Friday

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Friday, 18 February 2022 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard from the Scriptures a reminder for us of the need for us to be active in our faith, in the way we live our lives. All of us have been called to contribute whatever we can to the efforts and works of the Church. That is what is meant for us to walk faithfully in life and following in the path of God, and what being true Christians is all about. We have to be doing our best in our every day moments through life, even in the smallest things that we do and say.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. James the words of the Apostle regarding the matter of faith and good works related to that faith. This is a continuation of what St. James the Apostle had spoken in these past few days of readings this week, regarding the matter of faith and works, which in essence cannot be separated from each other. Without faith, works are meaningless, and at the same time, without works, and indeed, good works rooted in that faith, then our faith is dead and meaningless too.

St. James and his Epistle is well known for this stance, as it is a reminder that Christians and faithful people of God, we cannot be idle and think that once we have received baptism, then we are already fine and have no need for any effort, just needing to wait for God to grant us the salvation and eternal life He has promised us. That is not what the Lord intended for us, brothers and sisters in Christ. Most importantly, we must also realise that the Lord has always told us to do good, to obey His Law and commandments and to be righteous in all things, and all these cannot be done with idleness and ignorance.

In one occasion we heard the words of the prophet Ezekiel that even the righteous who commits sin shall have to answer for those sins that were committed and shall have to suffer the consequences and perish should those sins remain unrepented and unforgiven, and conversely, sinners who sought to be forgiven and were forgiven their sins shall be saved. This goes on to show just how our faith in the Lord does not guarantee us salvation without us living that faith in life with genuine desire to love God and without the effort to seek the Lord at all times.

Having faith in God does not prevent us from sinning, and even after baptism, we can still commit sin against God. Indeed, many of the great sins committed in our world past and present were sins committed by baptised Christians. Temptations and the pressures to commit sin will still be present in our midst, and unless we keep our guard on and remain vigilant in resisting those temptations, we may find ourselves falling again and again into sin. That is why our faith must be active and full of daily contributions and efforts. Baptism is not the end of the journey but rather the beginning of a new life in God.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord spoke of something similar as we listened to Him telling His disciples and followers that unless they pick up and carry their crosses in life, then they were not truly His disciples and followers. If they want to follow Him, then they have to take up their crosses in life and bear them, altogether with Him. The Lord therefore reminds us of the same words that St. James had said, that faith without good works is as good as dead. There can be no genuine faith without dedication and there can be no salvation unless our faith is genuine and true.

That is why today, as we heard today’s Scripture passages, we are all challenged to be better Christians, and to be more faithful to God, more than just in name or formality only. As Christians all of us have the obligation to follow the Lord, to be faithful to Him and to dedicate our every living moments to glorify Him and His Name. Today, let us all discern carefully how we are going to proceed further in life, thinking of how we should act in ways that are worthy of us as God’s own beloved people, as those whom He has considered to be His own children.

Let us all therefore help one another to do our best in living our lives with the fullness of desire to do the will of God, to put Him and His truth above all else, dedicating ourselves and our every living moments to glorify Him and to bring forth the salvation in our Lord to many more people. For it is through us and our own exemplary lives, actions and deeds that we can do what God had told us to do, in making use of our talents and gifts, in order to bring God and His light ever to each one of us, His beloved ones.

May the Lord be with us all as we continue to walk through this journey in life so that we may be found worthy at the end of it all. May the Lord continue to watch over us, strengthening us with the resolve and courage to resist the temptations to sin, and at the same time, granting us the courage and strength to live virtuously from now on, if we have not yet done so. May God bless us all and our every good works and endeavours, full of faith in Him, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 18 February 2022 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 8 : 34 – Mark 9 : 1

At that time, Jesus called the people and His disciples, and said, “If you want to follow Me, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me. For if you choose to save your life, you will lose it; and if you lose your life for My sake and for the sake of the Gospel, you will save it.”

“What good is it to gain the whole world, while destroying your soul? There is nothing more precious than your soul. I tell you : If anyone is ashamed of Me and of My words among this adulterous and sinful people, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the Glory of His Father with the holy Angels.”

And He went on to say, “Truly I tell you, there are some here who will not die before they see the kingdom of God coming with power.”

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Friday, 18 February 2022 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 111 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Alleluia! Blessed is the one who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commands. His children will be powerful on earth; the upright’s offspring will be blessed.

Wealth and riches are for his family, there his integrity will remain. He is for the righteous a light in darkness, he is kind, merciful and upright.

It will be well with him who lends freely, who leads a life of justice and honesty. For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered and loved forever.

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Friday, 18 February 2022 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

James 2 : 14-24, 26

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, to profess faith, without showing works? Such faith has no power to save you. If a brother or sister is in need of clothes or food, and one of you says, “May things go well for you; be warm and satisfied,” without attending to their material needs, what good is that? So, it is, for faith without deeds : it is totally dead.

Say to whoever challenges you, “You have faith and I have good deeds; show me your faith apart from actions and I, for my part, will show you my faith in the way I act.” Do you believe there is one God? Well enough, but do not forget, that the demons, also, believe, and tremble with fear!

You foolish one, do you have to be convinced, that faith without deeds is useless? Think of our father Abraham. Was he not justified by the act of offering his son Isaac on the Altar? So you see, his faith was active, along with his deeds, and became perfect by what he did. The word of Scripture was thus fulfilled, Abraham believed in God so he was considered a righteous person and he was called the friend of God.

So you see, a person is justified by works, and not by faith alone. So, just as the body is dead without its spirit, so faith, without deeds is also dead.

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Friday, 11 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, the miraculous apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God in Lourdes, a small secluded area in the southern part of France. Mary in her apparition as Our Lady of Lourdes appeared to the young girl named Bernadette in a grotto where today the great Basilica of Our Lady of Lourdes now stands, and that young girl eventually became known as St. Bernadette Soubirous.

At that time, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the young girl Bernadette as a lady dressed in white with beads of rosary on her, girdled in blue and with flowers by her. That supernatural vision startled the young St. Bernadette at first, and scared her, but Our Lady reassured her and asked her to pray the rosary together. She made her appearance a few more times even as St. Bernadette’s parents and others were skeptical of what had happened. Some of them even thought that she had hallucinated, seen an evil spirit or simply was lying to cover up some misdeeds.

But St. Bernadette kept on visiting the grotto where she met the apparition of Our Lady despite the opposition from her parents and others, and Our Lady revealed to St. Bernadette a hidden spring of water which would soon became truly famous as the source of many miraculous healings, of which some of them were certified as truly miraculous in nature. Initially this was received with much skepticism both from the Church and from the secular authorities, which resulted in attempts to prevent further spread of the devotion.

It was then that Our Lady appeared to St. Bernadette, revealing to her who she truly was, the Blessed Mother of God, the Immaculate Conception. This revelation brought a shock to a local priest who immediately believed in what St. Bernadette told him about the Marian apparition. That is because the illiterate St. Bernadette living in the secluded village that is where Lourdes was located could not have known about the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception which at that time was just recently declared by the Pope in Rome, and at that time, it would have taken a long time for the message to be propagated throughout the Christendom.

It was therefore the beginning of the growth in the popularity and the attraction of the Shrine at Lourdes, which grew to became an international phenomenon drawing millions annually as many people who are sick sought to seek healing and recovery through the miraculous occasions and reassurances from the Blessed Virgin, Our Lady of Lourdes. The Church also designated today, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes as the World Day of the Sick as a reminder that there are many people who are suffering from physical and even mental maladies and sickness all around the world.

Today, as we celebrate this Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes let us all therefore remind ourselves to put our trust in the Lord, He Who has sent to us His blessed Mother, Our Lady of Lourdes to be our intercessor and to help guide us to His loving embrace. The miraculous healings were not due to superstitions and the quality of the waters of the grotto of Lourdes, but rather, it was the faith that the sick had in the Lord which brought them to healing and the miraculous things that happened there, just as at the time of the Lord, He healed the sick and how if we remember a woman with haemorrhage problem was healed by her faith in Him.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are also reminded that we are all people who are sick and are in need of God’s help. I know many of us may wonder what we are sick from since we are in such good health. We may indeed be perfectly healthy in the body but we are all suffering from the sickness due to our sins. Yes, all of us are sinners and sin is the sickness that is actually eating us from within, corrupting us and affecting us adversely by its corrupting nature. Through sin we have been made sick in our spirit and soul, and the only healing we can get is through God and His loving mercy.

Therefore today all of us are reminded of how sinful we are and regardless how big or small, or how significant those sins may be, all of us are in need of healing from God, as unlike any other physical ailments and maladies, God alone can heal us from our sins. It is through Him alone that we can be freed from the clutches and tyranny of sin and evil. The Lord offered us His healing and forgiveness freely, and He gave us all His mother to care for us and to help guide us in our journey towards Him, so that by the intercession and guidance of Our Lady of Lourdes we may come to be fully healed body and soul.

Let us therefore ask Our Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Lourdes to intercede for us sinners, who are sickened by sin, and who are suffering the consequences of our infidelity and weakness. Let us ask her to pray for us and guide us in our path to seek the healing from the hands of her Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. May God also look kindly upon us and show us His mercy, love and compassion, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 11 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes)

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.”

Alternative reading (Mass of Our Lady of Lourdes)

John 2 : 1-11

At that time, three days after Jesus called Nathanael, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus was also invited to the wedding with His disciples. When all the wine provided for the celebration had been served, and they had run out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

Jesus replied, “Woman, what concern is that to you and Me? My hour has not yet come.” However His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” Nearby were six stone water jars, set there for ritual washing as practiced by the Jews; each jar could hold twenty or thirty gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them to the brim. Then Jesus said, “Now draw some out and take it to the steward.” So they did. The steward tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing from where it had come; for only the servants who had drawn the water knew. So, he called the bridegroom to tell him, “Everyone serves the best wine first, and when people have drunk enough, he serves that which is ordinary. Instead you have kept the best wine until the end.”

This miraculous sign was the first, and Jesus performed it at Cana in Galilee. In this way He let His glory appear, and His disciples believed in Him.

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Friday, 11 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes)

Psalm 80 : 10-11ab, 12-13, 14-15

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

But My people did not listen; Israel did not obey. So I gave them over to their stubbornness and they followed their own counsels.

If only My people would listen, if only Israel would walk in My ways, I would quickly subdue their adversaries and turn My hand against their enemies.

Alternative reading (Mass of Our Lady of Lourdes)

Judith 13 : 18bcde, 19

My daughter, may the Most High God bless you more than all women on earth. And blessed be the Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, Who has led you to behead the leader of our enemies.

Never will people forget the confidence you have shown; they will always remember the power of God.

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Friday, 11 February 2022 : 5th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, World Day of the Sick (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes)

1 Kings 11 : 29-32 and 1 Kings 12 : 19

Once, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh found him on the road. The two of them were alone in the open country when Ahijah, who had a new garment on, clutched and tore it into twelve pieces.

He then said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself for this is the word of YHVH, the God of Israel : ‘I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomon’s hands to give you ten tribes. Only one tribe shall be left to him for the sake of My servant David and Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.’”

So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to the present time.

Alternative reading (Mass of Our Lady of Lourdes)

Isaiah 66 : 10-14c

Rejoice for Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her. Be glad with her, rejoice with her, all you who were in grief over her, that you may suck of the milk from her comforting breasts, that you may drink deeply from the abundance of her glory.

For this is what YHVH says : I will send her peace, overflowing like a river; and the nations’ wealth, rushing like a torrent towards her. And you will be nursed and carried in her arms and fondled upon her lap. As a son comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you. At the sight of this, your heart will rejoice; like grass, your bones will flourish.

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Friday, 4 February 2022 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we heard the words of the Sacred Scriptures all of us are reminded yet again on what each and every one of us ought to be doing as those who believe in God and walk in His path. Today we are all called to remember the great examples set by two of our holy and dedicated predecessors, namely King David of Israel, the great King of all Israel who ruled the people of God justly and defeated Goliath the great enemy in his youth, as well as St. John the Baptist, the Herald of the Messiah, the one who proclaimed the coming of Christ into this world.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Sirach regarding the story of David, the faithful servant of God, how he followed the Lord in all that He had called him to do, all the way from the early years of his youth. David had loved God and was a kind and righteous man from the very beginning, and he allowed God to lead him in whatever he did. He followed the Lord and when he was chosen to be the new King over all the people of God, he entrusted himself to God wholeheartedly.

He was the one whom God blessed and protected, and when he courageously answered the mocking calls of the Philistine champion, Goliath, David stood before the people of Israel and the Philistines who mocked and ridiculed God. He stood against the mighty giant, clad in just his shepherd’s cloak against Goliath’s fully armoured might. David completely trusted in the Lord, and through Him, he brought Goliath down, defeated the Philistines and restored the glory of God’s Name and the glory of Israel.

David was not a perfect person and neither was he blameless. He was a sinner just like us, who made mistakes and committed sins such as when he coveted the wife of Uriah, his own loyal commander, whom he led to his death in order to hide his affair from becoming known to the public. He also sinned against God when in his moment of pride desired to know the power and the glory he possessed and ordered the census over the entire land of Israel on his own accord, not in accordance with the will of God.

Yet, what was remarkable about David was that although he had sinned against God at times, but he genuinely loved God and His people, and he atoned for his sins many times over, admitting his sinfulness, humbling himself and stripping himself from the trappings of glory to be a penitent on more than one occasion just as recorded in the Book of the prophet Sirach and in the Book of Kings and the Chronicles. He desired to be reconciled with God and remained faithful and true to his dedication to Him to the end of his days.

Meanwhile, we have also heard the good examples of St. John the Baptist, the one whom God had sent into this world to be the one to proclaim the coming of His salvation. St. John the Baptist was the Herald of the Messiah, the one to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. In today’s reading, we heard how this faithful servant of God was martyred because of his commitment, so much so that he was not afraid to speak out against the king, Herod as well as his unlawfully wedded wife, Herodias, who was still in the eyes of the Law, the lawful wife of Herod’s living brother Philip.

St. John the Baptist spoke out against the king’s immoral action, and this led to Herodias in particular holding a grudge against him, which eventually led to the plot in which Herodias used her own daughter, historically named Salome, to seduce her own stepfather, king Herod, in the middle of the party and then in the end, forced him to order the execution of St. John the Baptist in prison just as we heard in our Gospel passage today. Thus was how the life of this great servant of God ended, he who had gone and stood up against the vices of the Pharisees and the king, all for the truth and the greater glory of God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore now discern carefully the path that we are going to take in life from now on. Are we going to live our lives from now on following the good examples of King David and St. John the Baptist? Or are we still going to continue to disobey the Lord and remain in the state of sin? The choice is ours, and we should make a firm decision to walk down the path of righteousness and faith, rejecting the temptations and the allures of sin, and doing our best to dedicate our lives to God. We may not be perfect, as no one is perfect, but following the examples of our holy predecessors, we can draw ever closer to God.

May the Lord be with us in our journey of faith through life. May He strengthen each and every one of us, and empower us to walk ever more faithfully in His presence, now and always, forevermore. May God bless us all in our every deeds and works, in our every moments. Amen.

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Friday, 4 February 2022 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 6 : 14-29

At that time, king Herod also heard about Jesus, because His Name had become well-known. Some people said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in Him.” Others thought, “He is a prophet like the prophets of times past.” When Herod was told of this, he thought, “I had John beheaded, yet he has risen from the dead!”

For this is what had happened : Herod had ordered John to be arrested, and had had him bound and put in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip. Herod had married her, and John had told him, “It is not right for you to live with your brother’s wife.”

So Herodias held a grudge against John; and wanted to kill him, but she could not, because Herod respected John. He knew John to be an upright and holy man, and kept him safe. And he liked listening to him, although he became very disturbed, whenever he heard him.

Herodias had her chance on Herod’s birthday, when he gave a dinner for all the senior government officials, military chiefs, and the leaders of Galilee. On that occasion the daughter of Herodias came in and danced; and she delighted Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want and I will give it to you.”

And he went so far as to say with many oaths, “I will give you anything you ask, even half my kingdom.” She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” The mother replied, “The head of John the Baptist.” The girl hurried to the king and made her request, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist, here and now, on a dish.”

The king was very displeased, but he would not refuse in front of his guests because of his oaths. So he sent one of his bodyguards with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded John in prison; then he brought the head on a dish and gave it to the girl. And the girl gave it to her mother.

When John’s disciples heard of this, they came and took his body and buried it.