Friday

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Friday, 16 December 2022 : 3rd Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 56 : 1-3a, 6-8

This is what YHVH says : Maintain what is right and do what is just, for My salvation is close at hand, My justice is soon to come. Blessed is the mortal who does these things, and perseveres in them, who does not defile the sabbath and who refrains from evil. Let no foreigner say, “Surely YHVH will exclude me from His people.”

YHVH says to the foreigners who join Him, serving Him and loving His Name, keeping His sabbath unprofaned and remaining faithful to His covenant : I will bring them to My holy mountain and give them joy in My house of prayer. I will accept on My altar their burnt offerings and sacrifices, for My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.

Thus says the Lord God, YHVH, Who gathers the exiles of Israel : There are others I will gather besides those already gathered.

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Friday, 9 December 2022 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us through the passages of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that we have to listen to His words, obey His Law and commandments, and walk in the path that He has shown and taught us to walk in, and distance ourselves from the excesses of worldly temptations and desires, all of which can lead us down the wrong path and end up in damnation and eternal suffering. God has revealed to us His love, shown to us in the manifestation of His Son in this world, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and we ought to listen to Him, and everything that He has revealed to us and taught us through His Church. We must not harden our hearts and minds anymore, but be more receptive to listen to His truths.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the prophet Isaiah, we heard of the words of the Lord as spoken through Isaiah to His people telling them of everything that they could have enjoyed if they had not rebelled against Him and disobeyed Him, His Law and commandments as they and their ancestors had done. The glory of the people of Israel and the kingdom of the days of David and Solomon as recorded in the Old Testament would have endured and persisted, because if the people of God had remained firm in their faith in God, God would have continued to bless them and guide them, and He would have protected and guarded them even more, that their realm and dominion would have been secure, and they would not have been humiliated and suffered the way that they had endured by the time of the prophet Isaiah and his ministry.

By then, the glorious days of the kingdoms of David and Solomon were long past, and what remained was just a remnant of that glorious past, as the people of God were becoming shrunken and lesser, and having endured centuries of strife and never-ending struggles with one another, as they became divided and torn into different parts. Much of the ten tribes of the Israelites who separated themselves from the dominion of the House of David had also been scattered all around the world, when the Assyrians crushed and destroyed their kingdom just mere years prior to the time of the prophet Isaiah and his ministry. The lands of the Israelites, the people of God were made barren, and pagans and foreigners were made to dwell in the lands where they once dwelled, as a reminder of the folly of their rebellion and disobedience against God.

Thus, God reminded all of His people of their folly and lack of faith, and hence actually urged them to do something to stop them from being stubborn and foolish any further. He called on all of them to follow Him once again, and to obey His Law and commandments once more. As we heard in our Gospel passage today, the Lord lamented the lack of faith in His people, as they hardened their hearts and minds, refusing to believe in Him and His servants, even after they had witnessed the wondrous miracles and heard the great words of Wisdom and truth presented clearly to them. They continued to disobey God and preferred to follow their own ways, indulging in their own desires and personal, worldly ambitions, which is why the Lord again warned them all to turn away from that dangerous path, lest it be too late for all of them.

This is a likely reference to how back then, at the time of the Lord’s ministry, many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, the elders and the influential members of the community of God’s people had rejected the Lord and refused to listen to Him, no matter how convincing and full of Wisdom and truth the Lord’s words had been. Ironically, being those who were most knowledgeable and accustomed to the teachings and words of the prophets, those same Pharisees and the teachers of the Law should have been the first ones to recognise the truth and wisdom present in the words and teachings that the Lord Jesus brought to us all. Yet, they allowed their personal desires and ambitions to distract them and harden their hearts and minds, as they became fearful and afraid that the Lord would eclipse them and their influence, and end the privileges they enjoyed all those while.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard from the passages of the Scriptures, we are all therefore reminded of the importance for us to have faith and trust in God, and to be careful and vigilant against the temptations of our flesh and body, and the allures of worldly glory and ambitions, all of which can draw us further away from God and His path. If we are not careful we may end up walking down the same path that the people of Israel and all those elders, Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done, in not following God and His ways, and instead walking down their own path towards ruination and damnation. We must be careful because the lures and forces of sin can truly be very powerful, and we may not be able to resist them unless we continue to deepen our faith and relationship with God.

Today, we should perhaps look upon the good examples of faith and dedication to God as shown by St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, also known as St. Juan Diego, the saint whose feast day we are celebrating today. St. John Diego was known as the one who witnessed the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, now well known as Our Lady of Guadalupe. St. John Diego was one of the early Christian converts from among the native peoples of the region now known as Mexico, where he became a devout follower of Christ, and was known for his exemplary life and virtues. Back then, it happened that St. John Diego was passing by the area known as the Hill of Tepeyac when the Mother of God appeared to him, and spoke to St. John Diego in his own native language, revealing herself to be the Mother of God.

No one initially believed what St. John Diego had said, and they disregarded him when he conveyed on them the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe about her identity and also her request that a church be built in her honour at the location of her Apparition. Then, at the next time when St. John Diego was supposed to meet Our Lady of Guadalupe, his uncle was very sick and St. John Diego had to get his uncle to meet a priest for the Sacrament of the Sick. And later on, St. Juan Diego tried to take another way, as he was ashamed of having failed to meet the Lady as he was supposed to, only to meet her on his way again, and she told him why she did not entrust his uncle and himself to God through her, with the words now well known as ‘Am I not here, I am, who am your mother?’. This serves as a reminder to all of us how the Lord has indeed entrusted His own Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe to be our mother as well.

Then, Our Lady of Guadalupe told St. John Diego to show a sign to the local bishop, and asked him to collect some flowers that appeared there at the site of the Apparition that were not native to the region, miraculously appeared there, and then St. John Diego gathered them using his tilma or cloak. As he brought the flowers and showed them to the bishop, what stunned the bishop and all the other witnesses present was not just the unusual flowers, but the fact and evidence that the very image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mary herself was imprinted on the tilma that was worn by St. John Diego. Everyone who saw that miracle believed, and through the great occasion, many became believers and followed the Lord, all thanks to His mother and also through the faith and dedication showed by St. John Diego in faithfully living his life and in obeying God’s will.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having heard all of these, let us all therefore reflect on our own way of live and the state of our current existence. Are we too lax in how we live our lives that we allow the temptations of worldliness and the pleasures all around us from swaying and misleading us down the wrong path? Or have we walked faithfully in the path that the Lord has shown us? If we have not listened to the Lord and if we are still easily swayed by the worldly temptations to sin, then we should make good use of this reminder and this time of Advent provided for us to change our way of life and to reconnect with God, by following the good examples of the saints, particularly that of St. John Diego today whom we commemorate, together with our loving mother, Our Lady of Guadalupe, who has always watched over us and prayed for each one of us, all these while.

May the Lord continue to guide us in our journey of faith through life, and may He strengthen each one of us in our resolve so that we may draw ever closer to Him and be more courageous to live our lives worthily in the path that He Himself has shown us. May all of us have a good and blessed season of Advent, that we may make good use of that time to serve the Lord with ever greater zeal and sincerity, and love Him all the more. Amen.

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Friday, 9 December 2022 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)

Matthew 11 : 16-19

At that time, Jesus said to the people, “Now, to what can I compare the people of this day? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their companions complain : ‘We played the lute for you, but you would not dance. We sang a funeral song, but you would not cry!’”

“For John came fasting, and people said, ‘He is possessed by a demon!’ Then, the Son of Man came. He ate and drank; and people said, ‘Look at this Man : a glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet, wisdom is vindicated by her works.”

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Friday, 9 December 2022 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)

Psalm 1 : 1-2, 3, 4 and 6

Blessed is the man who does not go where the wicked gather, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit where the scoffers sit! Instead, he finds delight in the Law of YHVH and meditates day and night on His commandments.

He is like a tree beside a brook producing its fruit in due season, its leaves never withering. Everything he does is a success.

But it is different with the wicked. They are like chaff driven away by the wind. For YHVH knows the way of the righteous but cuts off the way of the wicked.

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Friday, 9 December 2022 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. John Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Saints)

Isaiah 48 : 17-19

Thus says YHVH, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel : I, YHVH, your God, teach you what is best for you; I lead you in the way that you must go. Had you paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea.

Your descendants would have been like the sand, and those born of your stock like its grains, their names never cut off nor blotted out from My presence.

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Friday, 2 December 2022 : 1st Week of Advent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all called to remember the love and kindness which God has shown each one of us Christians, and all of His beloved ones, that He came to rescue us from our predicament and fate, leading us into the path towards everlasting life and true joy with Him, a path that He has shown us, as light and hope lighting our way out of the darkness surrounding us in our lives. We are all reminded that it is in God alone that we have our salvation and hope, and it is through Him alone that we shall receive justification and grace, and liberation from the bondage of sin, death and evil which had always hounded us all these while.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Isaiah of yet another one of God’s reassuring words for His people just as we have heard all throughout this week, reminding them all of everything that God has done for them and then what He will do for all of them, as He gathered them all from being scattered all over, and returned them to their lands, to enjoy once again His favour and grace, His love and providence. Back then, the land of Israel and its people were far off from the once glorious days of their predecessors, of the great kingdom of David and Solomon. They had faced great challenges and trials, difficulties and humiliations, all because of their lack of faith in God and their disobedience and sins against Him. Yet, the Lord continued to show His love towards them and sent them His help and providence, again and again.

Historically, the people of God would be scattered all throughout the world, uprooted from their lands, as consequences for their sins. Yet, the Lord would gather them once again, leading all of them towards Him and returning them back to their lands, as He had done when He moved the heart of the King of Persia, Cyrus the Great, to allow the people of Israel, who have regretted their sins and the faults of their ancestors, and being repentant of those sins, to return once again to their homeland, the Land promised to their ancestors. What God spoke about in our today’s first reading through the prophet Isaiah to His people was indeed a proclamation of what would happen when He led them all back to their land, an expectation of the happy and glorious days to come, and in fact, also a lead-up to what will one day happen at the end of time, when God finally leads all of us, His beloved ones, back to Him.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord healing two blind men who came to Him, begging Him to heal them from their blindness. They asked Him and believed that He could deliver them from their troubles, and indeed, the Lord healed and allowed their eyes to see once again. They were saved from their predicament by the power of God, and became yet another proof of God great power and also love for His beloved people. God brought them out of the darkness and back into the light. God has restored hope to them and made them whole again, and that same thing is what He will also do to all of us, to each and every one of us who have faith in Him and are called to follow Him and to walk in His path. We are God’s people, and He is our Lord and Master.

That is what we really need to reflect on in this season of Advent, recalling the great love, compassion and mercy which Our Lord has shown us and which He has generously given to us. Through Him, all of us have received a new hope and the light that pierced through the darkness of despair and evil that surrounded us. It is Him Whom we are expecting and preparing for this coming Christmas, the source of our rejoicing and celebrations, the source of our strength and life. This Advent is a time for us to contemplate all these and to prepare ourselves so that we may indeed celebrate Christmas with proper understanding and appreciation of everything that God had done for us all, His beloved people. We have to make good use of this season of Advent to prepare ourselves, body, heart, mind and soul, so that our whole being may be ready to welcome the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all spend the time this Advent to reconnect ourselves with God and to strengthen our relationship and connection with Him, so that we may draw ever closer to Him and become ever more committed to His path. Many of us have not been doing this and many have been spending their Advent and Christmas on the wrong things, both their time and effort, as they were swayed by the worldly ways that Christmas has often been celebrated all around the world. Instead of celebrating and commemorating the birth of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Love of God made Man, and brought into our midst, we have put Him aside and forgotten about Him, which led to us distancing ourselves ever further from Him and His path.

We are all reminded that we are all so blessed that God has willingly shown us His love and compassion, just as the Scripture passages today earlier on had shown us. Therefore, it is only right and just that we should appreciate and reciprocate that love that God has shown us with our own love and devotion towards Him, doing our best to follow Him and His path, doing His will, listening to Him and walking in the path that He has shown us, His commandments and Law, and showing the same love He has shown us, to our fellow brothers and sisters, that through our love, kindness and compassion, more and more people may come to know the love of God and be brought ever closer to Him and to the salvation and eternal life in Him.

May the Lord our most loving and compassionate God continue to help and guide us through this blessed season of Advent so that we may make good use of this time and season of Advent to prepare ourselves to be ever more worthy to celebrate the true joy of Christmas, and be inspirations, role models and examples in how we live out our faith, glorifying God by our lives and showing others what it truly means to be Christians, as our Lord’s followers and disciples. May God bless us all at all times, and may He bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 2 December 2022 : 1st Week of Advent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Matthew 9 : 27-31

At that time, as Jesus moved on from the place where He resurrected the daughter of the official, two blind men followed Him, shouting, “Son of David, help us!” When He was about to enter the house, the blind men caught up with Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do what you want?” They answered, “Yes, Sir!”

Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “As you have believed, so let it be.” And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus gave them a stern warning, “Be careful that no one knows about this.” But as soon as they went away, they spread the news about Him through the whole area.

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Friday, 2 December 2022 : 1st Week of Advent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 26 : 1, 4, 13-14

The Lord is my Light and my Salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the Rampart of my life; I will not be afraid.

One thing I ask of the Lord, one thing I seek – that I may dwell in His house all the days of my life, to gaze at His jewel and to visit His sanctuary.

I hope, I am sure, that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Trust in the Lord, be strong and courageous. Yes, put your hope in the Lord!

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Friday, 2 December 2022 : 1st Week of Advent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Isaiah 29 : 17-24

In a very short time, Lebanon will become a fruitful field and the fruitful field will be as a forest. On that day the deaf will hear the words of the book, and out of the dark and obscurity the eyes of the blind will see. The meek will find joy and the poor among men will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.

For the tyrant will be no more and the scoffers gone forever, and all who plan to do evil will be cut down – those who by a word make you guilty, those who for a bribe can lay a snare and send home the just empty-handed.

Therefore YHVH, Abraham’s Redeemer, speaks concerning the people of Jacob : No longer will Jacob be ashamed; no longer will his face grow pale. When he sees the work of My hands, his children again in his midst, they will sanctify My Name, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and stand in awe of the God of Israel. Those who err in spirit will understand; those who murmur will learn.

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Friday, 25 November 2022 : 34th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Catherine of Alexandria, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that we must not be ignorant of what we are all called to do as Christians in our daily living, and to heed the signs of the times. For each and every one of us as Christians, we are all called and expected to make good use of our lives and all the talents, abilities, opportunities and all other things that the Lord had granted us, so that our lives may be truly fruitful and worthy of God. We must not be idle in our lives or worse still, act in ways contrary to our beliefs, as what unfortunately many amongst even us Christians have done, and are currently doing in our lives. To do so is truly unbecoming of our Christian identity, and is truly a scandal of our faith, which is something that many amongst us have to account for in the end.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, we heard of the moment of the final defeat of Satan, the great enemy at the end of time, and the ultimate triumph of God and the faithful over all those who have long persecuted the holy people of God. The Lord will triumph over all evils and all the forces of the wicked, and that vision of St. John saw of this great victory and the final defeat of evil serves to encourage all the faithful people of God who at that time had been facing a lot of struggles, trials, challenges and persecutions, having to endure prison, and even martyrdom for their belief and faith in God. Many, like St. John himself, had to suffer because they believed in God and refused to worship the pagan gods and idols, or the Emperors, who back then were often regarded as divine.

All the things that St. John witnessed in his heavenly vision became source of hope and encouragement for the Christians all over the world who were persecuted for their faith. St. John the Apostle witnessed how the mighty forces of the devil met their deserved end and defeat, crushed and conquered by the might of God, and God will come to save His people, just as He has once saved the people of Israel from their enslavement in Egypt and from the tyranny of the Pharaoh. Also highlighted in today’s passage of St. John’s vision is the occasion of the Last Judgment, when all the people, living and dead, all will be assembled before God and face their final and eternal fate, be it that their names are listed in the Book of Life and hence worthy of God, and therefore worthy of enjoying the eternal bliss and joy with God, or whether their names are not found in the Book of Life, and will be cast out into eternal darkness and oblivion, to suffer for eternity.

In the relatively short Gospel passage we have heard from today, the Lord reiterated this again, as He reminded all of His followers that the coming of the time of reckoning can be anytime, and while no one will know or have known the exact time and occasion of when it will happen, but the signs from the Lord are clear. And anyway, regardless whether the coming of the Day of Last Judgment is imminent or not, we must always be ever ready to welcome the Lord when He comes again, and it means that we should always be ever prepared in everything we say and do. In all things we must always be filled with the zeal, passion and faith to live our lives faithfully as is expected of us as Christians, and not to allow temptations of the world to distract or even mislead us down the wrong path. We must be careful or else before we realise it, we are already deep in the path towards damnation and destruction.

Clearly, as we heard from all these passages from the Scriptures, we are all being reminded as we have been in these past two weeks towards the end of the current liturgical year, of how important it is for us to remember to always put the Lord as the centre and the focus of our lives and existences. We should not replace Him with other focuses or pursuits which we may have or desire. Unfortunately, more often than not, this is exactly what happened to us Christians, as we are often easily distracted and tempted to succumb to the allures of worldly comforts and pleasures, to all of our greed and ambition, our pride and ego. And all of these can lead us to our ultimate downfall if we are not actively resisting those temptations and pressures, as well as striving to live our lives in a most genuine, Christian manner as we have been called and expected to do in our lives.

Today, we mark the occasion of the Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria, one of the great saints of the Church and one of the most renowned martyrs of the faith. Hopefully by reflecting upon her lives, actions, examples and faith, we may find inspiration and strength to dedicate ourselves and our own lives to God in the way that this holy woman of God had done. St. Catherine of Alexandria was the daughter of nobleman or a Roman governor in the land of Egypt, during the years of the final persecutions against Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian and his fellow co-Emperors and successors. One of those, Emperor Maxentius conducted intense persecutions against Christians in his domains, and St. Catherine went directly to the Emperor to rebuke him for his actions and cruelty against Christians.

At that time, such an action definitely merited death penalty, not only because St. Catherine was a Christian but she dared to rebuke the person of the Emperor, who by the time had become very feared and powerful position. Yet, this holy woman of God fearlessly defended her faith before the Emperor and others, and not even many pagan philosophers, the best of the best assembled by the Emperor to debate her can best her in wisdom and understanding, and she utterly trounced them through God’s wisdom and power. St. Catherine also resisted the temptations of power and worldly comfort herself when the Emperor, who was mesmerised by her beauty and eloquence, tried to woo and persuade her to become his bride. She chose to suffer and die in martyrdom than to betray her faith and principles.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us hence strive to do our best to obey the Lord and His commandments, as well as putting Him as the centre and focus of our lives. Let us all be genuine in being faithful to Him and do whatever we can to live our lives, in even the smallest things and actions we do, in accordance with His will, His Law and commandments. As Christians we have been called to love God first and foremost, and then to love our fellow brethren in the same manner without distinction or prejudice. Hence, let us try our best to do that, so that by our faith made manifest and alive through our actions and works, we may truly be deemed worthy by the Lord on the Day of Judgment, and receive from Him the promised everlasting life and joy. May God bless us all in our every works and efforts, for His greater glory. Amen.