Friday

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Friday, 1 September 2023 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (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.”

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Friday, 1 September 2023 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 96 : 1 and 2b, 5-6, 10, 11-12

YHVH reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the distant islands be glad. Justice and right, are His throne.

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

You who love YHVH, hate evil, for He preserves the lives of His faithful; He delivers them from their foes.

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

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Friday, 1 September 2023 : 21st Week of Ordinary Time, World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Thessalonians 4 : 1-8

For the rest, brothers, we ask you, in the Name of Jesus, the Lord, and we urge you, to live in a way that pleases God, just as you have learnt from us. This you do, but try to do still more. You know the instructions we gave you on behalf of the Lord Jesus : the will of God for you is to become holy and not to have unlawful sex.

Let each of you behave towards his wife as a holy and respectful husband, rather than being led by lust, as are pagans, who do not know God. In this matter, let no one offend or wrong a brother. The Lord will do justice in all these things, as we have warned and shown you.

God has called us to live, not in impurity but in holiness, and those who do not heed this instruction disobey, not a human, but God, Himself, Who gives you His Holy Spirit.

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Friday, 25 August 2023 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Louis, and St. Joseph Calasanz, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded today through the readings of the Sacred Scriptures of the need for all of us to be truly dedicated and committed to God, in doing His will and in following His Law and commandments. Each one of us must always heed the words of God and obey Him wholeheartedly, understand His Law and teachings, and do what we can so that we may always do what is righteous and virtuous in His Presence. All of us have to strive to do this, for if we truly consider and call ourselves as Christians, as God’s faithful and dedicated people, then we cannot be complacent, ignorant and even contradictory in our actions and way of life. Otherwise, if our words and actions do not match with what we believe in, then we are no better than hypocrites and unbelievers, because all those who hear and witness our actions, will not even believe that we are Christians.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Ruth, of the story of Ruth, a Moabite woman who was married to one of the two sons of Elimelech and his wife, Naomi. When everyone in that family have passed on, and left Ruth alone with Naomi and the other son of Naomi’s wife, as we heard, Ruth refused to leave Naomi and return to her own homeland, and she made a very firm profession of faith before Naomi, that her mother-in-law would be like her own mother, and her God would also be her own God. Through this act and dedication, Ruth has taken the Lord to be her own Lord and Master, and committed herself wholly to Him and to His people, and henceforth, was counted among the chosen people of God. Ruth was included among the many other women in the Scriptures, Israelite or otherwise and even has her own Book written about her because she was the mother of Obed, who was to be King David’s grandfather.

If we understand the context and common practice of that time, this was highly unusual as during that time period, there were great divisions and distrust between the Israelites and their neighbours such as the Moabites. There was also a great divide between the Israelites who worshipped the Lord God and God alone, while their neighbours like that of the Moabites, Edomites, Ammonites, Phoenicians and Hittites among others worshipped many gods and idols. Therefore, for Ruth to have put her trust so completely in the Lord and in her mother-in-law when she definitely had no obligation to do so, was a truly very significant expression and declaration of the faith. That is why Ruth has been made as a great role model of faith for all of the Israelites, God’s people, and also to all of us. Ruth is the role model and inspiration to everyone in how they all should commit themselves wholeheartedly to the Lord.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of something related as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law questioned and tested the Lord by asking Him what the most important commandment of the Law is, and the Lord told them that, in all the vast arrays of rules, regulations and all the customs which the Law of God had inspired by that time, all of them are ultimately originating from two main commandments, that is first of all for us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, the most important commandment of all, and then immediately afterwards, is for us to love our neighbour as ourselves, which the Lord mentioned as the foundation of the whole entire Law and everything that the prophets had taught and delivered to the people of God. The Lord has reminded us all these today, together with the examples of Ruth, that all of us need to put our focus and attention on the Lord our God, in all things.

That is why, each one of us as Christians living today in our world of the present day, we have to do our part in obeying God’s Law and commandments, and not only with our words and actions, or by external show or sign of faith, but we must also genuinely be filled with love and commitment to the Lord, so that in all things, we may truly show our Christian faith and character, at all times and opportunities. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed by the many temptations of the world, and by the allures of worldly glory, fame and riches, all the things that may end up distracting and pulling us away from the path towards God’s grace, and distancing ourselves from truly attaining righteousness and being worthy of Him. This is what we have to remind one another as always, and we should not disregard this, as it is indeed easy for us to lose track and focus of our lives, and falling into temptations, should we allow those things to enter into us and influence our lives.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of two great saints, holy men of God whose lives and faith in God should be sources of strength and inspiration for all of us to follow, so that we may all know how we should also dedicate ourselves, our time and effort to serve the Lord wholeheartedly if we have not yet done so. One of them is St. Louis of France, also known better as King Louis IX of France, a great and renowned King of France and holy servant of God. Meanwhile, the other one is St. Joseph Calasanz, a renowned Spanish Catholic priest remembered for his dedication to the less fortunate, especially to those who did not have access to education and proper upbringing in life, by establishing schools and institutions to help them. Both of them were remembered for their great commitment and dedication to God, their piety and love for both God and their fellow brothers and sisters alike, and for all the efforts that they had done for the greater glory of God and for the good of the people of God.

St. Louis, as the King of France, Louis IX, was a great king remembered for his many efforts to improve the livelihood of his people, working hard to ensure the well-being and prosperity of his people and kingdom, in his efforts to spread the Good News and the works of the Church by his support of various Church institutions and efforts. He was also well-known for his efforts in eradicating heresies and false teachings as was rampant at that time with the Albigensian heresy, which led to the efforts known as the Albigensian Crusades, where many priests and other missionaries went to convert the people back to the truth of God, having been deluded and misled by the falsehoods of the Cathars that led to the Albigensian heresy. St. Louis dedicated himself to the greater glory of God, and did everything he could for the glory of God, and had done so much for the prosperity and future of those entrusted under his care.

St. Joseph Calasanz was born into a family of minor Spanish nobleman, and he was brought up with good education and upbringing which likely gave a good impression on him on the importance of education on the youth and children. It also brought up in him the desire to become a priest, in serving the Lord in greater ways. This was initially opposed by his parents, but after a great sickness that almost led him to his death, eventually his father relented and allowed St. Joseph Calasanz to be a priest. As a priest, he dedicated himself to many great works and missions, and paid particular focus as mentioned to the youths and children who had not been able to access education. He helped to establish and open the first free public school in all of Europe, and establishing even more public schools and institutions meant to help and assist many people who have been disadvantaged. He continued to commit himself to this mission and encourage many more efforts to be done for the sick, the disadvantaged and the uneducated, to the end of his life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the life stories and the works of St. Louis and St. Joseph Calasanz, all of us should be reminded, together with the examples of Ruth and her faith mentioned earlier, that all of us should follow the Lord with greater zeal and commitment, and develop that strong faith and love which we ought to have for Him. Each and every one of us should do our part, as members of the Church and as God’s own beloved people, to carry out His will and to do whatever we can so that we may indeed proclaim Him and His Good News through our own exemplary lives and actions. We should do what we can so that more and more people may be inspired to follow the Lord by our examples, just as we have been inspired by His holy servants, the holy saints and martyrs. May He continue to guide and strengthen us all in our faith, and may His saints continue to intercede for us and inspire us in our way of life, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 25 August 2023 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Louis, and St. Joseph Calasanz, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Priests)

Matthew 22 : 34-40

At that time, when the Pharisees heard how Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. One of them, a lawyer, questioned Him to test Him, “Teacher, which commandment of the Law is the greatest?”

Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and the most important of the commandments. The second is like it : You shall love your neighbour as yourself. The whole Law and prophets are founded on these two commandments.”

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Friday, 25 August 2023 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Louis, and St. Joseph Calasanz, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Priests)

Psalm 145 : 5-6ab, 6c-7, 8-9a, 9bc-10

Blessed are they whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in YHVH their God, Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and all they contain.

The Lord is forever faithful; He gives justice to the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free.

The Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord straightens the bent. The Lord loves the virtuous, but He brings to ruin the way of the wicked. The Lord protects the stranger.

He sustains the widow and the orphan. The Lord will reign forever, your God, o Zion, from generation to generation. Alleluia!

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Friday, 25 August 2023 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Louis, and St. Joseph Calasanz, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saints or Priests)

Ruth 1 : 1, 3-6, 14b-16, 22

There was a famine in the land during the time of the Judges, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah departed with his wife and two sons, to sojourn in the country of Moab. Naomi’s husband Elimelech died. She was left with her two sons, who married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth.

After living in Moab for about ten years, Mahlon and Chilion also died; and Naomi was left bereft of husband and two sons. Having heard that YHVH had come to help His people by giving them food, Naomi prepared to return home.

But Ruth clung to her. Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law returns to her people and her gods. You too, must return. Go after her.” Ruth replied, “Do not ask me to leave you. For I will go where you go and stay where you stay. Your people will be my people and your God, my God.”

Thus it was that Naomi returned from Moab with her Moabite daughter-in-law and arrived in Bethlehem as the barley harvest began.

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Friday, 18 August 2023 : 19th 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 Scriptures, all of us are reminded to stay firm in our faith and to hold onto the truth and all the teachings, commandments and the Law that God had entrusted to us, and which He had given to us in order to guide and help us out in our journey in life. All of us as Christians, as God’s faithful disciples and followers, have to follow His Law and commandments and we have to lead a life that is genuinely filled with commitment and the desire to serve Him in all the things we say and do in life, and in everything that we have given to Him, our every actions and efforts. Otherwise, how can we call ourselves as Christians? How can we consider ourselves as one of God’s beloved and chosen people if our actions and our attitude do not show that we belong to Him, or worse still, contrary to our faith in Him?

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Joshua in which Joshua, the leader of the people of Israel, the successor of Moses, in his old age, gathered all the whole people of Israel whom God had brought into the land promised to them, their ancestors and their descendants. The Lord has driven away their enemies and those who occupied the lands before them, from their presence, and established them all firmly in the land that He has promised to them. Joshua reminded all of the people to remain firm in their faith and commitment to God, and to walk ever more worthily in His presence, by following His Law and commandments, and by teaching and passing down those Law and commandments to their descendants and those who would come after them.

Joshua reminded the people of everything that God had done for their sake, and for all those whom He had loved, in all the miracles and wonders, all the signs and the greatness that He has shown before them, and reminded all of them to stay true to their faith in God. He reminded them of everything that God had done from the days of their ancestors, from the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in how God had always been guiding them and journeying with them, and with His people in Egypt, in all the things He had sone to liberate them from the slavery in Egypt. Joshua mentioned all of these so that in the future, the people would not forget all the things which God had done for them, and how He had loved them, in such a patient and caring love, that despite the Israelites’ frequent disobedience and rebellion, He still loved them all, all the same.

Then, through what we have heard in our Gospel passage today, we are reminded of how the Israelites had not been truly faithful to the Law and commandments of God, after all those years. If we have read and known the Old Testament and the rest of the story of the Israelites after the time of Joshua, we would have realised just how often they would continue on to rebel against God and to disobey His Law and commandments, that He had to send many Judges to keep them in line, and the prophets and messengers that He repeatedly sent to them to reveal to them His intentions and His call for them to repent from their sinful and wicked ways. And finally, He sent His Son into this world, so that they all, including all of us, may see the truth of God in the flesh, and understand fully what He has commanded us to do in our lives.

In that Gospel passage, we heard the friction and tension between the Lord and the Pharisees who asked Him questions in order to make His works difficult, and to try to discredit Him through His answers, or in trying to find fault with Him and His answers so that they could arrest Him later on. The Pharisees were questioning the Lord regarding the matter of divorce and how the Law and customs of the Israelites, as handed down from Moses, allowed divorce to take place. The Pharisees wanted to test Him for His knowledge and understanding of the Law, and especially because they were always very particular with the details and the rigid applications of the Law and the customs they practiced, and hence, they wanted to see how the Lord responded to their question.

This was when the Lord revealed to them the true intention of the Law, and how the Law, over the preceding centuries, and after having experienced many changes and alterations throughout all those times, might no longer reflect the true meaning and intention of the original Law as passed down from the Lord. The Lord mentioned how Moses made the amendments to allow the divorce to take place because of the stubbornness and wickedness of the people, but such an amendment was done with a pastoral and charitable reason as for encouraging those wicked and unfaithful people to come closer to the Lord, and to repent from their sins rather than to lose them all completely altogether should the Law be imposed harshly on them. Yet, those people took it for granted and did not appreciate or understand the Law and its precepts correctly and properly.

This is why, all of us are reminded today that we should not just have mere external understanding and knowledge of God’s Law and commandments. We must also have that understanding and appreciation of His thoughts and ways, and we can only do this if we truly know the Lord, in His deeds and love for us. How do we do that then, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is by spending the time and effort to know the Lord and to devote ourselves ever more, at every possible opportunities and at every possible occasions. As Christians, it is imperative that we attune ourselves well to the Lord and His ways, and we can only do that if we have developed a good and vibrant relationship with God, and spent the time and effort to know Him, His ways and His teachings, and apply them to our lives.

Let us all therefore dedicate ourselves anew to the Lord, and commit our lives, our way of living them and our every actions and efforts for the greater glory of God. Let us all turn towards the Lord and do whatever we can so that we may inspire more and more people to follow the Lord through our own examples and good actions in life, filled with commitment to God, with righteousness and virtues of our Christian faith and beliefs, at all times. Amen.

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Friday, 18 August 2023 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Matthew 19 : 3-12

At that time, some Pharisees approached Jesus. They wanted to test Him and asked, “Is a man allowed to divorce his wife for any reason he wants?”

Jesus replied, “Have you not read that, in the beginning, the Creator made them male and female? And the Creator said : Therefore, a man shall leave father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body. So, they are no longer two, but one body. Let no one separate what God has joined.”

They asked him, “Then why did Moses command us to write a bill of dismissal in order to divorce?” Jesus replied, “Moses knew the hardness of your hearts, so he allowed you to divorce your wives; but it was not so in the beginning. Therefore, I say to you : whoever divorces his wife, unless it be for immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”

The disciples said, “If that is the condition of a married man, it is better not to marry.” Jesus said to them, “Not everybody can accept what you have just said, but only those who have received this gift. There are eunuchs born so, from their mother’s womb. Some have been made that way by others. But there are some who have given up the possibility of marriage, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who can accept it, accept it.”

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Friday, 18 August 2023 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 135 : 1, 2, 3, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24

Alleluia! Give thanks to YHVH, for He is good, His kindness endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of gods, His kindness endures forever.

Give thanks to YHVH of Lords, His kindness endures forever.

He led His people through the desert, His kindness endures forever.

He struck down great kings, His kindness endures forever.

And He killed mighty kings, His kindness endures forever.

He gave their land as an inheritance, His kindness endures forever.

A heritage to Israel His servant, His kindness endures forever.

And He freed us from our oppressors, His kindness endures forever.