Fifth Sunday of Lent

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Saturday, 24 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 31 : 10, 11-12ab, 13

Hear the word of YHVH, o nations, proclaim it on distant coastlands : He Who scattered Israel will gather them and guard them as a shepherd guard his flock.

For YHVH has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand of his conqueror. They shall come shouting for joy, while ascending Zion; they will come streaming to YHVH’s blessings.

Maidens will make merry and dance, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness, I will give them comfort and joy for sorrow.

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Saturday, 24 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Ezekiel 37 : 21-28

You will then say to them : Thus says YHVH : I am about to withdraw the Israelites from where they were among the nations. I shall gather them from all around and bring them back to their land. I shall make them into one people on the mountains of Israel and one king is to be the king of them all.

They will no longer form two nations or be two separate kingdoms, nor will they defile themselves again with their idols, their detestable practices and their sins. I shall free them from the guilt of their treachery; I shall cleanse them and they will be for Me a people and I shall be God for them.

My servant David will reign over them, one shepherd for all. They will live according to My laws and follow and practice My decrees. They will settle in the land I gave to My servant Jacob where their ancestors lived. There they will live forever, their children and their children’s children. David My servant will be their prince forever.

I shall establish a covenant of peace with them, an everlasting covenant. I shall settle them and they will increase and I shall put My sanctuary in their midst forever. I shall make My home at their side; I shall be their God and they will be My people. Then the nations will know that I am YHVH Who makes Israel holy, having My sanctuary among them forever.

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Friday, 23 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we approach the coming of the Holy Week, the readings taken from the Scriptures increasingly took up a very peculiar tone, to highlight the gravity and the importance of the events that would take place soon in the liturgical calendar of the Church. In today’s passage from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, we heard of the plotting which the wicked people of Judah plotted against the prophet Jeremiah, who came into their midst speaking God’s truth, and yet, he was rejected because of what he had told them.

The prophet Jeremiah had to endure much difficulty and opposition throughout his ministry among the people of Judah, and few believed in his message. They ridiculed him, made his life very difficult, and placed obstacles, one after another in his path. But the prophet Jeremiah, despite his occasional grumbling and complaints about his challenges and difficulties, he remained ultimately faithful to God and entrusted himself to Him.

God was with Jeremiah, and He guided him through those turbulent times, and despite all the challenges encountered by the prophet, he did not give up or stop his preaching and calling upon the people to turn away from their sinful ways. This is similar to what the Lord Jesus experienced, when He came into the world, bringing His truth and His salvation into our midst.

As we can see in the Gospel passage today, the Lord also encountered great opposition to His mission and work, because the people to whom He was sent, refused to believe in Him and they ridiculed and rejected Him just as their ancestors had done to the prophet Jeremiah. They refused to listen to Him, and hardened their hearts as they became angry at Jesus’ mention that He is the Son of God, the Messiah, sent into the world to correct all of mankind’s wrongs.

Instead of allowing God to enter into their hearts and listening to His offer of mercy and forgiveness, they resolutely continued down the path of their rebelliousness, and they were in fact the ones who would also reject the Lord before the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, when they were asked to choose between the Lord Jesus and the murderer Barabbas. They called out for His death and said in a loud voice, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the attitude that many of us have also either willingly or unwillingly taken in our lives. We have not allowed God to enter into our hearts and minds, and we close ourselves up from Him. We would not listen to Him and preferred to follow our own ways and thoughts instead. And that is why we have fallen into sin and became distant from God.

Today, let us all look upon the example of a particular saint, whose feast day we celebrate on this day, that is St. Turibius de Mogrovejo. He was a Spanish priest who was appointed to be the Archbishop of Lima in Peru, then part of Spanish America. He was remembered for his great piety and commitment to God, living honest and good life in accordance to God’s will.

St. Turibius de Mogrovejo showed great concern for the poor, the sick and those who were oppressed in the society. He established many houses and schools to care for them and to provide for their needs. He also championed for the case of the slaves and all those who were often prejudiced against by the society. He was also committed to serve the needs of his flock, entrusted to him by God. He enforced a stricter standard amongst the clergy, which by then had fallen into corruption and scandal. He even excommunicated the members of the clergy who had corrupt dealings and persecuted the native peoples of the Americas.

St. Turibius de Mogrovejo showed us all, how to live as true Christians, by doing God’s will and turning away from wickedness and sin. We must not allow our ego and pride to be in the way of our salvation in God, but instead, let us all be humble and be open to God’s mercy doing its work in our lives. Let us all make this our resolution from now on, that we no longer live to serve our own selfish desires and our ego, but instead, to serve the Lord with all of our hearts and with all of our strength.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to guide us in this life, that we may progress in our journey of faith towards Him and find in Him the eternal life and the salvation that we are looking forward to, each and every day of our life. May all of us be reconciled with Him through our genuine repentance and turning away from our sins, and by embracing His ways, as His holy saint, St. Turibius de Mogrovejo had done. St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, pray for us. Amen.

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Friday, 23 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 10 : 31-42

At that time, the Jews then picked up stones to throw at Jesus; so He said, “I have openly done many good works among you, which the Father gave Me to do. For which of these do you stone Me?”

The Jews answered, “We are not stoning You for doing a good work, but for insulting God; You are only a Man, and You make Yourself God.” Then Jesus replied, “Is this not written in your law : I said, you are gods? So those who received this word of God were called gods, and the Scripture is always true.”

“What then should be said of the One anointed, and sent into the world, by the Father? Am I insulting God when I say, ‘I am the Son of God?’ If I am not doing the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if I do them, even if you have no faith in Me, believe because of the works I do; and know that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.”

Again they tried to arrest Him, but Jesus escaped from their hands. He went away again to the other side of the Jordan, to the place where John had baptised, and there He stayed. Many people came to Jesus, and said, “John worked no miracles, but he spoke about You, and everything he said was true.” And many became believers in that place.

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Friday, 23 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, Bishop (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 17 : 2-3a, 3bc-4, 5-6, 7

I love You, o Lord, my Strength, the Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, my Deliverer and my God.

He is the Rock in Whom I take refuge. He is my Shield, my powerful Saviour, my Stronghold. I call on the Lord, Who is worthy of praise : He saves me from my enemies!

A deadly flood surrounded me, devillish torrents rushed at me; caught by the cords of the grave, I was brought to the snares of death.

But I called upon the Lord in my distress, I cried to my God for help; and from His Temple He heard my voice, my cry of grief reached His ears.

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Friday, 23 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Turibius de Mogrovejo, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Jeremiah 20 : 10-13

I hear many people whispering, “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Yes, denounce him!” All my friends watch me to see if I will slip : “Perhaps he can be deceived,” they say; “then we can get the better of him and have our revenge.”

But YHVH, a mighty Warrior, is with me. My persecutors will stumble and not prevail; that failure will be their shame and their disgrace will never be forgotten. YHVH, God of hosts, You test the just and probe the heart and mind.

Let me see Your revenge on them, for to You I have entrusted my cause. Sing to YHVH! Praise YHVH and say : He has rescued the poor from the clutches of the wicked!

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Thursday, 22 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the Lord Who made a covenant with His servant Abraham, as recorded in the Old Testament, saying that He would establish His descendants and bless them forever, because of the great faith which Abraham had shown to the Lord, by obeying Him and following Him at every moments of his life.

But in the Gospel passage today, we see how the Lord Jesus was angry at those people who called themselves the descendants of Abraham and Israel. They claimed to be the descendants of those who were good and faithful servants of God, but in their actions and deeds, and in their lack of faith in God, and in what the Lord Jesus had delivered to them, they were nothing like that of their illustrious predecessors.

As we heard in the Gospel passage today, the people accused Jesus of having colluded with Satan and worked with him in His teachings among the people, just because He told them the plain truth and reality, which they refused to listen to and to believe in, as those plain truth and reality were difficult to be accepted. Yet, that was what had afflicted them, the reality that the people had sinned and erred against God.

But God was truly a patient and compassionate God, Who does not let Himself be angered unnecessarily because of His people’s constant disobedience and waywardness. Indeed, they had erred many, many times, and despite constant reminders and messages sent to them through the prophets, they continued to disobey because they have hardened their hearts and closed off their ears and minds from receiving God’s truth.

They claimed that they were faithful to the Lord and that they have preserved His laws. However, in reality, they were only paying lip service to Him and did not truly love Him as they should have. They were only obeying the laws and the rules because they were following the traditions of their predecessors, without truly understanding and appreciating why they did all that they had done.

This is not what God wanted from them. What He wanted from them was true dedication and love, that they turn themselves completely towards Him, abandoning their sinful ways and all of their wayward behaviour. He wanted them all to be like their forefather, Abraham, in his faith and dedication, and in how they lived their lives, trusting in God and being good and righteous towards one another.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is what the Lord is also calling us to, during this season of Lent, that we turn away from all of our past bad and wicked habits, to embrace His ways and to repent from our sins wholeheartedly. Are we able to commit to this change in our way of life? This is surely not something that is too difficult for us to do? After all, let us think about it, that God Himself had done so much for us, so as to send us all His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to save us by His death on the cross.

And that cross, which Christ bore willingly in great suffering and pain towards Calvary, and on which He was hung above for all of the people to see, is the source of our salvation, and it is where all of the combined weight and consequences of our sins have been gathered and taken by Christ, that He suffered and died in our place. If we believe in Him and put ourselves completely in Him, entrusting our fate to Him, He will give us the succour from all of our sins, and we will be worthy of the grace of eternal life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we approach the coming celebration of the Holy Week and the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, let us all draw closer to God and deepen our relationship by spending our time in prayer, in contemplation and deeper understanding of our own sins, and by being more charitable and generous in our love for our fellow brothers and sisters. Let us turn towards God and turn our back away from our sins.

May the Lord bless us all, and may He be with us all throughout our journey of faith, that we may find our way into the eternal glory promised to us by the Lord. Amen.

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Thursday, 22 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 51-59

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “Truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never experience death.” The Jews replied, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets as well, but You say, ‘Whoever keeps My word will never experience death.’ Who do You claim to be? Do You claim to be greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets also died.”

Then Jesus said, “If I were to praise Myself, it would count for nothing. But He Who gives glory to Me is the Father, the very One you claim as your God, although you do not know Him. I know Him, and if I were to say that I do not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I know Him and I keep His word. As for Abraham, your ancestor, he looked forward to the day when I would come; and he rejoiced when he saw it.”

The Jews then said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old and You have seen Abraham?” And Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” They then picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and left the Temple.

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Thursday, 22 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 104 : 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

Look to the Lord and be strong; seek His face always. Remember His wonderful works, His miracles and His judgments.

You descendants of His servant Abraham, you sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the Lord our God; His judgments reach the whole world.

He remembers His covenant forever, His promise to a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the promise He swore to Isaac.

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Thursday, 22 March 2018 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 17 : 3-9

Abram fell face down and God said to him, “This is My covenant with you : you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer will you be called Abram, but Abraham, because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you more and more famous; I will multiply your descendants; nations shall spring from you, kings shall be among your descendants.”

“And I will establish a covenant, an everlasting covenant between Myself and you and your descendants after you; from now on I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you, for generations to come. I will give to you and your descendants after you the land you are living in, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession and I will be the God of your race.”

God said to Abraham, “For your part, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you, generation after generation.”