Founder of the Jesuits

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Monday, 31 July 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the story of how the Israelites rebelled against God in the first reading from the Book of Exodus, telling us about that time when the people of Israel chose to build for themselves a pagan idol, a golden calf to be worshipped as god instead of the One and only True God Who had brought them out from the land of Egypt.

They have rebelled against God and forgotten the love and mercy which He had shown them, when He brought them out of the land of their slavery. They suffered grievously in Egypt under the tyranny of the Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and God remembered them and the promise which He had made with Abraham and their forefathers. God sent ten great plagues upon Egypt which forced the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go free, and when he reneged on that and sent his chariots after the Israelites, God destroyed the entire armies of the Egyptians in the Red Sea.

But despite the wonders that He had shown them, and despite the guidance and help which He had given them throughout their journey, the Israelites still chose to commit sin by raising up for themselves a pagan idol, a god that they established to be their god and saviour, as the one who brought them out of Egypt, just because Moses went up the Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights to receive God's laws and commandments.

They thought that God had abandoned them, and therefore, they quickly lost faith in Him and turned to alternative sources of comfort and hope, that is in the pagan worship of the false gods and idols, one that they must have been exposed to during their time in Egypt. A golden calf is one among the many deities worshipped and held sacred by the Egyptians, and thus Israel sinned against God.

We may be wondering why did the Israelites do such a thing, that is to rebel against God and to disobey His commandments. But the answer to this is really the fact that the Israelites did not allow the Word of God and His truth to develop inside of them. They witnessed all the miraculous deeds of God and listened to His words and covenant, as delivered unto them through Moses, but they did not allow them to grow in them. Their faith was a superficial faith.

In the Gospel today, Jesus spoke to His disciples about the two parables related to each other, one in which Jesus spoke about the kingdom of heaven being likened to a mustard seed, which is a very small and insignificant seed, compared to other fruits which have much larger seeds. However, from that very small seed, when placed in a fertile soil and provided with the optimum condition for germination and growth, the mustard seed will grow into a large mustard plant, far larger than what we would normally expect for seed of such a small size.

Then, Jesus continued with the story of another parable, of when yeast is added into three measures of flour shaped into a dough, the yeast will cause the whole dough to rise from a flat and small piece of dough into a large, expansive and soft piece of bread. Yeasts are very small and microscopic in size, and yet under the right conditions, the yeast can cause marvellous works to happen, including the fermentation of grapes into wine, and as mentioned, the formation of the leavened bread.

Therefore, after hearing and discussing all of these, what then, is the message which all of us should take note from today's Scripture readings? There are two key messages which we should take heed of, first of all, it is that we must provide a good condition and environment in our lives, in order for our faith to grow and develop within us. As we see from the parables of Jesus, using the examples of mustard seed and yeasts, mustard seed cannot grow and germinate without sufficient water in the soil, oxygen and suitable temperature, and yeast similarly cannot carry out its function unless oxygen is present.

Similarly therefore, our faith cannot grow without us providing a good condition and environment in which that faith we have can flourish. Otherwise, our faith will continue to remain dormant and will be useless to us. Thus, we have to provide a conducive environment, through love and dedication of ourselves to our fellow men, and through our commitment to God. And it is important for us to develop ourselves spiritually, by having an active prayer life, in which we constantly pray from our hearts, seeking to communicate with God.

And then, the second message is that, it does not matter how small we think our faith may be, even when compared to others who are seemingly more faithful and more pious than us, just like the small mustard seed, as long as it is given the right condition for optimum growth, eventually the seed will blossom and become fruitful. Thus, we ourselves do not need to worry or be concerned that we have little faith, for in whatever little faith we may have, as long as we are genuine in that faith, we will find our way forward.

We should thus begin from ourselves and from those who we are interacting with, from our families and friends. We should live our faith actively and sincerely through our daily actions, by loving our brethren, and showing mercy to those who have hurt us. We should increase our charity and generosity to those who are in need, and be ready to provide ourselves out of love for them.

Perhaps, we all should be inspired by the example of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus, or also known as the Jesuit order. The Jesuits are now the largest religious order in the Church, with enormous contributions in the field of evangelisation and charity works in the Church. But their origins traced to the humble beginnings under St. Ignatius of Loyola and his companions.

St. Ignatius of Loyola was born a nobleman into an influential family in what is now Spain, destined to lead a life of privilege, wealth and fame, and he was thus brought up in that manner, seeking for worldly glory and fame, as he became a knight involved in conflicts and wars raging at that time. However, as he lay wounded in one occasion after a great battle, it came to him that whatever glory and fame he sought in the world, whatever valour and honour he sought through battle were meaningless and empty.

Thus St. Ignatius of Loyola chose to leave everything behind and devote himself to the works of the Church. He gathered fellow minded men who desired to spearhead the efforts of the Church in evangelisation and charity. As it happened, it turned out that the religious order that St. Ignatius of Loyola founded went on to become a very important player in the Church's effort of Counter-Reformation in resisting and fighting back the tide of heresy of Protestantism throughout Christendom, as well as in the evangelising works of St. Francis Xavier, another Jesuit and companion of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

The examples shown by St. Ignatius of Loyola show us that even though we may think that our faith is small, weak or insignificant, but if we have the desire to grow in our faith, and take the concrete steps necessary, we will be able to cultivate the faith we have in us, and we can have truly great and far-ranging effect, as shown in how St. Ignatius of Loyola, once a young nobleman with worldly ambitions and lacking in faith, after he had devoted himself to God's cause, he began the good works which impacts are still felt even to this very day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, let us all ask St. Ignatius of Loyola to intercede for us, that God may move our hearts which are filled with doubts and indecision, so that we may be more courageous and be more capable of taking concrete actions and steps to be ever more faithful and committed to our faith in God. May the Lord bless all of our good works, and may He give us the courage day after day to serve Him with all our might. Amen.

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Monday, 31 July 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 31-35

At that time, Jesus offered His disciples another parable : "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is smaller than all other seeds, but once it is fully grown, it is bigger than any garden plant; like a tree, the birds come and rest in its branches."

He told them another parable, "The kingdom of heaven is like the yeast than a woman took, and hid in three measures of flour, until the whole mass of dough began to rise." Jesus taught all these things to the crowds by means of parables; He did not say anything to them without using a parable. This fulfilled whag was spoken by the Prophet : 'I will speak in parables. I will proclaim things kept secret since the beginning of the world.'

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Monday, 31 July 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 105 : 19-20, 21-22, 23

They made a calf at Horeb and worshipped the molten image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of a bull that eats grass.

They forgot their Saviour God, Who had done great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Sea of Reeds.

So He spoke of destroying them, but Moses, His chosen one, stood in the breach before Him to shield them from destruction.

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Monday, 31 July 2017 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Exodus 32 : 15-24, 30-34

Moses then returned and came down from the mountain carrying in his hands the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets written on both sides, back and front. These tablets were the work of God and the writing graven on the tablets was the writing of God.

When Joshua heard the noise of the people who were shouting he said to Moses, "There is a sound of war in the camp." But Moses answered, "It is not a victory song, nor the cry of defeat that I hear, but the sound of singing."

When he drew near to the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burst forth and he threw down the tablets he was holding, shattering them at the foot of the mountain. Then he seized the calf they had made and burnt it in the fire, grinding it into a powder that he scattered over the surface of the water, and this he made the Israelites drink.

Moses said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you that you brought such a great sin on them?" And Aaron said, "Do not let your anger be roused. You know these people and how evil they are. They said to me : 'Make us gods to go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.' I then said to them that whoever had gold was to give it over to me. I threw it in the fire and out came this calf!"

The next day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a very grave sin, but now I am going up to YHVH; perhaps I will obtain pardon for your sin." So Moses went towards YHVH and said, "Ah! These people have committed a very great sin; they made a god out of gold. And now please forgive their sin… if not, blot me out of the book You have written."

YHVH said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out from My book. Go now! Lead the people where I told you. My Angel will walk before you and on the day of punishment I will punish them for their sin."

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Friday, 31 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Book of Leviticus, how the Lord charged Moses and therefore His people, with the keeping of the observance of festivals, feasts and important holy days, such as the sabbath days. We heard how the Lord charged the people to keep the observance of the Festival of the Unleavened Bread, to remember the days when they were brought out of Egypt by the mighty power of God.

All of these feasts and festivals, rites and celebrations truly are for a single purpose, that is to remind the people of God of God’s great glory and power, and even more importantly, that is to remind them of the love which He has for them, and therefore, to remind them yet again of the love and dedication which they have to have for Him. Yet over time, people seemed to forget this, and focused more on the exterior aspect of the celebrations rather than on the substance.

In the Gospel today, we heard how Jesus was not well received in His own hometown of Nazareth, where the people doubted Him and questioned His teachings and authority, because they thought that they knew Him as a mere carpenter’s Son. This is exactly the same problem that had been faced by many other prophets and messengers that God had sent to His people as well.

They were not well received because these people had become a superficial people, who cared just for their appearances and external outlook. Inside them, within their hearts, there is truly a void not filled by the love of God, but by their love for themselves. This is why they rejected the prophets and ultimately Jesus Himself as well, for they challenged the people and their way of thinking as well as their way of life.

We should not think that this is an issue that is confined only to the past. In fact, throughout history, mankind had been affected by the very same issue that caused us to be captivated and mesmerised by the multitudes of goodness and temptations that lie in this world, the pleasures of the flesh and the many concerns of this world. We then end up forgetting about God and our obligation and need to serve Him and to give all of our attention to Him.

Then, we truly should learn from the example of a great saint whose feast we are celebrating on this day, namely that of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, also known as the Society of Jesus, one of the most renowned and important religious order in the history of our Church. St. Ignatius of Loyola, through his life, would show us the way to the Lord and how to find it amidst the challenges and temptations of this world.

St. Ignatius of Loyola was born in a noble family in what is now Spain a few hundred years ago, where conflicts and wars were regular parts of people’s life. He was born into the caste of society which believed that glory and power, or gold and wealth, or fame and affluence, or all of them are the way to go in life. And so did St. Ignatius of Loyola, who believed all these as integral parts of his life.

But one day, after he was injured during a battle and siege of a castle, he got a revelation in life, that the way which he had pursued all the while might not be the right way to go. He found that all the things which he had pursued for himself and his own glory were truly meaningless, and he began to seek a true and real purpose in his life, and it was there that he found the Lord and turned himself and his life to serve Him.

He abandoned all the worldliness that had been part of his early life, abandoning everything and devoted all of the rest of his life and his works to the greater glory of God, ‘Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam’ which was his motto and which became the motto of the Jesuits as a whole. He dedicated his time and his life to the glory of God and laboured hard to help the people of God finding their way to Him.

St. Ignatius of Loyola was a champion and great defender of the Faith, who spearheaded and led the Church’s great effort to counter the great heresy of Protestantism in what was so-called ‘reformation’. He was one of the great heroes of the Church’s effort to reconvert back countless thousands of people to the true faith, together with his fellow Jesuits, which would soon prove to be very essential to the salvation of many lost souls.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all follow in the footsteps of St. Ignatius of Loyola, walk in his ways, and follow him as he leads us towards the Lord our God. May we be able to shun all sorts of temptations and pleasures of the flesh and instead of focusing on appearances and our external outlook, may all of us be able to find our inner beauty, by devoting ourselves ever more to the Lord and practicing our faith, so that we may be found worthy by He who will reward us. God be with us all. Amen.

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Friday, 31 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 54-58

At that time, Jesus went to His hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did He get this wisdom and these special powers? Is He not the carpenter’s Son? Is Mary not His mother and are James, Joseph, Simon and Judas not His brothers? Are all His sisters not living here? How did He get all this?” And so they took offence at Him.

Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is their hometown and in their own family.” And He did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

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Friday, 31 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 80 : 3-4, 5-6ab, 10-11ab

Start the music, strike the timbrel, play melodies on the harp and lyre. Sound the trumpet at the new moon, on our feastday when the moon is full.

This is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob, a statute He wrote for Joseph when he went out of Egypt.

There shall be no strange god among you, you shall not worship any alien god, for I the Lord am your God, who led you forth from the land of Egypt.

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Friday, 31 July 2015 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Leviticus 23 : 1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37

YHVH spoke to Moses, “Then there are the appointed feasts of YHVH at the times fixed for them, when you are to proclaim holy assemblies. At twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month is YHVH’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of this month it is YHVH’s feast of Unleavened Bread.”

“For seven days you shall eat bread without leaven. On the first day there will be a sacred assembly and no work of a worker shall be done. For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to YHVH and on the seventh day you shall hold a sacred assembly and do no work of a worker.”

YHVH spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them : When you enter the land that I will give you and you reap its harvest, you will bring to the priest a sheaf, the firstfruits of your harvest and he shall wave the sheaf before YHVH for you to be accepted; on the day after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.”

“From the day after the sabbath, on which you bring the sheaf of offering, you are to count seven full weeks. The day after the seventh sabbath will be the fiftieth day and then you are to offer YHVH a new offering. The tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly. You must fast, and you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH.”

“The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of Tents for YHVH, lasting seven days. The first day you shall hold an assembly; you must do no work of a worker. For seven days you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH. It is a day of solemn assembly in which you shall do no work of a worker.”

“These are the appointed feasts of YHVH in which you are to proclaim holy assemblies for the purpose of offering offerings by fire, burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings to YHVH, according to the ritual of each day.”