Fourth Week of Ordinary Time

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Tuesday, 31 January 2017 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Bosco, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Hebrews 12 : 1-4

What a cloud of innumerable witnesses surround us! So let us be rid of every encumbrance, and especially of sin, to persevere in running the race marked out before us.

Let us look to Jesus the Founder of our faith, Who will bring it to completion. For the sake of the joy reserved for Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, and then sat at the right of the throne of God. Think of Jesus Who suffered so many contradictions from evil people, and you will not be discouraged or grow weary.

Have you already shed your blood in the struggle against sin?

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Monday, 30 January 2017 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the great deeds of our Lord Jesus, Who cast out demons from a man of the region of Gerasenes, and therefore healed the man. That man had been wondering in the wilderness, among the tombs, away from the society, as his condition made him an outcast, rejected by all the other people and cast out from the community.

No one would want to interact or even have anything to do with the man who had been possessed by the evil spirits, because they feared that they too would contract the same affliction. That is why those who had been possessed would be chained, and would be kept away from human interaction, left to fend off on his or her own. But when Jesus came to that place and saw the man possessed by the evil spirits, He did something different.

Instead of shunning the man, He approached him, and listened to him when he called out to Him. The evil spirits inside him knew just Who Jesus was, and they were afraid, for they knew that although they could do what they liked with the man, but there was nothing that they could do against the power of God in Jesus. Even they had to obey God, for they were created by God in the beginning, only to rebel against Him and cast out from heaven.

They know that they were doomed the moment that they were defeated, and they knew that Jesus is the One alone Who had the power over them, to destroy them and to cast them into the eternal fire prepared for them. Jesus therefore represents God’s saving love, through which God desires to bring all of His lost people back to Himself.

For each and every one of us who are sinners have been separated from God, and because of our sins, darkness had entered into our hearts, just like the evil spirits who entered into the man and made him to be a renegade and an outcast from his own community. In the same manner therefore, we have also been made outcasts and renegades from the kingdom of our God, cast out from His holy presence, and unworthy to be with Him.

And yet, it is God Himself Who had extended His loving and merciful hands to us, willingly offering us the means to our salvation, and this is even when such measures would require the sacrifice of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, which He willingly offered on the Altar of the cross at Calvary. He Who has the power to heal us, the only One indeed, has done so much for us. Now, we need to look upon ourselves and ask, what then have we done in order to thank Him for having done so for our sake?

Many of us do not appreciate what God had done for us, and we also even ignore Him, and rejected the kind offer of His mercy. We prefer to carry on living this life in the state of sin, living on with abandon, and putting ourselves into the ways of this world, following the temptations of worldly pleasures and as a result, we remain in the darkness, and we remain lost to the Lord. This is what we cannot do, brothers and sisters in Christ.

As Christians, now each and every one of us are called to help each other to live our lives filled with faith, commitment and devotion to God. We are called to help one another to reach out to the Lord, and not to close any path towards salvation from all those who need that salvation. But rather we must help our brethren who have not yet received God’s grace, and are still living in sin, that they may realise their sinfulness, and work towards redemption and forgiveness by God.

May the Lord help each and every one of us, so that we may draw ever closer to Him, and in all things may we always try our best to adhere to Him and to His ways, so that we may be found worthy, when He comes again to claim us all His beloved people. Let us all let the Lord our God touch us with His loving care, and open our hearts to welcome Him into our beings, that He may transform us from beings of darkness into beings of the true Light. May the Lord be with us all. Amen.

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Monday, 30 January 2017 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Mark 5 : 1-20

At that time, Jesus and His disciples arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes. No sooner did Jesus leave the boat than He was met by a man with evil spirits, who had come from the tombs. He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him, even with a chain. He had often been bound with fetters and chains, but he would pull the chains apart and smash the fetters, and no one had the strength to control him.

Night and day he stayed among the tombs on the hillsides, and was continually screaming, and beating himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell at His feet, and cried with a loud voice, “What do You want with Me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For God’s sake, I beg You, do not torment me!”

He said this, because Jesus had commanded, “Come out of the man, evil spirit!” And when Jesus asked the evil spirit, “What is your name?” It replied, “Legion is my name, for we are many.” And it kept begging Jesus, not to send them out of that region.

Now a great herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside, and the evil spirits begged him, “Send us to the pigs, and let us go into them.” So Jesus let them go. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs, and immediately the herd rushed down the cliff, and all were drowned in the lake. The herdsmen fled, and reported this in the town and the countryside, so all the people came to see what had happened.

They came to Jesus, and saw the man freed of the evil spirits sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the same man who had been possessed by the legion. They were afraid. And when those who had seen it, told what happened to the man and to the pigs, the people begged Jesus to leave their neighbourhood.

When Jesus was getting into the boat, the man, who had been possessed, begged to stay with Him. Jesus would not let him, and said, “Go home to your people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.”

So he went throughout the country of Decapolis, telling everyone how much Jesus had done for him; and all the people were astonished.

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Monday, 30 January 2017 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 30 : 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

How great is the goodness which You have stored for those who fear You, which You show, for all to see, in those who take refuge in You!

In the shelter of Your presence You hide them from human wiles; You keep them in Your dwelling, safe from the intrigues of wagging tongues.

Blessed be the Lord for His wonderful love! He has strengthened my heart.

I said in my fright : “I have been cut off from Your sight!” Yet when I was crying, You heard; when I called for mercy, You listened.

Love the Lord, all you His saints! The Lord preserves His faithful, but He fully requites the arrogant.

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Monday, 30 January 2017 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Hebrews 11 : 32-40

Do I need to say more? There is not enough time to speak of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, as well as Samuel and the prophets. Through faith they fought and conquered nations, established justice, saw the fulfilment of God’s promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the sword, were healed of their sicknesses; they were weak people who were given strength to be brave in battle and repulse foreign invaders.

Some women recovered their dead by resurrection but there were others – persecuted and tortured believers – who, for the sake of a better resurrection, refused to do what would have saved them. Others suffered chain and prison. They were stoned, sawn in two, killed by the sword. They fled from place to place with no other clothing than the skins of sheep and goats, lacking everything, afflicted, ill-treated.

These people of whom the world was not worthy had to wander through wastelands and mountains, and take refuge in the dens of the land. However, although all of them were praised because of their faith, they did not enjoy the promise because God had is in mind and saw beyond. And He did not want them to reach perfection except with us.

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Sunday, 29 January 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today in the Scripture readings, all of us heard about the descriptions of who are considered as true Christians, as those who are not Christians just in name or in the official records only, but also Christians in their hearts and souls, and all who see these people, will truly know and recognise their Christian faith, not because they show off any records or cards stating that they belong to the Christian faith, but because of their own actions and deeds.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are called to reflect on the words of our Lord Jesus in the Beatitudes which He taught to the disciples and to the people who heard His teachings on the mountain, as we also heard it in our Gospel passage today. The Eight Beatitudes are the eight good virtues which all of us should have in our own lives, as Jesus had gone through each of them, which are then expected from us Christians. Let me now go through each of them from the beginning to the end.

We have to be poor in spirit, which does not refer to material poverty, or being poor because we have no money or worldly possessions in order to sustain ourselves. This is a misconception that many people often have with regards to the term ‘poor in spirit’. Jesus was not supporting those who were materially poor against the rich, and neither did He condemn the rich just because they were rich or had more material possessions than others.

Rather, it means that we must recognise our spiritual poverty, understanding that we are all sinners before God, delinquent and rebel, having been cast away from His presence because of our disobedience and sinfulness. It is the recognition and awareness of one’s own sins and weaknesses which is something that we do not commonly see among ourselves. We are often too proud and feeling too self-righteous to be able to see our own faults and therefore we are incapable of taking the steps to rectify this situation.

The kingdom of God truly therefore belong to those who are humble and willing to be forgiven, those who are able to open themselves to receive the loving grace of God. Which then comes to the next Beatitude, about those who mourn. This mourning is often associated with those who are sad and sorrowful because they lose something or someone precious, such as when someone they love passed away. But even more importantly, someone who is poor in spirit will also be sorrowful.

Why is this so? That is because if we are aware of our sins, and just how terrible those sins are, we will be sorrowful indeed, knowing that God surely would punish us for all the heinous and wicked deeds we have done. It is the regret that accompanies one’s actions, knowing regret for one’s sins which many people of our time are unable to do. Many of us are ignorant of our own sins, and how bad they are for our own souls.

This world is filled with sin and darkness, and many of us are trapped in the darkness. We fill ourselves with acts of hatred, jealousy, greed and all other things unbecoming of ourselves as those who call themselves as Christians. We cause harm, pain and sufferings upon others just so that we can gain things for ourselves, that we will benefit on top of others’ inconvenience and sufferings. This will happen when each person only cares about themselves and not about others.

This is where we need to be gentle, to be loving and caring, not to be quick to anger but be calm and be compassionate. We must have that desire to love one another, and to shown concern and care for our brethren, especially when we see someone being treated unjustly, being bullied and having their rights taken away from them. It is un-Christian for us to ignore the plight of our brethren, of those who have need for help, but having no one listen to them.

We are all called to be those who are ready to help these brethren of ours, helping them and comforting them, showing them mercy and love. That is why God blesses all those who have pity and mercy in their hearts, all those who are incapable of sitting still while they see someone being mistreated, bullied and persecuted against. It does not just mean that we should do our best to overcome our sins, but we must also help one another through our actions.

It is only when we have the right intention, the right attitude and the right understanding of things that we will be able to proceed on in a Christian manner. And indeed, a Christian person is a man of peace, who seeks the betterment of his or her brethren. A peaceful person inspires one another to rule out conflict in dealing with matters. They would try their best to bring harmony and peace in all situations. It is when love should trump over hate, where justice should trump over injustice.

Ultimately, let us all ask ourselves, are we able to do what the Lord had instructed us all to do? We do not have to worry or fear, because in the second reading today, in the Epistle which St. Paul wrote to the Church and the faithful in the city of Corinth in Greece, he said that God chose the ordinary and the common people, not those who are considered strong and mighty in the sight of the world, but all of us with our weaknesses and with our faults, have been chosen by God.

What does this mean, brothers and sisters in Christ? It means that by calling us all, God wants each and every one of us to be changed, transformed by our actions, which should be filled with love, with mercy, with kindness, compassion and grace. We should be following in the examples of our good predecessors, the holy saints who have led a life of virtue, a true Christian life which we all ought to follow as well.

That also means that as Christians we must not participate in acts that are un-Christian in nature. We should not sow division when we are able to unite instead. We should not bring about harm and injury to our brethren when we are able to bring peace and harmony, and also love and mercy. We must not act unjustly on our brethren, but instead we should uphold justice and honesty in all of our dealings.

Indeed, all of these will not be easily done, as often things are easily said but difficult to be made a reality. But that is precisely what Jesus Himself had told His disciples and all of His followers. That there will be opposition, persecution and challenges from many sources, but those who persevere through, will receive great rewards in the end.

Yes, temptations and persuasions to do otherwise will be great, but this is where we can help one another to pull through those difficult moments, and show one another with good examples of our own actions. Let the eight Beatitudes be our guide, in our conduct and in our actions, so that all those who see us will immediately recognise God being present in us and our works, and therefore many more people will come to understand God and His ways, and be saved together with us all.

May the Lord bless us all and our works, and may He awaken in each and every one of us the desire to live a true and blessed Christian life. May all of us be ever righteous, just and honest in our every dealings, and be caring and loving, merciful and kind towards one another, fellow brothers and sisters in our Lord. May God be with us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 29 January 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Matthew 5 : 1-12a

At that time, when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up the mountain. He sat down and His disciples gathered around Him. Then He spoke and began to teach them :

“Fortunate are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Fortunate are those who mourn, they shall be comforted. Fortunate are the gentle, they shall possess the land.”

“Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied. Fortunate are the merciful, for they shall find mercy. Fortunate are those with a pure heart, for they shall see God.”

“Fortunate are those who work for peace, they shall be called children of God. Fortunate are those who are persecuted for the cause of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“Fortunate are you, when people insult you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you because you are My followers. Be glad and joyful, for a great reward is kept for you in God. This is how this people persecuted the prophets who lived before you.”

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Sunday, 29 January 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
1 Corinthians 1 : 26-31

Brothers and sisters, look and see whom God has called. Few among you can be said to be cultured or wealthy, and few belong to noble families. Yet God has chosen what the world considers foolish, to shame the wise; He has chosen what the world considers weak to shame the strong.

God has chosen common and unimportant people, making use of what is nothing to nullify the things that are, so that no mortal may boast before God. But, by God’s grace you are in Christ Jesus, Who has become our wisdom from God, and Who makes us just and holy and free. Scripture says : Let the one who boasts boast of the Lord.

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Sunday, 29 January 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 145 : 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10

The Lord is forever faithful; He gives justice to the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free.

The Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord straightens the bent. The Lord loves the virtuous, but He brings to ruin the way of the wicked. The Lord protects the stranger.

He sustains the widow and the orphan. The Lord will reign forever, your God, o Zion, from generation to generation. Alleluia!

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Sunday, 29 January 2017 : Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Zephaniah 2 : 3 and Zephaniah 3 : 12-13

Seek YHVH, all you poor of the land who fulfil His commands, do justice and be meek, and perhaps you will find refuge on the day YHVH comes to judge.

I will leave within you a poor and meek people who seek refuge in God. The remnant of Israel will not act unjustly nor will they speak falsely, nor will deceitful words be found in their mouths. They will eat and rest with none to threaten them.