Friday

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Friday, 13 March 2015 : 3rd Week of Lent, 2nd Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis, Vicar of Christ and Supreme Pontiff (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Hosea 14 : 2-10

Return to your God YHVH, o Israel! Your sins have caused your downfall. Return to YHVH with humble words. Say to Him, “Oh You who show compassion to the fatherless, forgive our debt, be appeased. Instead of bulls and sacrifices, accept the praise from our lips.”

“Assyria will not save us : no longer shall we look for horses nor ever again shall we say ‘Our gods’ to the work of our hands.”

YHVH said, “I will heal their wavering and love them with all My heart for My anger has turned from them. I shall be like dew to Israel like the lily he will blossom. Like a cedar he will send down his roots; his young shoots will grow and spread. His splendour will be like an olive tree, his fragrance, like a Lebanon cedar.”

“They will dwell in My shade again, they will flourish like the grain, they will blossom like a vine, and their fame will be like Lebanon wine. What would Ephraim do with idols, when it is I who hear and make him prosper? I am like an ever-green cypress tree; all your fruitfulness comes from Me.”

“Who is wise enough to grasp all this? Who is discerning and will understand? Straight are the ways of YHVH : the just walk in them, but the sinners stumble.”

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Friday, 6 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the story of how Joseph, the son of Jacob was betrayed by his own brothers and sold to slavery for a mere twenty pieces of silver. They disliked the attitude of Joseph, who kept receiving dreams which supposedly showed that all of his brothers and even his parents submitting themselves to his authority.

And in the Gospel today we also heard about the parable of the vineyard, where we heard about the tenants who were wicked in their ways and refused to listen to the commands of owner of the vineyard. The parable spoke of those tenants who plotted against the son of the owner and all the servants sent against them. These two readings are indeed related to each other. There is also a message behind this selection of the readings for today.

Joseph and the son of the vineyard owner both represented Jesus, who is the Son of God Most High. The vineyard owner and Jacob represented God the Father. The wicked tenants and the brothers of Joseph represented mankind, that is all of us. There are indeed a lot of symbolism included in this day’s readings. Mankind had often rebelled against the will of God, sinning and committing wickedness after wickedness, just as the wicked tenants have done.

God sent us all many reminder after reminder, messenger after messenger, servants after servants in order to bring us back to the correct path in life. Yet, we obstinately refused His help and persecuted many of those whom had been sent to guide us and aid us on our way. This is precisely as how the wicked tenants persecuted the servants sent by the owner of the vineyard.

And last of all, God spared not even His own Begotten Son, Jesus our Lord, the Divine Word made Flesh. He came into the world in order to reinforce once and for all, God’s intended message for men to repent and change their ways, and follow Him. Notice how this is similar to how Joseph came to his brothers with the portents of his dreams? In how he explained what he had received in those dreams to them?

Just as Joseph is the beloved son of his father, Jacob, our Lord Jesus is also the Beloved Son of our Lord, whom He had begotten from Himself, as part of the Holy Trinity, perfectly united and undivided in love. And as Joseph and his brothers are indeed brothers in blood, we too, by the nature of the Divine Word who was incarnate into Flesh, who was made Man, also share the brotherhood with our Lord Jesus Christ.

As mentioned, the wicked tenants were greedy and lustful over the possessions of the vineyard owner. This is representing all of us who have hardened our hearts against God by giving in to our greed and to our worldly desires. It is indeed naturally difficult for us to resist our human desires. We are always exposed to the many temptations of the world that prevented us from following the Lord our God.

Do you notice the stark similarities between the two readings, especially on the part where Joseph was sold by his own brothers to the Midianites for a mere twenty pieces of silver, a meager price for a man, each of us, who are priceless? And how about the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him for a mere thirty pieces of silver?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, whenever we commit any form of sin, in fact we are betraying our Lord, not just for His love but also for all the sufferings He had endured for our sake. We are no different from the wicked tenants who did nothing and who had not been able to resist the temptations of the world. Everyday we disappointed the Lord who had done so much for our sake.

Let us use this season of Lent to reflect on our own lives and on our own priorities. We have hardened our hearts against God’s love and mercy, and rise up in rebellion and disobedience against Him. This we have to stop, and so that we will not share the fate of those who had risen up against the Lord and ended up in total destruction and eternal suffering.

May this Lent all of us are awakened to our desire to love the Lord and to seek His mercy, to change our ways and sin no more, so that in the end, we will share in the joy and the glory of the Son of God, who is the King of all creations and of all the universe. We shall rejoice together in His glory and have happiness forevermore. We too are the children of God and we will be joyful together with our Father, our God who loves us all dearly. Amen.

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Friday, 6 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 21 : 33-43, 45-46

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Listen to another example : There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a hole for the winepress, built a watchtower, leased the vineyard to tenants, and then went to a distant country. When harvest time came, the landowner sent his servants to the tenants to collect his share of the harvest. But the tenants seized his servants, beat one, killed another and stoned a third.”

“Again the owner sent more servants, but they were treated in the same way. Finally, he sent his son, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they thought, ‘This is the one who is to inherit the vineyard. Let us kill him, and his inheritance will be ours.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.”

“Now, what will the owner of the vineyard do with the tenants when he comes?” They said to Him, “He will bring those evil men to an evil end, and lease the vineyard to others, who will pay him in due time.” And Jesus replied, “Have you never read what the Scriptures say? ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and we marvel at it.'”

“Therefore I say to you : the kingdom of heaven will be taken from you, and given to a people who will yield a harvest.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these parables, they realised that Jesus was referring to them. They would have arrested Him, but they were afraid of the crowd, who regarded Him as a Prophet.

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Friday, 6 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 104 : 16-17, 18-19, 20-21

Then God sent a famine and ruined the crop that sustained the land; He sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave.

His feet in shackles, his neck in irons till what he foretold came to pass, and the Lord’s word proved him true.

The king sent for him, set him free, the ruler of the peoples released him. He put him in charge of his household and made him ruler of all his possessions.

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Friday, 6 March 2015 : 2nd Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Genesis 37 : 3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other children, for he was the son of his old age and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him. His brothers who saw that their father loved him more than he loved them, hated him and could no longer speak to him in a friendly way.

His brothers had gone to pasture their father’s flock at Shechem, and Israel said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the flock at Shechem.” So Joseph went off after his brothers and found them at Dothan. They saw him in the distance and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.

They said to one another, “Here comes the specialist in dreams! Now is the time! Let us kill him and throw him into a well. We will say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what his dreams were all about!” But Reuben heard this and tried to save him from their hands saying, “Let us not kill him; shed no blood! Throw him in this well in the wilderness, but do him no violence.” This he said to save him from them and take him back to his father.

So as soon as Joseph arrived, they stripped him of his long-sleeved coat that he wore and then took him and threw him in the well. Now the well was empty, without water. They were sitting for a meal when they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with spices, balm and myrrh, which they were taking down to Egypt.

Judah then said to his brothers, “What do we gain by killing our brother and hiding his blood? Come! We will sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him, for he is our brother and our own flesh!” His brothers agreed to this. So when the Midianite merchants came along they pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the well. For twenty pieces of silver they sold Joseph to the Midianites, who took him with them to Egypt.

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Friday, 27 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are presented with the reality of our life and our faith, that we have to live up to our faith. We cannot be paying merely lip service to the Lord and to what we believe in, or else, we are not true believers and will not be counted among the faithful. It is showing us that even the righteous ones will be held accountable for their sins and wrongdoings, and especially if they turn their back on the way of the Lord.

Similarly, as mentioned, those who have sinned and committed much evils are not to be condemned as lost to the darkness. For if they genuinely and sincerely repenting from their sins and turn their back on all those evils and wickedness, then they will be assured salvation and forgiveness of all their past faults. For what matters to the Lord is the redemption of all sinners, that is of all of us mankind who have rebelled against the will of God.

He was so concerned with them and the fate of their souls, so that He gave them the set of laws and precepts to guide them in their ways. They are to help ensure that the righteous remain righteous and just, and the sinners may return to the grace and favour of God. But yet, many did not understand God’s real intention and ending up with gross misinterpretation of the Law and using them instead to oppress the people with unjust intention.

And many followed the Law to the letter, and yet they failed to understand the meaning of each of the different points of the Law. In reality, the Law itself is about love, and it is meant to teach love to mankind, the people of God, be it the love they ought to have for the Lord, as well as the love they ought to have for mankind, for their fellow brethren.

That is why, we should be aware that obeying the will of God is equivalent to loving one another, sharing that love which we ought to have, and forsaking all forms of hatred, disharmony, jealousy, and all other negativities that affected us and prevented us from showing that genuine love for both God and men alike. This season of Lent, the holy season of preparation should be the perfect opportunity for us all to reflect on our own lives.

Have we been loving to our brethren, that is not just to those whom we love, but even to those who have caused hurt and injury to us, be it in physical term or in terms of inner hurt. It is not easy to forgive and to love those who have caused us pain and harm, and it is difficult indeed to let go of the pain and hatred within us. It is in our human nature to hate and be angry, because ever since sin entered into our hearts, they have been filled with the malice of the devil, and of all the earthly and worldly emotions that corrupted our true nature, that is love!

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, for God Himself is Love, and we who are the creations and children of God, we too are the creatures of love, and love is our true nature. Beneath all those layers of hatred, guilt, doubt, fear, greed, desire and many others that keep it hidden, is love. The Law of God, all of His commandments are all meant to guide us in the way of love.

Can we all renew our faith and our commitment to God, by abandoning all forms of sins and wickedness, and learning to love, and put love in all of our words, deeds and actions. That means, whenever we say anything, we must not have malice or ill intention in our hearts, and in our actions, we must not cause harm or injury to others, be it intentional or unintentional.

Let us all make full use of this Lenten season to change our ways for the better, that we may be found righteous and worthy by the Lord through what we have done. Let us all repent and genuinely seek the Lord, love Him and give all of our heart to Him, so that we may also receive the fullness of God’s grace and love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 27 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 5 : 20-26

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I tell you then, if you are not righteous in a much broader way than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”

“You have heard that it was said to our people in the past : ‘Do not commit murder; anyone who does kill will have to face trial.’ But now I tell you : whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial. Whoever insults a brother or sister deserves to be brought before the council. Whoever calls a brother or a sister ‘Fool!’ deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell.”

“So if you are about to offer your gift at the altar, and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with him, and then come back and offer your gift to God.”

“Do not forget this : be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court. Otherwise he will turn you over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, who will put you in jail. There you will stay, until you have paid the last penny.”

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Friday, 27 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 129 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-7a, 7bc-8

Out of the depths I cry to You, o Lord. O Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears pay attention to the voice of my supplication.

If You should mark our evil, o Lord, who could stand? But with You is forgiveness, and for that You are revered.

I waited for the Lord, my soul waits, and I put my hope in His word. O Israel, hope in the Lord.

For with Him is unfailing love and with Him full deliverance. He will deliver Israel from all its sins.

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Friday, 27 February 2015 : 1st Week of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Ezekiel 18 : 21-28

YHVH said, “If the sinner turns from his sin, observes My decrees and practices what is right and just, he will live, he will not die. None of the sins he committed will be charged against him; he will live as a consequence of his righteous deeds. Do I want the death of the sinner? – word of YHVH. Do I not rather want him to turn from his ways and live?”

“But if the righteous man turns away from what is good and commits sins as the wicked do, will he live? His righteous deeds will no longer be credited to him, but he will die because of his infidelity and his sins.”

“But you say : YHVH’s way is not just! Why, Israel! Is My position wrong? Is it not rather that yours is wrong? If the righteous man dies after turning from his righteous deeds and sinning, he dies because of his sins. And if the wicked man does what is good and right, after turning from the sins he committed he will save his life. He will live and not die, because he has opened his eyes and turned from the sins he had committed.”

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Friday, 20 February 2015 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the days of Lent, and the readings call us all to remember our true purpose of celebrating and going through this sacred season of Lent, the forty days of preparation for the coming of Easter. In this season, we go through fasting and abstinence on certain days, as a public and concrete way of showing our sincerity in following the Lord, by preparing ourselves body, mind, heart and soul for the celebration of our Lord’s Passion, death and resurrection.

But are we fasting and abstaining in the right way and for the right purpose? That is the essence of today’s readings. Are we fasting and abstaining for show so that people may be awed at what we are doing and therefore praise us greatly for doing so? Are we fasting and abstaining because our parents said that we must do so, or because the Church is teaching us to do so? Are we merely following the teachings of the Church without understanding them?

When we fast we have to realise that we are not doing it for ourselves, but for God. We fast and we abstain ourselves from eating meat and controlling our earthly and human desire, these are all to suppress our human emotions and desires, which often lead us to sin and to wickedness before the presence of God and men alike. Fasting and abstinence are meant for us to realise our frailty and our sinfulness, that we are truly unworthy sinners, given grace and forgiveness by our ever loving God.

Fasting and abstinence are meant to help us to restrict ourselves from the worldliness and things that often lead us away and distract us from following the teachings of our Lord with the wholeness of our hearts. This is why, even though the rules on fasting and abstinence involve food that we consume, but they should not be limited to this only.

Yes, fasting and abstinence can come in the form of restricting and limiting ourselves from our favourite hobby and activity, which often took so much time from us that we end up wasting our time and being unable to contribute positively and in a good way towards those who are around us. There are truly many things we can do and we can choose from many options.

We can abstain from computer gaming, watching our favourite television programmes and videos, from the sin of gluttony and sloth, from the pleasures of the flesh, and something as simple as stirring ourselves from laziness when we see someone around us who are suffering, not having enough food, enough love or respect by others as a fellow mankind.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the readings remind us that this Lent is a time for us to focus on the right things and fast as well as abstain for the right purposes. We fast because we know that by our sinfulness, we have been separated from our Lord by a certain degree. The more we sin, the further we have been separated from our loving God. And this is what all of us should be aware of.

We fast and abstain to remind ourselves on our own sinfulness, and it is also a kind reminder for us all who have more in terms of food, care, love and the goodness and graces of the world, we should share them with those who are less fortunate. That is the kind of fasting and abstinence that our Lord truly wants from us, and not those done for the sake of human praise and appearances as the Pharisees had done.

May the Lord awaken in us all the desire to love one another and to share the joy and grace we have, that no one will ever be in need again. May this Lent be a blessed season for us to reflect on our sins and therefore seek God’s forgiveness and repent in total sincerity. God bless us all. Amen.