Friday

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Friday, 8 January 2016 : Friday after the Epiphany (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 5 : 12-16

At that time, one day, in another town, a man came to Jesus covered with leprosy. On seeing Jesus, the man bowed down to the ground, and said, “Lord, if You want to, You can make me clean.”

Stretching out His hand, Jesus touched the man and said, “Yes, I want to. Be clean.” In an instant the leprosy left him. Then Jesus instructed him, “Tell this to no one. But go and show yourself to the priest. Make an offering for your healing, as Moses prescribed; that will serve as evidence for them.”

But the news about Jesus spread all the more, and large crowds came to Him, to listen and to be healed of their sickness. As for Jesus, He would often withdraw to solitary places and pray.

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Friday, 8 January 2016 : Friday after the Epiphany (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

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

Exalt the Lord, 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, 8 January 2016 : Friday after the Epiphany (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 5 : 5-13

Who has overcome the world? The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus Christ was acknowledged through water, but also through Blood. Not only water but water and Blood. And the Spirit, too, witnesses to Him for the Spirit is truth.

There are then three testimonies : the Spirit, the water and the Blood, and these three witnesses agree. If we accept human testimony, with greater reason must we accept that of God, given in favour of His Son. If you believe in the Son of God, you have God’s testimony in you. But those who do not believe make God a liar, since they do not believe His words when He witnesses to His Son.

What has God said? That He has granted us eternal life and this life is in His Son. The one who has the Son has life, the one who do not have the Son of God do not have life. I write to you, then, all these things that you may know that you have eternal life, all you who believe in the Name of the Son of God.

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Friday, 1 January 2016 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Theotokos, World Day of Prayer for Peace (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate the beginning of the new year in the reckoning of our calendar, and as we welcome the very first moments of this year, we also remember, as we have done every year, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, also known as Theotokos, by the virtue of her being the mother of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Today’s celebration is very important for us and for our faith, for in it lies the very basic tenet of our Faith, which even many people over the ages tried to rebuke and disprove in their wrong thoughts and heretical teachings. Chief of all these is Arius, the one who started the heresy of Arianism. In this heresy, those who adhere to its false teachings contended that Jesus was not God, but only mere Man.

For them, the nature of Jesus is as a created being, no different from that of all the other creatures. They did not see Jesus as the Son of God, and therefore much less, as the Divine Word incarnate into Flesh. They refused to believe that He is God, from the beginning until the end and unto all ages. They thought in their feeble minds, that it is impossible for God to bear a Son in Jesus.

And therefore the Church, having recognised the falsehoods of Arius and his followers, a confusion set by the devil himself, set on its way to counter and to fight back this false teaching and vicious heresy. As a result, during the very first Ecumenical Council convened in Nicaea in the year 325 AD, the nature of Christ as the Son of God was established and finalised, and all those who refused to believe in this truth, were cast out as heretics.

And by that virtue, in the later Ecumenical Council, namely the Ecumenical Council held at Ephesus in the year 431 AD proclaimed Mary as the Theotokos, as the Mother of God (Theos). Previously there were also many who believed that Mary is the mother of Jesus, the Man, and as the mother of Christ but no more. There were also those who believed that because Christ is the Lord, both Man and God at the same time, even though Mary His mother was a human being, but by the virtue of being the mother of Jesus Christ, she is also the Mother of God.

This fact cannot be separated from the earlier part of the struggle between the Arians and the faithful Christians, on the nature of our Lord Jesus Christ, whether He is just a Man, or whether He is both God and Man at the same time. If Jesus is just a mere Man, as the Arians had believed, then Mary is no more than just a mother of a great Man and nothing else.

Yet, we all believe in the Motherhood of God, in Mary as the Theotokos, because her Son Jesus is not just a Man, but also God at the same time. He is both fully God and fully Man at the same time, and the two natures, God and Man, while distinct, cannot be separated from each other and they are bound together in perfect hypostatical union in Christ, in perfect love.

This is why I said that this belief in Mary as the Mother of God is central to our faith, and without which I can say that our hold onto our faith is tenuous and weak. And it is also important to take note that this does not make Mary into a deity or a goddess herself. Rather, if we compare it to an earthly analogy, in a kingdom, a king’s mother is honoured even though she does not rule the kingdom as the mother of the king.

Similarly therefore, as God is the King of kings and the Ruler of all the universe, it is by the virtue of His great Kingship that His earthly mother is also honoured in the same way. This is why Mary as the Mother of God had such a special position in our faith and for all of us too. Why is this so? We have to look no further than the Sacred Scriptures in the Gospels themselves.

Firstly, all of us have been entrusted by our Lord to her, just as He entrusted her to all of us. When Jesus was crucified and about to die, He spoke to both His mother Mary and John His beloved disciple, and He entrusted Mary His mother to him, while at the same time He also entrusted him to His mother. In this manner, He had also entrusted all of us to her care, and He entrusted His own mother to be our intercessor and helper.

In the wedding at Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle of turning water into wine, a miracle we all surely are familiar with, it was because of Mary’s urging and pleas that eventually Jesus allowed Himself to perform His first miracle despite His unwillingness and earlier rejection to help the wedding couple in distress. Mary never gave up in trying to help them, as she knew that the couple was in great trouble if they were to gain no help.

In the same way therefore, Mary is the one who can also help us on our way to the Lord, and whenever we are lost and in trouble, it is to her that we can also turn in order to help ourselves to escape from our predicament. It was said that the best way to reach out to our Lord Jesus is through His mother Mary, and indeed this is true. For Mary, being the closest to the throne of her Son, lies the closest to Him and her prayers are the ones that her own Son will not overlook.

Today, we also celebrate the World Day of Prayer of Peace, as we embark on this new year, let us all pray for world peace, that mankind will no longer seek to destroy and bring pain and suffering to one another, but instead live in harmony and true peace with each other. Let us all ask for the intercession of our Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, that these prayers we make will come to the ears of our Lord, and may He bless us with His peace.

O Lord Jesus, listen to us Your children and Your people, and let us all live in peace, love and harmony, and through Your blessed Mother Mary, who prays for our sake without cease, let peace reign on earth forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 1 January 2016 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Theotokos, World Day of Prayer for Peace (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 2 : 16-21

So the shepherds came hurriedly, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby lying in the manger. On seeing Him they related what they had been told about the Child, and all were astonished on hearing the shepherds.

As for Mary, she treasured all these words, and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds then returned, giving glory and praise to God for all they had heard and seen, just as the Angels had told them.

On the eighth day the circumcision of the Baby had to be performed : He was named Jesus, the Name the Angel had given Him before He was conceived.

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Friday, 1 January 2016 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Theotokos, World Day of Prayer for Peace (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Galatians 4 : 4-7

But when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son. He came born of woman and subject to the Law, in order to redeem the subjects of the Law, that we might receive adoption as children of God.

And because you are children, God has sent into your hearts the Spirit of His Son which cries out : Abba! that is, Father!

You yourselves are no longer a slave but a son or daughter, and yours is the inheritance by God’s grace.

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Friday, 1 January 2016 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Theotokos, World Day of Prayer for Peace (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 66 : 2-3, 5, 6 and 8

May God be gracious and bless us; may He let His face shine upon us, that Your way be known on earth and Your salvation among the nations.

May the countries be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with justice and guide the nations of the world.

May the peoples praise You, o God, may all the peoples praise You! May God bless us and be revered, to the very ends of the earth.

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Friday, 1 January 2016 : Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, Theotokos, World Day of Prayer for Peace (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Numbers 6 : 22-27

Then YHVH spoke to Moses saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons and say to them : This is how you shall bless the people of Israel; you shall say : May YHVH bless you and keep you! May YHVH let His face shine on you, and be gracious to you! May YHVH look kindly on you, and give you His peace!”

“In that way shall they put My Name on the people of Israel and I will bless them.”

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Friday, 25 December 2015 : Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Day (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is a very special occasion in the whole liturgical year of the Church, one of the two most important events in our faith life, as well as in the reckoning of the celebration of the Church, that is the Solemnity of our Lord’s Nativity, His birth into this world, into this earth, or what we also knew more commonly as Christmas.

On this day, which we have been spending the whole season of Advent, a whole four weeks of it in order to prepare ourselves for its celebrations, we celebrate together and rejoice together as one people and as one Church for the love of God made Man, that by His perfect and infinite love for us all mankind, He had manifested that love through Jesus Christ, the Word of God made Flesh and into Man.

To many of us, Christmas is just another holiday and merrymaking season, the time much needed for us to take a break after a long and tiring year, especially with the long holidays and the New Year celebrations just around the corner. However, many of us missed the essence of Christmas and why we are celebrating it year after year, and even today, to the point that we became engulfed with the ever increasingly commercialised Christmas.

Just imagine, brothers and sisters in Christ, if we ask our brethren, both young and old around us, how many of them really understand what Christmas is and how it is so meaningful to them? Many of us might have known that Christmas is the celebration of the birthday of our Lord Jesus Christ, but to many of us, that is all that we know about, and many of us did not bother to go even further to understand its meaning.

Yes, this is the danger of making Christmas so superficial and worldly to the point that it lost its importance and significance. And to many of us, after having celebrated Christmas many times since the time when we could remember it, many of us had treated it just as other occasions in their lives, happening again and again year after year, as a mere formality and routine in the reckoning of time.

And combine this with the amount of materialism and commercialism that surround Christmas now, and we should realise how grave the problem is, and how bad it will be in the future as well. How many of our young ones when we ask them about Christmas remember about Santa Claus and his elves, the gifts and the parties, the glamour and the revelries more than what they remember and know about Christ our Lord?

Indeed, today is a time of great joy and celebration, but on the other hand, all of us should also be aware lest the devil uses the opportunity to bring harm to us, by snatching away from us the knowledge and the understanding of how important Christmas is for us, as without Christmas, there could be no hope for us, and we all would have lived our lives in despair, knowing that we are heading to a certain disaster in the end.

Why is this so? That is because all of us men have tasted the bitterness of sin, and sin had entered into all of us, because of our disobedience, not just that of our first ancestors, but also men throughout the ages, tempted by the lies and the guiles of Satan and his fellow fallen angels, the tempters and all the temptations they could muster to make us all disobey the Lord.

And as a result, as we could see in the Book of Genesis, mankind who were not created to endure sufferings, pain and death. All these were the consequences of our disobedience and our sins against God. It was because of our bondage to sin and evil which separated us from the love and grace of God, for God Who is all good and perfect can have no evil and wickedness to coexist in His presence.

That was why, ever since the day when mankind were cast out of Eden for their disobedience, we have wandered in this world and we have awaited for the day of the coming of our redemption and liberation from the tyranny of evil and sin, for the day when the Lord’s promise would be made complete and perfectly fulfilled. Yes, this is because, in the Book of Genesis too, when God punished men for their disobedience, He also provided them with a hope amidst the darkness, that He Who loved them would not abandon them forever.

In particular, God spoke of how tension and rivalry would come in between the devil, that is the old snake and his forces, with the children of men, and how the devil and his angels would harm the sons and daughters of men, tempting them as they had done against their ancestors, that the children of men too would sin and therefore fall into disobedience and damnation.

But, God spoke of the Woman through whom He would bring about His salvation, when the chains of sin and the tyranny of evil would be broken forever, when the Child would crush the head of the snake, representing the final and total defeat of the devil and all of his dark forces. And God maintained His promise of salvation and liberation throughout the ages, through His servants and prophets.

And He even gave His people a foretaste of the true salvation of all mankind, that is when the Israelites, the children of Abraham were enslaved by the Egyptians in Egypt, He raised up Moses His servant, through whom He did great wonders, and through His own mighty hand, by the intermediary acts of Moses, He led His people out of Egypt and crushed the Egyptians and their Pharaoh.

But all these are nothing compared to what the Lord has done for us in Christmas, and by extension, eventually to Easter which we shall celebrate again later next year. This is because for all the sufferings that we mankind suffer in the flesh, the persecution by the world, the scourges on the flesh, the torture of the body, none of these could harm us all for eternity except for one thing, that is sin.

Yes, sin is a very dangerous ailment that had afflicted every single one of us, and it had penetrated deep into our entire being, in our hearts, our minds, our souls and our flesh, corrupting our entire being. And it is dangerous because it inflicted suffering and pain not just on the flesh, but also on our eternal soul. It was because of sin that we have been sundered away from the love and grace of God, and it is also because of sin that the souls of those who have not repented their sins are in danger of eternal damnation.

And it was through Christmas that God fulfilled the promises which He had made to us throughout the generations. Many people have long awaited for the coming of the Lord’s Messiah, and indeed, on Christmas Day, we celebrate that Saviour, or Messiah Who came into the world. And He is none other than the Lord Himself, the Word of God, or the Logos, the Word Incarnate into Flesh.

We heard in the Scriptures where it was spoken how God so loved the world, that He gave us the perfect gift of His own Son, that as He assumed the flesh of Man, by being one of us, He might bring unto us the salvation and eternal life promised to us. This is the true meaning and the essence of Christmas, not the joys and the pleasures of the world, not all the glamours, the gifts and the merrymaking, but it is truly about God’s love for us, a celebration of His Eternal Love.

And today we celebrate, we rejoice and we honour God, exalting Him exceedingly and greatly for the Love which God had showered us, and which had manifested itself perfectly in Jesus Christ. It is His birthday that we celebrate today, and today we glory in the Lord and we thank Him because God Who was once invisible had decided to make Himself visible and tangible to us, and not just that, as He had given us His own Flesh and Blood to share and to eat, so that He dwells in us just as we dwell in Him!

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we rejoice in this Christmas Day, and as no doubt our joy we will continue to rejoice in the several days to come, let us all learn to put Christ our Lord at the heart of our Christmas celebrations, and just as we should understand that Christmas is about the love of God made Man, and how God loved us so much that He sent us His own Son to save us, let us all also imitate His examples.

How do we do this? It is by sharing this joy that we have, the Christmas joy with those who have less or none. It is important that we do not keep the joy for ourselves, as we have to remember that God sent His Son to everyone without exception, even to the greatest sinners! And it is the Good News of His salvation, His desire that all of us should repent our sins and be reunited with Him that we too need to share with the world.

Therefore, let this Christmas be a meaningful one for us, where we celebrate it with true joy and with true understanding of God’s love, and let us all by our actions and deeds, and by our sharing of this Christmas joy and blessings, bring forth the Good News of our Lord’s salvation to the nations, and bring ever more souls to the salvation that only can be found in Jesus Christ, our Lord, born on Christmas Day. May He bless us all in all of our endeavours. Merry Christmas and may God bless your day with eternal joy! Amen.

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Friday, 25 December 2015 : Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, Christmas Day Mass (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 1 : 1-18

In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God; He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing came to be. Whatever has come to be, found life in Him; life, which for human beings, was also light, light that shines in darkness, light that darkness could not overcome.

A man came, sent by God; his name was John. He came to bear witness as a witness to introduce the Light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the Light, but a witness to introduce the Light; for the Light was coming into the world, the true Light that enlightens everyone.

He was in the world, and through Him the world was made, the very world that did not know Him. He came to His own, yet His own people did not receive Him; but to all who received Him, He empowers to become children of God, for they believe in His Name.

These are born, but not by seed, or carnal desire, nor by the will of man : they are born of God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; and we have seen His glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father : fullness of truth and loving kindness.

John bore witness to Him openly, saying, “This is the One who comes after me, but He is already ahead of me, for He was before me.” From His fullness we have all received, favour upon favour. For God had given us the Law through Moses, but Truth and Loving kindness came through Jesus Christ.

No one has ever seen God, but God-the-Only-Son made Him known : the One, Who is in and with the Father.

Alternative reading (shorter version)

John 1 : 1-5, 9-14

In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God and the Word was God; He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing came to be. Whatever has come to be, found life in Him; life, which for human beings, was also light, light that shines in darkness, light that darkness could not overcome.

For the Light was coming into the world, the true Light that enlightens everyone. He was in the world, and through Him the world was made, the very world that did not know Him. He came to His own, yet His own people did not receive Him; but to all who received Him, He empowers to become children of God, for they believe in His Name.

These are born, but not by seed, or carnal desire, nor by the will of man : they are born of God. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; and we have seen His glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father : fullness of truth and loving kindness.