glory of God

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Monday, 23 September 2013 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters, we are children of the light! Therefore, we too should be bright with the light that is within each one of us, and show it boldly to the world. We once lived in darkness and belong to the darkness, but the Lord who is loving and who is ever merciful had ransomed us from the dark through His own sacrifice on the cross, that we are made the possessions of the Light, that is Jesus our Lord and God.

Yes, brethren, in today’s first reading from the Book of Ezra the priest, the people of Israel, who had lived long in darkness, in the great depths of sin, and who had been sent into exile in Babylon for their sins, had been remembered and forgiven. God had brought them back out of darkness into the light, that they once again become His people, under the leadership of Ezra the servant of God and through Cyrus, the first Persian Emperor.

Although they had sinned greatly, that of their ancestors and their transgressions, the Lord who loved all was willing to regain them into His embrace, gathering them from all over back to the land He had promised them. The same He had done for them when they were oppressed in the land of Egypt. And so, He could not let Himself to abandon us who lived in darkness, and resolved to send the great deliverance, the Light of the world in Jesus.

Through Jesus, the world had received a new light, the light of God, that we may no longer live in darkness, but in the light. In each and every one of us who had been accepted into the Church through baptism, a light has been given, that is the light of Christ, which we witnessed through the presentation of baptismal candle at the time we were baptised. In baptism, we are made to be the belongings of Christ, and therefore become children of the light.

We are also given talents and skills within us, that each one of us possess these unique set of skills and abilities, that we are often ignorant about or fail to utilise effectively, and often even try to hide within ourselves for various reasons, some of which are fear, lack of confidence, ignorance, and many others that made us fail to shine.

Yes, in fact Christ is challenging us, whether we can truly get rid of these human fears and be courageous instead to be the witnesses of the Gospel of truth, the Good News He had proclaimed to the nations. In this way, this is how we truly shine brightly as the children of the light, on a lampstand, clearly visible and not hidden in darkness.

Fear and plain reluctance often comes in the way, with many of us lacking the confidence to make our light truly be seen, be it because of fear of our society, the fear of rejection by others, or pure laziness and sloth. In each of us, we had been given many gifts and graces, brethren, and therefore, much is also expected from us. We cannot be idle and hide the light in ourselves, excluding others from it.

This light within us, is manifested most easily in love. Yes, the love for God and for His children, our brothers and sisters. We show forth our light if we open ourselves and our hearts for others and for God, that from it, the purity of our love, care, and compassion may shine forth, dispelling the darkness the devil had created around us.

Today, we celebrate the feast of a great and well-known saint, that is Padre Pio of Italy, also known as St. Pius of Pietrelcina, one of the greatest saint of the last century, being widely known for his piety, his dedication, in his tireless ministry and service for others, in his healings and miracles, and through his life examples. He was known as a truly holy, pious, and saintly man, and this would not have happened, had he not revealed his faith like that of a lamp on a lampstand.

Padre Pio lived humbly and piously as a religious, as a Franciscan monk, who was well known for his stigmata miracle, in which the crucifixion wounds of Christ appeared on his hands and feet. He was harassed by the devil at many times in his life and he suffered, both from the pain of the miraculous stigmata, as well as rejection by the people of God at times. Yet, Padre Pio, now St. Pio/Pius persevered and endured in his hard work, for the good of the people and resolved to bring them to salvation in Jesus.

St. Pius championed the good works of divine grace, ministering healing and miracles even when he was still alive, and the stigmata showed to many, the nature of God’s love for us, that is the crucifixion of His Son, Jesus, through which we are saved. St. Pio became a great role model for many, through his humility, through his passionate service and love for all God’s children, and through his holiness, evident from his daily actions and prayers. He also put a great emphasis on the Most Holy Eucharist, in which lies the Lord Himself in the form of His Body and His Blood.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, with the example of this great saint, known to many of us as Padre Pio, the great servant of God and the worker of miracles, let us be inspired to follow him in his examples, in his prayerful devotion to God and in his loving commitment to one another, that is to our brethren around us, especially those in most need of our love and help. May St. Pius intercede for us always, that the Lord will constantly keep us in His love and grace and protect us always from the power of Satan, and bring us back into His divine embrace. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 23 September 2013 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 8 : 16-18

No one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a bowl or puts it under the bed; rather he puts it on a lampstand, so that people coming in may see the light.

In the same way, there is nothing hidden that shall not be uncovered; nothing kept secret that shall not be known clearly. Now, pay attention and listen well, for whoever produces will be given more, but from those who do not produce, even what they seem to have will be taken away from them.

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Monday, 23 September 2013 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 125 : 1-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6

When the Lord brought the exiles back to Zion, we were like those moving in a dream. Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues with songs of joy.

Among the nations it was said, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord had done great things for us, and we were glad indeed.

Bring back our exiles, o Lord, like fresh streams in the desert. Those who sow in tears will reap with songs and shouts of joy.

They went forth weeping, bearing the seeds for sowing, they will come home with joyful shouts, bringing their harvested sheaves.

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Monday, 23 September 2013 : 25th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius of Pietrelcina, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Ezra 1 : 1-6

In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, YHVH willed to fulfill the word He had said through the prophet Jeremiah, so He moved the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, to issue the following command and send it out in writing to be read aloud everywhere in his kingdom.

Thus speaks Cyrus, king of Persia : “YHVH, the God of heavens, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has ordered me to build Him a Temple in Jerusalem, in the land of Judah. To everyone belonging to His people, may his God be with him! Let them go up to Jerusalem with the help of their God and there build the House of YHVH, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem.”

“In every place where the rest of the people of YHVH live, let the people of those places help them for their journey with silver, gold, and all kinds of goods and livestock. Let them also give them voluntary offerings for the House of YHVH which is in Jerusalem.”

Then they rose up – the heads of the families of Judah and Benjamin, the priests and the Levites, and all those whose spirit God had stirred up – and they decided to go and build the House of YHVH. And all of their neighbours gave them all kinds of help : gold, silver, livestock, and precious objects in great quantity, besides every kind of voluntary offering.

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Sunday, 22 September 2013 : 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we are clearly asked to make a conscious and a decisive choice. That choice we need to make, to decide whether we will serve the Lord our God, or whether we will serve this world and all its wealth and glory. There is only one choice we can make, and we cannot be divided in this matter of our choice.

We must be decisive, brethren, to pick our side. We cannot serve two masters, as Christ had mentioned in the parable of the dishonest servant. As He had pointed out, we will only love one of the two masters and grow to resent and despise the other one. We cannot commit ourselves fully to more than one master. We will only give our wholehearted support to one, and halfhearted support at most for the other.

It is important, brethren, to take note that, in our world today, of the prevalence of our desire and even greed for things material in nature, and for things that bring about wealth, prosperity, and worldly happiness. Our world is deeply engulfed in a sea of commercialism and materialism, brethren, that we see it so often in our surroundings, the prevalence of the love for the material and for wealth in general.

As I have often mentioned, the wealth and properties themselves are not intrinsically evil or bad. Money, material goods, and possessions are neutral and can be used for either good or bad, depending on our own utilisation on them, or in short, how they are used and the way they are used. However, it is often that they are misused in a bad way, and also even in their procurement, plenty of evil had happened throughout the history of mankind.

When we do not learn to manage our own desires and needs, we will likely be taken over by them and be corrupted by the evils of the world. Many people became engrossed over possessions and wealth, that they became enslaved to these goods. We glorify them and desire to seek more and more of them. When we are unable to gain them through rightful and legal means, we begin to veer off from righteousness and seek shortcuts.

What are these shortcuts, brethren? They are ways evil in God’s eye. If we do not keep the faith in the Lord, we are likely to succumb to the temptations of the devil. When we desire more of these possessions, and when we are forced into an unfortunate situation, as the dishonest servant had done, they will be less likely to hesitate to seek the source of money and wealth that can help them, often in an illegal manner.

That was what the dishonest servant had done, in trying to saving himself after having first dishonestly manage the wealth of his master, by ensuring his own security after being fired, by doing even more dishonest acts, which were cheating against his master, by unilaterally changing the debts of his master’s debtors. This is wicked act, brethren, very, very wicked act before the Lord our God.

In the first reading, we also note the prophet Amos rebuking the people of Israel, especially the elders, who dishonestly cheated on the people by abusing their power and authority for their own benefits, especially in financial terms. And these often happened because of human greed, for things that they desire more, especially money, material goods, and wealth in general. But doing so means to go against the will of God, and that was why Christ was so critical against such practices, as was the prophet Amos.

This is also why, we cannot be servant to both God and money, and we cannot have both of them as masters. That is why we must make a choice. Do we want to serve God with all our heart? Or do we want to give it to something like money instead? Money ought to be used as means for us to do something good for one another, and ought not to be something that we treasure so much, that we forget about everything else, about God and our fellow men, and worse still if we even hurt others because of money!

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us make this opportunity to affirm our faith and dedication to the Lord our God, that we love Him and serve Him more than any other things on earth and in heaven. That there is no one greater than God that we place at the first place within our hearts. That we fully dedicate ourselves to do the will of God, through our loving actions, using the graces given to us to do good for those around us who are less fortunate.

Yes, brethren, for those of us who had been given much, much also will be expected of us. But this does not mean that of we are relatively poorer compared to others, then we cannot do anything with what we have. We have to play our own role in the society, be it small or large. We should utilise the goodness that had been given to us, be it in talents and skills, or in financial and material contributions.

And not only in utilising the resources that we have, including money, that we should discern carefully, but we also must be upright in our obtaining of these divine graces of our possessions. Do not cheat others or seek to gain in their suffering and loss. We are often corrupt because we seek to gain in the expense of others, and simply because we desire to possess more of these often material, goods.

Therefore, brethren, let us from today onwards, resolve to change our lives and lifestyle, that we no longer revolve around money, and instead revolve and centre it on God and His love. Let us come to view money as something that we can use for our own happiness, and the happiness of others. Let us then not live for money, but use that money and possession that we have, to bring good and do good, for ourselves, for our brethren, especially those in need, and for God.

May the Lord who is loving, show to us how to love, and how to care for one another, that we can use what had been given to us, for the good of everyone. God bless us all and be with us all, always, forever and ever. Amen.

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Saturday, 21 September 2013 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast of one of the Twelve Apostles, that is of St. Matthew the Evangelist, one of the four writers of the Holy Gospels. St. Matthew was once the tax collector, known also as Levi, whom the Lord called out of his previous life as money collector for the Roman overlords, to be the collector of souls, to take part in the salvation of mankind.

Brethren, today the Lord wants us to know that firstly, He loves us all without condition, with all of His heart. Then, He also cares for all of us His children, whom He loves best over all of His other creations, particularly the lost sheep, the ones who had been lost to darkness. That was why He mentioned the need for these lost ones for His love, and He made Himself available for them, calling them up from the depth of darkness into the light.

The Lord Himself called His Apostles and disciples from the rank of sinners, those who were sinful in various ways, from various backgrounds, and all of them, in one way or another, repented from their sinful past, and open themselves to God’s love, and eventually become great tools of salvation through which Christ our Lord made manifest His saving power. And St. Matthew, once sinner and tax collector, became the writer of the Holy Gospels, the bearer of the Good News of salvation.

However, being the followers of Christ were not an easy thing, just as it is not easy in our world today. There will always be opposition and even persecution against us, just as the world had hated Christ, they too will hate us, His followers and disciples. Many sneered at us, as they had done so for the Apostles and disciples of Christ through the generations. They mocked us for the sins we have, although they themselves were sinners and did not repent.

Jesus was mocked by the Pharisees and the scribes very often, for eating and gathering together with sinners, tax collectors, and prostitutes, whom they considered to be the lowest tier in the society, and whom they considered damned and cursed to hell. That was why, they distanced themselves from these sinners, trying to keep their own purity, disassociating themselves from all these ‘impurities’.

Yet, in doing so, they had instead incurred the wrath of the Lord. Not only that they praised themselves for their own achievements and deeds, but also that they had put down in contempt, the people of God whom they were supposed to lead. They had not reached out to them, and instead distanced themselves from the most needy of God’s people and condemned them for their sinfulness while they themselves were equally sinful as well, if not even more sinful.

The Lord brought His disciples from the depth of their sinfulness, lifting them up, and bringing them, including St. Matthew, from their fate in hell, to the new heavenly glory, with Him in heaven. Yet, the process is not a simple one, brethren, as the path was truly difficult, filled with the traps and devices of the evil one, attempting to bring them from God. All but Judas Iscariot survived those tests victorious, rebuking the devil and his temptations.

They were sorely tempted, and fear crept into their hearts when the Lord was arrested at the Garden of Gethsemane, after His Last Supper with them. They were scattered and broken, as if sheep without a shepherd. Even St. Peter, the leader of all the apostles and disciples of Christ, fell, and denied Christ three times, out of fear for his own life and safety.

But, brethren, this is where they were different from Judas the traitor, as they persevered while Judas gave in fully to Satan’s advances, and in the end, chose to take the quick way out by suicide, instead of seeking for the Lord’s mercy and reaffirmed his faith and love for Him, as the other Apostles had done.

The Lord had prepared His apostles through trials and difficulties, as St. Paul had mentioned, and they passed, not because they were righteous, but because they had risen up from their sinful ways towards righteousness, towards their love and dedication, for the Lord their Master and our God, and towards all of God’s children, whom they spilled their blood and shed their life for, following the very example Christ had set Himself.

They feared no human authority nor persecutions, for the Lord was always with them throughout their mission journey, to bring all God’s people and gather them to Himself, that they may be saved. St. Matthew was a part of this, and through the Gospel he wrote, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he saved many souls from damnation.

He was himself once a sinner, a tax collector shunned by many of his own people, branded as traitors, since they were seen as the collaborators of the Romans, and yet, he became a great fisher of men, bringing many towards the Lord their God. What then, about the Pharisees? What is their fate? It is possible to deduce that indeed, their lack of true faith and love for God, had doomed them to hell for eternity, for they care nothing about their brethren or God, and all they ever cared about was themselves.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, as we commemorate this great feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and the Evangelist, let us follow in his footsteps, in his readiness to leave all that he had once had, and abandon his old, sinful life, to start anew in Christ, that the Lord who loves all, will put His Spirit within us, empowering us to be like the Apostles of old. May the Lord continue to bless us and embrace us with His love, for ever and ever. Amen.

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Saturday, 21 September 2013 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 9 : 9-13

As Jesus moved on from there, He saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom-house, and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And Matthew got up and followed Him.

Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners joined Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is it that your Master eats with sinners and tax collectors?”

When Jesus heard this, He said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go and find out what this means : What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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Saturday, 21 September 2013 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 18 : 2-3, 4-5

The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day talks it over with day; night hands on the knowledge to night.

No speech, no words, no voice is heard – but the call goes on throughout the universe, the message is felt to the ends of the earth.

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Saturday, 21 September 2013 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Ephesians 4 : 1-7, 11-13

Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you to live the vocation you have received. Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love. Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace. Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to  all.

One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God, the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in all. But to each of us divine grace is given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. As for His gifts, to some He gave to be apostles, to others prophets, or even evangelists, or pastors and teachers.

So He prepared those who belong to Him for the ministry, in order to build up the Body of Christ, until we are all united in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Thus we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity and sharing the fullness of Christ.

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Thursday, 19 September 2013 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Januarius, Bishop and Martyr (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we hear a very powerful story, one which certainly resonates with all of us. Firstly, it is that we ought not to let our  apparent inferiority and weakness be an obstacle to us, and allow others to belittle us because of our apparent shortcomings. That is because, brethren, even the least one among mankind, and the worst of all sinners have hope in them, that is hope in Jesus the Lord.

It is often that people are ostracised, bullied, and treated badly, simply because they appeared weak to their surrounding people, simply because they are perceived to be inferior, and therefore, to the people around them, they are not worthy of anything good. We are indeed ourselves also guilty of the same thing, as we often let our prejudices and pre-formed generalisations and mindsets to interfere in our approach to these less fortunate ones.

And that is how we belittle others around us and ostracise them, often even without we ourselves knowing that we had done such evil acts on our fellow brethren, simply because we are often not aware of the impacts of the actions we had done. Indeed, in fact, we have to make the habit of continuously reflecting on our own actions, especially our own shortcomings, that we become aware that as mankind, each of us have our own shortcomings, our unworthiness before God, and therefore we should not judge others, less so belittling them or treating them badly.

That was exactly what the Pharisee in the story of Jesus in the Gospel today had not done. The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are the supposed experts and examples for the entire people of God, because of their piety and strict observation of the entire Jewish laws. Yet, as Christ had repeatedly pointed out in many different occasions, they did not truly have God in their hearts, as what they truly yearned was the glory and praise of men instead of the love of God.

They give in to their pride and arrogance, especially being placed in high esteem by the people, that they often judge others whom they deemed to be not as ‘holy’ as they were. They condemned prostitutes, tax collectors, and those they had considered as sinners in general. They failed to notice that they too were sinners, and in condemning these people, they have in fact judge others, while they themselves ought to be judged for their own wickedness.

They acted mighty and proud, proud with their great ‘piety’ and ‘obedience’ to the Law, but in fact, all these were empty, because they did not have God in their hearts. It is such that they have always been in the way during the Lord’s ministry in this world, planting obstacles wherever they could, and sowed dissent and trouble for Jesus and His disciples.

They failed to see the great repentance in the woman, the great humility in her as she approached the Lord and Saviour. She showed her regret for her sins through her tears, and through her complete humility. She did not show her faith, love, and dedication for the Lord through loud and long prayers as the Pharisees had done, but through her concrete actions. And to the Lord our God, her faith and love for Him was truly far greater than all of them combined.

Prayers are important, brethren, as it is our way to communicate with the Lord our God, in a two-way communication between Him and us. That is why, it is even more important to make sure that the prayers that we make truly are prayers worthy of our God, that is not like the prayers of the Pharisees.

We must humble ourselves before the Lord as the prostitute had done, seeking for God’s most merciful heart, throwing far away our pride and arrogance. The Pharisees liked to praise themselves and their ‘piety’ in prayers, and did not humble themselves for their sins. This is what we must not do.

Today, brethren, we celebrate the feast day of St. Januarius, who was once the Bishop of Naples in the early Church in Italy. St. Januarius lived and ministered through the times of difficulty for the Church and the faithful. He worked hard for the faithful, and ministered piously, even despite the harsh persecutions of the faithful, by the Emperor Diocletian, who led the last great persecution of the Church.

St. Januarius died protecting his faith and in his loving service to the people of God. As a result, he provided much ground for the Church to continue to grow and he also defended the faith against threats both external and internal. Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us follow in the footsteps of St. Januarius, to serve the Lord with passion and commitment. Let us also be humble before the Lord our God. May the Lord who is merciful and loving, continue to watch over us and protect us sinners, that we may return to Him and praise Him forevermore.