Liturgical Colour : Green
Psalm 115 : 10-11, 15-16, 17-18
You, family of Aaron, trust in YHVH; He is your help and your shield! You who fear YHVH, trust in Him; He is your help and your shield!
May you be blessed by YHVH. Maker of heaven and earth. Heaven belongs to YHVH, but the earth He has given to humans.
It is not the dead who praise YHVH, for they have gone down to silence; but it is we, the living who praise YHVH, from now on and forever.
Liturgical Colour : Green
2 Corinthians 4 : 7-15
However, we carry this treasure in vessels of clay, so that this all-surpassing power may not be seen as ours, but as God’s. Trials of every sort come to us, but we are not discouraged. We are left without answer, but do not despair; persecuted but not abandoned, knocked down but not crushed.
At any moment, we carry, in our person, the death of Jesus, so, that, the life of Jesus may also be manifested in us. For we, the living, are given up continually to death, for the sake of Jesus, so, that, the life of Jesus may appear in our mortal existence. And as death is at work in us, life comes to you.
We have received the same Spirit of faith referred to in Scripture, that says : I believed and so I spoke. We also believe, and so we speak. We know that He, Who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us, with Jesus, and bring us, with you, into His presence. Finally, everything is for your good, so that grace will come more abundantly upon you, and great will be the thanksgiving for the glory of God.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the healing of Tobit, the faithful servant of God, who had become blind in his time of sorrow, when by misfortune it was told that as he rested, birds’ droppings fell into his eyes, causing him not to be able to see for many years. Yet, in his despair, like another servant of God, the more well-known story of Job, he did not curse God for his misfortune, but remained faithful to Him.
And God listened to His prayers for supplication and help, by sending Him assistance through none other than one of His holy seven Archangels, among the greatest of the Angels, namely the Archangel Raphael, whom we know now as the Archangel of healing and of God’s mercy, precisely because of his role in bringing about healing and mercy upon God’s people who looked for Him in their times of need.
As we heard from the Scripture passages of the earlier days this week, we heard how God through His Archangel rescued the woman Sara, who had been beset by the powerful demon, Asmodeus, who killed all the seven men whom Sara had been married to as husbands. To that point, she was driven to great despair, as even her handmaidens badmouthed her and accused her of wrongdoing, of committing the murder herself for her benefits, and she almost committed suicide out of that despair.
But she trusted in the Lord, and holding back her despair, she prayed to the Lord, and the Lord heard her prayers, and together with the prayers of Tobit, He sent them His deliverance through the Archangel Raphael, who was disguised as a man who went to help Tobias in his journey. Eventually, all that God willed for the two faithful yet distressed servant of His became reality, and both were rescued from their troubles.
Through all of these, all of us ought to know that no matter how difficult a situation we are in, or how hopeless things seem to be for us, or no matter how tough our path ahead seems to be, we must not give up hope, for even though all earthly methods and ways failed, even though all those doctors were unable to restore the vision of Tobit, and none of the methods were able to cast the demon away from Sara, God was with them.
In the Gospel today, we heard Jesus speaking about David and about Himself, Who is the Son of God and Son of David both. In speaking about His ancestor, Jesus spoke of how David, the humble shepherd of Judah, coming from the hill country, used to work with lambs that he guarded, was able to combat and defeat even lions that wanted to threaten his sheep, and how in the famous story of his fight against Goliath, David was able to defeat the giant Goliath, all with the provision and help from God.
David was not physically imposing or strong, compared to Goliath and also to king Saul, whom David was eventually about to replace. However, God was with Him, and He guided David on his way, leading him through times of difficulty and also through good times. Eventually, he became the king of Judah and Israel, as the one anointed by God to be the ruler of His entire people, and to whom God promised that his descendants will rule forever, a promise fulfilled in Jesus.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of these examples serve to show us that the Lord loves each and every one of us, and He will not abandon us to be destroyed. All that we need to do, is to put our trust in Him. Yes, there will indeed be times when we doubt Him because of our sufferings and pains, but eventually we shall triumph against them, in God’s own good time, through His own way of helping us. He shall protect us and guide us, and we shall rejoice in Him once He comes in glory to be with us.
Let us all, therefore, deepen our relationship with God, especially through prayers. Tobit and Sara prayed to the Lord asking Him to save them from their troubles and distress, and God heard them. King David himself was very devoted to the Lord, and often prayed in good times, as well as bad and troubled times, and the Lord heard him. Let us pray often, and not pray only from the mouth, but more importantly, from our hearts, and allow the Lord to speak to us as well, in the silence of our prayers and focus on Him, so that we may know what His will is for us.
May the Lord guide us all in our path, and may He strengthen us all always, so that we may never give up amidst all the challenges and temptations, and we will be able to seek the Lord and find our way to Him even amidst tribulations and difficulties. May the Lord be with us always, now and forever. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Mark 12 : 35-37
At that time, as Jesus was teaching in the Temple, He said, “The teachers of the Law say that the Messiah is the Son of David. How can that be? For David himself, inspired by the Holy Spirit, declared : The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies under Your feet!'”
“If David himself calls Him Lord, in what way can He be his Son?” Many people came to Jesus, and listened to Him gladly.
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Psalm 145 : 1-2, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10
Alleluia! Praise the Lord, my soul! I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to God while I live.
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!
Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints)
Tobit 11 : 5-17
Now Anna was sitting there, scanning the road along which her son should return. She saw Tobias and Raphael coming in the distance and said to the father of Tobias, “Your son is coming with the man who accompanied him.”
While Tobias and Raphael were still going along the road, Raphael said to Tobias, “I am sure that your father will regain his sight. Rub his eyes with the fish gall and when he feels his eyes itching, he will rub them and the film will come away like scales from his eyes. He will regain his sight and see the light.”
Anna ran to meet Tobias and threw her arms around his neck saying, “At last I have seen you again, my child. Now I can die!” And both of them began to cry. Tobit also got up and, stumbling, arrived at the door of the courtyard. Tobias ran to him with the fish gall in his hand. He breathed on his father’s eyes, embraced him and said, “Father, have confidence!”
Then he spread the fish gall on Tobit’s eyes. Tobias waited. When his eyes began to itch, Tobit rubbed them and with both hands scaled off the film from the corners of his eyes. When Tobit saw his son he threw his arms around Tobias’ neck and began to weep. He said, “Blessed be You, o God. Blessed be Your Name forever. Blessed be Your holy Angels. You have punished me, but You have taken pity on me, and now I can see my son, Tobias.”
Tobias was very happy. After entering the house he told his father about the important things that had happened in Media. He told his father about the successful outcome of his journey, how he got his money, and how he married Sara, daughter of Ragouel, who just then was approaching the gates of Nineveh.
Tobit, happy and praising God, went out to meet his daughter-in-law at the gates of Nineveh. All those who saw him walking alone and unaided, were amazed that he could see. Tobit proclaimed to them that God had taken pity on him and cured him. Then he went to Sara and blessed her saying, “Welcome, daughter! May God be blessed for having brought you to us and may your father and mother also be blessed.”
It was a day of great rejoicing for all Tobit’s relatives who lived in Nineveh.
Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard about how Jesus forgave St. Peter three times in the Gospel, after He was risen from the dead, and St. Peter professed his love and devotion to Him anew, also three times, and Jesus commanded Him to go forth and do His will, following Him and feeding His sheep throughout the world.
In the first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how St. Paul stood before king Agrippa and queen Berenice, as he was about to embark on the journey to Rome, the final leg of his journey and ministry, for he already knew through the Holy Spirit, that he would glorify the Lord through martyrdom at the capital of the Roman Empire.
Both St. Peter and St. Paul were unlikely people to be called by God, according to human and worldly standards. Why is that so? That is because, St. Peter was an illiterate and uneducated fisherman of the lake of Galilee, hardly someone a person of this world would employ in the very important mission to preach the Gospel and the Good News to many people.
And how about St. Paul? As we all should know, St. Paul was once known as Saul, a great enemy of the Church and the faithful, a terror and nightmare of all those who follow the Lord’s way in Jerusalem, Judea and throughout the country of the Jews at that time. Saul was very zealous and dedicated, to the point of frenzy in his hunting of Christians and all those who follow the Lord’s way, arresting them and even torturing them.
Yet, the Lord called both of them, and transformed them into His great servants, those to whom He had entrusted with the very important mission, that is the conversion of souls and salvation of all mankind. St. Peter was entrusted with the leadership of the entire Universal Church, which God had established in this world, with St. Peter as its base and support. And also St. Paul, who was the important Apostle through his missions and journeys, evangelising to the pagans and Gentiles, the Apostle to the Gentiles.
Both of them were the main pillars of the Church, supported and joined by all the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord, by all the holy men and women, all those who have left everything behind in order to follow and to serve the Lord. There were many of those who had given all of their lives in order to advance the cause of the Lord, calling more and more souls to know the Lord and to repent from their sins.
And these include St. Marcellinus and St. Peter, the two renowned saints who were told to have perished in the most severe persecution to ever face the Church in its early days, under the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ordered the persecution of all Christians, the burning of all Christian texts and bibles, and the destruction of churches and Christian properties. Many martyrs were born of that persecution, and yet there were many tales of those who persisted in their faith, laying down their lives for the Lord rather than choosing apostasy.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, many of them, especially St. Peter and St. Paul knew what would be their fate if they continued faithfully to preach the Good News of the Lord and convert more and more souls to the true faith. In the Gospel today, the Lord Himself had mentioned it to St. Peter, how he would also be bound and brought to where he would not want to go, similar to St. Paul, and both ended up in Rome and met their end in martyrdom there.
But through their faith and devotion to the Lord, they glorified the Lord by their lives and by their heroic martyrdom, becoming great inspirations in faith for the many generations of Christians until this very day. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, in our world today, there are still many things that we can do as Christians in order to follow in the footsteps of the Apostles and saints.
I do not mean that we should intentionally seek martyrdom or persecution, but rather, as Christians, we can no longer be content with just sitting still and doing nothing for the sake of our faith. As the members of God’s Church, all of us have been called by God from our diverse backgrounds and origins much as St. Peter and St. Paul had been called, all sinners who were called to redemption and holiness.
God has given us the gifts, through His Holy Spirit, in order to guide us through this mission He had entrusted to us. Now, it is entirely up to us to choose whether we want to proceed with it or not. Thus, now, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our commitment to God, to serve Him with ever greater zeal and devotion, and also to carry on living a good and devout Christian life, through our actions in life, by loving our fellow men, showing mercy to sinners and to our enemies, and to preach the Word of God and His truth through our upright life.
May the Lord bless all of our works and endeavours, and may He empower each and every one of us to be worthy sons and daughters of His, filled with the Holy Spirit, rich in love, mercy, compassion, hope and faith. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)
John 21 : 15-19
At that time, after Jesus and His disciples had finished breakfast, He said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” And Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.”
A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” And Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Look after My sheep.” And a third time He said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
Peter was saddened because Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” and he said, “Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You.” Jesus then said, “Feed My sheep! Truly, I say to you, when you were young, you put on your belt and walked where you liked. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will put a belt around you, and lead you where you do not wish to go.”
Jesus said this to make known the kind of death by which Peter was to glorify God. And He added, “Follow Me.”
Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)
Psalm 102 : 1-2, 11-12, 19-20ab
Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.
As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins.
The Lord has set His throne in heaven; He rules, He has power everywhere. Praise the Lord, all you His Angels.
Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)
Acts 25 : 13b-21
As King Agrippa and his sister Berenice were to stay in Caesarea several days, Festus told him about Paul’s case and said to him, “We have here a man whom Felix left as a prisoner. When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews accused him and asked me to sentence him.”
“I told them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over a man without giving him an opportunity to defend himself in front of his accusers. So they came and I took my seat without delay on the tribunal and sent for the man. When the accusers had the floor, they did not accuse him of any of the crimes that I was led to think he had committed; instead they quarrelled with him about religion and about a certain Jesus Who has died but whom Paul asserted to be alive.”
“I did not know what to do about this case, so I asked Paul if he wanted to go to Jerusalem to be tried there. But Paul appealed to be judged by the Emperor. So I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.”
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 