Friday

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Friday, 10 November 2017 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Romans 15 : 14-21

As for me, brothers and sisters, I am convinced, that you have goodwill, knowledge, and the capacity to advise each other; nevertheless, I have written boldly in some parts of this letter, to remind you of what you already know. I do this, according to the grace God has given to me, when I was sent to the pagan nations. I dedicated myself to the service of the Good News of God, as a minister of Christ Jesus, in order to present the non-Jews to God, as an agreeable offering, consecrated by the Holy Spirit. This service of God is, for me, a cause of pride, in Christ Jesus.

Of course, I would not dare to speak of other things, but what Christ, Himself, has done, through me, my words and my works, with miracles and signs, by the power of the Holy Spirit – so, that, non-Jews may obey the faith. In this way, I have extended the Good News to all parts, from Jerusalem to Illyricum.

I have been very careful, however, and I am proud of this, not to preach in places where Christ is already known, and not to build upon foundations laid by others. Let it be as Scripture says : Those not told about Him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.

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Friday, 3 November 2017 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Religious (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us through the Sacred Scriptures are told the difficulties and challenges facing the early Christians, especially those of the Jewish origin, as what St. Paul told to the Church and the faithful in the city of Rome in his Epistle. In that Epistle, St. Paul wrote about the anguish which he had of being sundered from among his people, the descendants of Israel.

St. Paul himself, while being a highly educated and Hellenised Jew, was also once a very zealous follower of the laws of Moses, as evidenced in his prior activities as Saul, purging the land of Judea and Galilee from the faithful Christians, arresting them and striking against the early Church. However, God called him to be His disciple, and Saul had a conversion of heart, mind and being, and answering God’s call, he became one of the Apostles.

But by doing so, he has sundered himself from the Jewish authorities, who were against Jesus and His teachings. As mentioned in the Gospels, those who believed in Jesus and propagated His teachings were thrown out of the synagogues by the Pharisees and the chief priests, equivalent to the excommunication from the Church as we know it today, when a Christian is sundered from the Church and God’s salvation due to a serious and grave error.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, yet St. Paul would rather choose to be with God and to obey His commandments rather than going back to the old ways, even though if he had done so, he would have gained prestige and honour he had when he was highly esteemed as Saul. In the Gospel today, Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees who challenged Him as they have often done, as they refused to believe in Jesus and in His teachings.

They have erroneously believed in the laws and customs that they have inherited from the time of Moses and the prophets, as these had been heavily modified throughout the history of Israel. As a result, they ended up interpreting the laws literally without understanding why those laws were given to the people of God in the first place. They thought that the laws were in place to govern the people of God in how they behave and live, but those laws had a singular purpose by God, and that is love.

The Law of God which He gave to Moses was intended to guide the people that they may come to love their Lord and Creator, the love that they should give the One Who had loved them and cared for them, ever since the beginning of time, and ever since He established the Covenant with Abraham their forefather. And Jesus came into this world, in order to deliver to them this truth, that God loves them and wants each and every one of them to be reconciled with Him.

And He wants all of them to experience conversion, by turning towards Christ and abandon their old ways of sin and darkness. Yet, mankind can be very stubborn, just as the people of Israel themselves had shown, in their constant refusal to listen to God, and in their constant waywardness, in their refusal to turn themselves towards God and to listen to Him. Instead, they have walked their own path, and persecuted those who have been sent to remind them, from the prophets to the Apostles.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us remember the deeds of those who have given themselves completely to the cause of the Lord, and also that of today’s saint, St. Martin de Porres, a holy religious who have lived righteously in accordance with God’s will, inspiring many others to do the same with their lives. He was a lay member of the Dominican order, or the Order of Preachers, who was an illegitimate son of a nobleman, and being born a mixed race in the New World, what is now Americas, he encountered lots of difficulties early on and throughout his life.

St. Martin de Porres did not let all of these to deter him, and he was resolved to serve the Lord and His people, by joining the Dominican order as a lay brother. He was prevented from joining as a full member due to his status as an illegitimately born child as well as his mixed ancestry. Yet, he continued to devote his time and effort, helping his brethren who were sick and poor, caring for them, loving them and show them the gentle compassion that represents God’s love for His people.

The examples of St. Martin de Porres, as well as the holy saints and Apostles, in their loving care and works among us, should remind all of us Christians that we must live according to God’s Law, not by obeying blindly to the teachings of the Church, but rather understanding them and following the examples of our holy predecessors in faith. Let us all live righteously as God’s children and learn to devote ourselves to Him in all of our lives’ effort, our time and attention.

May the Lord bless us always and may He strengthen each one of us, that we may live courageously according to His will, loving one another and doing what He has taught us to do, and thus loving Him also with all of our hearts, minds, bodies and our entire beings. Amen.

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Friday, 3 November 2017 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Religious (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Luke 14 : 1-6

At that time, one Sabbath Jesus had gone to eat a meal in the house of a leading Pharisee, and He was carefully watched. In front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy; so Jesus asked the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”

But no one answered. Jesus then took the man, healed him, and sent him away. And He said to them, “If your lamb or your ox into a well on a Sabbath day, who among you does not hurry to pull it out?” And they could not answer.

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Friday, 3 November 2017 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Religious (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Psalm 147 : 12-13, 14-15, 19-20

Exalt YHVH, o Jerusalem; praise your God, o Zion! For He strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your children within you.

He grants peace on your borders and feeds you with the finest grain. He sends His command to the earth and swiftly runs His word.

It is He, Who tells Jacob His words; His laws and decrees, to Israel. This, He has not done for other nations, so His laws remain unknown to them. Alleluia!

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Friday, 3 November 2017 : 30th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Martin de Porres, Religious (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Religious)

Romans 9 : 1-5

I tell you, sincerely, in Christ, and my conscience assures me in the Holy Spirit, that I am not lying : I have great sadness and constant anguish for the Jews. I would even desire, that, I myself, suffer the curse of being cut off from Christ, instead of my brethren : I mean, my own people, my kin.

They are Israelites, whom God adopted, and on them, rests His glory. Theirs, are the Covenants, the Law, the worship and the promises of God. They are descendants of the patriarchs, and from their race, Christ was born, He, Who, as God, is above all distinctions. Blessed be He forever and ever. Amen!

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Friday, 27 October 2017 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we heard a very important reminder for each one of us, that as Christians we must be ever vigilant in our lives, that in our actions and every deeds we will be able to stay faithful to the Lord, regardless the temptations to do otherwise. We cannot be lukewarm or be hypocrites in our faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in the first reading today, all of us heard how St. Paul in his Epistle and exhortation to the Church and the faithful in the city of Rome spoke of how the people of God must be vigilant against the temptation of their flesh, as their bodies are vulnerable to corruption by sin, by the wickedness of the darkness of Satan, who sowed the seeds of sin in our hearts and minds.

Indeed, we may have experience it ourselves, on how even though deep in our hearts we want to be righteous and good, faithful and committed to the Lord, yet our flesh is unwilling, and the pressures of our flesh cause us to stumble and falter in our journey of faith, as Jesus Himself said to His Apostles, Peter, James and John, whom He called to accompany Him at the Garden of Gethsemane just before His Passion.

In that occasion, the Apostles were supposed to stay awake and keep the Lord company, throughout the time when Jesus was praying, and yet they fell asleep because their eyelids were heavy, and the effects of the full meal they ate at the Last Supper bore down upon them. And the Lord woke them up a few times, as He went back to them to check on them, and said to them, “While the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

This is something that perhaps all of us should keep in mind, as we reflect on our own lives and actions today. Perhaps we should begin with very simple comparison with what we have just discussed about the Apostles. How many of us feel very drowsy and lethargic after eating a heavy meal, because all the blood in our system goes down to our digestive system, and our brains not getting enough blood.

And that made us very reluctant to do anything, as our bodies feel very tired and we just want to lay down and rest. Similarly, I am sure that there were many occasions when we were moved in our hearts and minds, wanting to reach out to those others around us when we see them being wronged, persecuted or unjustly treated. Yet, our flesh, our limbs and bodies deterred us from going forth to help, because of this inertia, this laziness, this unwillingness of the flesh, corrupted by sins and the temptations to sin.

This is why many Christians have not led a very Christian life. Instead, in fact, some have been very un-Christian in nature, because of the things that we failed to do, for the sake of our brethren, and also in what we have done. There were Christians who claimed that they were the followers of Christ, and yet have acted in a manner that showed just how selfish they were, caring for their own needs, and also committed acts that were contrary to the teachings of the Lord, and instead, indulging in all sorts of the pleasures of the flesh and the body.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, all of us must strengthen our relationship with God. And how do we do that? It is by drawing ourselves closer to God through fervent and genuine prayer life, and also through active participation in the faith. We have to realise that the devil is always active, prowling about trying to snatch us from God’s salvation. And therefore, the less involved we are in the Church and in living our faith, the more likely that he will be able to strike at us.

Let us all therefore help one another in our journey of faith, so that we may do our best to resist the temptations of Satan which he had made through sin, and through the temptations of the world and the pleasures of the flesh. Let us all resist these wicked abominations, and seek to purify ourselves from all that are unworthy, and which had separated us from the fullness of God’s love and grace.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He give us the courage to live faithfully day after day, doing our best to live according to His will, and following the message and the teachings of His Word in the Gospels and according to the teachings passed down through the Church. Amen.

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Friday, 27 October 2017 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 12 : 54-59

At that time, Jesus said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it happens. And when the wind blows from the south, you say, ‘It will be hot’; and so it is. You superficial people! You understand the signs of the earth and the sky, but you do not understand the present times.”

“And why do you not judge for yourselves what is fit? When you go with your accuser before the court, try to settle the case on the way, lest he drag you before the judge, and the judge deliver you to the jailer, and the jail throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the very last penny.”

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Friday, 27 October 2017 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 118 : 66, 68, 76, 77, 93, 94

Give me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust in Your commands.

You are good, and Your works are good; teach me Your decrees.

Comfort me then with Your unfailing love, as You promised Your servant.

Let Your mercy come, to give me life; for Your Law is my delight.

Never will I forget Your precepts; for with them, You give me life.

Save me, for I am Yours, since I seek Your statutes.

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Friday, 27 October 2017 : 29th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 7 : 18-25a

I know, that what is right, does not abide in me, I mean, in my flesh. I can want to do what is right, but I am unable to do it. In fact, I do not do the good I want, but the evil I hate. Therefore, if I do what I do not want to do, I am not the one striving toward evil, but sin, which is in me.

I discover, then, this reality : though I wish to do what is right, the evil within me asserts itself first. My inmost self, agrees and rejoices with the Law of God, but I notice in my body, another law, challenging the Law of the Spirit, and delivering me, as a slave to the law of sin, written in my members.

Alas, for me! Who will free me from this being, which is only death? Let us give thanks to God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord!

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Friday, 20 October 2017 : 28th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day each and every one of us are reminded that in our faith and in how we live our lives according to that faith must be true and genuine, and we must not do as what the hypocrites like to do. The Lord Jesus often compared many of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law as hypocrites, as those who have not done as the Lord had commanded them to do.

What is a hypocrite exactly? A hypocrite is different from an unbeliever in that an unbeliever does not believe in God completely, and they often show it through outward signs, words or actions. On the other hand, a hypocrite is someone who is outwardly seems to believe in God and is a member of the faithful and yet in reality, they have no real faith in them.

The actions of a hypocrite in faith are done for the purpose of showing off their piety and devotion, just as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done, but they did these as mentioned, for their own personal glory and advancement, instead of for the greater glory of God as they should have done. God rewards the faithful for their deeds, as mentioned in the Scriptures today, but those who committed what is evil shall be judged accordingly.

Therefore, when we live our lives and go about our daily businesses, we must keep in mind that we have to practice our faith and do our works following what the Lord had taught us and indeed, commanded us all to do. We cannot just say that we have been saved without any need for further involvement or efforts just as some would say. The Church believes that each and every one of us are saved through faith, but not faith alone.

What does that mean? That means, according to the Epistle written by St. James the Apostle, faith without good works is as good as dead and meaningless. Faith without good works and good intentions for those works, is the same as the faith of a hypocrite. An empty faith without proper focus on the Lord is meaningless, and God knows everything inside our hearts, minds, indeed our entire being.

It does not matter how well we try to hide it, but the fact remains that God knows all that we ever think of, whatever we keep in the depths of our hearts and minds. And if we have not done what the Lord wants us to do, He will know it. He will also know if we have done His works, even though others might not have noticed them. And it is for these works that we will be judged, be it for the better or for the worse.

Those who have been righteous in their actions, and practiced their faith openly through those actions will be rewarded by God. Meanwhile, those who have not been truly faithful, are hypocrites, and do things for the sake of recognition and pursuit of worldly glory and human praise will be punished, condemned and be rejected by God. This is what each and every one of us need to know.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all from now on therefore be true in our devotion and commitment to God, that in every words that come from our mouth, in every actions that we do towards our brethren, we will always show faith, and not faith that is to be praised or applauded, but instead for the greater glory of God. Pride, greed and human desires may tempt us, but we must resist those temptations if we are to be true disciples of the Lord.

Let us all cast aside our pride and desires, and in the depth of our hearts, let us enthrone God as the Lord and Focus of our entire lives. Let us renew our devotion to Him, and be wholeheartedly committed to love Him and to serve Him, all the days of our lives. May the Lord be with us, and may He continue to guide us in our journey of life. God bless us all. Amen.