Fifth Sunday of Lent

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Thursday, 7 April 2022 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. John Baptist de la Salle, Priest (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.”

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Wednesday, 6 April 2022 : 5th Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are called to follow the Lord and to remember His providence and love, the compassion which He has shown to each and every one of us that we will be willing to open ourselves to Him, opening our hearts and minds so that we may listen to the words that our Lord and Father speak to us in the depth of our hearts and minds. Too often we have been stubborn and refused to listen to Him, and instead preferring to walk down our own path, which more often than not led us to ruin.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Daniel regarding the time when king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon built for himself a great golden statue in his own image, and ordered all of his subjects and peoples to bow down and prostrate themselves in worship of the golden statue. It was common at that time and throughout history for rulers to aggrandise themselves and even wanting to be worshipped as gods and treated as divinity. They built for themselves numerous palaces, temples and other edifices to highlight and emphasise their glory and power.

To this end, thus king Nebuchadnezzar, who had conquered the Assyrians and took over control of many realms and countries including that of Judah, glorified himself and forced his people to obey his commands. But among all the people assembled there, as we heard in that passage, only three dared to refuse to obey the king’s order. The king had ordered everyone to do as he commanded on the pain of death for those who refused to obey, and yet, Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah, known as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to the king, kept strong to their faith in God and chose rather to suffer and die rather than to abandon or betray their Lord and Master.

We heard the aftermath of what happened after the king of Babylon threw the three of them into a blazing furnace that was purposefully made far hotter because the defence that the three men placed before him angered him greatly. And yet, the three men were completely unharmed by the fire, and the king and everyone present witnessed the great miracle, and saw the Angel of God that God sent to safeguard them as the mysterious fourth man present in the fire with them. The Lord protected the three of them for their faith in Him and to show Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon the futility of his hubris, pride and ego.

In the end, God rescued His faithful ones and those who pride themselves in their own power and glory were ashamed and put down. In our Gospel passage today, we have then seen yet again how the Lord once more reached out to His people and gave them His deliverance and help, in Christ Jesus, the Saviour of the world and His beloved Son. By His coming into this world, He reached out to us who have been scattered and separated from Him due to sin. He showed us the path towards Him and how we can be reconciled with Him, forgiven from our sins that had separated us from Him.

However, as we heard, many among the people refused to listen to the Lord and even took offence at the words He said when He spoke of God as His Father. They also spoke of themselves as the children of Abraham and were displeased when the Lord said that they were still not free because of their attitude and refusal to listen to His words and truth. Essentially those same people proved the Lord’s words by their own actions, their lack of faith and continued stubborn resistance in not following the Law and commandments as the Lord told them to.

All these were because they were too proud to admit that they could have been wrong, and when the Lord came before them telling the truth and calling them to change their ways, they refused to do so, thinking that they knew better how to handle things and that they could not be wrong in their way of life. Unfortunately, this attitude in fact led them even further away from the Lord, preventing them from finding their way towards Him because their hearts and minds had been closed to Him. They trusted more in their own power and strength, rather than in the Lord, in stark contrast to the three friends of Daniel, whose story we heard in our first reading today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore seek the Lord with renewed faith and desire to love Him from now on. Let us humble ourselves before Him and not be like those who kept their prideful ways, like the king of Babylon or the people at the time of the Lord Jesus, who refused to believe in God and His truth, and even persecuted the faithful. Instead, we should be inspired by the faith of Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah, and remain firmly strong in our faith and dedication in God from now and always. May God bless us all and be with us all, through our journey of faith in life. Amen.

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Wednesday, 6 April 2022 : 5th Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 31-42

At that time, Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in Him, “You will be My true disciples, if you keep My word. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do you mean by saying : You will be free?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave does not stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free. I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want to kill Me because My word finds no place in you. For My part, I speak of what I have seen in My Father’s presence, but you do what you have learnt from your father.”

They answered Him, “Our father is Abraham.” Then Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did. But now you want to kill Me, the One Who tells you the truth – the truth that I have learnt from God. That is not what Abraham did; what you are doing are the works of your father.”

The Jews said to Him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God.” Jesus replied, “If God were your Father you would love Me, for I came forth from God, and I am here. And I did not come by My own decision, but it was He Himself Who sent Me.”

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Wednesday, 6 April 2022 : 5th Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Daniel 3 : 52, 53, 54, 55, 56

Blessed are You, Lord, God of our fathers, be praised and exalted forever. Blessed is Your holy and glorious Name, celebrated and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the Temple of Your sacred glory, Your praises are sung forever.

Blessed are You on the throne of Your kingdom, honoured and glorified forever.

Blessed are You Who fathom the depths, who are enthroned on the Cherubim, praised and exalted forever.

Blessed are You in the firmament of heaven, praised and glorified forever.

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Wednesday, 6 April 2022 : 5th Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Daniel 3 : 14-20, 91-92, 95

King Nebuchadnezzar questioned Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden statue I have set up? If you hear now the sound of horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and other instruments, will you fall down and worship the statue I made? If you will not, you know the punishment : you will immediately be thrown into a burning furnace. And then what god can deliver you out of my hands?”

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we need not defend ourselves before you on this matter. If you order us to be thrown into the furnace, the God we serve will rescue us. But even if He will not, we would like you to know, o king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden statue you have set up.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s face reddened with fury as he looked at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. He ordered the furnace to heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of his strongest soldiers to bind Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and throw them into the burning furnace.

Then king Nebuchadnezzar suddenly rose up in great amazement and asked his counsellors, “Did we not throw three men bound into the fire?” They answered, “Certainly.” The king said, “But I can see four men walking about freely through the fire, without suffering any harm; and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”

Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Who sent His Angel to free His servants, who, trusting in Him, disobeyed the king’s order; and preferred to give their bodies to the fire rather than serve and worship any other god but their God.”

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Tuesday, 5 April 2022 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Vincent Ferrer, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to remember our sinfulness and all of our unworthy actions that had led us to sin against God. The Lord has given us so many opportunities to be reconciled to Him and to find our way back to Him. However we are often stubborn and refused to listen to Him and His call to us, calling us to holiness and to be forgiven from our many sins and wickedness. For unless we are forgiven our sins and all those that kept us away from God and the fullness of His love, we will end up being judged and condemned by those same sins.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Numbers regarding the moment when the people of Israel rebelled against God, grumbled and complained against Him when they journeyed through the desert and were enduring the heat and hardships. However, they forgot how God had cared for them, how He led and guided them, showed them where to go and provided for them. He gave them water to drink and plenty of food to eat, in the form of the heavenly bread, the manna that they could collect every morning except on the day of the Sabbath,

Yet, they complained against God, complaining that they had no water to drink and were impatient, demanding for more things and comforts in life, even mentioning disgust at the manna although God had been ever so generous in providing them with that food to sustain them. It would not have been possible for the entire multitudes of the Israelites to sustain themselves in the desert without any help. And God made it all possible. The people had clearly forgotten the situation they had when they were once still enslaved in Egypt, when their lives and livelihood were at the total mercy of the Egyptians, enduring extortion and humiliation.

They refused to see how God has been so kind and compassionate towards them that He has always been patient in reaching out to them and in withstanding their constant disobedience and stubborn attitudes. God has always loved His people, but those same people were overcome by their greed and worldly desires, wanting more and thinking of pleasuring themselves first, and thus committed grievous sins against God. Fiery serpents therefore came into their midst and struck many of them, and many among the people died because of the fiery serpents.

Those fiery serpents were reminders of the punishments and the consequences of our sins. For although God is indeed most loving and merciful, but we must never forget that at the same time, He is holy, all good and perfect. Sin has no place before Him and should we come to Him with sinful hearts and minds, we will be struck down by those same sins we have committed, crushed, condemned and judged by those vile deeds and acts we had done. No sin can remain unaccounted for before the Lord, and we will have to answer for every sins we have against the Lord, be it great or small. And those rebellious Israelites tasted firsthand the consequences of their sins and disobedience against God.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord speaking to the people, especially many of the Jewish people who were skeptical of Him and His teachings. Some among them like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law opposed the Lord and even saw Him as a blasphemer, a fraud and a great threat of their power and influence within the community of the people of God. They doubted Him and questioned Him, His authority and teachings. Yet, the Lord continued to speak courageously and revealed to them what He would do for their sake, so that all those who believe in Him will not perish and be destroyed by their sins.

As we heard the Lord saying about Himself going to be raised up, as the Son of Man, being raised up between the heaven and the earth, we now know that He was in fact referring to the moment of His crucifixion, the time when He laid down His life for the sake of everyone. In the comparison which the Lord Jesus Himself made in another occasion with Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees who sympathised and believed in Him, just as Moses crafted and lifted up the bronze serpent as instructed by the Lord, He would also therefore be lifted up on His Cross, for everyone to see and to witness His Passion, suffering and death.

And just as all those who were bitten by the fiery serpents and looked upon the bronze serpent did not perish but lived, hence, all of us who gazed upon the Lord and His Cross, and believed in Him, all of us who have been bitten by the venom and sting of sin will also be saved and not perish. We will be spared from eternal death and suffering. We will enjoy forever the wonders of God’s love and will be fully reconciled to Him, provided we truly have that faith in us and believing that in Him alone we can find true happiness in this life. And we are all reminded of this fact today and are all called to draw ever closer to God.

We are reminded not to continue walking down the path of sin, and do our very best to follow the Lord and walk down His path from now on. Sin is something very dangerous and can easily trap even the best and the most righteous ones among us. We have to resist the temptations to sin and the pull of our desires. And for this, we can seek the help of our holy predecessors, such as St. Vincent Ferrer, a holy priest and servant of God whose life is a great inspiration for all of us. St. Vincent Ferrer was a Dominican preacher and friar who devoted his time and effort to bring the people of God ever closer to the Lord and to return to Him.

St. Vincent Ferrer spoke courageously about the Lord among the people, encouraging many people to seek Him and His mercy and forgiveness. St. Vincent Ferrer also worked hard to make peace among conflicting parties at that time, spending a lot of time and effort to abandon their sinful ways, and embracing the path of God’s salvation. The Lord has worked through St. Vincent Ferrer as well as through many other saints, holy men and women who had gone before us, to do His many great works in our midst. How about us then? Can we do the same as well?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called to find our way to the Lord with faith. Let us renew our love and faith in Him. May all of us be ever more committed to the Lord in all the things we do, and may we be good role models and inspirations for each other, in how we live our lives and devote our time and attention to the Lord. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 5 April 2022 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Vincent Ferrer, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

John 8 : 21-30

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “I am going away, and though you look for Me, you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” The Jews wondered, “Why does He say that we cannot come where He is going? Will He kill Himself?”

But Jesus said, “You are from below and I am from above; you are of this world and I am not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you shall die in your sins, unless you believe that I am He.” They asked Him, “Who are You?”; and Jesus said, “Just what I have told you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the One Who sent Me is truthful and everything I learnt from Him; I proclaim to the world.”

They did not understand that Jesus was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do nothing of Myself, but I say just what the Father taught Me. He Who sent Me is with Me and has not left Me alone; because I always do what pleases Him.”

As Jesus spoke like this, many believed in Him.

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Tuesday, 5 April 2022 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Vincent Ferrer, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 101 : 2-3, 16-18, 19-21

O Lord, hear my prayer; let my cry for help come to You. Do not hide Your face from me when I am in trouble. Turn Your ear to me; make haste to answer me when I call.

O Lord, the nations will revere Your Name, and the kings of the earth Your glory, when the Lord will rebuild Zion and appear in all His splendour. For He will answer the prayer of the needy and will not despise their plea.

Let this be written for future ages, “The Lord will be praised by a people He will form.” From His holy height in heaven, the Lord has looked on the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoners, and free those condemned to death.

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Tuesday, 5 April 2022 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Vincent Ferrer, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Numbers 21 : 4-9

From Mount Hor they set out by the Red Sea road to go around the land of Edom. 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.

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Monday, 4 April 2022 : 5th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Isidore, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are reminded of God’s kindness and love, His mercy and compassion, and at the same time we are also being reminded of the dangers of sin, and how those sins can lead us down the path of ruin as proven by our predecessors, and from what we have heard earlier today in our first reading taken from the Book of Daniel. Now that we are almost at the end of the season of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week, we are all invited to come ever closer to the Lord and to His throne of mercy and love.

In our first reading today, as mentioned, we heard from the Book of Daniel of the story that happened with Susanna, the daughter of a renowned Israelite exile in Babylon, who was beautiful in appearance and tempted two of the elders of the people who saw her and were mesmerised by her beauty. They were tempted with desire and lust, and gave in to their temptations, plotting to impose their will on her and lay on her. Despite being the elders and therefore supposedly as the role models for the entire community, they allowed themselves to be easily swayed by those temptations and fell into sin.

And not only that, after having attempted to do the wicked deed and failed, as Susanna refused to be forced or coaxed into the sinful act against God, they tried to destroy her and have her sentenced to death in order to silence her and remove her as a living testament to their own failures and wickedness. They acted in self-preservation, selfishly trying to protect themselves and for their own personal gains over their duties and responsibilities as the custodians and elders of the people of God, as those who should have shown good examples for the rest of the people.

They almost managed to get the entire assembly to condemn Susanna to death by making use of their position, respect that they had within the community and other leverages that prevented Susanna from even defending herself, as no one would have believed her over the two elders, given the vile plots that those elders had against Susanna in making false accusations against her. But God protected her and provided for her in the time of her greatest need, by sending His Spirit into Daniel, who was still a young man then, and through the Wisdom that God imparted to him through His Spirit, Daniel managed to overturn the judgment of the two elders.

Indeed, he did not only cause Susanna to be spared from the false accusations and death, but he also revealed the wickedness of the two elders’ actions, showing the inconsistencies of their false accusations and words, eventually revealing by their own words, their vile intentions and their sins. And thus, God helped those who have been faithful to Him, while those who have failed to resist the temptations to sin and even indulge in it, would be punished accordingly. They would be judged according to the sins and faults they had made, and through the vile intentions they had against the righteous.

We heard something similar in our Gospel passage today as well, in what we have also heard in our Sunday Gospel passage just yesterday, on the well-known story of the Lord Jesus and how He forgave the woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had made use of her to be an example and also as a trap for the Lord, asking Him on what to be done with her. We have to understand that the Lord often worked among the marginalised, sinners and all those who have been considered as unworthy and corrupted by others.

Therefore, if the Lord had directly said to the woman that He forgave her, then the Pharisees could have persecuted or even arrested the Lord there and then under the charge of disobeying the Law of God or even in blaspheming by claiming to be able to forgive sin, or at least they could severely undermine and discredit the Lord by saying that He was a sinner Himself for siding with sinners against God’s Law and commandments. On the other hand, if the Lord were to say that she ought to be stoned to death, then the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law could have also discredited the Lord by saying that He was merely a copycat, following the examples of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law.

Thus, what was truly wicked is the intention that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had in bringing the adulterous woman before the Lord, in not only wanting to persecute her, but even in making use of her for their own self-advantage and benefits, in trying to destroy the Lord, which was not much different from what happened between Susanna and the two elders from the time of Daniel. But the Lord through His great Wisdom told them firmly that should anyone in the assembly then had no sin, then he or she was the one who had the right to cast the first stone at the woman.

And since everyone knew that they were sinners, without being able to admit or pretend that they did not have any sin, hence, they left the Lord and the woman alone. We have to take note that as the Son of Man, the Lord Himself was without sin, and He as the Lord also at the same time have the power and authority to judge the woman for her actions, to condemn her according to the Law. Yet, He gave her the opportunity to change herself, allowing her to turn away from the path of sin, and giving her a new lease of life. He told her to sin no longer and embrace His righteousness and truth from then on.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, what we have heard from these readings of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the dangers of sin and our own desires and all the things that often mislead us into the path of sin, as the example of the elders, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law have shown us. We must not let those things from undermining our progress towards God and His saving path. But it will not be an easy path for us to follow, as challenges, temptations and obstacles will be in our path going forward in life.

That is why we should follow the good examples of St. Isidore, the saint whose feast day we are celebrating today. St. Isidore, also known as St. Isidore of Seville, was a renowned scholar, philosopher and theologian who was also the longtime Archbishop of Seville. His many works in defending the faith and in spreading the Gospels had been very inspirational to the many people both in his lifetime and afterwards. His dedication to the reform of the Church practices and eradication of heresies and false teachings are also crucial not only to his local Church but also to the wider Christendom.

His dedication and commitment to the Lord should be source of inspiration for all of us to follow, that we may also strive to purify ourselves from the temptations to sin, and reject the false ways of the devil and all the forces of evil, which are all arrayed against us, in trying to prevent us from finding our way to God and His salvation. Let us all follow in the footsteps of St. Isidore and the many other holy predecessors, our brothers and sisters who had devoted their lives to God and lead exemplary and good Christian lives so that we may ourselves be good inspiration for one another in faith.

May God bless us all in our every efforts and good deeds, and do our best to walk in the path that He has shown us. Let us commit ourselves anew to Him, and be faithful as we should, to the Lord, at all times, sinning no more and striving to lead a better and holier way of life, from now on and always. Amen.