Friday

by

Friday, 24 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 57-66, 80

When the time came for Elizabeth, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the merciful Lord had done a wonderful thing for her, and they rejoiced with her.

When, on the eighth day, they came to attend the circumcision of the child, they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father. But his mother said, “Not so; he shall be called John.” They said to her, “But no one in your family has that name!” and they asked the father, by means of signs, for the name he wanted to give him.

Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and wrote on it, “His name is John,” and they were very surprised. Immediately Zechariah could speak again, and his first words were in praise of God. A holy fear came on all in the neighbourhood, and throughout the hill country of Judea the people talked about these events.

All who heard of it pondered in their minds, and wondered, “What will this child be?” For they understood that the hand of the Lord was with him. As the child grew up, he was seen to be strong in the Spirit; and he lived in the desert until the day when he appeared openly in Israel.

by

Friday, 24 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 22-26

After that time, God removed Saul and raised up David as king, to whom He bore witness saying : I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all I want him to do.

It is from the descendants of David that God has now raised up the promised Saviour of Israel, Jesus. Before He appeared, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. As John was ending his life’s work, he said, “I am not what you think I am, for after me another one is coming whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

Brothers, children and descendants of Abraham, and you also who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent.

by

Friday, 24 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 138 : 1-3, 13-14ab, 14c-15

O Lord, You know me : You have scrutinised me. You know when I sit and when I rise; beforehand You discern my thoughts. You observe my activities and times of rest; You are familiar with all my ways.

It was You Who formed my inmost part and knit me together in my mother’s womb. I thank You for these wonders You have done, and my heart praises You for Your marvellous deeds.

Even my bones were known to You when I was being formed in secret, fashioned in the depths of the earth.

by

Friday, 24 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Isaiah 49 : 1-6

Listen to me, o islands, pay attention, peoples from distant lands. YHVH called me from my mother’s womb; He pronounced my name before I was born. He made my mouth like a sharpened sword. He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me into a polished arrow set apart in His quiver.

He said to me, “You are Israel, My servant. Through you I will be known.” “I have laboured in vain,” I thought and spent my strength for nothing.” Yet what is due me was in the hand of YHVH, and my reward was with my God. I am important in the sight of YHVH, and my God is my strength.

And now YHVH has spoken, He Who formed me in the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him, to gather Israel to Him. He said, “It is not enough that you be My servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, to bring back the remnant of Israel. I will make you the light of the nations, that My salvation will reach to the ends of the earth.”

by

Friday, 17 June 2016 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard firstly the tale of how Queen Athaliah, the mother of the king of the southern kingdom of Judah tried to take over power from the descendants of king David, the rightful kings. After her son died in an incident with the king of Israel, she slaughtered all the heirs of the king and took over power for herself.

But God had promised the kingdom and authority to the family of David for eternity, just as He had promised in the covenant which He had established with His faithful servant David. David was humble and just, while Athaliah was proud and filled with greed for power. David was a mere humble shepherd who was called by the Lord to lead His people as their king. But Athaliah usurped the power in order to satisfy her own ego and her own greed for power.

And therefore God raised up one of the sons of the previous king, who was indeed the rightful king, by the grace of God he had been saved from the massacre conducted by Athaliah. And when the time came for him to reclaim his throne, God was with him, blessed him, and Athaliah was overthrown and was punished for her transgressions and sins.

How does this relate to our Gospel passage today? It is indeed very related. And why is this so? That is because in the Gospel, Jesus our Lord spoke about the need for us to accumulate for ourselves not the treasures of the world that do not last and are perishable, but instead that we should seek for the true treasures found only in God, which will satisfy us to the everlasting life.

And what are the treasures of the world which we mankind often seek for? Queen Athaliah herself had shown us one of them, that is power. The desire for power, control and authority had led her to commit the sin of murder, in the massacre of the many rightful heirs to the throne, as well as many other sins and wickedness by unjustly occupying the throne of David, which God had promised to David and his descendants alone.

And if we look at our human history, surely all of us are able to see how many times was it that we have done the same things over and over again. Many wars and conflicts, many acts of evil and wickedness have been committed because of mankind’s ever sustained desire for power and all its related goodness, and many people in their pursuit for power did not hesitate to cause even hurt and injury or even death on others who they thought to be in their way.

But power is a treasure of this world that does not last. We just have to see the examples of all those mighty rulers and lords of the world. Great conquerors and Emperors, rulers and kings, mighty and great during his life, amassing vast amounts of wealth and fortune, respected by men and some were even worshipped as gods, as the Egyptian Pharaohs and the Roman Emperors had been. And yet, where did all of them go to when death comes to meet them?

When they died, none of the good things which they have accumulated in life would be carried over by them to the afterlife. Indeed, if they had been wicked in life, and if they had accumulated those earthly treasures by causing harm and hurt on others, then surely, the accumulation of their sins would bring them not to glory but to the eternal suffering in hell fire.

This is where what the Lord had said come true, as even the greatest earthly rulers would have to come and meet their judgment in the hand of God. And when He comes to judge us all, I am sure that none of us would want to have the Lord reject us because of our sinfulness and wickedness. And therefore, what we need to do is from now on, we have to build up for ourselves the everlasting treasure in heaven.

And just how do we do that? We have to do what is right and just, and care for one another as what our Lord Jesus had told us. We have to walk in the path of righteousness, and be as selfless as possible. We have to get rid of our greed and our selfishness which are the reasons for our downfall into sin. Instead, let us all devote ourselves more, our time and our efforts to help our brethren who are in need of our help and love.

May God help us in this endeavour, and may He bless all of our works that we may be found worthy and righteous by the Lord our God. May He strengthen us and give us the courage to move on and to reach out to Him and attain His salvation. God bless us all always. Amen.

by

Friday, 17 June 2016 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 6 : 19-23

At that time, Jesus spoke to the people and to His disciples, “Do not store up treasures for yourself here on earth, where moth and rust destroy it, and where thieves can steal it. Store up treasures for yourself with God, where no moth or rust can destroy it, nor thief come and steal it.”

“For where your treasure is, there also your heart will be. The lamp of the body is the eye; if your eyes are sound, your whole body will be in the light. If your eyes are diseased, your whole body will be in darkness. Then, if your light has become darkness, how dark will be the darkest part of you!”

by

Friday, 17 June 2016 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 131 : 11, 12, 13-14, 17-18

The Lord swore to David a promise, and He will remain true to it : “I will keep your descendants on your throne.”

“If your sons keep My covenant and the decrees I have taught them, their sons, too, will sit forever upon your throne.”

For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling. “This is My resting place forever; this I prefer, here will I dwell.”

“From here a Saviour shall come forth, a Son of David; here shall shine forever the lamp of My Anointed. In shame will I clothe His enemies, but upon His head a crown shall shine.”

by

Friday, 17 June 2016 : 11th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Kings 11 : 1-4, 9-18, 20

When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son had died, she was determined to wipe out all the descendants of the king. But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, her nephew, and brought him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be killed, and put him with his wet nurse in the bedroom.

Thus she hid him from Athaliah, so that the boy was saved. And Joash remained hidden in the House of YHVH for six years while Athaliah reigned over the land. In the seventh year, Jehoiada the chief priest, summoned the officers of the royal guard and of the Carites to the House of YHVH. After concluding a pact with them under oath, he showed them the king’s son.

The commanders of the guards did what Jehoiada the priest had told them to do and they showed up with all their men, those who were to go off duty on the sabbath as well as those who were to come on duty on that day. Jehoiada entrusted to the officers the spears and shields of king David which were in the House of YHVH.

And the guards stood from the southern corner of the house to the north, surrounding the altar and the House of YHVH. Then Jehoiada, the priest, brought out the king’s son, crowned him and put the bracelets on him, then proclaimed and consecrated him king. All clapped their hands, shouting and crying out, “Long live the king!”

When Athaliah heard the noise of the people, she approached the crowd surrounding the House of YHVH. The king was standing by the pillar, according to the custom, and the officers and the trumpeters were with him. The people were filled with joy and they were blowing trumpets. On seeing this, Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, “Treason, treason!”

Jehoiada the priest commanded the officers, “Surround her and bring her out to the courtyard, and kill anyone who tries to defend her.” He gave this order, because he thought, “She should not die in the House of YHVH.” They brought her out, and when they reached the palace of the king by the horses’ entrance, there they killed her.

Jehoiada made a covenant between YHVH and the king and the people so they would be the people of YHVH. All the citizens went to the temple of Baal and destroyed it. They broke the altars and the images into pieces, and killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, before his altar. Then Jehoiada, the priest, posted guards over the House of YHVH.

All the citizens were happy and the city was at peace. Now regarding Athaliah, she had died by the sword in the king’s palace.

by

Friday, 10 June 2016 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the Lord Jesus Who spoke to His disciples about the importance for us to keep ourselves free from sin, and purified from all the filth and taints of sin, so that all of them will not become obstacles and hindrances on our path towards the salvation and life in God.

We may be terrified to hear it when Jesus spoke to His disciples about cutting off limbs, their legs and hands when these caused them to sin, and tearing out their own eyes if these had also led them into sin. But this is the problem we face if we just take everything that Jesus had said at the literal level. We must not take His words just at the face value, but instead, we have to internalise them and understand them with all of our heart.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are called by our Lord to purify ourselves from sins and wickedness which have in its many forms, one way or another, filled our hearts, minds and corrupted our soul and our flesh. In fact, what the Lord Jesus wanted us to know that firstly, if our inner beings are corrupt and wicked, then these will certainly lead to corruption and wickedness to cover our bodies and our external beings as well.

And then He also wants us to know that we need to separate ourselves, and steer ourselves clear of sinful ways and all things that lead to evil and darkness. We must understand this in order to be able to fully appreciate what Jesus told His disciples. It does not mean that we should injure or hurt ourselves physically, but rather, we must break up that part of ourselves, deep in our hearts and minds, those which have pulled us into sin.

It means that we should resist the temptations that are inevitably going to play at our desires, so that through internal discipline and rigorous defence, we may overcome those temptations and prevent ourselves from falling into the trap of sin. And what many of us mankind lacked is precisely this discipline, the rigour of conduct required for us to be able to resist falling into sin.

Many of us embraced our desires, and succumb to its pressure whenever we are presented with the opportunities for us to follow the desires of our heart. And it does not help with the fact that our world today is a place of increasingly greater and deeper materialism, where everything from money, possessions and human greatness are valued highly and treasured.

If we are not careful, then we are inviting trouble for ourselves, as then our actions may become filled with greed and selfishness, and we may come to the point where we may hurt others on our attempts to satisfy ourselves. And that is why Jesus our Lord reminded us to be careful in our actions, and to be vigilant lest our actions and deeds bring us to sin.

But all these should begin from the inside, from our hearts and minds. If these are pure and good, then surely our outward expressions will also be good and pure. As Jesus put it in another parable, that good trees certainly will produce good fruits, and bad trees will produce bad and rotten fruits. It would not be the other way round. Thus, if we can keep ourselves worthy and clean from sin in the inside, then we too may make ourselves wholly worthy of the Lord.

And the best way to do that is through prayer and spiritual discipline. We must step up our efforts to keep our hearts pure and be filled with the love of God, by improving the discipline of our minds and hearts. Let us keep ourselves from wicked thoughts and desires, and learn to resist these all by devoting ourselves, our efforts and our time to God, that we may be better able to find our way to our God and gain the eternal life He has promised us. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Friday, 3 June 2016 : Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, World Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Priestly Life, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we all celebrate the great Solemnity and Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the moment when we celebrate the great and infinite love which God has for all of us which He had made apparent and true through His own Son, Jesus Christ, Whom He had sent into the world to become our Saviour.

Today’s chosen Scripture readings therefore match perfectly the theme we mentioned, as they all spoke about the Lord as our Shepherd, and all of us as God’s beloved sheep. And all the sheep of God ought to belong to the same flock tended to by the Shepherd of all mankind, our God Himself. None of the sheep should have been lost, but in reality, some sheep did get lost and wandered off into the foreign lands.

God in many occasions used the example of a shepherd to show the love which He has for us all, as the society of the people of God at that time were composed of mainly agricultural farmers and shepherds, tending the farmlands and the flock of sheep and goats. Thus, by relating to them through parables related to farming and to shepherding the sheep, God hoped to bring the message to His people in a clearer manner.

They would be able to relate to the fact how true and good shepherds would not abandon his sheep, but protect them and care for them with genuine love. He does not abandon the sheep when danger comes to the flock, but instead he would try to protect the flock as best as he could, even to the point of laying down his life and to suffer for the sake of the safety of the sheep.

And when a sheep is lost and wandered off on its own, the shepherd would go out all of his way to find the lost sheep and return it to the flock, as what Jesus had told the people. And in the same manner, God Who loves us all like a shepherd loves his sheep, will go forth and try to find us out in the darkness and in the wilderness where we are currently lost in.

And if shepherds know that one or more of their sheep are missing, then the Lord also definitely knows if we have erred and wandered off on our own, losing our way in this uncertain world. And He will definitely try to bring us back to His grace but ultimately, it is up to us whether we want to accept God’s mercy and forgiveness. The sheep can choose whether it wants to embrace the shepherd or to run away from him.

Today therefore, as we all celebrate this great solemnity of our Lord’s Most Sacred Heart, we all want to give thanks to our loving God, and glorify Him, as He has been so kind and compassionate to us, so gracious and so loving that even though we have committed sin and wickedness before Him and spurned His love, He was willing to forgive us and to welcome us back as long as we ourselves want to be forgiven and want to change our ways.

And not only that, God Himself has appointed His servants to be shepherds like Him, the Good Shepherd, modelled after Himself, to care for us all and to guide us all back to Him. And these are our devoted priests, all the men who had given themselves totally to serve the Lord and His people. The priests are those whom God had anointed to be His shepherds to lead the people whom He loves and cares for, so that they may find their path to Him.

So today is also the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctity of Priestly Life, when we all devote our prayer to our priests, that God may keep them holy and stay devoted to Him and to the mission to which they have been called to serve with zeal. It is not easy to become a priest and remain faithful as one these days, even as it was difficult in the past, as challenges and new obstacles arose to hamper the works of our priests.

And we all certainly know that not all priests had remained faithful as the good and just shepherds of God’s people. Some of them gave up along the way, abandoning the call and the vocation to which they have devoted themselves. They left the service and their calling because they were unable to devote themselves wholeheartedly to the mission entrusted to them, or that they had a change of heart and mind.

And worst of all, some even perverted and abused the purpose of their office, and betrayed the trust which those who have been entrusted to them had accorded to them. As a result, the faith and the Church were scandalised by them, and in the end, it was the good Name of our God which has been tainted and ruined by their actions.

I am speaking about those priests and servants of the Lord who had committed grievous sins by improper conduct and improper relationships even as they made their vow of chastity and purity, as well as improper desires and corrupt actions when they have already made the same vow to be pure and good role models. And this is the reality of our Church, how few of those who had been appointed as shepherds had erred and became bad shepherds and led the people into the wrong paths.

And because of these and other wicked and scandalous things that some of them did, it made the life and the work of the faithful priests and servants of God to be very difficult, and challenges continued to form in many varieties against our faithful and good shepherds. They are mocked, rejected and they were seen as those who had no future, and we can see even parents of those young men willing to join the priesthood actively discouraging them from entering the seminaries.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us today pray for our priests, and let us all devote our prayers to them, asking God to bless them and keep them in His grace, and may He empower them and give them courage in order to persevere against all the challenges stacked against them. Let us all not be discouraged when we see our priests encounter many difficulties, but instead, let us be inspired by their examples, and those among us who have been called, let us consider carefully God’s calling.

May God bless us and our priests, that all of us, especially our priests may follow the example of Him Who is our Good Shepherd, showing love in all of our actions and devoting ourselves to the works of love, caring for all the flocks of the Lord, that all may be saved. God be with us all, now and forever. Amen.