Friday

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Friday, 3 January 2025 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all gather together as one people in continuing to celebrate this ever joyful season and time of Christmas, we are all reminded of the true reason of our joy and celebration today as we rejoice in honouring the Most Holy Name of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the One through Whom God has brought His salvation into the whole world. To Him has been given the Name which is above every other names, in Heaven, on and under the earth, in all the whole Universe and Creation. And it is in His Name and His coming into this world that all of us have rejoiced so greatly during this time of Christmas, celebrating the revelation and coming of the salvation of God, manifested in the flesh.

And that was what St. Paul the Apostle had written about in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the city and region of Philippi in what is today Greece. He spoke of the salvation that has come into this world through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who has become incarnate in the flesh, becoming for us the manifestation of God’s love made real, tangible and approachable to us. And not only that, but by the coming of God through His Son in the flesh, in Him becoming the Son of Man and embracing our humanity, human nature and existence, He has become the New Adam, the New Man, Whose perfect obedience to the will of His heavenly Father has countered the disobedience of the first and original Adam which had led us all to sin.

The other reading from the Epistle of St. John also spoke of the same action from God Who has given us all His Son, as a sign and perfect proof of His ever enduring love and faithfulness to the Covenant and to all the promises which He had made with us and our ancestors. And He did all this by willingly embracing our humanity, emptying Himself of all glory and honour, power and majesty, which we saw in how He came into this world, not in a grand and majestic palace, but in a stable not even fit for the dwelling of men like us, and even more so especially at the moment when He embraced His Cross, and choosing willingly to suffer and die for our sake when He was without any blame, to be punished and scourged, condemned for our faults and mistakes.

And it is by this perfect obedience that the Holy Name of Jesus is truly the Name that is above all other names, above all powers and sovereignties, as the Name of the perfect Man, the One Who saved us all by His suffering, His wounds and His death on the Cross, He Who has conquered and destroyed death itself, overcoming the power and dominion of sin and evil by His perfect love and selflessness which has undone the hold of the original sin over all of us, caused by our disobedience, pride and greed. Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ in His perfect humility and obedience, and in His great and enduring love for each one of us, has shown us all the perfect manifestation of God’s ever wonderful, generous and magnificent love and grace for each one of us.

In the past, the Name of the Lord was so holy that no one could utter it on the pain of death and condemnation, because of the great sins that we have committed against God. Only the High Priest was allowed to utter the Holy Name of God at the Holy of Holies of the Temple of God and even then it was only allowed at one particular occasion in the whole entire year. Otherwise, the Name of God is something that is utterly taboo for the people to mention at all, and they cannot utter it no matter what, and usually the term Adonai or ‘Lord’ is used instead. The Name of God is difficult to utter and is usually represented by what is known as the Tetragrammaton, or the Four Sacred Letters written as YHVH or transliterated as ‘Yahweh’.

Now, by assuming the identity and nature of our humanity, becoming the Son of Man, God Himself assume a Name just as we all have been given and assigned a name, and through this act of Incarnation, not only that what was once invisible and vastly unapproachable to us has become tangible and real, in the love that God has manifested to us in Christ, His Son, but He has given us all a Name by which we can say and utter, the Name of God which has power and dominion over all things, the Name feared by Satan and all the forces of evil, from which they shall all flee from, and which we can all depend on, trusting always in His love and providence, in all that He has shown us in loving us and caring for our needs, in His ever patient love and generosity.

However, we must also realise that we should not use the Lord’s Holy Name in vain, as quite a few among us and in quite a few occasions the Name of the Lord had been used inappropriately and without reverence. While the Lord has made His Holy Name available and approachable to us, but it still remains the Holy Name of God, the Lord and Master of all, the King of Kings and our Almighty God and Father, which we should treat with utmost respect and deference, and not to use it for cursing others or in other situations when we make light of His Name, or worse still to make fun of it. Let us always remember that through this Name alone we have been saved, and we have received the assurance of eternal life and redemption.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence continue to keep our focus firmly in Christ our Lord, and put our trust in the Holy Name of Our Lord, Jesus, the Saviour of all, through Whom we shall be strengthened and healed from all of our predicaments. May the Lord continue to bless us all and strengthen us through the many challenges and trials that we may encounter in our lives, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 3 January 2025 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 1 : 29-34

At that time, the next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, “There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world! It is He of Whom I said : A Man comes after me, Who is already ahead of me, for He was before me. I myself did not know Him, but I came baptising to prepare for Him, so that He might be revealed in Israel.”

And John also gave this testimony, “I saw the Spirit coming down on Him like a dove from heaven, and resting on Him. I myself did not know Him, but God, Who sent me to baptise, told me, “You will see the Spirit coming down, and resting, on the One Who baptises with the Holy Spirit.’ Yes, I have seen! And I declare that this is the Chosen One of God!”

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Jesus)

Luke 2 : 21-24

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. When the day came for the purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought the Baby up to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of the Lord : Every firstborn male shall be consecrated to God.

And they offered a sacrifice, as ordered in the Law of the Lord : a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

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Friday, 3 January 2025 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 97 : 1, 3cd-4, 5-6

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.

With melody of the lyre and with music of the harp. With trumpet blast and sound of the horn, rejoice before the King, the Lord!

Alternative Psalm (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Jesus)

Psalm 8 : 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

When I observe the heavens, the work of Your hands, the moon, and the stars You set in their place – what is man, that You be mindful of him; the Son of Man, that You should care for Him?

Yet You made Him a little less than a god; You crowned Him with glory and honour and gave Him the works of Your hands; You have put all things under His feet.

Sheep and oxen without number, and even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and all that swim the paths of the ocean.

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Friday, 3 January 2025 : Weekday of Christmas Time, Memorial of the Most Holy Name of Jesus (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 2 : 29 – 1 John 3 : 6

You know that He is the Just One : know then that anyone living justly is born of God. See what singular love the Father has for us : we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Beloved, we are God’s children and what we shall be has not yet been shown. Yet when He appears in His glory, we know that we shall be like Him, for then we shall see Him as He is. All who have such a hope try to be pure as He is pure. Anyone who commits a sin acts as an enemy of the law of God; any sin acts wickedly, because all sin is wickedness.

You know that He came to take away our sins, and that there is no sin in Him. Whoever remains in Him has no sin, whoever sins has not seen or known Him.

Alternative reading (Mass of the Most Holy Name of Jesus)

Philippians 2 : 1-11

If I may advise you, in the Name of Christ, and if you can hear it, as the voice of love; if we share the same Spirit, and are capable of mercy and compassion, then I beg of you, make me very happy : have one love, one spirit, one feeling, do nothing through rivalry or vain conceit.

On the contrary, let each of you gently consider the others, as more important than yourselves. Do not seek your own interest, but, rather, that of others. Your attitude should be the same as Jesus Christ had :

Though He was in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the nature of a servant, made in human likeness, and in His appearance found as a Man.

He humbled Himself by being obedient to death, death on the cross. That is why God exalted Him and gave Him the Name which outshines all names, so that at the Name of Jesus all knees should bend in heaven, on earth and among the dead, and all tongues proclaim that Christ Jesus is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.

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Friday, 27 December 2024 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through the Christmas season, two days after Christmas Day, we celebrate the occasion of the Feast of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. St. John the Apostle was the beloved disciple of the Lord and was one of the Twelve Apostles, being one of the earliest ones to enter into the service of the Lord. He was once a fisherman at the Lake of Galilee together with his brother, St. James the Apostle or St. James the Greater. And what is unique about St. John among all the other Apostles is that he was likely the only one among the Apostles who have not suffered through martyrdom of the blood or the red martyrdom which all the other Apostles had suffered, but died at a very old age after many decades toiling and labouring for the Lord’s sake.

St. John was also one of the four writers of the Holy Gospels, and hence was also known as the Evangelist. He was also credited with the Epistles of St. John, addressed to the faithful people of God and as was in the Gospel that he wrote, he placed a lot of emphasis on the love of God which He has generously shown to all of us. St. John himself had witnessed many of the events that the Lord Jesus carried out and went through as he was among the few select ones to have attended to the Lord and went with Him, such as during the resurrection of the dead daughter of Jairus, the synagogue official, the moment of Transfiguration at Mount Tabor, the moment of the Lord’s Agony at the Garden of Gethsemane after the Last Supper, among others.

Then, after the death and Resurrection of the Lord, and after His Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit, St. John for a while took care of the Lord’s Mother, Mary, who had been entrusted to him by the Lord Himself, and at the same time, like the other Apostles, he was also involved in works of evangelisation and in the governance of the early Church. He went to the region of Judea and Samaria with the other Apostles to proclaim the Lord’s Good News and to establish Christian communities in all those places. He would go on to minister to the people of God and establish more Christian presence and communities in other places, and eventually, as the Lord Himself had predicted, St. John would outlive all the other Apostles, and according to Apostolic tradition, he lived to around the end of the first century, close to or around seven decades after the death of the Lord.

The Lord Jesus did mention in the Gospel that one of His disciples would not perish until the coming or the revelation of the kingdom of God, which later on would indeed come true, with St. John being the one whom the Lord entrusted with the eschatological vision or a vision about the end of times, revealing to him the events that would happen at those times before His Second Coming into this world and the Last Judgment. That happened when St. John was exiled to the island of Patmos in Greece when he was already very old in age, during the reign of the Emperor Domitian of Rome. According to some Church and Apostolic tradition, the Emperor Domitian carried out intense persecution against Christians, and many including St. John himself suffered, with the Apostle being exiled to that aforementioned island.

But it was exactly at those difficult moments, and also considering all the other persecutions and difficulties that the faithful people of God had encountered in the previous decades and which they would still endure for centuries and more afterwards, even including up to our very own present day world, that the Lord reassured us all of His love and providence, and a reassurance that if we all remain true and faithful to Him, then we shall be triumphant with God and that we shall be blessed forever, sharing in the eternal glory and the rich inheritance that He has promised and reassured to us, all these while. St. John saw all those things and recorded them in his Book of Revelations or the Apocalypse of St. John, for the knowledge of all the people of God.

St. John had witnessed many things from the time of the Lord’s ministry, and he witnessed all the moments surrounding the Lord’s Passion and death, and His glorious Resurrection from the dead just as we had heard it from today’s Gospel passage. And although he did not suffer from the same kind of martyrdom as the other Apostles of the Lord, he did indeed suffer a kind of martyrdom also known and recognised by the Church as the ‘white martyrdom’ which refers to the kind of martyrdom suffered by the people of God, who although did not face painful or bloody death, but they did face persecution and sufferings in all of its various forms. From all of these, all of us are reminded that as God’s people, as His followers and disciples, all of us must always remind ourselves to be faithful to the Lord.

We should always strive to put the Lord at the centre and as the focus of our whole lives, our whole existence and in all of the things that we do in life. In our Christmas celebration, festivities and all that we do in this joyful Christmas season, all of us are reminded to be ever always faithful to God and to show our true faith in Him in how we celebrate this Christmas occasion so that in all that we say and do, we will always glorify God by our every words, actions, and deeds, and indeed by our whole lives and examples. We must follow in the footsteps of St. John, Holy Apostle and Evangelist, whose whole life had been thoroughly dedicated to the service of God and His people. We must realise that the works that the Lord had entrusted to His Church and Apostles are far from being done, and it is now up to all of us to continue them.

Let us all therefore renew our commitment and desire to serve the Lord ever more faithfully in each and every moments of our lives, so that by our every moments in life, in everything that we carry out, we will continue to be good examples and the faithful, worthy and shining beacons of God’s Light and Hope in our darkened world today, and the bearers of His Love and compassion to all the people around us. May all of those who encounter us and witness our lives and examples be touched by God and His love, and be called to be His good and worthy followers as well, together with each one of us, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 27 December 2024 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 20 : 2-8

At that time, Mary of Magdala ran to Peter, and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and she said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

Peter then set out with the other disciple to go out to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down and saw the linen cloths lying flat, but he did not enter. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered the tomb; he, too, saw the linen cloths lying flat.

The napkin, which had been around His head, was not lying flat like the other linen cloths, but lay rolled up in its place. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed.

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Friday, 27 December 2024 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 96 : 1-2, 5-6, 11-12

The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Clouds and darkness surround Him; justice and right are His throne.

The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim His justice, all peoples see His glory.

He sheds light upon the upright, and gladness upon the just. Rejoice in the Lord, you who are blameless, and give praise to His holy Name.

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Friday, 27 December 2024 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 1 : 1-4

This is what has been from the beginning, and what we have heard and have seen with our own eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, I mean the Word Who is Life…

The Life made Itself known, we have seen Eternal Life and we bear witness, and we are telling you of it. It was with the Father and made Himself known to us. So we tell you what we have seen and heard, that you may be in fellowship with us, and us, with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

And we write this that our joy may be complete.

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Friday, 20 December 2024 : 3rd Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we approach the coming of the time and season of Christmas, we are reminded that we should always put our focus on the Lord and His salvation, and trust in everything that He has promised to us, in His loving care and providence and everything that He has promised to us. We must keep the faith that we have in the Lord and firmly believe that the promise of His salvation remains true and assured to us even after all these times. The story of Christmas and its great joy must always be centred and focused on Christ and His coming into this world, to bring us all out of the darkness of evil and sin, and to liberate us from the bondage to those things which separated us from the fullness of love and grace of God.

In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the interactions between Isaiah and King Ahaz of Judah in which the King of Judah refused to ask for a sign pretending to be humble and not wanting to test God whereas in fact as the prophet rebuked him immediately for, the king of Judah and the people had frequently put the Lord to the test and disobeyed Him many times, refusing to listen to Him and obey His words despite everything that He had done for their sake throughout all of their history and livelihood. That was why God was in fact angry at the king and his disobedience, and in refusing to trust in God but rather in the pagan gods and idols that they were all worshipping at that time.

And the prophet Isaiah then revealed what God had planned to do and show His people in fulfilling His many promises to them through His Saviour, Whom He would send into this world, and how this would happen through a woman who has never borne a child, which all would indeed be fulfilled through Mary and her bearing of her Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, more than seven centuries after the prophet Isaiah had spoken of this prophecy before King Ahaz. And as compared to the lack of faith and the hypocrisy of King Ahaz, God has proved that He has always been true and faithful to the Covenant and all the promises which He had made with His beloved people, the ones whom He truly cared for and had patiently brought up all the while.

The king’s disobedience and lack of faith in God is something that has been highlighted in the first reading today, how he had such little faith and trust that God can do all things, even for him and for the sake of his kingdom and people. This can be contrasted with the attitude which Mary has shown in our Gospel passage today, when the Archangel Gabriel brought forth for her the Good News of the coming of God’s Saviour, Who would come forth through her womb, and born from her. While Mary was uncertain about what she had heard, as at that time she was still quite young in age, but she trusted in the Lord and obeyed Him. And this faith is something that all of us look up to, in the great faith that the Mother of Our Lord and God has in her.

Her words, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said,’ are the marks of obedience, faith and true humility, as she accepted the great mission and responsibility which she had been entrusted with by God. And for this great faith and obedience, her virtues and great love, this is why we truly venerate and honour Mary above all the other saints, and we truly love her as our own beloved Mother, as our great role model, a guide and someone who has always encouraged us in the journey that each and every one of us undertake in the path towards her Son, our Lord and Saviour. Mary is truly our inspiration and example in our own lives, the loving mother who is always ready to help and assist us in our way and journey towards her Son.

In this occasion and time of Advent therefore, let us all heed the messages of the Scriptures which we have heard today and ponder carefully on them so that we may truly realise the need for all of us to realign and reorientate our lives so that we will be more centred on the Lord and not on all the distractions and temptations present all around us in this world. We must not easily allow ourselves to be misguided by the numerous temptations of worldly pleasures, comforts and ambitions, all of which had led our predecessors, like those of king Ahaz and others into the path towards rebellion against God and their downfall. And in how we prepare ourselves for the coming celebration this Christmas, we should strive to put Christ at the centre of all things, of all our rejoicing and happiness.

It is because in Christ our Lord, we have seen the Hope and Light that we have been long awaiting for, amidst all the darkness around us. God has reassured us again and again of His providence and salvation which He would make to us through His Son, and He has done exactly just that, giving us all His salvation and promise of eternal life by the manifestation of His Son in this world, making Himself approachable and tangible to us, that now we can truly experience the fullness of God’s most wonderful and compassionate love, dwelling in our very midst, He Who is known as Emmanuel, just as the prophet Isaiah had prophesied it, God Who is always with us, being with us and journeying with us throughout our whole lives.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to put our faith and trust in the Lord, trusting that He will lead us down the right path, and no matter what challenges or difficulties we may experience, we will always be strengthened by His Presence and love, and that He will always guide us in everything that we say and do, so that hopefully in all of our lives, in our every efforts and endeavours, we will always glorify His Name. May our Advent journey be blessed by God and may He help and strengthen us so that our journey may truly be fruitful and beneficial for us. Amen.

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Friday, 20 December 2024 : 3rd Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 1 : 26-38

In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

The Angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the Angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call Him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the kingdom of David, His ancestor; He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and His reign shall have no end.”

Then Mary said to the Angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the Angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Holy Child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”

Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the Angel left her.