following God

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Wednesday, 2 December 2015 : 1st Week of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 22 : 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul.

He guides me through the right paths for His Name’s sake. Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are beside me : Your rod and Your staff comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life, I shall dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

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Monday, 30 November 2015 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, Feast Day of the Church of Constantinople (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Romans 10 : 9-18

You are saved if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart you believe that God raised Him from the dead. By believing from the heart, you obtain true righteousness; by confessing the faith with your lips you are saved.

For Scripture says : ‘No one who believes in Him will be ashamed.’ Here there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; all have the same Lord, Who is very generous with whoever calls on Him. Truly, all who call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.

But how can they call upon the Name of the Lord without having believed in Him? And how can they believe in Him without having first heard about Him? And how will they hear about Him if no one preaches about Him? And how will they preach about Him if no one sends them?

As Scripture says : ‘How beautiful are the feet of the messenger of Good News.’ Although not everyone obeyed the Good News, as Isaiah said : ‘Lord, who has believed in our preaching?’ So, faith comes from preaching, and preaching is rooted in the word of Christ.

I ask : Have the Jews not heard? But of course they have. Because the voice of those preaching resounded all over the earth and their voice was heard to the ends of the world.

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Sunday, 29 November 2015 : First Sunday of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 24 : 4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14

Teach me Your ways, o Lord; make known to me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and instruct me, for You are my God, my Saviour.

Good and upright, the Lord teaches sinners His way. He teaches the humble of heart and guides them in what is right.

The ways of the Lord are love and faithfulness for those who keep His covenants and precepts. The Lord gives advice to those who revere Him and makes His covenant known to them.

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Saturday, 21 November 2015 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 12 : 46-50

At that time, while Jesus was still talking to the people, His mother and His brothers wanted to speak to Him, and they waited outside. So someone said to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside; they want to speak with You.”

Jesus answered, “Who is My mother? Who are My brothers?” Then He pointed to His disciples and said, “Look! Here are My mother and My brothers. Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is for Me brother, sister or mother.”

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Thursday, 12 November 2015 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Wisdom 7 : 22 – Wisdom 8 : 1

Because Wisdom, Who designed them all, taught me. In her is a Spirit that is intelligent, saintly, unique, manifold, subtle, active, concise, pure and lucid. It cannot corrupt, loves what is hood and nothing can restrain it; it is beneficent, loving humankind, steadfast, dependable, calm though Almighty. It sees everything and penetrates all spirits, however intelligent, subtle and pure they may be.

Wisdom, in fact, surpasses in mobility all that moves, and being so pure pervades and permeates all things. She is a breath of the power of God, a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; nothing impure can enter her. She is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of God’s action and an image of His goodness.

She is but one, yet Wisdom can do all things and, herself unchanging, she renews all things. She enters holy souls, making them prophets and friends of God, for God loves only those who live with Wisdom. She is indeed more beautiful than the sun and surpasses all the constellations; she outrivals light, for light gives way to night, but evil cannot prevail against Wisdom.

Wisdom displays her strength from one end of the earth to the other, ordering all things rightly.

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Tuesday, 10 November 2015 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 17 : 7-10

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “Who among you would say to your servant, coming in from the fields after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Go ahead and have your dinner’? No, you tell him, ‘Prepare my dinner. Put on your apron, and wait on me while I eat and drink. You can eat and drink afterwards.'”

“Do you thank this servant for doing what you told him to do? I do not think so. And therefore, when you have done all that you have been told to do, you should say, ‘We are no more than servants; we have only done our duty.'”

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Tuesday, 10 November 2015 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 33 : 2-3, 16-17, 18-19

I will bless the Lord all my days; His praise will be ever on my lips. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the lowly hear and rejoice.

The eyes of the Lord are fixed on the righteous; His ears are inclined to their cries. But His face is set against the wicked to destroy their memory from the earth.

The Lord hears the cry of the righteous and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the distraught.

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Monday, 9 November 2015 : Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Archbasilica of St. John Lateran (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate a great feast day, a great solemnity in commemoration of the dedication of the hreatest church in Christendom. For today we celebrate the dedication of the Cathedral of Rome, the seat of authority of the Bishop of Rome who is the Vicar of Christ and the Leader of the Universal Church, and therefore the principal church among all churches in the world.

Then one may think, that is place is the Papal Basilica of St. Peter in Vatican. However, that is not the case, for indeed, while the Papal Basilica of St. Peter is also a very important church, dedicated for St. Peter the first Pope and Vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ, and built above his place of martyrdom and his tomb, but it is second in preeminence to the Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.

It is in this Archbasilica, that the Pope our Leader has his Cathedra, that is his throne, the throne exceeding all other cathedras, as the primary and chief seat of authority encompassing the whole world and the whole Church of God. This was the very first church that was built after the end of the great persecutions of the faithful, and the sign of the ultimate triumph of the Faith and the Church.

For it was donated to the Pope by the first ever Christian Emperor of the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine the Great, who enacted the Edict of Milan that ended persecutions against the Faith. This great Archbasilica was thus built, and then dedicated on this day over seventeen centuries ago, and dedicated firstly to our Lord, the Most Holy Saviour, and the saints, St. John the Baptist, His herald, and His Apostle, St. John the Evangelist.

This is reflected in its full official name, as the Papal Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and Saints John the Baptist and the Evangelist in Lateran, Mother and Head of all churches in Rome and in the world. This designation marks it as the heart of Christendom, and the focal point to which all the faithful in the Church ought to turn themselves to, in obedience to the Pope and the holy traditions and teachings of the Church.

And on this joyous occasion, when we celebrate the dedication of this great Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, we are called to reflect about what is the Temple of God, its significance, the holiness that should be associated with it, and how it is relevant to all of us, as God’s faithful and as He dwell with us, and as we gather and exist in His holy presence. It is important that we take note how we ought to live in accordance to this fact.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? First we have to take note of what Jesus had done in the Gospel today, where He came into the Temple courtyard with His disciples, and seeing how so many merchants, tax collectors, money changers and many other people who performed acts and works contrary to the way of the Lord, where cheating, bribery and love for money were commonplace.

He took a whip and chased out all of the merchants and money changers, and chased their goods and money out with them, that the Temple grounds might be purified from all of the impurities and wickedness that had filled it and defiled it. What Jesus had done, was an example for all of us to follow. He purified the Temple of God, the House of God’s dwelling on earth, so that God who is holy and perfect in all things will dwell in a truly holy edifice without the taints of wickedness of the world.

Thus, before a church, or a cathedral or a basilica can be utilised for the purpose of the Holy Mass and divine worship, they must first be consecrated and made holy first. No Mass can be said on the altar and in the Church before these have been consecrated to God and prepared in holiness. This is how the celebration of today’s memorial of the dedication of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran is very important, as this greatest, mother and head of all churches in the world was consecrated on this very day.

And even more importantly for each and every one of us, do we realise that each one of us is also a holy Temple of the Lord, the place of His dwelling on earth? This is because all of us who have been made a member of the Church have been welcomed into the unity in the Lord, cleansed by our baptism, the Sacrament of Baptism, when the holy water and holy oils anointed us and purified us from all of our past sins. We have also been claimed as the children of God, by the seal of the Most Holy Name of the Trinity.

And by the Sacrament of Confirmation, the Holy Spirit Himself dwells in us. And the Spirit dwells in our hearts, and we become the Temple of the Holy Spirit, God Who dwells in us, as St. Paul have elaborated in his letter to the faithful and the Church in Corinth, where he exhorted that all of the faithful should keep themselves pure and holy, for God Himself dwells in us, and if we are unworthy and allow wickedness, darkness and sins to corrupt this Temple, then we are accountable for that.

For we cannot forget that the third of the three important Sacraments of Initiation, namely Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist, is God Himself Who had made Himself to take up the flesh of Man, so that by this act, He may dwell in us and be united with us, by the giving of His own Body and Blood, the Flesh that has become His very essence, that God now dwells in all of us who have worthily received Him in the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

By this, we are even more affirmed in our status as the Holy Temple and the Holy Dwelling and Place of our God, the dwelling He has on this earth, that is in the heart, mind, soul and bodies of all those who are faithful to God and keep themselves holy and pure. If we do not keep ourselves worthy, holy and pure, then we just have to look at the Gospel today of what God will do to us.

He will drive all those who are wicked and unrepentant away from His presence, just as He had done the same towards the money changers and merchants who tainted His House with vile, wickedness in all its various forms and sin. God will not tolerate sin in His presence, and unless we repent and purify ourselves from all of our past wickedness, we will not have a share in His everlasting glory and life.

Therefore today, as we celebrate this great solemnity of the dedication of the greatest Church of Christendom, let us all also remember ourselves as God’s Holy Temples on earth, and how we need to preserve our state of sanctity and purity or else we are actually blaspheming and disrespecting God, for we spurn His Name and holiness by our wicked actions, and we are a scandal to Him.

Therefore, let us remind ourselves and discipline ourselves, so that just as Jesus used a whip to cast out all of the merchants, the money lenders and changers, and all of their animals and vile money, let us all also keep our lives holy, that our Body, the Temple of God and His Residence may remain holy and worthy of our Lord, so that we may always receive God’s grace and blessings, and not instead curses and damnation.

May Almighty God bless us all, strengthen us all in our resolve to live our lives with true faith and devotion. May He bless us in all of our endeavours and shine upon us on our way at all times. God be with us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 8 November 2015 : Thirty-Second (32nd) Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this sacred and holy day of the Lord, we heard about the Lord our God Who shows great love and concern for us, the providence which He will give to all those who clung themselves strongly to Him, and He will bless all those who have given their all and devoted their all for the sake of the Lord their God.

And we heard about the story of two poor and suffering woman in both the first reading today from the Book of Kings, and in the poor woman from the Gospel of St. Mark, who gave all the possessions she had, despite herself having difficulties to persevere in her own difficult life. But what Jesus wanted to tell us is that, her gifts and offerings, being given out through times of difficulty is truly a genuine gift pleasing to the Lord.

For Jesus showed rightly that those who are rich, when they gave to the poor or donated money to the Temple treasury, they tried to outdo the other man in our giving to all those who needed them. While they gave what they had, they gave from their plenty and had no concerns or qualms about giving what they had, whereas the woman who had so little, still yet gave from her own pocket, whatever she could give to help the Temple building at that time.

In trying to glorify the Lord by her actions and by her dedication, she has shown all of us true and genuine faith, and a courageous and real commitment to the Lord, by giving all she had without worry or concerns for this world and for whatever she had in this world. She placed her trust completely and entirely in the Lord, and in doing so, she will indeed receive eternal and glorious reward of heaven.

But yet, at the same time, we have to take note that Jesus was not condemning the rich and those who have many possessions and things of this world. For we know of the rich people and those who have much with them, who have generously given from their own coffers to help others who are in need, and for various other good purposes and deeds.

The key here is that when we give to others, and we give something that belongs to us to help other who are around us, we have to be sincere and devoted in our giving, and we cannot give with the expectation that whoever we gave to, we demand them to return the gift in the same manner. And when we give something, let us not be too concerned about the loss we incur because of our giving.

Why is this so, brethren? This is important as it is our tendency to grow too attached to what we have, and we do not like it when we need to lose them or to part ways with them, because it is in our human nature to always desire for more things, to accumulate what we already have to get even more of them. It is this attachment that is so harmful and so dangerous for us, as unchecked, they can bring about ruin to our souls.

The wealth and possessions that we have, they are in themselves not evil or wicked in nature, for they are just objects and tools that can indeed be used for the purpose of evil, as well as for good purposes and for the benefit of all those who are around us. It is in how we use them, that we can effect either good or bad things upon others, and it is in how we look at them and treat these that we can use them for good or evil, and in doing so bringing either blessings or disgrace and condemnation upon our souls.

The Lord wanted us all to know that if we want to love Him and if we want to be truly faithful to Him, then there is truly no greater price to pay than our total devotion and commitment, and the full trust that we all should place in Him, our Lord, Master and Saviour. Just like the widow of Zarephath who suffered greatly from the famine that came over Israel because of their disobedience, she had less and less food, and soon enough, her food stock would run out and she and her son would perish.

But the prophet Elijah came to her seeking for help and food, and when she voiced her concerns, Elijah told her not to worry, for the Lord Who is loving and kind to all those who put their trust in Him will provide all that is needed for sustenance and survival, as well as joy and happiness for His people. He will not abandon them to suffer in need without what they need, and He will in His own ways, bless His people and grant them help.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, God proved His love and commitment to help His people, by showing His everlasting providence through the flour jar that never finished, and the jug of oil that never ran out. In this, He wanted the widow of Zarephath and all of us to know that if we put our trust and complete faith in Him, then we truly have nothing to be worried about.

Remember on another occasion Jesus told His disciples and the people about how God blessed the beautiful flowers in the field and the birds with colourful feathers and various raiments of colour with much blessings, and how if He has blessed these with such great blessings then we should not need to worry if we put our trust in Him. In one way or another, in His own way, He will take very good care of us.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us make use of the opportunities that God has given us, and let us use whatever blessings He has graced us with, we may share the goods and the joys we have with one another. Let us not be greedy or be selfish, in selfishly keeping all the wealth, goods and blessings of God to ourselves. May God awaken in all of our hearts the desire to love one another, so that we may realise that even if we are in unfortunate condition, there are always those who are poorer and who are in greater suffering than us.

Let us all act now, and from now on let us all devote ourselves completely to serve the Lord in all the things we do, and let us all commit ourselves to care about each other, and sharing the joys we have received from the Lord. May Almighty God, our Lord bless our endeavours and keep us always in His grace. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 7 November 2015 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day in continuation from yesterday’s readings, we are faced yet again with the stark reality and truth about living in this world full of temptations and challenges, and how we ought to make a stand and a clear choice on our conscience and actions, so that we will fully and completely submit ourselves to the will of God and seek to do all of His will.

It was highlighted yet once again, that we cannot be servants to both God and to money. If we serve one and try to please one, then we are very likely going to anger and displease the other. We cannot please and satisfy both God and worldly possessions, just as we cannot please God and Satan at the same time. Either we walk in the path of the Lord and be saved, or we walk in the path of sin with Satan and be together condemned with him for eternity.

Yet, as I have discussed yesterday, many of us are ambivalent and without a clear stand or without the courage to stand up for our faith. Rather than following our Lord and God with zeal and with total devotion, we allow ourselves to be bought over by the world and all of its temptations, all of which are designed, and have indeed been designed by the devil and his angels to lure us away from the salvation in God.

And many of us do not take this seriously, for we think that in small matters or in small faults and sins can be let go and tolerated, for after all those things are indeed small matter, are they not? Unfortunately, Jesus made it very clear through today’s Gospel passage, that those who cannot be trusted with small matters, cannot be entrusted with large matters.

This means that we must not overlook or be ignorant even about small sins and faults that we often do and commit in our daily lives. Even opening ourselves a little to the taste of sin and wickedness would allow the devil to come in and seize an even greater opportunity to corrupt us and our souls. As a result, we commit even more and greater sins, that eventually will threaten to destroy us.

Therefore, it is imperative that we remain vigilant and strong at all times. It is important that we should commit ourselves ever more to the protection of our Lord, and strengthening our own spiritual defences against the assaults of the evil one, his temptations and lies. In order to do so, then we have to really make the effort to bring up the habit of prayer, charity and love in our own respective lives.

Yes, let us all commit ourselves to a life devoted to the Lord, obeying His laws and precepts, and walking faithfully in His path, and showing that faith we have for Him through real and concrete dedication to our fellow brethren. That means if someone is in despair and in condition without hope, let us be the bearers of hope, and when someone is unloved, ostracised and suffering, let us share with them our love.

It is this sharing of love, joy and hope with one another that is the essence of our Christian faith, which requires us to show that love which we ought to have for our Lord, and the same love that we also need to show each other, at least as great as the love, care and concern which we show towards ourselves. And if we have love in us, then we have no need to worry, for that love and genuine faith will shield us from the temptations and challenges presented to us by the devil.

Let us all therefore renew our faith in the Lord, and commit ourselves completely to His love, and from now on, let our every actions and every moments of our lives, we use them for the good of one another, and for the benefit of all mankind, that by our actions, we may bring each other ever closer to the salvation in our God. God bless us all. Amen.