Friday

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Friday, 13 September 2024 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us listened to the words of the Lord contained in the Sacred Scriptures in which we are reminded not to be proud, arrogant or egoistic in how we carry on living our lives. Instead, the greater we are, and the more knowledgeable we are, the wiser and the better we are, the more we should be humble and willing to listen to others, especially the Lord Himself in how we should be living our lives. We must not allow our ego and pride to become our downfall and be the serious obstacles and challenges in our path, preventing us from truly being able to approach the Lord and be filled with His grace and love. If we allow ourselves to be swayed by those evils and ambitions, and if we harden and close our hearts and minds against Him and against others, then more often than not we may find ourselves falling into the wrong path in life.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and faithful people of God in Corinth in which the Apostle spoke of the matter about his ministry and how he did not boast about his accomplishments and achievements before everyone. Instead, he highlighted that being Christians, that is as the disciples and followers of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, one must be more humble and focused on the Lord in all things, rather than to be proud and full of oneself. He reminded all Christians to be always vigilant against the various temptations of worldly glory and ambitions, all of which can lead one astray and away from the Lord and His salvation unless we are careful and vigilant in how we live our lives.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples and followers in which He rebuked those hypocrites and those who have been blinded by their arrogance, pride and greed that they failed to see the truth of God and His love. He was clearly referring to the actions and attitudes of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, many of whom had not welcomed Him and in fact opposed Him vehemently, always making a lot of efforts to put stumbling blocks and obstacles in the path that the Lord had taken, opposing His ministry and good works, doubting Him and His authority, sowing seeds of dissension and divisions by their constant and repeated efforts at refusing to follow the Lord and what He has taught and shown to the people of God.

All these likely came about because of their great pride and sense of self-entitlement given their standing in the community of the people of God, as well as their strong sense of superiority against those others whom they deemed to be inferior and less worthy than they were, so much so that they frequently criticised and condemned many people, such as the tax collectors, prostitutes and those afflicted by diseases, thinking that those people were wicked and unworthy of God, and had been cursed by their many sins. But they failed to realise that they themselves were sinners and by their indulging in their pride, ego and ambition, they have allowed themselves to be led into the path of rebellion against God, and closed the doors of their heart from the Lord.

That was why they were ‘blind’ because they had been blinded by all that pride and ego, all of which kept them from truly being able to appreciate the truth and Good News which the Lord had brought into our midst. This is an important reminder therefore for each and every one of us not to fall into this same trap, falling into the same predicament of hardening our hearts and minds, closing ourselves off from the Lord and His ever generous offer of love and His truth. We should instead be more humble, the greater we are. We must not let all these pride and wickedness of the world to distract us from our true goal in Christ, in His truth and love, His grace and salvation. We must always be willing to let the Lord to come into our hearts and minds, while humbly seeking Him to forgive us all our own sins and imperfections.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. John Chrysostom, a great servant of God and bishop, who was honoured afterwards as one of the great and esteemed Doctors of the Church for his many contributions and works, and his commitment to God in the early periods of the Church’s history. St. John Chrysostom was one of the famous Early Church fathers who dedicated himself to his mission of evangelisation and care for the flock of God’s holy and beloved people and who was remembered well for his great courage and determination to stand up for his beliefs and convictions amidst the various challenges and difficulties that he might have to face in the process of his efforts and works, in his commitment as a good and faithful shepherd of the Lord’s people. St. John Chrysostom is truly a worthy role model for all of us to follow in how we ought to live our lives with faith.

St. John Chrysostom was born in a pagan family to a high-ranking military officer who died early in St. John Chrysostom’s life. His mother raised him and gave him good education in various areas of academics and other philosophical pursuits. However, he soon developed strong desire to learn more about God, devoting his time more to his Christian faith and embraced deep learning of theology. He then became a hermit for a while, adopting an ascetic lifestyle, before becoming a deacon in Antioch, gaining great popularity for his great charism and eloquence in his service and dedication, in his wonderful style of preaching and teaching to the people regarding various matters of the faith. Eventually, he was chosen as the Archbishop of Constantinople, a position of truly great influence in the Roman Empire at that time, being the Eastern capital of the Empire.

During his time as the Archbishop and shepherd of the flock of the people of God in Constantinople, St. John Chrysostom had to face a lot of challenges and difficulties, as he soon gained the enmity and the wrath of the powerful nobles, especially that of the Roman Empress Eudoxia, the wife of the Emperor Arcadius. The Empress was angry at St. John Chrysostom spoke out courageously against excesses of worldly wealth and also display of feminine elegance and ornamentations, which she presumed to be directed against her. She therefore managed to get him to be banished from his See and persecuted, which led to violent opposition by those who supported St. John Chrysostom, and this, coupled with the omen of an earthquake that struck the very night the man of God was arrested led to him being released and reinstated. However, the troubles did not end there are conflicts kept on going between the Empress and the Archbishop of Constantinople, which led him to be exiled again and persecuted to the end of his life. But all these did not dampen his efforts, and St. John Chrysostom remained firmly faithful to the very end.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the faithful examples of St. John Chrysostom, who dedicated himself wholly and thoroughly to God, and that he spoke up courageously against those who abused their power and against all those who acted with pride, ego and arrogance, and who humbly dedicated himself to God and His people despite his status and the prestige that he enjoyed. He did not allow himself to be swayed by the temptations of sin, of pride and ego, of ambition and greed. Each and every one of us should be inspired to follow in his footsteps and continue to do our best so that we may grow ever stronger in our faith and commitment to God, and we may distance ourselves from all the things that may lead to our downfall and destruction, and keeping us away from God. May the Lord be with us all and may He continue to bless us in all of our efforts and endeavours, to come ever closer to Him, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 13 September 2024 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 6 : 39-42

At that time, Jesus offered this example, “Can a blind person lead another blind person? Surely both will fall into a ditch. A disciple is not above the master; but when fully trained, he will be like the master. So why do you pay attention to the speck in your brother’s eye, while you have a log in your eye, and are not conscious of it?”

“How can you say to your neighbour, ‘Friend, let me take this speck out of your eye,’ when you cannot remove the log in your own? You hypocrite! First remove the log from your own eye, and then you will see clearly enough to remove the speck from your neighbour’s eye.”

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Friday, 13 September 2024 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 83 : 3, 4, 5-6, 12

My soul yearns; pines, for the courts of YHVH. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young, at Your altars, o YHVH of hosts, my King and my God!

Happy are those who live in Your house, continually singing Your praise! Happy, the pilgrims whom You strengthen, to make the ascent to You.

For YHVH God is a sun and a shield; He bestows favour and glory. YHVH withholds no good thing from those who walk in uprightness.

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Friday, 13 September 2024 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 9 : 16-19, 22b-27

Because I cannot boast of announcing the Gospel : I am bound to do it. Woe to me, if I do not preach the Gospel! If I preached voluntarily, I could expect my reward, but I have been trusted with this office, against my will. How can I, then, deserve my reward? In announcing the Gospel, I will do it freely, without making use of the rights given to me by the Gospel.

So, feeling free with everybody, I have become everybody’s slave, in order to gain a greater number. So, I made myself all things to all people, in order to save, by all possible means, some of them. This, I do, for the Gospel, so that I, too, have a share of it.

Have you not learnt anything from the stadium? Many run, but only one gets the prize. Run, therefore, intending to win it, as athletes, who impose upon themselves a rigorous discipline. Yet, for them the wreath is of laurels which wither, while for us, it does not wither.

So, then, I run, knowing where I go. I box, but not aimlessly in the air. I punish my body and control it, lest, after preaching to others, I myself should be rejected.

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Friday, 6 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, each and every one of us who have accepted Him as our Lord and Saviour, as Christian believers, and as those whom God had called and chosen, we have to commit ourselves to the teachings and to the path that the Lord has shown us, that each and every one of us adhere to the truth which the Lord our God has been showing us, that we are all truly His disciples and followers in all things and at all circumstances. We must not be merely obeying the Lord outwardly and as formalities, paying lip service to Him while our hearts and minds are not focused or aligned to Him and His ways.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Corinth in what is today part of Greece, in which the Apostle exhorted the people of God there to live their lives faithfully as the disciples and followers of the Lord in all things, because each and every one of them had been entrusted as stewards of this world and all that God had created. And as the stewards of the Lord’s creation and this world, all of us should do our best to be exemplary in how we carry out ourselves and our actions, words and deeds at every possible moments and opportunities so that in each and every things that we do, we will proclaim the Lord our God faithfully and worthily through even the smallest things that we say and do.

We are all reminded that as Christians, we cannot and should not be idle in how we live our lives with faith and with the conviction as well as desire to love and serve the Lord, and also His beloved people, our fellow brothers and sisters in our midst and in our community. We should always be committed to have a good and worthy faith in the Lord, to be righteous and just in each and every actions and deeds, in our every words and interactions with one another. As Christians we must be truly the beacons of God’s light and grace, be illuminated with His truth and filled with His generous and compassionate love. We should be inspiration, strength and examples for our fellow brethren so that we can help each other to remain true and firmly faithful to the path that the Lord has shown and led us through in life. We cannot conform to the ways of the world or live in manner or ways that contradict our beliefs in God.

Then in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the parable which the Lord Jesus used to teach His disciples and followers about the compatibility between His Law and commandments, His teachings and ways to the way and interpretations that were done before His revelation of truth. In that parable we heard how the Lord spoke about the incompatibility of old wineskin and new wine, as well as new wineskin and old wine, adding on the examples of new patch of cloth being used to fix a hole or damage on an old cloth, and vice versa. All of these incompatible combinations eventually would lead to friction and problems, and which the Lord highlighted through the parable to make the people understand that following His path and ways would often mean that they might have to abandon the ways and paths commonly known or acceptable to the world.

It was a subtle rebuke made by the Lord against the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, as well as the chief priests and the Sadducees, all those people who had not truly obeyed the Lord in the right way, and who had chosen to believe in the Lord according to their own flawed and incomplete interpretations and understanding. The Lord told the people and all those who followed Him that to be His disciples and followers, they cannot remain faithful and obedient to God in the manner that the Pharisees and those teachers of the Law, the chief priests and the Sadducees had obeyed the Law. They had to listen to Him and what He had revealed and spoken before them so that they could truly be faithful to the Lord in the right manner, or else, that would lead to conflict and obstacles in their path.

This is also a reminder for us all as Christians that being a follower of Christ often requires us to commit ourselves beyond just the externals and appearances. To be true Christians, we may often be required to commit ourselves in making the changes and realignments needed so that our lives may truly be centred in the Lord, and no longer be against or in opposition against His path and ways. Each and every one of us as Christians are called and expected to resist the temptations of the world to sin and to disobey the Lord. With the revelation of God’s truth which we have received from His own Son, and which He has told and passed down to us through His Church, we are all called to adopt His new path and embrace wholeheartedly this way, rejecting the old ways of sin and worldliness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is why we are challenged and reminded that as the followers and disciples of the Lord, we cannot remain idle or forget our calling to be missionary and evangelising, to be truly active in walking down the path of righteousness, obeying Him and entrusting to Him all of our actions and efforts, in each and every moments of our lives.  As Christians, we should continue to strive to embrace God’s ways and be ever more committed to live our lives worthily and inspire one another, fellow brothers and sisters in doing the same as well. We should keep up our efforts to glorify the Lord by each and every one of our lives’ moments and actions.

May the Lord continue to guide each and every one of us, strengthening and empowering all of us so that in our every efforts and endeavours, in each and every moments of our lives, we will always strive to do what God has taught and shown us to do. May He continue to encourage us all to embrace His love and compassion, His patient guidance and help, so that we will be good and faithful stewards of His creation, to be exemplary in all things at all times. May God bless us all in our every good works, efforts and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 6 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 5 : 33-39

At that time, some people asked Jesus, “The disciples of John fast often and say long prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why is it, that Your disciples eat and drink?”

Then Jesus said to them, “You cannot make wedding guests fast while the Bridegroom is with them. But later, the Bridegroom will be taken from them; and they will fast in those days.”

Jesus also told them this parable : “No one tears a piece from a new coat to put it on an old one; otherwise the new coat will be torn, and the piece taken from the new coat will not match the old coat. No one puts new wine into old wine skins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and be spilt, and the skins will be destroyed as well.”

“But new wine must be put into fresh skins. Yet, no one who has tasted old wine is eager to drink new wine, but says, ‘The old is good.’”

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Friday, 6 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 36 : 3-4, 5-6, 27-28, 39-40

Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and live on it. Make the Lord your delight, and He will grant your heart’s desire.

Commit your way to the Lord; put your trust in Him and let Him act. Then will Your revenge come, beautiful as the dawn, and the justification of your cause, bright as the noonday sun.

Do good and shun evil, so that you will live secure forever. For YHVH loves justice and right, and never forsakes His faithful ones. The wicked, instead, will perish, and their bread will be cut off.

The Lord is the Salvation of the righteous; in time of distress, He is their refuge. The Lord helps them, and rescues them from the oppressor; He saves them for they sought shelter in Him.

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Friday, 6 September 2024 : 22nd Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 4 : 1-5

Let everyone then see us as the servants of Christ and stewards of the secret works of God. Being stewards, faithfulness shall be demanded of us; but I do not mind if you or any human court judges me. I do not even judge myself; my conscience indeed does not accuse me of anything, but that is not enough for me to be set right with God : the Lord is the One Who judges me.

Therefore, do not judge before the time, until the coming of the Lord. He will bring to light whatever was hidden in darkness and will disclose the secret intentions of the hearts. Then each one will receive praise from God.

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Friday, 30 August 2024 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today’s Scripture readings focus on one particular theme if we have paid close attention to what we have heard earlier on. The words of the Lord spoke to us regarding the matter of Wisdom, the Wisdom that He has imparted and bestowed upon us, but which we have often disregarded and refused to make good use of, and we often used the knowledge and intelligence of this world, our own abilities and thoughts instead of allowing God to perform His wonderful acts and Wisdom through us. We often closed our hearts and minds to the Lord speaking in the silence of our hearts and minds, as the Lord kept on patiently knocking on our hearts that we may come to know His truth and receive His Wisdom, and live our lives worthily according to what He has taught us to do.

In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in the city and region of Corinth, we heard of how St. Paul spoke to the faithful regarding everything which the people of God had received from him and from the other Apostles and disciples, the missionaries sent to them to reveal to them the truth and Good News of God. He reminded all of them not to veer away from the words or truth and all the things which he had taught and shown them, the Wisdom of God revealed through none other than His own Son, Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all mankind and the whole world. And the Lord also gave His Wisdom through the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, Whom He had sent into His Church, through His Apostles, and which had encouraged and strengthened all those who believed in the Lord.

St. Paul spoke of how to the Jewish people and to the Greeks, which represented the main parts of the population at the time, referring to those who have not yet believed in the Lord, what he had taught the faithful were seen as folly and nonsense because they saw things from the eyes of the world and their limited understanding rather than through the eyes of faith and true Wisdom which God had imparted to His faithful ones. To the Jewish people, they considered the Lord Jesus Christ, the Crucified Messiah to be a blasphemy and erroneous teachings, as they refused the fact that the Almighty and All-Powerful God could have had a Son, and worse still, a Son Who had become incarnate in the flesh, to walk in their midst as the Son of Man, and then suffered and died a most humiliating and painful death on the Cross.

In the meanwhile, to the Greeks and the other pagans, many of them considered it folly that the Christians believed in just one God, as they commonly believed in many gods and beings that came from their inspiration from their surrounding natural world, using those elements and observations to create and invent gods and divinities such as the Greek pantheon of pagan gods that very much mimic the people in their own behaviours and actions. But St. Paul showed the faithful and all those who were willing to listen to him and accept God’s truth that whatever those Jewish and Greek pagans believed, were in fact the erroneous and folly ones, while the truth and the reality lies with the Lord and with Him alone, He Who is the one and only True God, the Master of all things.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the well-known parable of the Lord to His disciples and to the people listening to Him, the parable of the five wise handmaidens and five foolish handmaidens. In that parable we heard how ten handmaidens were waiting for the start of a wedding celebration, which was commonly celebrated at night. And in the past, before the advent and discovery of electricity, nights were very dark, unlike today’s light-filled environment. Therefore, it is crucial that the handmaidens brought their lamps with them to help to illuminate the place and also to make the celebration more festive. However, as we heard, the bridegroom was delayed, and therefore those handmaidens had to wait for the coming of the bridegroom to welcome him into the celebration as was what they were expected to do.

The five handmaidens who were wise brought their extra backup of oil supply to ensure that they had enough oil, while the other five, foolish ones did not bring any extra oil with them, resulting in them having their lamps low on oil before the bridegroom arrived, and when they went out to buy more oil for their lamps, the bridegroom came to the venue and the celebration started without the five foolish handmaidens, who were henceforth excluded from the celebrations. This parable is in fact a representation of how we should be prepared for the Lord and His coming, with the bridegroom representing the Lord Himself, and the handmaidens representing all of us. That the bridegroom came at a most unexpected time is a reminder for us all that the Lord will come again just as He said He would, but He may do so at a time that we least expect.

And we certainly do not want to be caught unprepared by the Lord’s coming, caught at the time when we are unfortunately unable to respond appropriately to His coming. We cannot and should not assume that we still have the time to prepare ourselves, as we do not want to be caught unprepared and then end up in eternity of regret. That is why, having been reminded and warned through our Scripture readings today, let us all continue to live our lives ever more worthily for the Lord, doing our very best so that we will always be exemplary in our lives and that we may inspire many others around us in how we all ought to live our lives with great faith and dedication to God. This is what we have been called to do, to be truly faithful to God in all things and to lead others towards Him.

May the Lord continue to strengthen us and bless us all with His Wisdom, so that in everything that we decide to do, and in the path we walk in this life we will continue to strive to follow what He has shown and taught us, and not to be easily swayed by the temptations of this world. May we continue to trust in the Lord’s guidance and in His Wisdom, and always strive to live lives that are truly worthy of God in all things. Amen.

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Friday, 30 August 2024 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 25 : 1-13

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “This story throws light on what will happen in the kingdom of heaven : Ten bridesmaids went out with their lamps to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were sensible. The careless bridesmaids took their lamps as they were, and did not take extra oil. But those who were sensible, took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom delayed, they all grew drowsy and fell asleep.”

“But at midnight, a cry rang out, ‘The bridegroom is here, come on and meet him!’ All the maidens woke up at once, and trimmed their lamps. Then the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, ‘Give us some oil, for our lamps are going out.’ The sensible ones answered, ‘There may not be enough for us and for you. You had better go to those who sell, and buy some for yourselves.'”

“When the bridegroom came, the foolish maidens were out buying oil, but those who were ready went with him into the wedding feast, and the doors were shut. Later the other bridesmaids arrived and called out, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered, ‘Truly I do not know you.'”

“So stay awake, for you do not know the day nor the hour.”