Friday

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Friday, 15 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for each and every one of us to heed the call of the Lord for us to obey His Law and commandments, to follow His ways and to love in the way that He has shown and taught us because in the end, we will be held accountable for all of our actions and deeds, our show of love to our brothers and sisters around us or any lack of love instead. If we have not loved our fellow brothers and sisters if we should have done, then we shall also be held accountable for our lack of action and love for our brethren. We have to keep all this in mind as we all continue living our lives as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. John, we heard of the reminder from the Apostle to the faithful and hence to all of us, of the need for us to show love in al of our every actions and deeds, in our every interactions and works with one another because ultimately, our God is Love, and if He is Love Himself, the manifestation of perfect and most selfless love, then all of us must also be manifestation of God’s love, embodied in our every actions and deeds, in all the words we speak and in every moments of our lives. God Himself has shown His love to us through His beloved Son, Whom He had sent into the world, into our midst so that He may show us all the manifested and most perfect love of God in the flesh, becoming tangible and approachable for all of us.

As Christians, it is imperative that we keep reminding ourselves that we have been called to love most generously and sincerely to our fellow brothers and sisters around us. We should not ignore those who need our love and kindness, our help and compassion. There are many out there who have not been loved, ignored and ostracised by those who are around them, and if we are in the position to show love to these brethren of ours, then we should really make good use of the opportunities that God has given us so that we may truly love our brothers and sisters in the same way that the Lord Himself has first loved us all, in all the kindness and patient love and care that He has shown us all these while. We should therefore show the same love in each and every moments of our lives too.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke in which the Lord Jesus gave truly grim premonition to His disciples about the coming of the time of reckoning at the end of time, when the moment will come all of a sudden, without anyone knowing or realising it, making use of the examples of past catastrophes and events like that of the Great Flood of Noah, which happened suddenly without warning, destroying the whole entire world and civilisations that existed prior to that, and for those people who had rejected the call of the Lord to repent and follow Noah and his family, it was too late for them once the rain poured down and the waters flood the whole earth. Similarly, the example of Sodom and Gomorrah was also presented, when the rain of fire and brimstone destroyed both cities and their people for their wickedness and sins, and their refusal to repent.

Everything will happen in the same manner as the destructions that happened in the past, swift and without warning, and no one save the Lord Himself knows when the exact time of this happening is. No one among us, past, present and future will ever know the time of the Lord’s Second Coming, which He Himself has predicted and reassured us, just as none of us can ever know the exact time of our passing from this world, the end of our earthly life through death. And just like death, which is a certainty that is definitely going to happen, the Lord’s coming into this world and the time of reckoning, of the Final Judgment is something that is a sure certainty, and having been reminded, all of us should make sure that we prepare ourselves and make ourselves ready for that moment.

And how do we do that, brothers and sisters? We should therefore make sure that we practice our faith and whatever it is that we believe in actively in our lives. We should not merely be making lip service of our faith, but we must always be loving and generous just as our Lord and God has always been kind, generous and loving towards us. That is the mark of a true Christian, and one that we have always been reminded of and been challenged to do, to be truly like God in all things, to be loving and compassionate just as He has been towards us. Let us all hence commit ourselves anew to the Lord in our loving actions towards one another, just as St. John the Apostle had exhorted and reminded the faithful back then. Through our actions and efforts, many more people will come to know of the Lord and His love.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Albert the Great or Albertus Magnus, a great and renowned bishop and faithful servant of God who had devoted his life to the Lord and to all the people and the flock which God has entrusted to him as bishop and shepherd. St. Albert the Great, also known as St. Albert of Swabia or St. Albert of Cologne, was a Dominican priest who dedicated himself to a lifelong learning of all sorts of matter of the faith, involved in the teaching and formation of many other priests and religious who encountered him in his many academic efforts and pursuits, devoting himself to explore more about the Lord, His nature of love and to reveal more about the teachings of the Christian faith to many people who sought to know Him better. Among his students was another famous theologian and saint, St. Thomas Aquinas.

And later on, as he was appointed by the Pope himself as the Bishop of Regensburg in Germany, he was known for his great humility and piety, in his dedication to his flock, traversing the whole of his large diocese not on horse or carriage as was common for bishops of his time, but on foot instead. He resigned after a period of three years, humbly returning to the academic and intellectual pursuits that had made him to be so influential at that time and even long after his time. For his great faith in the Lord and his many contributions to the Church, he was later not only honoured and canonised as a saint, but was also made as one of the esteemed Doctors of the Church, as a great role model and inspiration for many of us as Christians.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the Scriptures and the life of St. Albert the Great that we have just discussed earlier, we are all reminded to commit ourselves to a life of faith and dedication to God. We should always walk ever more faithfully in the Lord’s path, and do our best so that in each and every moments of our lives, we will continue to glorify the Lord by our every actions and deeds, our every efforts and works, like St. Albert the Great and so many of our other holy predecessors had done. May all of us be able to follow them in their footsteps as well, and strive to live our lives worthily as Christians, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 15 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Luke 17 : 26-37

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be on the day the Son of Man comes. In those days people ate and drank and got married; but on the day Noah entered the Ark, the flood came and destroyed them all.”

“So it was in the days of Lot : people ate and drank, and bought and sold, and planted and built; but on the day Lot left Sodom, God made fire and sulfur rain down from heaven, which destroyed them all. So will it be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.”

“On that day, if you are on the rooftop, do not go down into the house to get your belongings; and if you happen to be in the fields, do not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever tries to save his life will lose himself, but whoever gives his life will be born again.”

“I tell you, though two men are sharing the same bed, it might happen that one will be taken, and the other left; though two women are grinding corn together, one might be taken and the other left.” Then they asked Jesus, “Where will this take place, Lord?” And He answered, “Where the body is, there too will the vultures gather.”

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Friday, 15 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Psalm 118 : 1, 2, 10, 11, 17, 18

Blessed are they whose ways are upright, who follow the law of the Lord.

Blessed are they who treasure His word and seek Him with all their heart.

I seek You with my whole heart; let me not stray from Your commands.

In my heart I have kept Your word, that I may not sin against my Lord.

Be kind to Your servant, that I may live to follow Your word.

Open my eyes that I may see the marvellous truths in Your law.

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Friday, 15 November 2024 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

2 John 4-9

I rejoiced greatly on meeting some of your children who live in accordance with the truth, according to the command we have received from the Father. And now, I ask you, Lady – I write to you not a new commandment but that which we had from the beginning – I ask you : let us love one another.

This is love : to walk according to His commandments. And this is the commandment : that you walk in love as you have learnt from the beginning. Many deceivers have gone out into the world, people who do not acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ Who came in the flesh. They are impostors and antichrists.

Take care of yourselves that you do not lose the fruit of your labours, but receive a perfect reward. Everyone who goes beyond and does not remain within the teaching of Christ does not have God. The one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

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Friday, 8 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that we are all called to a life of holiness, righteousness and virtue as is expected of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people. Each and every one of us are called to a life of virtue and faith, where we truly embody our faith and belief in God, and showing that faith genuinely through every moments of our lives, and putting the Lord at the very centre and as the focus of our whole lives and existence. All of us must always keep this in mind as we continue living our lives in this world today, so that we may truly be the worthy bearers of our Christian faith and identity, as those whom God had called and chosen as His own people.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Philippi, we heard the Apostle telling the faithful there about how each and every one of them as Christians, as the people God had called and chosen, and as they have received the revelation of God’s truth and love, all of them are expected to live in a holy and worthy manner, distancing themselves from all sorts of wickedness and evils which would have corrupted them and led them away from the path towards God and His grace. They and hence all of us, as God’s faithful people are reminded not to live in a worldly manner, but rather in a manner that is truly pleasing to God and worthy of Him.

St. Paul also mentioned in that same passage of the fact that all of us are ultimately meant for Heaven, by stating that our citizenship is truly one that is in Heaven, and we are meant to be in Heaven with our Lord and Creator, as He has always intended for us. We were never meant to be defiled in this world of darkness and sin, and we should not have endured all the sufferings, difficulties and challenges that we are facing in this world, as that was not what the Lord intended for us. He had intended for all great and wonderful things for us, creating us to share His most wonderful love with us, but our inability to resist the many temptations of this world and our attachments to the worldly desires and ambitions had led us astray and kept us away fom God and His righteousness.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we heard of the famous parable of the dishonest steward which the Lord Jesus told to His disciples and all the people who were listening to Him at the time. In that parable, the Lord told the disciples about a dishonest steward who had been reported to his master because of his dishonest action which therefore led to him being dismissed from his position. And we then heard how that steward then quickly acted in order to secure his own livelihood after he lost his job and position, by using his position to leverage certain bargains and privileges from those who owed money and things to his master. Essentially, if we were to read more into the actions of the dishonest steward, he was actually carrying out even more dishonest actions through what he had done.

That was how the dishonest steward attempted to safeguard himself, by making use of the tricks and ways that he himself was very familiar with, doing dishonest actions and carrying out those things to benefit himself and so that he could safeguard his livelihood after he was no longer having a job anymore. We heard how the Lord described then the master commending the dishonest steward for his astuteness in his actions, for having done what he did to swindle even more money and possessions from his master by manipulating the debts from his master’s debtors. On the face value, this parable may be somewhat confusing to us, and we may even be surprised to think that the Lord Jesus was perhaps promoting the dishonest and wicked acts that the dishonest steward had done. But that is not the case, brothers and sisters.

In fact, what the Lord wanted to highlight to His disciples and therefore to all of us is that those who were following the ways of this world, those who were accustomed to the ways and practices of the world are filled with the wickedness of this world and its many temptations, distractions and all the things that can separate us from the Lord and prevent us from truly being able to return to the Lord. Meanwhile, those who are righteous and worthy, just and obedient to the Lord, like how a steward should have been to his master, ought not to carry out those things that the dishonest steward had done. That dishonest steward had indeed done things that would guarantee him good life in this world, but that does not mean that what he has done is right and recommended. For as mentioned earlier by St. Paul, that we as God’s holy and beloved people, we belong to Him and Heaven is our true abode, not this world.

That is why this parable by the Lord on the dishonest steward is in fact a reminder for all of us that we must not allow ourselves to be swayed by worldly desires and ambitions, and we must always do our part as Christians, as God’s faithful and beloved people, to be His good, worthy and committed stewards, to be truly good and just, righteous and exemplary in all of our deeds, in everything that we say and do at all times? We must not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by those temptations and desires we have in our hearts, and we should endeavour to put the Lord and His righteous paths and teachings at the centre of our lives and actions. We should not resort to wicked ways and means to fuel our own ambition and personal desires, and instead, we should make good use of whatever the Lord has given to us, His many blessings and opportunities we have received, to glorify Him.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, the question is, are we all willing make the commitment to follow God wholeheartedly and to turn our hearts and minds completely to Him, that we, who all belong to the Lord and are meant to dwell in the eternal joy with God in Heaven, can truly be worthy of everything that God has promised us? Are we capable of giving our best to the Lord, our time, effort and attention, everything that we are in the service of our Lord and God? Or are we merely just giving Him our lip service and our faith merely a formality? This is why each and every one of us must always strive to overcome our attachments and entanglements with worldly desires and all the things that can lead us down the path of destruction and ruin, just as the dishonest steward had shown us.

May the Lord continue to guide and strengthen us in our journey from now on, so that we may always strive to live our lives in the best manner, to be always faithful to Him, as His worthy and dedicated stewards, the stewards of His creation and of this world and everyone we have encountered in life. Let us all continue to glorify the Lord by our lives, and lead by example in our every actions, words and deeds, and in our every interactions with one another, to proclaim the Lord and His righteousness through our own virtuous, worthy and noble deeds, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 8 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 16 : 1-8

At that time, Jesus told His disciples, “There was a rich man, whose steward was reported to him for fraudulent service. He summoned the steward and asked him, “What is this I hear about you? I want you to render an account of your service, for it is about to be terminated.'”

“The steward thought to himself, ‘What am I to do now? My master will surely dismiss me. I am not strong enough to do hard work, and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do : I must make sure that when I am dismissed, there will be people who will welcome me into their homes.'”

“So he called his master’s debtors, one by one. He asked the first debtor, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ The reply was, ‘A hundred jars of oil.’ The steward said, ‘Here is your bill. Sit down quickly and write fifty.’ To the second debtor he put the same question. ‘How much do you owe?’ The answer was, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ Then the steward said, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.'”

“The master commended the dishonest steward for his astuteness : for the people of this world are more astute, in dealing with their own kind, than are the people of light.”

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Friday, 8 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 121 : 1-2, 3-4a, 4b-5

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” And now we have set foot within your gates, o Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, just like a city, where everything falls into place! There the tribes go up.

The tribes of the Lord, the assembly of Israel, to give thanks to the Lord’s Name. There stand the courts of justice, the offices of the house of David.

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Friday, 8 November 2024 : 31st Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Philippians 3 : 17 – Philippians 4 : 1

Unite in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and look at those who walk in our way of life. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. I have said it to you many times, and now I repeat it with tears : they are heading for ruin; their belly is their god and they feel proud of what should be their shame. They only think of earthly things.

For us, our citizenship is in heaven, from where we await the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Lord. He will transfigure our lowly body, making it like His own Body, radiant in Glory, through the power which is His to submit everything to Himself.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, you my glory and crown, be steadfast in the Lord.

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Friday, 1 November 2024 : Solemnity of All Saints (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the great Solemnity of All Saints, celebrating all the holy saints, all those holy men and women who have enjoyed the beatific vision of Heaven. Today we rejoice in the honour of all these predecessors of ours who have lived their lives most worthily of God and who have shown us all how we should live ours as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people. And today we celebrate and honour all those saints who do not have their own date of celebration or feasts in particular, together with all the other more well-known saints. They all now enjoy the great joy and happiness that the Lord has promised to all of us, the experience of Heaven, the reward that they have received from God for their faith, their virtues and all the good things that they had done in life.

And while the saints are already in Heaven enjoying the happiness and wonders there, they do not forget about us, and in fact, they are still constantly praying and interceding for each and every one of us in this world. They are in fact part of the same Church of God, and are still part of this same one Body of Christ, made up of all the believers and faithful people of God, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. While the most visible and tangible members of the Church are the ones who are still living in this world, daily struggling with our faith and with all the challenges, temptations and difficulties in life, but the saints are very much part of the same Church and they are also always concerned about us, knowing the challenges and difficulties that they themselves had once gone through and overcome.

The saints of God are parts of the Church Triumphant, with them having triumphed against the evil one and their fellow forces, in trying to destroy and bring them to their downfall. They have triumphed and won a victory with God against their enemies, and have been found worthy to enjoy the eternal gift and grace which God has always intended for each and every one of us as Christians, as His holy and beloved people. Together with them, we are also all parts of the Church of God, as the Church Militant, the ones who are still struggling daily, fighting against the evil ones and their deceptions and temptations, in trying to each God and His salvation. And we must also not forget all the other members of the Church, the parts of the Church Suffering, whom we will commemorate tommorow as part of this Allhallowtide, the faithful and holy souls of the departed in Purgatory.

Let us all now go through our Scripture passages on this Solemnity of All Saints. In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, we heard of the vision of St. John as he saw a great throng of the righteous, a hundred and forty-four thousand of them, who had been deemed righteous by God, and who had washed their garments clean in the Blood of the Lamb, all those who have arrived into the glory and the true joy which God had prepared for them, to be united as one in praising and glorifying the Lord, together with all the Holy Angels of God, and all those whom St. John had seen in his heavenly vision are truly the saints of God, the ones whom God and His Church had deemed to be worthy of veneration and of the bliss of Heaven.

This is a reminder for all of us that no matter what challenges, difficulties, persecutions or obstacles we may have to face or endure in our path and journey in life, in the end, if we remain faithful to the Lord and true to His path and to the missions entrusted to us, eventually, we will share in His victory and triumph, and we will be triumphant like all those saints that St. John had seen in his vision. To those early Christians living during the time of St. John’s ministry and when he received these visions of the end times in the island of Patmos during his exile there, being persecuted and oppressed by the Romans and the local authorities, or by the Jewish leaders and authorities earlier on, as well as by other members of the public and the pagan supporters, this would have indeed been a truly uplifting, encouraging and hopeful message of reassurance and support.

From our second reading, taken from the Epistle of St. John the Apostle, we heard of the words of assurance from St. John reminding all of us of God’s ever enduring love for us, as He is truly our loving Father, and He has always been filled with generous and most bountiful love towards us. And because we have been truly loved by God, we are truly fortunate, as He has always considered us to be His children, and has always designed it to be so. For each one of us have been created as mentioned in the Book of Genesis, in the image and likeness of God Himself, and we have been made perfect and most wonderful, to enjoy the fullness of God’s creation, to be the ones to share His most generous and wonderful love that overflows from Himself to all of us, and as His beloved children, therefore, He has always intended for us to enjoy forever this eternity of bliss.

However, because of our disobedience and refusal to obey the Lord’s words, will and commandments, we have fallen into the traps of the evil one, who lured us with the false pleasures and attachments of worldly desires and goods, all of which had made us to fall astray from the path that God has shown us. Instead, we chose to rebel against the love of God and embraced instead the false lies and sweet words of Satan, walking down this path of disobedience and sin which caused us to be sundered and separated from God’s love and grace. We have disregarded the great things that God has created and meant for us, and instead sought the inferior and illusory desires of our worldly pursuits, attachments and ambitions, all the things which had kept us away from His loving Presence and from the eternal inheritance and true glory awaiting us.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel of St. Matthew, we heard of the words of the Lord teaching His disciples and all the people in the famous Sermon on the Mount, also known as the Eight Beatitudes. The word Beatitude is the same meaning as ‘Blessed’ or ‘Beatus’ and this is because the Lord pronounced a series of blessings for all those whose lives have truly been worthy of God, in how they have embodied good and virtuous lives, full of love for one another and with genuine faith and desire to love the Lord and to seek Him wholeheartedly in their lives. We heard about those who were poor in spirit, referring to those who were humble enough to recognise their faults and shortcomings, recognising the need for them to embrace God’s mercy and love, His guidance and strength, and also those who have mourned and in trouble, being persecuted because of their faith in God.

We also heard of those who were peacemakers and striving for peace, those who seek and hunger for justice for everyone, those who show mercy to others around them and other virtuous qualities and things which the Lord was in fact encouraging all of us to do through His proclamations. All of those virtues, values and actions were what the innumerable holy men and women, some of whom had been declared officially by the Church as saints and celebrated in our ceremonies and liturgies, have done in their own lives, in their own unique ways. And each one of us also have the potential and opportunities that the Lord Himself has granted us generously to be like one of them as well. Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, today, on this Solemnity of All Saints day, while we celebrate and rejoice in the memory and honour of all those holy men and women, our predecessors, it is also an important reminder of what we can be.

All the saints have once been sinners as well, just like us. They had their flaws and weaknesses, faults and mistakes which they had made. If we read through the numerous lives and experiences of the saints, then we will realise that at some point in their lives, they have encountered many of the things which we have ourselves experienced, all the struggles, challenges and difficulties, the persecutions, trials and obstacles we may have faced in different moments in our lives. But what is common from the lives and experiences of the saints is that they all reject the path of sin and darkness, embracing wholeheartedly afterwards the path towards God and His salvation in their own unique ways, making good use of the various gifts, talents and opportunities that He had granted to each one of them, for the benefit of the people around them and for the causes of the Church and its missions.

We must realise that the Church is one Body of Christ, the united Body composed of those whom God had called and chosen from this world to follow Him, and to be His own people. And He had called us all with our own various diverse backgrounds, with our own imperfections and flaws, faults and sins. We are not a Church composed of perfect people without any fault, sin or imperfections, as none of us can claim to be such perfect people. But we are all reminded through the examples and the fates of the saints, who are now enjoying the wonderful bliss of Heaven, that we may also share in their joy, and that none of us are denied this opportunity by the Lord. Now what matters is for us to embrace this opportunity that the Lord has given us and do our best to walk in the footsteps of the holy saints of God, to enter into the narrow path to the Kingdom of God.

May the Lord, our most loving God and Creator, and with His innumerable saints and the Holy Angels, continue to strengthen us in all of our journey and efforts to come towards Him with faith and dedication. May He continue to bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours in each and every moments of our lives so that we may always be committed to do what is right and just, virtuous and worthy of His cause, as we should always be doing. May His glorious saints, our holy predecessors, in their constant intercessions and prayers for us continue to help and inspire us all in our own journey, so that one day, we may ourselves be in their place, to be worthy partakers and parts of God’s everlasting Kingdom and dominion. All the Holy Saints of God, Holy Men and Women of God, pray for us sinners, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 1 November 2024 : Solemnity of All Saints (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 5 : 1-12a

At that time, when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up the mountain. He sat down and His disciples gathered around Him. Then He spoke and began to teach them : 

“Fortunate are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Fortunate are those who mourn; they shall be comforted. Fortunate are the gentle; they shall possess the land.”

“Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied. Fortunate are the merciful, for they shall find mercy. Fortunate are those with pure hearts, for they shall see God.”

“Fortunate are those who work for peace; they shall be called children of God. Fortunate are those who are persecuted for the cause of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”

“Fortunate are you, when people insult you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you because you are My followers. Be glad and joyful, for a great reward is kept for you in God.”