first American saint

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Tuesday, 23 August 2016 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded that whatever it is we face in life, and no matter all that we experience through our earthly existence, we should keep our focus firmly on the Lord and not to be distracted by the many things and temptations that will keep us away and pull us away from the path to attain the salvation found only in our God alone.

In the first reading, the Lord reminded us through St. Paul His Apostle, that we should be wary and be vigilant of the false prophets and all the lies which they spread around us, as these would become obstacles and hindrances on our path as we walk towards the Lord. There are many of those opposed to us being saved in the Lord, not least of which is the forces of the devil and his allies.

It is the ultimate objective of the evil one in trying to subvert our attempt to find our way to the Lord, and it is imperative for him to try to make us stumble on our journey, for in his great pride and jealousy against God, as well as against the love and honour which God had accorded to us from the very beginning, he has declared war against Adam and all of his descendants.

Indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ has already come and died for our sake, that we might be freed and be liberated from our sins. However, it does not mean that we who still live in this world should then be complacent and be lax in our way of life that we may fall into the traps set upon our path by those who do not take kindly seeing us all be freed from our troubles and proceeding towards our salvation and life in God.

We should heed what our Lord Jesus told us in the Gospel, when He spoke out against the wickedness and the lack of faith among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, which led to the people being misled in their life and in their faith, by the obsession with appearances and with worldliness, as the emphasis on God and on our relationship with Him was lost, and instead was replaced with the emphasis on human and worldly status.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, when we worship the Lord, it is important that our interior orientation is properly attuned to the Lord, or else, we may lose our focus and instead of focusing on God, we become inappropriately focused on ourselves and on our own human frailties and all the things that led us to sin. It is important therefore that we spend some time to think about how we live our lives in order to be truly faithful to the Lord.

Let us all look at the examples of St. Rose of Lima, the holy saint whose feast we are celebrating today. She was an ordinary woman whose extraordinary life and devotion to God elevated her to the glory of heaven, and we all can learn from her life examples. She is the first saint from the Americas, then known as the New World, a woman of astounding beauty and charm.

Many young men, both rich and poor, influential and powerful tried to woo her and get her into marriage with them, but she turned away from all of them, because since her youth, she had promised that she would live a holy and chaste life devoted to God alone. Her parents opposed that decision, but she continued to persevere on despite the challenges.

She was well known for her great piety and devotion, often engaged in self-mortification and resisting the temptations of the flesh and the world. She was known to wear a heavy silver crown with spikes that pierced into the skin and the flesh of her head to remind her of her mortality and the futility of human fame, glory and all the false lies and promises that Satan tempted us with in this world.

Certainly the examples of St. Rose of Lima should inspire us to devote our lives in a similar manner. We should resist those temptations of the flesh, and all the things that have become obstacles on our path, that is our unrestrained desires, the pulling force of greed and human frailties, and instead, push on through, inspired by St. Rose of Lima and the other holy saints, to lead an ever more devoted life, not just by appearances alone, but also through real action, through charity and love, by caring for all those who are less fortunate around us.

May God see in us the light of the love which He had shown us, and may He bless us and our endeavours, so that through our good works, we may be justified in our faith and draw ever closer to His presence. May God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Tuesday, 23 August 2016 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

Matthew 23 : 23-26

At that time, Jesus said to the crowd and to His disciples, “Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You do not forget the mint, anise and cumin seeds when you demand the tenth of everything, but then you forget what is most fundamental in the Law : justice, mercy and faith. These you must practice, instead of neglecting them. Blind guides! You strain out a mosquito, but swallow a camel.”

“Woe to you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You fill the plate and the cup with theft and violence, and then pronounce a blessing over them. Blind Pharisee! Purify the inside first, then the outside too will be purified.”

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Tuesday, 23 August 2016 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

Psalm 95 : 10, 11-12a, 12b-13

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.

Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound; let the fields exult and everything in them.

Let the forest, all the trees, sing for joy. Let them sing before the Lord Who comes to judge the earth. He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.

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Tuesday, 23 August 2016 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Virgins)

2 Thessalonians 2 : 1-3a, 14-17

Brothers and sisters, let us speak about the coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord, and our gathering to meet Him. Do not be easily unsettled. Do not be alarmed by what a prophet says or by any report, or by some letter said to be ours, saying the day of the Lord is at hand.

Do not let yourselves be deceived in any way. To this end He called you through the Gospel we preach, for He willed you to share the glory of Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of that, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold to the traditions that we taught you by word or by letter.

May Christ Jesus our Lord Who has loved us, may God our Father, Who in His mercy gives us everlasting comfort and true hope, strengthen you. May He encourage your hearts and make you steadfast in every good work and word.

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Friday, 23 August 2013 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Rose of Lima, Virgin (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listen to the very heart of our faith as how it was explained by Jesus Himself. The Law and commandments of the Lord, the entirety of the divine laws itself had been summed up as love. Yes, love for both God and for our fellow men. All the laws and the rules God had given to His people through Moses and the prophets, are really about showing our love to both He who created us and our fellow brethren, the same children of God.

The entirety of the laws and regulations God had given His people was indeed to guide them that they know what to do in their lives, and will not fall easily into the traps of Satan. Indeed, ever since mankind rebelled against God during the days of Adam and Eve, our ancestors, mankind had ever been under the thrall of the evil one. God who liberated His people from the tyranny of the Pharaohs and the Egyptians therefore also want to free His people from the true slavemasters, that is Satan.

However, liberating His people would not have been easy, as we have been corrupted by sin, and evil had darkened our hearts. We have therefore been rendered unworthy of our Lord and Creator, who is good and perfect. We had shunned the love of God for the temptations of Satan. That was evident even after God had shown His power and brought His people out of the land of Egypt into the Promised Land He promised them and eventually gave them.

Those laws are meant to remind and keep the people in the ways of the Lord, that they will truly grow to be worthy of God, and be worthy of being God’s children and chosen ones. Sadly, by the time of Jesus, the laws had been taken out of its original purpose and context, ending up in the law being observed for the sake of being observed, that is the Law had become an obligation rather than something that truly lives in the hearts of mankind.

The Law of God had instead become a set of rituals that people followed, but the Lord is not in their hearts, because what they are observing is the law of men instead of the law of love, the true Law. That was what Jesus was trying to rectify by teaching the truth about God and His Law. He showed us that the Law is actually not about following rituals or a set of rules, and if we disobey them, we will be punished. The Law was truly God’s love for us, showing all of us, how to love Him and become His loving children.

Jesus reminded His disciples, the people of God, and ultimately all of us today, that the Law must truly live within each one of our hearts. Yes, the Law of love, our love for God, and our love for our fellow men, for everyone without exception. That was the main points that Jesus wanted to stress to each one of us, to keep God’s commandments, not just within us, but also in our actions, our words, and our deeds.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Rose of Lima, also known as St. Rosa of Lima. She is the very first saint from the Americas, the New World. St. Rose of Lima was born in Lima, Peru, in the then Spanish America. She was truly a devout and dedicated servant of God, who was greatly inspired by her faith to do more in the service of God and her fellow brethren. She vowed to remain pure and holy all her life, by pledging a virgin life before God, and despite her parents’ objection, she continued to do her best to pursue her passion in life, that is God.

She prayed fervently and worked with love, sharing her love with everyone she met and everyone she worked with. St. Rose also even wore a silver crown with thorns to remind her of the suffering of Christ wearing the crown of thorns during His Passion, that she would be ever mindful of the suffering and love Christ had shown to her and all of us in order to save us. In St. Rose of Lima, we can indeed see the extent of the love and dedication she had for God and also for her fellow men. This is what the Lord wants from us, and this is the only way that we cam truly follow God’s commandments, not by obeying rules or observing rituals, but by loving one another and loving God, just as St. Rose of Lima had shown us through her own life examples.

We have to devote ourselves to the Lord unconditionally as St. Rose had done, and as Ruth, the holy woman and ancestor of David had done, as we read in the First Reading today. We have to truly give ourselves fully to God, the gift of our hearts, our soul, and all of our beings, that we truly reflect God in all the things that we do, that we truly obey His will and His commandments, and therefore, be made worthy of Him once again, and deserve the eternal reward of life and glory in heaven, which Christ had prepared for us. May the Lord bless us, and through the example and intercession of St. Rose of Lima, may we all be inspired to love God better, serve God better, and commit ourselves more to Him, and do the same to our fellow brothers and sisters. Amen.