray for us. Amen.

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Saturday, 27 January 2018 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Mark 4 : 35-41

At that time, on that same day, when evening had come, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they left the crowd, and took Him along in the boat He had been sitting in, and other boats set out with Him. Then a storm gathered and it began to blow a gale. The waves spilled over into the boat, so that it was soon filled with water. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.

They woke Him up, and said, “Master, do You not care if we drown?” And rising up, Jesus rebuked the wind, and ordered the sea, “Quiet now! Be still!” The wind dropped, and there was a great calm. Then Jesus said to them, “Why are you so frightened? Do you still have no faith?”

But they were terrified, and they said to one another, “Who can this be? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

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Saturday, 27 January 2018 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Psalm 50 : 12-13, 14-15, 16-17

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me again, the joy of Your salvation; and sustain me, with a willing spirit. Then I will show wrongdoers Your ways and sinners will return to You.

Deliver me, o God, from the guilt of blood; and of Your justice, I shall sing aloud. O YHVH, open my lips, and I will declare Your praise.

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Saturday, 27 January 2018 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins or Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

2 Samuel 12 : 1-7a, 10-17

So YHVH sent the prophet Nathan to David. Nathan went to the king and said to him, “There were two men in a city : one was rich; the other, poor. The rich man had many sheep and cattle, but the poor man had only one little ewe lamb he had bought. He himself fed it and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and slept on his lap. It was like a daughter to him.”

“Now a traveller came to the rich man, but he would not take from his own flock or herd to prepare food for the traveller. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared that for his visitor.”

David was furious because of this man and told Nathan, “As YHVH lives, the man who has done this deserves death! He must return the lamb fourfold for acting like this and showing no compassion.” Nathan said to David, “You are this man! Now the sword will never be far from your family because you have despised me and taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite for yourself.”

“Thus says YHVH : Your misfortune will rise from your own house! I will take your wives from you and give them to your neighbour who shall lie with them in broad daylight. What you did was done secretly, but what I do will be done before Israel in broad daylight.”

David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against YHVH.” Nathan answered him, “YHVH has forgiven your sin; you shall not die. However, because you have dared to despise YHVH by doing such a thing, the child that is born of you shall die.” Then Nathan went to his home.

YHVH struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and the child became very ill. David entreated God for the child. He kept a strict fast and lay on the ground the whole night. The elders of his house asked him to rise from the ground but he refused. Nor did he join them to eat.

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Friday, 27 January 2017 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we listened to the Lord Jesus teaching the people with parables, telling them that the kingdom of God is like a growing seed, which is sown by man, and then when it lands on a rich and fertile soil, it grows to be a mighty and great plant, even though it might be small as a seed. It is the same therefore with the kingdom of God, according to Christ, which is inside each and every one of us who belong to Him.

We are all given the gifts from the Lord, Who sowed in each of us the seeds of faith, the seeds of hope and the seeds of love. But all of these gifts were dormant in us, and they are not going to grow unless we place them in the right conditions, just as plants will not germinate from their seeds and grow unless they are placed under the right conditions.

And just as plants take a long time to grow from a seed, into a sapling and then into a growing young plant, into maturity and finally laying out flowers and then fruits, therefore it also takes a lot in order to make those seeds in us grow inside us, and transform us to be true beings of the kingdom of God. Our faith requires great patience for us to develop and to persevere through this life. To live faithfully according to the way of the Lord is never an easy one.

As mentioned in the first reading today, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews, the writer of this Epistle, likely to be St. Paul, wrote about the hardships which the first and earliest Christians had to endure, many of them being Jews, who were then often torn between their obedience to the laws that governed the Jewish society, and their newfound love and loyalty to the Lord which they had discovered through Jesus their Lord.

But even though they were once a small group of people, often shunned and rejected by others, reviled and ridiculed by their own countrymen for following Jesus the crucified Lord and Messiah, they eventually triumphed through the end, as the Church gradually grew stronger, larger and ever more vibrant even though there were many moments of difficulties and challenges along its path.

Yes indeed persecutions came their way, and many had to suffer for many years because of their faith, but as many did not give up their faith and helped one another to persevere in their faith, that is why the Church was able to persevere through and why the faithful were able to stay strong amidst the challenges and the difficulties. In the same manner therefore, all of us Christians must also stay together and help each other, that we may remain ever faithful.

We should also follow the examples of St. Angela Merici, the holy saint and woman whose feast we are celebrating today. Since her youth, she had devoted herself to God, particularly when her sister died, and we were told that she died without having the chance to receive the Last Rites from a priest. A distraught St. Angela Merici prayed fervently before the Lord, asking Him to forgive her sister and allow her to enter heaven. Later on, it was told that she received a vision, in which she saw her sister in the company of the saints of heaven.

She grew stronger in the faith through prayer, and she resisted the temptation of worldly pleasures and desires, and when suitors came to her attracted by her great beauty, she chose to dress herself in soot and dust, so as to detract her suitors and to remain committed to God. She taught others how to be close and spiritually devoted to God, and became a source of inspiration of many others.

Through the examples of the faith of St. Angela Merici, all of us are called to also grow in our faith, by giving it the most suitable conditions in order to grow, so that what God had planted inside each and every one of us may grow well. It is through deep and fervent prayer, made sincerely and with devotion that we provide this optimum condition. And then we also show our love, care and concern to others around us, giving ourselves to our brethren who are in need of our love.

It is when we have done all of these that we have truly become like the kingdom of God, when all of us Christians work together in love, showing hope to those who are in darkness, and having genuine faith in God, that the seeds of faith, hope and love God had sown in us no longer remains just as seeds, but grow together, interlocking with one another, until everything become a great tree, that is the Church of God, living and vibrant, filled with hope, with love and with faith. That is what the kingdom of God in this world is truly like.

Let us all work together in order to realise this, and be committed to do what we have been called to do, to serve God with all of our strengths and abilities. May God help us in this journey, and may He strengthen the faith in our hearts, awaken in us the desire to help our brethren in need, and make us to become light for those who are still in the darkness and ignorance in the world. God bless us all and our endeavours. Amen.

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Friday, 27 January 2017 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)
Mark 4 : 26-34

At that time, Jesus also said, “In the kingdom of God it is like this : a man scatters seed upon the soil. Whether he is asleep or awake, be it day or night, the seed sprouts and grows, he knows not how. The soil produces of itself : first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when it is ripe for harvesting, they take the sickle for the cutting : the time for the harvest has come.”

Jesus also said, “What is the kingdom of God like? To what shall we compare it? It is like a mustard seed which, when sown, is the smallest of all the seeds scattered upon the soil. But once sown, it grows up and becomes the largest of the plants in the garden, and even grows branches so big, that the birds of the air can take shelter in its shade.”

Jesus used many such stories, in order to proclaim the word to them in a way that they would be able to understand. He would not teach them without parables; but privately to His disciples He explained everything.

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Friday, 27 January 2017 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)
Psalm 36 : 3-4, 5-6, 23-24, 39-40

Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and live on it. Make the Lord your delight, and He will grant your heart’s desire.

Commit your way to the Lord; put your trust in Him and let Him act. Then will Your revenge come, beautiful as the dawn, and the justification of your cause, bright as the noonday sun.

The Lord is the One Who makes people stand, He gives firmness to those He likes. They may stumble, but they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.

The Lord is the Salvation of the righteous; in time of distress, He is their refuge. The Lord helps them, and rescues them from the oppressor; He saves them for they sought shelter in Him.

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Friday, 27 January 2017 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)
Hebrews 10 : 32-39

Remember the first days when you were enlightened. You had to undergo a hard struggle in the face of suffering. Publicly you were exposed to humiliations and trials, and had to share the sufferings of others who were similarly treated.

You showed solidarity with those in prison; you were dispossessed of your goods and accepted it gladly for you knew you were acquiring a much better and more durable possession. Do not now throw away your confidence that will be handsomely rewarded.

Be patient in doing the will of God, and the promise will be yours : A little, a little longer – says Scripture – and He Who is coming will come; He will not delay. My righteous one will live if he believes: but if he distrusts, I will no longer look kindly on him. We are not among those who withdraw and perish, but among those who believe and win personal salvation.

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Wednesday, 27 January 2016 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard firstly about the king David of Israel, who desired to build for the Lord a house of residence, just as he thought that because he lived in a palace, it was unfitting for the Lord to live in such a condition as it was, that is in a tent. But the Lord spoke through the prophet Nathan, that he was not to build the house of God for His sake, but rather that his son would do it instead.

Thus was the Temple of Solomon known as it was, being built by king Solomon, David’s heir. It was renowned as a grand place, a grand edifice and building filled with much gold and silver, with many craftsmanships and works of art, as we can see ourselves in the extensive description of the Temple architecture and interior as explained in the Book of Kings and in the Book of Chronicles.

However, there is one thing that we have to realise that, for all of its greatness, for all of its grandeur, the Temple of Solomon, or any forms of worldly and grand house of God, all of these are nothing compared to the Temple that God had prepared for Himself as He entered into the world. This Temple is not like the Temple of Solomon, or any other temples and houses made by the hands of men.

What is this Temple? It is none other than ourselves, the Temple of our bodies, the Temples of God’s Holy Presence, the Holy Spirit Who dwells in us. And this is related to what Jesus told His disciples about the parable of the seeds and the sower in our Gospel reading today. We heard about how the seeds spread by the sower spread out in various places and how they ended in different fates.

The seeds in fact represent the word of God, being spread from the Lord, Who was the sower, into every sorts of situations and places, which represent all of us mankind in various conditions and places, and let me explain each and every condition that applies to what Jesus had mentioned. The word of God came to every men, but depending on how they treat it, the outcome is different.

The seeds that fell on the roadside and which was eaten by the birds were those who have listened to the words of the Lord, received His teachings, but these were swept away by the temptations and the lies that the devil and his allies used in order to sway those people to abandon the truth in the words of God and instead follow the falsehoods and the lies of the devil.

The seeds that fell on the thistles and brambles were those who received the word of God, and yet the concerns and worries of this world, the temptations of pleasure and the temptations of power and desires prevented them from allowing the word of God to grow and blossom within them, and as a result, they too fell along the way and failed to attain salvation.

The seeds that fell on rocks and did not manage to grow roots were those who have the faith in God, and yet this faith was not deeply rooted in them. That is why when difficulties, challenges and tribulations came their way, they readily and quickly gave up, leaving behind their faith for safety and comfort the world could give them. And thus, they too fell behind in the path towards salvation in God.

And the seeds that fell on the rich soil, they grew and multiply in massive numbers, growing healthily and strong, and they provide numerous bounties and returns incomparable and far beyond all the efforts put into helping them to grow up. This represents what the faith can do, when faith is cultivated well, and when the people of God listens to the word of God and practice it in their lives.

In this, we can also follow the examples of St. Angela Merici, the faithful servant of God, a holy virgin who devoted herself and her life totally to God. St. Angela Merici was an Italian woman who founded the society of the sisters of Ursula, or the Ursuline sisters, and who devoted herself to the advancement of Catholic education and teachings.

She was a very beautiful woman who once had many suitors who tried to earn her hand in marriage, but those suitors were unsuccessful, as St. Angela Merici had dedicated her entire life in a vow of perpetual virginity, devoted entirely to the Lord. She even coated her hair and clothing in ash and with other things that hid her beauty so that people would no longer go after her.

St. Angela Merici devoted herself to the Lord, and through her works, she inspired many others who also followed in her footsteps, as what would become the Ursuline sisters, one of the foremost in the field of Catholic education and service of the people of God. Through education, St. Angela Merici helped many people who have become wayward and erred in their path to rediscover their path to God, and at the same time, also guiding the young generation towards the Lord.

In all these, we can see how all of us have much to learn from this holy saint, and how each one of us indeed have become God’s Holy Temple. Remember that Jesus our Lord Himself had given all of us His own Body and Blood to eat and drink, and by them, He dwells in each and every one of us the faithful who have worthily accepted Him into ourselves.

All of us are His Houses of dwelling, where He dwells inside each of us. If we do not make ourselves worthy, then how will we have any part in God’s salvation. God will reject us instead and cast us into the eternal damnation and hellfire prepared for Satan and his angels. But if we show our faith through real action and devotion, then our reward in God will be truly great and rich.

May God bless us all, and may He strengthen in all of us the spirit and the desire to love Him and to commit ourselves to Him in the same manner as St. Angela Merici had been. May all of us draw ever closer to God and to His salvation. God be with us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 27 January 2016 : 3rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Angela Merici, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

Mark 4 : 1-20

At that time, again Jesus began to teach by the lake, but such a large crowd gathered about Him, that He got into a boat and sat in it on the lake, while the crowd stood on the shore. He taught them many things through parables.

In His teaching He said, “Listen! The sower went out to sow. As he sowed, some of the seed fell along a path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some of the seed fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil; it sprang up immediately because it had no depth; but when the sun rose and burnt it, it withered because it had no roots.”

“Other seed fell among thornbushes, and the thorns grew and choked it, so it did not produce any grain. But some seed fell on good soil, grew and increased and yielded grain; some seed produced thirty times as much, some sixty, and some one hundred times as much.” And Jesus added, “Listen then, if you have ears.”

When the crowd went away, some who were around Him with the Twelve asked about the parables. He answered them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But for those outside, everything comes in parables, so that the more they see, they do not perceive; the more they hear, they do not understand; otherwise they would be converted and pardoned.”

Jesus said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand any of the parables? What the sower is sowing is the word. Those along the path, where the seed fell, are people who hear the word, but as soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.”

“Other people receive the word like rocky ground. As soon as they hear the word, they accept it with joy, but they have no roots, so it lasts only a little while. No sooner does trouble or persecution come because of the word, than they fall. Others receive the seed, as seed among thorns. After they hear the word, they are caught up in the worries of this life, false hopes of riches and other desires. All these come in and choke the word, so that finally it produces nothing.”

“And there are others who receive the word as good soil. They hear the word, take it to heart and produce : some thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred times as much.”