feast of the Lord

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Thursday, 14 September 2023 : Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Numbers 21 : 4b-9

The people were discouraged by the journey and began to complain against God and Moses, “Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is neither bread nor water here and we are disgusted with this tasteless manna.”

YHVH then sent fiery serpents against them. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, speaking against YHVH and against you. Plead with YHVH to take the serpents away.”

Moses pleaded for the people and YHVH said to him, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a standard; whoever has been bitten and then looks at it shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a standard. Whenever a man was bitten, he looked towards the bronze serpent and he lived.

Alternative reading (Second Reading if this Feast is celebrated as a Solemnity)

Philippians 2 : 6-11

Though He was in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and in His appearance found as a Man.

He humbled Himself by being obedient to death, death on the cross. That is why God exalted Him and gave Him the Name which outshines all names, so that at the Name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead, and all tongues proclaim that Christ Jesus is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.

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Friday, 1 September 2023 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 25 : 1-13

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “This story throws light on what will happen in the kingdom of heaven : Ten bridesmaids went out with their lamps to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were sensible. The careless bridesmaids took their lamps as they were, and did not take extra oil. But those who were sensible, took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom delayed, they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.”

“But at midnight, a cry rang out, ‘The bridegroom is here, come on and meet him!’ All the maidens woke up at once, and trimmed their lamps. Then the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, ‘Give us some oil, for our lamps are going out.’ The sensible ones answered, ‘There may not be enough for us and for you. You had better go to those who sell, and buy some for yourselves.'”

“When the bridegroom came, the foolish maidens were out buying oil, but those who were ready went with him into the wedding feast, and the doors were shut. Later the other bridesmaids arrived and called out, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered, ‘Truly I do not know you.'”

“So stay awake, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”

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Sunday, 6 August 2023 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, we celebrate the occasion of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, celebrating and rejoicing at the occasion when Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the whole entire world, Son of Man and Son of God, was transfigured, that is transformed in His being and appearance, to reveal to the three of His closest disciples at Mount Tabor, His true nature and His intentions to all of us. When the Lord revealed Himself in all of His glory that day, accompanied by Moses and Elijah, two very well renowned figures from the Old Testament, He laid bare everything that He had planned from the very beginning, the plan to save all of us mankind, His beloved ones, from the certain destruction and hardships, the sufferings due for us due to our wickedness, disobedience and sins.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Daniel, we heard of the account of the heavenly vision that Daniel received regarding two figures, One was named as the One of Great Age, while the other One was named as the Son of Man. This vision of Heaven and all of God’s glory clearly indicated and revealed to all of us of the true nature of the Messiah or the Saviour that had been long awaited by the people of God. Why is that so? That is because in the heavenly vision of Daniel, he saw not just God in all of His majesty, glory and power, but he also witnessed and saw the Son of God, the One Who would be sent into the world to be the One through Whom God would fulfil and exercise His plan to save all of His beloved ones, in Jesus Christ, His Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

Daniel saw how the One of Great Age, Who is the Father, granting dominion, power and authority to the Son of Man, His beloved and begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Son of God, to be the One to establish anew the Eternal and New Covenant with each and every one of us, and to bring forth unto us the long-awaited salvation and liberation from all the tyranny and dominion of sin and evil. Kingship and dominion have been granted to Him, the One to be born as the Son and Heir of David, so that God might indeed fulfil the promises He made to David, how the House of David and his throne would last forever. This is because Christ Himself, Who has embraced our humanity and being born into this world, is to become its King and Master, the Lord over all universe and Creation, to reign over us all forevermore.

In our second reading, we then heard from St. Peter the Apostle in his Epistle, who wrote about the experience of the Transfiguration, in which he himself and the other two of the Apostles, St. James and St. John, personally experienced at Mount Tabor. He spoke of the experiences that they had, when their Lord and Master was transformed before their very own eyes, revealing His divinity and power, that He was not just mere man like any others, or like any other prophets and servants of God in the past, but that He is a Being far greater than any others, even as compared to Moses and Elijah who had also made an appearance at the moment of the Transfiguration. Jesus Christ, the Transfigured Lord and Messiah, was indeed not just a mere Man, but also God Himself in the flesh.

This is exactly what our Christian faith truly believes in, in the central tenet of belief in the person of Jesus Christ, as our Lord and Saviour, He Who is both Son of God and Son of Man, having two distinct, unique and yet inseparable natures united in His one Person, with two Natures, both Divine and Human, being distinct and yet inseparably united in a perfect union of love in the Person of Jesus, the Transfigured Lord and Messiah. The Transfiguration of the Lord is therefore a revelation of Who the Lord Jesus truly is, and what His agenda and will is for us, what His ministry and works entailed for us, in all that He would do for the sake of our salvation and liberation from the tyranny of sin and death. And at the same time, His glorious Transfiguration is also a premonition and prefigurement of what will happen to us at the end of days, if we remain truly faithful to Him and stay on His path.

In our Gospel passage, detailing for us the events of the Transfiguration at Mount Tabor, we are brought to focus our attention on the moment when the Lord appeared in all of His Divine glory with Moses and Elijah, who as mentioned were very famous and important figures of the Old Testament. First of all, Moses was the leader of the Israelites during the time of the Exodus from Egypt and also the journey of the Israelites towards the land of Canaan, the Promised Land. Moses was the one who received the Ten Commandments and the Law of God, and hence he represented the Law of God, which God revealed and passed down to all of us, His people, to help lead and guide us all to the right path. His appearance before the Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of His glorious Transfiguration served to highlight that the Lord Jesus came to fulfil and perfect the Law which God has given us, to explain and to reveal the true meaning and intentions behind the Law that God has so generously provided for us.

Not only that, but Moses also represented the role that Christ Himself would do, in the former’s foreshadowing of the Latter by his leadership in bringing the whole people of Israel out of the land of their slavery in Egypt, and by whose works and hands, God led His people out of the land of their suffering and misery, and even brought them through the Red Sea, opening the very sea itself before them and crushing the forces of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians sent to chase after them. In the same manner, the Lord Jesus as the Saviour of all and as our Eternal High Priest has led us all mankind, God’s beloved ones, to go out from and leave behind the state of our enslavement and domination by sin. Through His Son, Whom He has sent into the world, God led us all by hand, to go out from the darkness and enter into the new Light of His Presence and truth.

He led us all by His suffering, death and Resurrection, and through the water of baptism, that just like the Israelites who have crossed the Red Sea from slavery in Egypt into their freedom, we may all pass from the darkness and slavery of sin and death, into the Light of God and His salvation and grace, to be reunited with Him and to be wholly reconciled through the forgiveness of our many sins, which Christ Himself had atoned for us through the outpouring and perfect offering of His Most Precious Body and Blood. Thus, God is leading all of us, His beloved ones, out of the darkness of sin, to enter once again into the great light and purity of heart, mind and soul which we have always been intended to be, and one that is represented and shown to us by our Lord’s own Transfiguration. That Transfiguration shows us what each and all of us mankind are always meant to be, to be glorified and worthy of God, full of God’s grace and light, and free from the darkness of sin and evil.

Then, the appearance of Elijah before the Lord highlighted the fact that Elijah was often considered both by his contemporaries and others in the later eras as the greatest and the most prominent of all of God’s prophets and messengers. Just as Moses represented the Law of God, thus Elijah represented the words of the prophets, all the prophecies and truths which God had revealed to His people through them. And therefore, the Lord Jesus is first of all the fulfilment of all those prophecies, affirmed by Elijah’s appearance at Mount Tabor, while at the same time, He is also the One to bring forth into this world the Good News, the news of God’s truth and salvation, revealing the true intentions and meanings of God’s Law and commandments, His plans for all of us, revealing all of these to us with the greatest clarity, through His teachings and words, and through the Holy Spirit and Wisdom that He imparted upon us and His Church.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard and understood the significance and the symbolic importance of the events and things surrounding the Lord’s glorious Transfiguration, let us all realise that this Feast that we are celebrating and are rejoicing in this Sunday is a reminder and call for us to embrace once again the true nature of our beings, that is of the Light, as God’s beloved children and people. Each and every one of us have been created by God with the intention of the sharing of His everlasting love and grace, and we were meant to live in perfect bliss, harmony and joy with Him. However, all of these had been denied to us thanks to us and our own ancestors and predecessors own disobedience and rebellions against God, through which sin had defiled and corrupted us, and gained its dominion over us. This is something that our Lord’s Transfiguration is calling us to reflect, that we must remember our true nature, undefiled and uncorrupted by sin.

The Transfigured Lord is showing all of us, of what and who we all can be, if we truly embrace the Lord’s path and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to Him. The Lord is showing us what we should be, if we want to walk down the path that He has shown us and called us to walk in together with Him. And through His Transfiguration, He also showed us all that His love, His light and Holy Presence is no longer unreachable and unapproachable by us, because by His Incarnation, He has made us to be within reach of salvation and eternal life, through Him and with Him, as He restored us and our connection with God. By His indwelling in the flesh of man, His full Divine glory and majesty are now made accessible to us, as compared to how in the days of the Old Testament, when Moses and Elijah alone could have seen the glory of God to their faces and lived, as everyone else would have been struck dead and be destroyed on the account of their sins and wickedness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore remind ourselves and one another this day, that as we rejoice and celebrate the glorious memory of the Transfiguration of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, let us all commit ourselves once again anew in the path that the Lord has shown us, and obey Him, in all that He has told us and taught us to do in our lives. Let us all turn away from the wickedness of the world and from all the allures of sin and evil, and obey the Lord ever more wholeheartedly from now on. Let us all walk down this path of faith from now on, together with Christ, Who is journeying and walking with us, leading us down this path of faith, calling upon us to trust in Him. There will be hardships, challenges and trials likely facing us in our journey forward, but we must always remain firm in faith, reminding ourselves ever always, of the glory and true joy of our future Transfigured selves, in the hope and light of the Resurrection.

One day, with the Lord, we shall no longer suffer anymore, and everything will be all good and right again just as the Lord has always intended for us. In the meantime, let us all be exemplary, inspirational and great role models of our Christian faith and living in all of our words, actions and deeds, in our every interactions and efforts, good works and endeavours for the greater glory of God. May the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Who has been Transfigured in glory at Mount Tabor, continue to shine His light upon us and help us in our journey and dedication towards Him, now and always, that we too may be the shining beacons of His light and truth, in every occasions and opportunities. Amen.

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Sunday, 6 August 2023 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 17 : 1-9

At that time, six days after Jesus predicted His own death, He took with Him Peter and James and his brother John, and led them up a high mountain, where they were alone. Jesus’ appearance was changed before them : His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became bright as light. Just then Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus.

Peter spoke and said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. If You wish, I will make three tents : one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Peter was still speaking, when a bright cloud covered them with its shadow, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is My Son, the Beloved, My Chosen One. Listen to Him.”

On hearing the voice, the disciples fell to the ground, full of fear. But Jesus came, touched them and said, “Stand up, do not be afraid.” When they raised their eyes, they no longer saw anyone except Jesus. And as they came down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone what they had just seen, until the Son of Man be raised from the dead.

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Sunday, 6 August 2023 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

2 Peter 1 : 16-19

Indeed, what we taught you about the power, and the return of Christ Jesus our Lord, was not drawn from myths or formulated theories. We, ourselves, were eyewitnesses of His majesty, when He received glory and honour from God, the Father, when, from the magnificent glory, this most extraordinary word came upon Him : “This is My beloved Son, this is My Chosen One.”

We, ourselves, heard this voice from heaven, when we were with Him on the holy mountain. Therefore, we believe most firmly in the message of the prophets, which you should consider rightly, as a lamp shining in a dark place, until the break of day, when the Morning Star shines in your hearts.

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Sunday, 6 August 2023 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 96 : 1-2, 5-6, 9

YHVH reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Clouds and darkness surround Him; justice and right, are His throne.

The mountains melt like wax before YHVH, the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His justice, all peoples see His glory.

For You are the Master of the universe, exalted far above all gods.

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Sunday, 6 August 2023 : Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Daniel 7 : 9-10, 13-14

I looked and saw the following : Some thrones were set in place and One of Great Age took His seat. His robe was white, as snow, His hair, white as washed wool. His throne was flames of fire with wheels of blazing fire. A river of fire sprang forth and flowed before Him. Thousands upon thousands served Him and a countless multitude stood before Him.

Those in the tribunal took their seats and opened the book. I continued watching the nocturnal vision : One like a Son of Man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age and was brought into His presence. Dominion, honour and kingship were given Him, and all the peoples and nations of every language served Him. His dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; His kingdom will never be destroyed.

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Friday, 16 June 2023 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, in which we celebrate the great love of God that has been shown to us firstly through His Son, Who has come down into our midst in the flesh, as the perfect manifestation of the love of God, and then, the most loving and wonderful Heart filled with love that Christ has shown us. The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus shows us the greatest love that ever exists, the pure love that God has always had for us, that He has always had for each and every one of us without exception. This very popular devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is similar to the other popular devotion to the Divine Mercy, in which both of them showed unto us the loving Heart of the Lord, that has ever been shown and directed to us, in God’s desire to reach out to us, healing us and loving us most tenderly as He has always intended.

Today all of us are reminded that God has never abandoned or forgotten about us, despite us having done the same again and again, many times, in our constant and persistent rebellions against Him, and in our refusal of listening to His words and reminders for us, which He has done for us again and again. The Lord has always ever been patient towards us, and yet, we have always spurnt His love, rejected His kind and most compassionate approaches and efforts, hurting Him again and again, making His Most Sacred Heart to be wounded because of our many transgressions, sins and disobedience. This is what the Lord has shown to some of His servants, through whom the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus became popular from. It all began from the popular devotion to the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the devotion to the Sacred Wounds of the Lord, which became popular after the Crusades and after the efforts from the saints like St. Bernard of Clairvaux and St. Francis of Assisi in calling the people of God to deepen their spiritual lives.

As many of the people had great affinity and connection to the Sacred Wounds of the Lord, this devotion naturally develops into the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, that became concrete and in the form that we are familiar with the revelations which St. Margaret Mary Alacoque received a few centuries later. Beginning with St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who spoke of the piercing of the side of the Lord during the crucifixion, in which the Most Sacred Heart of the Lord was pierced, pouring out the love that He has always had for us, and the heart being always associated with love amongst us, it therefore deepened our appreciation and understanding of just how beloved and dear each and every one of us are by the Lord, ever patient and ever generous with His kindness and compassion towards us, desiring us all to be reconciled with Him, by turning away from our wicked and sinful ways.

Many other saints like St. Bonaventure and St. Gertrude the Great also alluded to the Most Sacred Heart of the Lord Jesus, and spoke of His love, with the latter having received vision of the Lord’s loving Heart. But it was only after St. Margaret Mary Alacoque received series of visions from the Lord that the current form of the devotion became finalised, and as we recognise it today. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque received the vision of the Lord and His Most Sacred Heart, in which He spoke of His Heart that had loved mankind so much, His bleeding and wounded Heart that had been rejected and abandoned by mankind again and again, and of all the sufferings, pain and persecutions that He had endured and faced in the midst of His desire to heal us and to be reconciled with us. Through all these visions and all that the faithful had received in revelation from the Lord, all of us gained greater knowledge of the love of God that had been made manifest to us.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard from our Scripture passages today, all of us as Christians, as the beloved children of God are all expected to embrace God’s love, obey His will and to love Him most sincerely and genuinely. The Lord has always waited for us, and endlessly reached out for us in His efforts to call us to return to Him. In our first reading today from the Book of Deuteronomy, we heard the words of the Lord delivered to His people through His servant Moses, reminding all of them that they have all been chosen and consecrated to God as His holy and beloved people, and how they have received His Law and commandments, through which the Lord wanted all of them to follow Him and the path that He has led them all into, the path of righteousness and justice, the path of goodness and love, by obeying those Law and commandments.

And it was also there that God told us how His love was truly wholesome and patient, pure and sincere, and He is truly caring towards us, ever concerned of our overall well-being. It is also where we are reminded that God’s love for us, His mercy and compassion is always comprised of not just His generosity and kindness towards us, but also His desire for us to turn away from our wickedness, evil and sins. That is why God has always chastised and punished those who have committed rebellions, sins and wrongdoings, as mentioned, and as He has shown us all from time to time, again and again. That is because He truly cared for us, and He does not want us to continue to walk down the path of evil and wickedness. That is because if all of us keep on doing those wicked things, we will end up being separated forever from the Lord forever, and fall into eternal damnation, something that the Lord certainly does not want to happen to us.

In our second reading today, the Apostle St. John in one of his Epistles reminded all of us of how God made His perfect love manifested to us through His Son, the Divine Word Incarnate. Just as mentioned, the love that God has shown for us is so wonderful, magnificent and wholesome that all of us really ought to realise that we have received the most wonderful and amazing love of God through Christ, and all of us have been shown and taught what Love is truly all about, and therefore, we should do our best to show that same love in our own respective lives, by loving one another, our fellow brothers and sisters in the same way, and of course in loving God just how He has loved us all first. All of us have received God’s love and known the boundless grace and compassion of God, just as we have also heard in our Gospel passage today, when the Lord Jesus told His disciples, of Him calling all of His beloved ones, to come to Him, because through Him alone there is hope and true joy.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard and been reminded of the great and most generous love that God has always shown us, let us all therefore spend some time to reflect upon our lives and how we have lived them. Have we truly been committed to the Lord and His love for us? Have we taken His love for us for granted? Have we been so stubborn and unreasonable in continuing to disobey Him and in committing whatever is evil and wicked in His sight? That is what many of us have often done, in rejecting His ever generous offer of kindness and compassion, in having betrayed Him and chosen to follow the path of sin and evil instead. Then, we must truly remember and realise that for every sins and wicked things that we have committed, each one of these are the cause of the many wounds, hurt and pain that made His Most Sacred Heart to bleed and to be wounded, all for our sake.

That is why all of us should remind ourselves to turn away from sinful and wicked ways, and we should strive from now on to do what is right and just in our lives, remembering as always God’s ever generous mercy and kindness, His love and mercy that has always been given to us. Let us all look upon the Lord, at His Most Sacred Heart, full of wounds and hurt because of our every transgressions and sins. Let us all look at Him Who has been crucified for us, and ask ourselves, if we have deserved all that He had done for us, to the point of enduring the worst sufferings, humiliations and pain for our sake? The Lord has patiently loved us all these while, and what many of us had done to Him, is to keep on inflicting hurt upon Him whenever we continue to sin, disobey and disregard His love and kindness towards us, and whenever we also cause hurt and suffering upon others around us by our selfish actions.

May the Lord in His Most Sacred Heart, continue to love us and care for us, as He has always done, and may all of us then continue to do what is right and just, worthy and appropriate for us all as Christians, as all those who have been called and chosen by the Lord, and all beloved by the Lord all the same, with the love overflowing from His Most Sacred Heart. Let us all turn towards Him with renewed faith and commitment, with love and dedication from now on, so that we may truly be good and faithful disciples worthy of His love. May the Lord be with us always, and may He bless all of our good works and efforts, our every endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 16 June 2023 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 11 : 25-30

On that occasion, Jesus said, “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I praise You; because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to simple people. Yes, Father, this was Your gracious will.”

“Everything has been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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 easy; and My burden is light.”

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Friday, 16 June 2023 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus (Second 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 live 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, and God in him.