Friday

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

Liturgical Colour : Green

Joshua 24 : 1-13

Joshua summoned all the tribes of Israel in Shechem, and assembled the elders, leaders, judges and secretaries. And together they presented themselves before God.

Addressing the people, Joshua said to them : “YHVH, the God of Israel, commands me to say to you : Your ancestors lived beyond the Euphrates River – Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor – serving other gods. But I brought Abraham your father from beyond the Euphrates and led him through the whole land of Canaan.”

“Then I gave him a son Isaac, that he might have numerous descendants. And to Isaac, I gave two sons : Esau and Jacob. Esau received the mountains of Seir as his inheritance, while Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. Then I sent Moses and Aaron to punish Egypt in the way that you know, that you might leave.”

“Then I brought your ancestors out of Egypt and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued you with chariots and horses as far as the Red Sea. Then you cried to YHVH, and He put immense darkness between you and the Egyptians. He made the sea go back on them and they were drowned. You have witnessed all the things He did in Egypt, and then you lived in the desert for a long time.”

“Then I brought you to the land of the Amorites who were on the east of the Jordan. You fought them but it was I Who gave them into your hand; you destroyed them and you seized their lands. Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, declared war on Israel and commanded Balaam son of Beor to curse you. But I would not listen to him, so Balaam blessed you and I saved you from the hands of Balak.”

“Then you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho. And the landlords of Jericho fought against you : the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites declared war on you, but I gave them to you. The two Amorite kings fled from you because of the swarm of hornets that attacked them and not because of your sword and bow.”

“I gave you lands which you have not tilled, cities which you did not build but in which you now live. I gave you vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant but from which you now eat.”

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Friday, 11 August 2023 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded of everything which God had generously done for us, in all the love which He has shown and bestowed upon us. All of us should not harden our hearts against Him and we should do well to remember everything that He had done for us, in all the wonderful things He had blessed us with, in all of His providence and help, and more. He will always stand by us no matter what happen, and all of us who have faith in Him and trust in His providence and help will be protected and guarded especially in the hours of difficulties and hardships, and in the end, all of us shall be triumphant together with God. God will remember the ones who have always kept His Law and precepts, and all of us who have remained true to Him despite the challenges and trials that we may face in life.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Deuteronomy in which Moses gathered the whole people of Israel before him, and delivering God’s words unto them, to those who have witnessed God’s good and loving actions, as well as His anger and wrath directed to all those who have disobeyed His Law and commandments, and betrayed Him for the pagan and false idols. Moses reminded all of them, those whom the Lord had brought out of the land of Egypt, and their children and descendants, including those who probably had been born during the forty years sojourn in the desert, of all the things that God had done for all of them, in His kindness and compassion, in everything that He had done for their sake, in advancing before them and leading them to battle against their enemies, in crushing the enemies of God’s people and scattering them, keeping them safe throughout the way.

God has also provided them with food along the entire journey, despite their repeated and constant complaints and ungrateful attitudes, in complaining against what God had provided for them, even though God had most generously provided them with the bread from heaven itself, the manna that He sent to them every single day except for the Sabbath day, and even providing for the Sabbath itself by providing them twice as much manna on the day before the Sabbath. He also provided all of them with the flocks of birds to supplement their food, and for their drink, according to the traditions, Moses got the water to come out from the rocks, and it was even told that a rock followed the Israelites wherever they went, and pure, clean and amazing water flowed out from it, as if indeed from the Lord Himself.

God had indeed loved His people so much, despite everything that they had done to Him, in rebelling against Him and rejecting His love. He also sent His Son into our midst, to dwell and journey with us, so that by His coming before us, all of us may enter into a new relationship with God, reconciled and reunited with Him, redeemed and freed from the slavery of sin and death. But in order to follow Him, we have to be ready to embrace Him and His path wholeheartedly, that is to obey His Law and commandments, distancing ourselves from the temptations of evil and sin, from all those things that kept us away from the path of God and His salvation and grace. In the process, we may also encounter opposition and hardships, trials and attacks, hardships and challenges, just as the Lord Himself had endured when He walked in our midst.

We are all called to remember the amazing love by which Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, our Saviour had done for our sake, in carrying His Cross with ultimate love, the love with which He cared for us, in enduring for us the greatest humiliations and sufferings, the rejection and the oppression of the world, so that through all those things, we may all be reconciled to God, our loving Father and Creator. By His enduring and eternal love, He offered Himself as a most worthy sacrifice and as atonement for our many and innumerable sins, which He cleansed for us, as we are made whole once again through the breaking of His Most Precious Body and the outpouring of His Most Precious Blood. And we are therefore called to remember this great and wonderful love, and hence expected to show the same love towards Him and towards our fellow brothers and sisters.

This is why today, all of us as Christians are called and reminded to love the Lord more and more, and to do whatever we can so that in our every words, actions and deeds, we may always proclaim the glory of God, and to be the great shining examples and role models of our beliefs and faith in God, in all occasions. Each and every one of us are called to be faithful and committed disciples of the Lord, so that we may lead more and more people to the salvation in God, in the manner that many of our faithful and holy predecessors, the holy saints, men and women of God had done in their lives and examples in life. All of us should reflect brightly the light of God’s truth and grace, just in the manner how the saints’ lives reflect brightly God’s glory, hope, light and truth, proclaiming His Good News at all times.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Clare, also known as St. Clare of Assisi, a contemporary and follower of St. Francis of Assisi, another renowned holy man of God. St. Clare was a native of Assisi who was inspired by her family devout practices and commitment to God, which made St. Clare and her siblings to be deeply committed to God from their early youth. St. Clare refused to marry a young man proposed by her family later on, and chose to commit herself wholly to God by joining the life and mission of St. Francis of Assisi, gathering other like-minded individuals, which later on became known as the Order of Poor Ladies, gathering all the women who were interested in the charism and living of the Franciscans instituted by St. Francis of Assisi, with St. Clare herself as the founder.

St. Clare herself lived in a convent of Benedictine nuns for a while, living a prayerful and devout life, and eventually went on to live together with her order of religious sisters, the Order of Poor Ladies or the Order of the Poor Ladies of San Damiano, where she eventually became the Abbess of the community of the San Damiano sisters. She remained in her ascetic and holy lifestyle, caring for the needs of those in her community and lovingly reached out to those who were in need in the society. In a well-known and documented miracle later on in her life, St. Clare was renowned for her miraculous defence of her convent from the rampaging attacks of the armies of the Holy Roman Emperor that were then attacking the region where her convent was located at. St. Clare remained steadfast and trusting in the Lord despite the approaching soldiers, and entrusted herself wholly to the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, as she hoisted up the monstrance which miraculously shone with great and blinding light that terrified the attacking enemies, who thereafter left the convent and the town undisturbed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore commit ourselves anew to the Lord in the manner that our holy predecessors had done, especially in the faith and dedication that St. Clare has shown us. Let us all remember the amazing love that God has for us, and the dedication that He has shown us, and which St. Clare and many other saints have reflected in their own lives and actions. May all of us be the shining beacons of the light of Christ’s salvation and the grace of God. Amen.

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Friday, 11 August 2023 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 16 : 24-28

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If you want to follow Me, deny yourself. Take up your cross and follow Me. For whoever chooses to save his life will lose it, but the one who loses his life, for My sake, will find it. What will one gain by winning the whole world, if he destroys his soul? Or what can a person give, in exchange for his life?”

“Know, that the Son of Man will come, in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels, and He will reward each one according to his deeds. Truly, I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death, before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”

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Friday, 11 August 2023 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 76 : 12-13, 14-15, 16 and 21

I remember the deeds of YHVH; I recall His marvels of old. I meditate on all Your work, and consider Your mighty deeds.

Your way, o God, is most holy. Is there any god greater than You, our God? You alone, are the God Who works wonders, Who has made known His power to the nations.

With power, You have redeemed Your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. You led Your people, as a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

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Friday, 11 August 2023 : 18th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Clare, Virgin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Deuteronomy 4 : 32-40

Ask of the times past. Inquire from the day when God created man on earth. Ask from one end of the world to the other : Has there ever been anything as extraordinary as this? Has anything like this been heard of before? Has there ever been a people who remained alive after hearing as you did the voice of the living God from the midst of the fire?

Never has there been a God Who went out to look for a people and take them out from among the other nations by the strength of trials and signs, by wonders and by war, with a firm hand and an outstretched arm. Never has there been any deed as tremendous as those done for you by YHVH in Egypt, which you saw with your own eyes.

You saw this that you might know that YHVH is God and that there is no other besides Him. He let you hear His voice from heaven that you might fear Him; on earth He let you see His blazing fire and from the midst of the fire you heard His word. Because of the love He had for our fathers, He chose their descendants after them, and He Himself made you leave Egypt with His great power.

He expelled before you peoples more numerous and stronger than you, and He has made you occupy their land : today He has given this to you as an inheritance. Therefore, try to be convinced that YHVH is the only God of heaven and earth, and that there is no other. Observe the laws and the commandments that I command you today, and everything will be well with you and your children after you. So you will live long in the land which YHVH, your God, gives you forever.

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded and called to remember the Lord, obey His Law and commandments, celebrate the feasts and festivals that He had appointed and placed before us, and which His Church had stipulated for us to commemorate. We should remain active in the living of our faith and participate as much as possible in the life of the Church and in Christian actions and commitments. Those are our calling and our responsibilities as the ones whom God had called and chosen, as Christians, as the holy people of God. We cannot ignore these responsibilities and we cannot be idle and ignorant, in disregarding what we are expected and what we have been shown to do by the Lord Himself. As long as we remain idle in our faith and close ourselves against the truth of God, His words and love, then we will likely remain distant and away from Him and His grace.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Leviticus, we heard of the Lord speaking to His servant Moses, in which He told him to tell the people how they should celebrate their various events and celebrations of faith, and all those celebrations were meant to keep so that they would always put the Lord and His precepts and laws at the very centre and as the focus of the whole entire community. Those were not just merely celebrations and spectacles, but in truth, they helped to keep the Lord present in the hearts and minds of the people, who were often rebellious and delinquent in their activities and lives. They have often disobeyed the Lord and abandoned Him for pagan gods and false idols, and hence, that was why the Lord gave them His Law and commandments, and all those celebrations to remind them of the path that they all should follow, and the way that they should obey in their lives.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the time when the Lord Jesus was in His hometown of Nazareth in Galilee. He was not well-received over there as many among the people doubted Him and ridiculed Him when they heard Him teaching before them, proclaiming the Good News and truth of God. The Lord has proclaimed the fulfilment of the prophecies and the words that the prophets had spoken, particularly that of the prophet Isaiah regarding the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour that God has promised to all of His beloved ones. That was because they presumed and thought that they knew Him better and that He could not have been the Messiah simply by Him being the mere Son of the village carpenter, St. Joseph, His forefather. The people thought that it was impossible for the Lord Jesus to be the Saviour and doubted and could not reconcile how His supposedly humble origins and background led to such great Wisdom and Authority.

Why was that so? It was because they did not have a strong and enduring faith in the Lord. They also did not see things through the eyes of faith, and instead, they saw things from the worldly perspectives, with their biases and prejudices. They thought that a carpenter, being then a job that no one wanted to do, and as a lowly profession could not have possibly been great and glorious, or educated and intellectual, and hence, they looked down on the Lord because of that, especially since many of them had seen and witnessed Him growing up in His youth as the Son of the local carpenter, and they refused to let their prejudices and biases to go away, and despite the great wisdom that the Lord had shown, and the news of all the miracles, wonders and signs that He had performed in the areas of Galilee, they refused to believe in Him.

That is why there is a need for all of us as Christians to turn away from our many worldly attachments and prejudices, and we should purify ourselves and keep ourselves free from the corrupting influences of the world. Otherwise we may end up falling deeper and deeper into the wrong path, the path of sin and evil, the path of disobedience and rebellion, lacking in faith just as our predecessors have shown in their actions, in how they rejected and abandoned the Lord, even after they had seen His wonders, His love and faithfulness to the Covenant that He had made and established with all of them. This is also why we should dedicate ourselves and our time and effort, our every actions, words and deeds to Him, following in the footsteps and examples of our holy predecessors, the holy men and women, saints of God.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of St. John Vianney, also known as John Maria Vianney, a simple parish priest from the village or town of Ars in southern part of what is today France. St. John Vianney was born into a simple, devout and faithful family where he grew up in faith and dedication to God, and grew to love the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, which gradually made him to come to realisation of the calling to be a priest. Hence, he began his education with the intention of becoming a priest and answering his calling. He did not have an easy time with all the preparations as he struggled with all the academic requirements and especially with the learning of the Latin language, the official and liturgical language of the Church. While he failed that again and again, it was his determination and desire to serve the Lord as a priest which kept him going and he eventually succeeded in doing so after facing many challenges, including the disruptions due to the Napoleonic wars that happened at the time.

St. John Vianney was assigned to a small parish church in the small town of Ars, far from the great churches and parishes, the large religious institutions where the ambitious among the clergy tried to get into those days. However, St. John Vianney was in the priesthood not for the glory or achievement, ambition or worldly fame. Instead, it was his very intense love for the Lord and his love for his fellow brothers and sisters, who have been entrusted to his care that led him to a very deep and committed life as a parish priest, which soon began to earn him the fame of being a truly holy and devout man of God. He spent many hours in the confessional, waiting for many people, which crowd kept on growing, to confess their sins and to ask him for guidance in life, just as he patiently helped to guide the people back to the Lord, in his patient, compassionate and yet firm and persistent preaching and homilies, which were meant to help the people to resist the indifference to the Church and the faith.

More and more people came to know of this holy man and priest of Ars, and thousands came to flock upon the small town as pilgrims and as sinners seeking God’s forgiveness and mercy. Miraculous tales, stories and events came in droves as many recounted how they received great graces from God through the words and actions of St. John Vianney, and how in one case, it was told that St. John Vianney could even communicate with the suffering souls in purgatory, and asking the living to pray for them. Throughout his life, St. John Vianney had done many great and wonderful works, by which he had brought countless souls back towards the Lord and to His salvation. He has inspired many generations priests and other faithful alike, in their renewed commitment to serve and follow the Lord in their lives and works. St. John Vianney might have been born to a simple family and had a simple, unassuming life and work, but in his love for God and in his commitment, his great efforts and dedication, he has been a great inspiration and role model to many others.

Now, the question is, brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing and able to follow the great examples showed by St. John Vianney and the many other holy men and women who had gone before us, and who have shown us how we should all live our lives before the Lord? Are we able to turn away from the corruptions of worldly attachments and greed, desires and glory, and return our focus and attention back to the Lord? Are we capable of committing ourselves more wholeheartedly to the Lord and develop an ever better relationship with Him? May the Lord continue to help and strengthen us in our path, and may He empower and ever encourage us always so that we can continue to strive to live our lives as faithful and devout Christians, as God’s beloved and holy people. Amen.

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 13 : 54-58

At that time, Jesus went to His hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did He get this wisdom and these special powers? Is He not the carpenter’s Son? Is Mary not His mother and are James, Joseph, Simon and Judas not His brothers? Are not all His sisters living here? Where did He get all these things?” And so they took offence at Him.

Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is his hometown and in his own family.” And He did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 80 : 3-4, 5-6ab, 10-11ab

Start the music, strike the timbrel, play melodies on the harp and lyre. Sound the trumpet at the new moon, on our feast day, when the new moon is full.

This is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob, a statute He wrote for Joseph when he went out of Egypt.

There shall be no strange god among you, you shall not worship any alien god, for I, YHVH, am your God.

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Friday, 4 August 2023 : 17th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. John Vianney, Priest and Patron of All Priests (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Leviticus 23 : 1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37

YHVH spoke to Moses, “Then there are appointed feasts of YHVH at the times fixed for them, when you are to proclaim holy assemblies. At twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month is YHVH’s Passover. And on the fifteenth day of this month it is YHVH’s feast of Unleavened Bread.”

For seven days you shall eat bread without leaven. On the first day there will be a sacred assembly and no work of a worker shall be done. For seven days you shall present an offering by fire to YHVH and on the seventh day you shall hold a sacred assembly and do no work of a worker.”

YHVH spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them : When you enter the land that I will give you and you reap its harvest, you will bring to the priest a sheaf, the first fruits of your harvest and he shall wave the sheaf before YHVH for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it.”

“From the day after the Sabbath, on which you bring the sheaf of offering, you are to count seven full weeks. The day after the seventh Sabbath will be the fiftieth day and then you are to offer YHVH a new offering. The tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. You are to hold a sacred assembly. You must fast, and you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH.”

“The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of Tents for YHVH, lasting seven days. The first day you shall hold an assembly; you must do no work of a worker. For seven days you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and you must offer a burnt offering to YHVH. It is a day of solemn assembly in which you shall do no work of a worker.”

“These are the appointed feasts of YHVH in which you are to proclaim holy assemblies for the purpose of offering offerings by fire, burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings to YHVH, according to the ritual of each day.”

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Friday, 28 July 2023 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded of the Law and the commandments which the Lord our God and Master have revealed to us and given us all, beginning from the time when He first revealed it all to Moses, His servant, to be passed on to the people of Israel, the people that God first called and chose from among all the nations. The Law of God, His commandments and precepts, are all meant to help and lead us to the path of salvation in God, and they are the means by which God planted in us the seeds of faith, which we will need to nurture, or else, we may end up becoming stagnant in faith, or lukewarm in it, and falling deeper and deeper into the path of evil, wickedness and sin, distancing ourselves from God. All of us are reminded today to be ever more faithful to the Lord, to do His will and to obey His Law and commandments, living a good and faithful Christian life.

In our first reading today, we heard of the moment when God revealed His Ten Commandments to Moses, His servant, at the top of Mount Sinai, where He appeared before Moses and dictated to him His Law and commandments. It was also at that time that the Lord established His Covenant with His people Israel, and therefore, as part of that Covenant, all of His people ought to follow and obey the Law and the commandments that He has set before them, because by following Him, and becoming His people, they have put themselves in the Presence of God, and become His own adopted children, and hence, they submit themselves to His rule and power, and as is only right and just, they have to do what their Lord and Master have told them to do.

Not only that, but as God’s beloved people and children, if they, the Israelites, and therefore, all of us Christians today, did not do as our Lord and Father had taught and shown them and all of us to do, then their faith and actions would have become a mockery of the Lord and would have sullied His Holy Name. All of the pagans and all those who have not believed in the Lord would have laughed at the infidelities and the lack of faith of God’s own people and children, and it is not possible for us to expect that others come to believe in the Lord and follow Him, if the people of God themselves have not done as He has commanded and taught us to do. And His path and ways are actually not that difficult to do, but unfortunately, many of us preferred to follow the easier paths of the world.

That was why the Lord had difficulties with His people, the people of Israel, because they continuously rebelled against Him and disobeyed Him, abandoning and betraying Him for the many pagan idols and gods which they chose over the Lord and Master Who had liberated them from their slavery in Egypt, and Who had taken care of them and provided for them throughout the entire journey in the desert and beyond, and Who fought with them against their enemies, crushing those who oppressed them and guarding them from harm, again and again throughout history. The Lord has always proved to be faithful to the Covenant that He has made with us all, with all His beloved ones, but we are the ones who have often gone astray from the path of the Lord.

In our Gospel passage today, as mentioned, we heard of the famous parable of the sower, in which the Lord told His disciples regarding the matter of nurturing one’s faith with the righteous actions and way of living their lives, so that the Lord’s words and teachings, that are the seeds which He has brought into our midst, may truly germinate and grow in us, and grow well and strongly, into a faith that is vibrant and enduring, despite the many challenges, trials and obstacles that we may have to face in the midst of our lives and actions. That is why, we are all reminded of this parable, so that we may indeed discern how we are to live our lives from now on, and consider what kind of actions and paths that we should take so that we may live our lives more worthily of God.

As we heard in the parable of the sower, those who are represented by the seeds falling by the roadside are those who ignored the words of the Lord, His Law and commandments, choosing to live their lives the way they want to live it, and not heeding the Lord’s call and teachings. As a result, they lost the words and the truth of God, and the devil came to steal all of those with them, putting instead his falsehoods and lies, by which he had probably been successful in leading countless souls into damnation in hell. Meanwhile, those who are represented by the seeds that fell on the rocky ground are those who did not allow the words of the Lord, His Law and commandments to take strong roots in them, as they were rather superficial in their faith, only following the Law and commandments of God without understanding, realising and appreciating their meaning and significance.

That was what happened to many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law that the Lord Jesus frequently criticised against and rebuked, because of their empty faith and actions, as well as piety that were all for show, and not truly genuine faith in the Lord. And they were also like those who are represented by the seeds that fell among the brambles and thistles, as the young plants that grew from them were choked by the brambles and thistles, and thus, could not grow or be fruitful. Many of those mentioned, as well as many others throughout history, our predecessors, allowed themselves to be swayed by worldly temptations and therefore fell into evil and wicked ways, drawn to the allures of worldly attachments and pleasures which prevented them from truly living their lives as faithful people of God.

Instead, as we have been reminded constantly through these Scripture readings and by weeks and weeks of exhortations from the Church, its teachings and others, all of us are reminded to be like the rich and fertile soil, upon which the seeds of faith, the words of God’s truth, and all of His grace may grow well in us and bear rich fruits, thirty, sixty and hundred-fold if not even more. And how can we do this, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is by understanding God’s Law and commandments, and live them well in our lives, by doing what God has told us to do. In all of His Law as well as the Ten Commandments which we heard in our first reading today, the Lord has taught us how to love, first of all, to love Him, our Lord and Master, with all of our might and strength, and then, how to love our fellow brothers and sisters, in the same manner, and at least as much as we love ourselves.

Therefore, if we have spent a lot of time trying to love and please ourselves at the expense of loving God and our fellow brothers and sisters around us, let us all take a step back and discern carefully how we are going to go forward from here. Let us strive to do what we can in obeying the Lord, His Law and commandments so that in everything we say and do, in all of our actions in life, we will always do what the Lord wants us to do, and be exemplary and inspiration in faith to our fellow brothers and sisters. May the Lord be with us all, and may He empower us all to be His faithful and worthy disciples, at all times, and may He bless our every good works and efforts, now and always. Amen.