Friday

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Friday, 23 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are all called to live our lives righteously and in accordance with the teachings and the ways which the Lord Himself has presented to us, that we should be good, righteous, just and worthy in all of our actions, words and deeds, in each and every moments of our lives, and therefore, we must always strive to do what we have been taught and shown to do through the Church. Each and every one of us must remind ourselves that righteousness and virtues, all these will be rewarded by the Lord, while sins and wickedness in our lives will be counted against us in the end, at the time of the Final and Last Judgment. We must keep this in mind so that we will continue to live virtuously and strive to do God’s will in all things and at all times.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard the Lord speaking to His people through Ezekiel reminding all of them that the righteous and the just will be judged by the sins that they all committed, and should in the end, they are found wanting and lacking in faith overall, they shall be condemned and cast down by those sins and wickedness. In the meantime, the wicked and those who are considered as sinners, shall be saved and brought out of the darkness, saved and brought into the Holy Presence of God, filled with His grace and love, and receive from Him the assurance of eternal life and glory, by the righteous deeds and repentance through which they had done and embraced.

This means that first of all, no one is truly beyond God’s redemption and forgiveness, as even the worst of sinners can have the opportunity to turn away from their many sins and be forgiven from all of them, should they consciously choose to abandon those sinful ways and turn back once again towards the Lord. At the same time, it is also an important reminder for us that ultimately sin is still dangerous and harmful to us, as God despises sin and evil, and while He does not despise us, but as long as we continue to commit sins against the Lord and refuse to repent from those sins, then those sins and wickedness shall become our obstacles and shall be counted against us. This is a reminder for all of us to remain ever faithful and committed to the Lord, to His path at all times.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. Matthew in which the Lord Jesus Himself reminded His disciples and all of us once again to be truly full of faith and love for God, and to be sincere in how we live our Christian lives, our dedication to God in all things. We should always do our best in all of our actions and words, in every moments to follow God’s path, to do His will and to love one another, as we should always do. We should not hold grudges and hate each other, and we must learn how to forgive and to let go of our anger and emotions, forgiving each other just as the Lord Himself has been so merciful and forgiving towards us. We must keep in mind this love and kindness shown to us, and we must do the same in our own lives as well, that we ourselves may be good examples and inspirations to others.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Polycarp, holy bishop and martyr, whose life and dedication to God should serve as good inspiration and examples for all of us as well, in how we ought to live out our lives. St. Polycarp was one of the earliest Church fathers who were the contemporaries of the successors of the Apostles like St. Ignatius of Antioch and others, and was a possible disciple of St. John the Apostle. According to the Apostolic traditions, he was converted by the Apostles, was made a priest and later on a bishop of the Church, and he was involved in many discussions about the works and proceedings of the Church, including the differences in practices such as the computation of the dates of Easter between the churches in Asia Minor and Rome.

Then, when persecutions came upon the Church and the faithful as it was common at that time in the early Church, St. Polycarp was persecuted and tortured, as he, like the many other Christians at the time, were forced to burn incense offerings and worship the Roman Emperors, which were considered as divine at the time. St. Polycarp refused to do so and proclaimed his faith before his persecutors, that he cannot betray and abandon his Lord and God, because in all his many years of life, God has always been with him and had done him no wrong. He also spoke bravely and firmly about the eternal flame of punishment that would punish all sinners, and whatever flames or torture he would have to endure, none of those could be compared to the eternal flames of hell. Thus, St. Polycarp was martyred by being burnt at the stake and pierced with a spear.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the great courage and faith which St. Polycarp had in the Lord should inspire all of us to have that kind of strong and unwavering faith in God as well. We should have that strong desire to love and serve the Lord faithfully to the best of our abilities so that in all that we say and do, we will always strive to glorify the Lord by our lives, distancing ourselves from sin and evil, and like St. Polycarp before us, to be inspirations and good role models in faith for our fellow brothers and sisters. We must do our part in every moments of our lives, to proclaim the Lord’s path and His ways to everyone all around us. We must lead by example, and show that our faith is not merely just superficial, but instead, we are truly full of genuine and real faith in God.

Let us all therefore do our best, especially in this blessed time and moment of Lent which we have been presented with, so that in all the things we do, we will continue to walk ever more courageously and faithfully in the path of the Lord, as we continue to draw ever closer to Him. Let us all continue to be the worthy and shining beacons of God’s light, truth, Good News and love in our world today, filled with sin, darkness and evil. May the Lord be with us always, and may He bless us in our every good endeavours and efforts. Amen.

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Friday, 23 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (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, 23 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (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.

For that You are revered. I waited for the Lord, my soul waits, and I put my hope in His word. My soul expects the Lord more than watchmen the dawn.

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, 23 February 2024 : 1st Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Ezekiel 18 : 21-28

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, 16 February 2024 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today through the readings from the Sacred Scriptures, we are once again reminded of what we really need to do during this time and season of Lent, in what we have been called to do and practice, in living our lives with greater desire to turn once again wholeheartedly towards God, in our love and desire to follow Him, in our commitment to reject sin and evil, and in renouncing the path of wickedness and worldliness. Each and every one of us should make good use of the opportunities and the time which had been provided to us this Lent so that we may indeed be ever closer to God once again, and be freed from the tyranny and oppression of sin which have separated us from the Lord and His love, and which had corrupted us and made us fallen into the darkness and evil ways.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah in which God made it clear to His people of what He expected of all of His beloved people, in how they all should return to Him and to the path which He has called them to. The prophet Isaiah was sent to the people of God at a time when they had faced a lot of hardships, trials and difficulties because of their disobedience against God, their lack of faith and commitment against Him, their refusal to follow His Law and commandments, and their stubbornness and constant rebellions against Him. At that time, the once united kingdom of Israel had long been divided into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, and it was during the early years of the ministry of Isaiah that the northern kingdom was destroyed and conquered by the Assyrians who laid siege to Samaria, the northern kingdom’s capital and destroyed it, carrying many of its people into exile, and foreigners were sent to dwell in the lands that belonged to the people of God.

Therefore, Isaiah was sent mainly to the people of the southern kingdom of Judah in order to remind all of them of the wicked state that they themselves were in, and telling them all to turn away from all those wickedness, which would have led them ever further and deeper into the path of destruction and downfall, just as they themselves had witnessed through what happened to their separated brethren of the northern kingdom, and how the people of Judah themselves also faced a lot of troubles and hardships, when the Assyrians and others of their enemies were defeating them and conquering their cities and towns. Isaiah wanted all of the people to realise that in God there was indeed a lot of hope and opportunities for them to seek reconciliation, because God Himself is always ready to welcome all of His beloved ones back to His loving embrace.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus was confronted by the Pharisees who questioned Him on why His disciples did not fast in the manner that the Pharisees themselves and the disciples of St. John the Baptist had fasted. This was when the Lord told them all that His disciples did not fast because He, the Bridegroom was with them, and hence it was indeed not appropriate for them to fast at that joyous time. This was then followed by the prediction that the Lord Himself would go away, which was a premonition of what He would experience, when He would suffer and die on the Cross, and how His disciples would then be sorrowful and fast hence, in anticipation of His glorious Resurrection and return to them.

In this case, the Lord highlighted how He is the One, the Bridegroom of the Church, the Holy One and Saviour of all Whom the Lord has promised and sent to His beloved ones, to bring unto all of us the salvation, liberation and love which He has always promised to us from the very beginning. The Lord has always been kind and generous to us, and He showed us the perfect manifestation, proof and example of His love in His beloved and only begotten Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He has come to our midst so that, He, as the Bridegroom of the Church may help to bring us all, who are parts of His Body, His One Church, to a perfect, full and complete reconciliation with the Lord, our loving God, Father and Creator.

We are all reminded today that we have often fallen into the path of sin, evil and darkness, and hence, we have drifted ever further away from the path that the Lord has wanted us to walk through. We often followed the whim of our desires, our ambitions, pride and greed, which had led so many of our predecessors into their downfall, like the examples of the people of Israel and Judah themselves have shown us. If we continue to allow all those temptations to mislead and to bring us deeper into the path of sin and evil, then in the end, we will have nothing but regret for our waywardness and our downfall, especially when it is already too late for us, in constantly resisting and rejecting the Lord’s ever generous offer of love, compassion and mercy until the last possible moment before our deaths and judgment.

Let us all therefore remind ourselves once again today and henceforth that we should not allow all those temptations, desires and all the obstacles present all around us from stopping or slowing us down in our path and pursuit of the righteousness and grace in God. Let us all make use of this penitential time of Lent to help us to restrain our many desires, and help us to detach ourselves from the excessive attachments of worldly pleasures and glories. We must be good role models and inspirations for each other as well, in how we all live our each and every moments in life, in doing what God has commanded us all to do, in proclaiming His Good News and truth through our every words, actions and deeds, and in everything that we do in interacting and working with one another.

May the Lord continue to guide and empower us all so that in all the things we do, we will always strive to be ever closer to Him, and to follow Him ever more sincerely and with greater desire to abandon our wickedness and evils, and to be freed from the tyranny, bondage and dominion of sin and evil all around us. May God bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours, now and always, in glorifying His Name, forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 16 February 2024 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 9 : 14-15

At that time, the disciples of John came to Jesus with the question, “How is it, that we and the Pharisees fast on many occasions, but not Your disciples?”

Jesus answered them, “How can you expect wedding guests to mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The time will come, when the Bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then, they will fast.”

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Friday, 16 February 2024 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 50 : 3-4, 5-6a, 18-19

Have mercy on me, o God, in Your love. In Your great compassion blot out my sin. Wash me thoroughly of my guilt; cleanse me of evil.

For I acknowledge my wrongdoings and have my sins ever in mind. Against You alone, have I sinned.

You take no pleasure in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, You would not delight in it. O God, my sacrifice is a broken spirit; a contrite heart, You will not despise.

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Friday, 16 February 2024 : Friday after Ash Wednesday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 58 : 1-9a

Cry out aloud for all you are worth; raise your voice like a trumpet blast; tell My people of their offences, Jacob’s family of their sins. Is it true that they seek Me day after day, longing to know My ways, as a people that does what is right and has not forsaken the word of its God?

They want to know the just laws and not to drift away from their God. “Why are we fasting?,” they complain, “and You do not even see it? We are doing penance and You never notice it.” Look, on your fast days you push your trade and you oppress your labourers. Yes, you fast but end up quarrelling, striking each other with wicked blows. Fasting as you do will not make your voice heard on high.

Is that the kind of fast that pleases Me, just a day to humble oneself? Is fasting merely bowing down one’s head, and making use of sackcloth and ashes? Would you call that fasting, a day acceptable to YHVH? See the fast that pleases Me : breaking the fetters of injustice and unfastening the thongs of the yoke, setting the oppressed free and breaking every yoke.

Fast by sharing your food with the hungry, bring to your house the homeless, clothe the one you see naked and do not turn away from your own kin. Then will your light break forth as the dawn and your healing come in a flash. Your righteousness will be your vanguard, the glory of YHVH your rearguard. Then you will call and YHVH will answer, you will cry and He will say, I am here.

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Friday, 9 February 2024 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded that if we do not put our trust and faith in God, in the end, we shall face the consequences of our disloyalty and lack of faith. We are also reminded that in the Lord alone is our hope and salvation, and through Him we shall receive the sure hope of liberation from our troubles and hardships. We must always seek the Lord and focus our attention on Him, and we shall find the path to freedom and grace. Each and every one of us have been blessed by the Lord, with His kindness, love and bounty, and all that He has promised to us, His kindness and compassion towards all of us, whom He had loved from the very beginning. However, we have often been distracted by the many temptations and wickedness present all around us, which can lead us astray into our downfall, away from the path towards God and His salvation.

In our first reading today, we heard of how Jeroboam was entrusted by God to be the ruler over the northern half of the kingdom of Israel against the descendants of David, during the time towards the end of the rule of King Solomon because Solomon had fallen from grace, disobeying the commandments and Law of God, refusing to do as God had commanded him to do despite being faithful and obedient for the earlier parts of his reign. Solomon was swayed and tempted by his vast collection of wealth and all the fame he had accumulated and gained because of his great might, wisdom and glory. Solomon’s many wives and concubines, his ties to the foreign powers and politics also muddled his mind and judgment, which resulted in him committing blasphemy and wicked deeds in raising altars for the pagan gods of his wives and concubines, leading to the people falling into sin as well.

Solomon depended so much on his power and glory, and on all the political and diplomatic connections that he had established that he had become proud, arrogant and haughty, and God wanted to remind him that in the end, no matter what plans and things he had prepared, Solomon’s glory and greatness came from the Lord and depended on Him. His disobedience and lack of commitment to God would eventually cause the division of the kingdom of Israel, which the same Jeroboam would become the first king of the independent northern kingdom of Israel, while Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, would only rule in the southern kingdom of Judah over the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. This is a lesson for all of us that we should not allow worldly temptations, glory and all those wickedness from misleading us down the path of ruin.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord Jesus healing a person who had been deaf and mute, and miraculously allowed the man to speak and hear well again, by His power and grace. In this miraculous healing, when the Lord placed His hands on the man’s ears and tongue, proclaiming ‘Ephphata’, or ‘Be opened’, the Lord showed everyone who were there Who He truly was, the One promised by God to all of us mankind to be the source of His salvation and grace, and to show unto us the wonderful and ever present love of God, which He has always shown and presented to us. The Lord Jesus showed each and every one of us that God is always ready to welcome us back to His Presence, and through what He has done for us, He has brought us all back to His embrace, offering unto us the assurance of His love and compassionate mercy.

Those actions which the Lord Jesus did for the deaf and mute man used to be done in the past, during the Sacrament of Baptism in which the one to be baptised also symbolically had their ears and tongue opened and loosened, in what was known as the ‘Ephphata Rite’. This is a reminder for all of us that, while it is no longer commonly done today, but each and every one of us, through Christ Himself and His outreach to us, God has opened for us the path to Heaven, to the assurance of eternal life and true joy through His Son. All of us have been made ‘deaf and mute’ to the Lord’s truth and ignorant of His ways and His Law, because like Solomon, we have often been swayed and tempted by many worldly desires and attachments, through which we have been brought into the wrong path, into the path towards downfall and sin.

This is why we should always put our faith and trust in the Lord, that through Him, His help and grace, all of us may be freed and liberated from all the wicked snares of the evil one, and be strengthened and encouraged in our constant and daily struggles against the temptations and all the wickedness being present all around us. We must not allow the evils and temptations of this world from enslaving us once again to sin. We must always focus our attention towards God and put Him once again at the centre of our lives, and not our many desires, ambitions and attachments to worldly things and matters, as what many of our predecessors had done. We have to be the good examples and inspiring role models for our fellow brothers and sisters around us, by living our lives worthily as Christians in our world today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect upon these readings we have received and heard from the Sacred Scriptures and see in what way we can live our lives better as Christians, so that by our every actions and efforts, and in each and every one of our daily moments, we will always be the faithful and worthy bearers of God’s truth and love, which He has always constantly shown and presented to us. It is through our lives, actions and works that the Lord will make His love and truth shown to all the whole world, and if we are truly faithful and committed to the Lord in all of our whole lives, then we should really show it through each and every moments of our lives, by our every words, every interactions and commitments to one another.

May the Lord continue to strengthen us in faith and may He empower and encourage all of us so that we may always do our best in each and every moments of our lives, in striving to live with righteousness and virtue, and resisting the many temptations to disobey and therefore sin against God. Let us all remind and help one another so that we may grow ever more faithful in all things, and be good role models and examples for our fellow brothers and sisters all around us. May through our good and worthy actions continue to lead more souls towards the Lord. Amen.

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Friday, 9 February 2024 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 7 : 31-37

At that time, again Jesus set out : from the country of Tyre He passed through Sidon and, skirting the sea of Galilee, He came to the territory of Decapolis. There, a deaf man, who also had difficulty in speaking, was brought to Him. They asked Jesus to lay His hand upon him.

Jesus took him apart from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears, and touched his tongue with spittle. Then, looking up to heaven, He said with a deep sigh, “Ephphata!” that is, “Be opened!”

And immediately, his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone about it; but the more He insisted, the more they proclaimed it. The people were completely astonished and said, “He has done all things well; He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.”