great feast

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Saturday, 24 August 2013 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 144 : 10-11, 12-13ab, 17-18

All Your works will give You thanks; all Your saints, o Lord, will praise You. They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your power.

That all may know of Your mighty deeds, Your reign and its glorious splendour. Your reign is from age to age; Your dominion endures from generation to generation.

Righteous is the Lord in all His ways, His mercy shows in all His deeds. He is near those who call on Him, who call trustfully upon His Name.

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Saturday, 24 August 2013 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Feast of St. Bartholomew, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Revelation 21 : 9b-14

One of the seven angels came to me and said, “Come, I am going to show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He took me up in a spiritual vision to a very high mountain and he showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shines with the glory of God, like a precious jewel with the colour of crystal-clear jasper.

Its wall, large and high, has twelve gates; stationed at them are twelve angels. Over the gates are written the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. Three gates face the east; three gates face the north; three gates face the south and three face the west. The city wall stands on twelve foundation stones on which are written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

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Wednesday, 21 August 2013 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius X, Pope (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today, we listen to the fairness of our God, the upright nature of His words, and the love He showed upon all of us through His constant help throughout time. He showed His love and mercy upon us, and He is just to all of His children. We who have been marred by sin and evil, and the ones who should have been cast with the devil into the eternal fire of hell, had been brought from the domain of death, back into the land of the living, just as the owner of the vineyard had brought those who are unemployed on the streets to work on his field.

Indeed, He has brought us from our oppressors, that is the devil and his angels, at a great price, a price that He paid with nothing other than His own Most Precious Blood, that redeemed all of us, from the price of sin that had been placed on us ever since we first sinned against God and disobeyed against His will and His commandments. He paid for all of us with that Most Precious Body and Blood of His, that we will not die, but live eternal with Him, He who loves us and He who wants to forgive us from our sins and impurities.

He had called us all from the darkness to come into the light, to come for the salvation that He had prepared for us. He made a promise, a covenant with all of us, that we will be rewarded with life eternal in Him, as we enter into our new life in Him, just as the labourers were taken out of their joblessness and life in the streets, into the new life in the service of the Lord in His field, His vineyard. Each of us, brothers and sisters, given a new chance of life, that we may truly receive a reward of eternity at the end of our labours and journey in this world.

Yes, and just like what we heard in the First Reading today, we are like the trees that goes around seeking a tree to be king over all of us, to be that source of leadership and guidance in our respective lives, to be the light guiding us through the darkness of this world. And indeed, while all the regal and great trees, well beloved and renowned, like the fig tree and the vine, did not want to abandon all that they have for the trees’ sake, Jesus is indeed like the bramble vine, who would want to lower Himself to be our king.

Why so? It is because becoming our king is not an easy thing for Jesus, as His ministry in this world would have shown. Many people opposed Him, and many paid a deaf ear to His messages and His teachings, and many openly defied Him and questioned Him, not least of all the leaders of the people, the chief priests and the Pharisees. He stripped everything off Himself to be our King, the king of slaves and the king of the oppressed and the abandoned ones.

That such that even He went through so much, as our leader and our King, and our Master, being crowned with the painful crown of thorns, to indeed signify that He is our king, and not just like any earthly kings, but a true king, one with His people always forefront in His heart and in all His concerns. He loves us, brothers and sisters, and His love for all of us, without exception, is so much that He was willing to endure all our sufferings and supposed punishments, and drink the cup of suffering that had been prepared for Him.

He did not shirk from the huge and burdensome task that awaited Him, and instead He went on, being led like a lamb brought to its slaughterhouse, and although He is innocent, He wanted to endure all those that were intended for all of us. For what, brothers and sisters in Christ? None other than the salvation and the rescue of our souls from the eternal damnation in hell! None other than the eternal separation that we would have to endure for all times, for all eternity, away from our Lord and God who loves us so much.

Yes, Jesus our Lord and God wants us to be with Him, instead of being in the fires and suffering of hell. He cares for us, He showered us with His love and mercy, especially through no other act greater than the surrendering of His own life, as the perfect and unblemished sacrifice for our sins, in His death on the cross. That was why He gave us the one and only means to salvation, that is none other than His own flesh and blood, which He gave to all of us and offered to all of us, at the Last Supper He had with His disciples.

That was exactly what Pope St. Pius X, the great early twentieth century Pope whose feast we are celebrating today, championed, on the emphasis on the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, the Most Holy Eucharist through which He had given us the means to salvation. Pope St. Pius X was born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto, and he became a priest in his home diocese of mantua, eventually rising up the ranks to be bishop, and then the Cardinal Patriarch of Venice. He was elected as Pope Pius X, the 257th Pope and the 256th successor of St. Peter in 1903.

Pope St. Pius X was truly a great and holy Pope determined to reform the Holy Church and all its practices to better reflect its task as the bearer and medium of God’s salvation to all of us, the member of that One Body of Christ in the Church. Most important of all, He reformed the rules of the Holy Communion, such that then even small children would be able to receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ our Lord. Previously, only full fledged adults were able to receive Holy Communion, but with the reform spearheaded by Pope St. Pius X, those children were opened the way of salvation through the receiving of the Holy Eucharist.

To Pope St. Pius X, there is no better path and way to salvation, and there is no better gate to salvation than that of the Most Precious Body and Blood offered to us, from the Last Supper, down to us through the Holy Mass that we celebrate regularly. In them, we find the fullness and completeness of the Lord’s promise and dedication to us, in suffering the blows meant for us, that we will not die but live a life eternal in the bliss of heaven. For his hard work for the sake of the Lord, through the promotion of the early reception of the Eucharist, and also the regular reception of the Holy Eucharist, he was known as the Pope of the Eucharist.

Pope St. Pius X also reformed much aspect of the Church, ensuring that the Church can reflect better the ways through which it can persevere in the ever-changing and increasingly hostile world, to spread the words of the Lord’s Gospel to all mankind. He reformed the Church music by greatly promoting and reviving the usage of the Gregorian Chant, which beauty for the worship of the Lord, we can still enjoy today. He truly had dedicated his life and work for the sake of God, His Church, and His people, and he is indeed an example that all of us should try to emulate in our own lives.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, reminding ourselves most importantly of the love and attention God had for us, and the blessings He had given us, through His Son, Jesus, who had shed His own flesh and blood, and His life for us, let us resolve to love Him more and more, let us revere Him in the Most Holy Eucharist by attending the Mass regularly and reverently, and accepting Him into ourselves as we eat His Body and His Blood in the Holy Communion. Pray for us, Pope St. Pius X, that we will grow to love the Lord ever more in the Most Holy Eucharist. May the Lord in the Eucharist remain with us and bless us always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 21 August 2013 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius X, Pope (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 20 : 1-16a

The story throws light on the kingdom of Heaven : A landowner went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay each worker the usual daily wage, and sent them to his vineyard.

He went out again at about nine in the morning, and seeing others idle in the town square, he said to them, ‘You also, go to my vineyard, and I will pay you what is just.’ So they went.

The owner went out at midday, and again at three in the afternoon, and he did the same. Finally he went out at the last working hour – the eleventh hour – and he saw others standing there. So he said to them, ‘Why do you stay idle the whole day?’ They answered, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ The master said, ‘Go and work in my vineyard.’

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wage, beginning with the last and ending with the first.’ Those who had come to work at the eleventh hour turned up, and were each given a silver coin. When it was the turn of the first, they thought they would receive more. But they, too, each received a silver coin. So, on receiving it, they began to grumble against the landowner.

They said, ‘These last hardly worked an hour, yet you have treated them the same as us, who have endured the heavy work of the day and the heat.’ The owner said to one of them, ‘Friend, I have not been unjust to you. Did we not agree on one silver coin per day? So take what is yours and go. I want to give to the last the same as I give to you. Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Why are you envious when I am kind?’

So will it be : the last will be first, the first will be last.

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Wednesday, 21 August 2013 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius X, Pope (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 20 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

The king rejoices in Your strength, o Lord, and exults in Your saving help. You have granted him his desire; You have not rejected his request.

You have come to him with rich blessings; You have placed a golden crown upon his head. When he asked, You gave him life – length of days forever and ever.

He glories in the victory You gave him; You shall bestow on him splendour and majesty. You have given him eternal blessings, and gladdened him with the joy of Your presence.

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Wednesday, 21 August 2013 : 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Pius X, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Judges 9 : 6-15

Then all the lords of Shechem and the whole council assembled together by the oak at the pillar in Shechem, and proclaimed Abimelech king.

When Jotham was told about this, he went to the top of Mount Gerizim. There he cried out to them, “Listen to me, lords of Shechem, that God may listen to you!”

“The trees once set out to find and anoint a king. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’ The olive tree answered, ‘Am I going to renounce the oil by which – thanks to me – gods and people are honoured, to hold sway over the trees?’”

“The trees said to the fig tree : ‘Come and reign over us.’ The fig tree answered them, ‘Am I going to renounce my sweetness and my delicious fruit, to hold sway over the trees?’”

“The trees said to the vine : ‘Come and reign over us.’ The vine answered, ‘Am I going to renounce my juice which cheers gods and people to hold sway over the trees?”

“Then the trees said to the bramble bush : ‘Come, reign over us.’ The bramble bush answered the trees, ‘If you come in sincerity to anoint me as your king, then come near and take shelter in my shade; but if not, let fire break out of the bramble bush to devour even the cedars of Lebanon.’”

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Thursday, 15 August 2013 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Scripture Reflection)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are celebrating a great feast of our faith, that is the Assumption of our Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, who bore Christ into this world, her Assumption into heaven. What is this Assumption and why is it so special and so important to us? What is the significance of this event in our faith and in our Church?

The feast of the Assumption of Mary celebrates an important part of our faith that is the assumption of Mary at the end of her earthly life into heaven. This is not the same as our death and resurrection, brothers and sisters, because Mary did not die, nor did death had any sort of power over her. Instead, our Blessed Virgin and Mother of God was taken up in both body and spirit into heaven by the power of God Himself. Nothing truly is impossible for God, even with this kind of feat.

Our brethren in the Eastern Rites of the Church celebrate a similar but slightly different celebration called the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, in which, they believe that Mary was brought to sleep and then taken into heaven, not unlike our doctrine on the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin. All are centred on the fate of Mary, the mother of God, after the death, resurrection, and Ascension of her Son, Jesus into His glorious throne in heaven.

The great and saintly Pope Pius XII, whom will soon be declared saint when his canonisation process is complete in the near future, declared the Dogma of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven 63 years ago, on 1 November of the year 1950 in his Apostolic Constitution ‘Munificentissimus Deus’ declaring definitively and conclusively through an infallible ‘ex cathedra’ proclamation, and in conjuction with the well-established belief and tradition of the faith that Mary did not suffer any form of physical death at the end of her life in this world, but instead was taken bodily into heaven.

Why was Mary taken up into heaven? Like Enoch of old, one of the direct descendants of Adam and an ancestor of Noah, she was taken up from us in this world into heaven to be with God. Enoch, unlike the other sons and daughters of mankind at the time, was a righteous and just person, a man of integrity, and a man of God, devoted and dedicated to the Lord his Master and Creator. It is because of his righteousness and his goodness, God did not want to allow him to be claimed by death and suffering, but He lifted him up into heaven, to be with Him for eternity.

Similarly, this had happened to Mary, the mother of our God. And even greater than Enoch because Mary was indeed special, in another essential part of our faith, we believe that Mary was indeed born into this world and indeed was conceived without the taint of sin, original sin or whatsoever. This she had revealed herself to St. Bernadette Soubirous, at the site now famously known as Lourdes, in a series of vision and appearances more than 150 years ago.

Our Lord’s mother was conceived into this world without sin, or the Immaculate Conception of Mary was because ever before she was conceived, she had been chosen as the vessel through which, the Salvation of our world is to come from. Yes, she was the one to bear the very Son of the Most High God, who came down to be one of us, that through Him, the whole of mankind may be saved from death, that is not just the physical death, but the eternal death caused by the separation from God in hell.

And because Mary had been chosen to be the mother of our Lord and God who is perfect and without sin Himself, it is fitting that she herself has no sin or taint on her own, and that brought about her Immaculate Conception, that she was indeed, through her life, pure as snow and blameless, as a lamb without defect, the same as her Son, Jesus.

In the same way then, at the end of her life, Mary did not suffer death and was directly brought to heaven in the same way Enoch her ancestor was taken up by God. Mary did not suffer death because just as her Son Jesus had conquered death and be triumphant over all evils and hell through His most glorious resurrection from the dead after His crucifixion, thus, it is not fitting for His own mother to be claimed by the power of death. Yes, because death is in fact a punishment to us, brothers and sisters in Christ, because we have rebelled and sinned against the Lord our God Almighty.

Ever since our first forefathers sinned against God by their disobedience, they have been cast out from the perfection of the Lord. Death was not originally intended for them, and never would death had claimed them, because they would have remained with God in eternal happiness had it not been for their sin and disobedience. Suffering and death is then the punishment that mankind had to suffer for the sins they have committed.

Through Mary, the deliverance of our world was brought at hand, the deliverance brought through Jesus, the shepherd and not any shepherd, but the Good Shepherd, who will lead the people of God, as the King of all the nations, and King of all kings. The vision of St. John the Baptist in the Book of Revelation on the lady crowned by stars bearing the baby indeed reflect what had happend through Mary and her Son, Jesus our Lord and Saviour. Mary is exalted above all else save God Himself, because of her role in the plan of salvation, and her many good deeds and total obedience to the will of God.

The lady labouring with child in pain, in fact also represent all of us, all mankind ever since the time of Adam until the last man, who labour in difficulty and suffering, longing to be freed from the seemingly inevitable and unescapeable fate of death and damnation in hell for our sins and disobedience. The great red dragon, who is Satan, the enemy of all that is good, threatens to destroy us, and drag us with him into eternal damnation in hell, just as he had converted even many of the heavenly angels to his cause, represented by the one third of the stars of the sky taken by the dragon.

Yet, as we know that the deliverance had come, through the Son of God made man, Jesus Christ. Yes, He is the Son destined to rule the nations, and the One taken up to heaven, to the throne of God. Yes, exactly as what had happened, that after His death and resurrection, Jesus was taken up into heaven by His own power in His glorious Ascension. He will then come again in glory, to judge all the nations and deliver the righteous ones to Him, and cast the wicked ones forever away from His presence. He is our hope, our only hope, born through the Virgin Mary, whose Assumption we celebrate today.

Why then we celebrate this Assumption? That is because, our Blessed Virgin Mary is truly an example to all of us, the role model we ought to follow, through her upright life, filled with love, devotion, and full obedience to the will of God. She is the greatest help and intercessor to us, indeed, the greatest of all saints and angels in heaven, the one nearest to the throne of God. That is why we revere her as the Queen of all saints and of angels. Her Assumption into heaven reminds all of us of this fact, as well as the fact that through Jesus, her Son, we have all been saved, saved from death and eternal damnation in hell.

Jesus gave Mary to John, His disciple, before He died on the cross, and He also gave him to her, to care for one another. At that moment, the Lord gave both Mary to all of us, represented by John, and then all of us, He also entrusted to Mary, His mother, just as He entrusted John to her care. Yes, in Mary we have our greatest defender, and our greatest help in achieving the salvation offered by our Lord Jesus Christ, indeed, the best way to Christ is through Mary, that is by following her examples, be obedient and loving as she had been, and asking her for her intercession for our sake before her Son, Jesus.

That is why, brothers and sisters, let us strengthen our love and devotion to the Lord, by strengthening our own devotion to Mary, His mother, who was lifted up to heaven in glory at the end of her life and now defend us before Satan our accuser. Let us together with our mother, Mary, rebuke Satan and reject his evil advances and temptations, and put his head under our feet and crush it, just as Mary, through her Son, had crushed the head of the evil snake, as foretold by God Himself to Eve.\

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus, in her glorious Assumption into heaven, continue to pray for us, and intercede for us with all the saints and angels of heaven before the throne of her Son Jesus, that He, the King of all Kings and the victorious and conquering king, will come to smite the devil, the dragon, and bring us all to Him, and bless us with eternal grace and eternal life in heaven. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

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Thursday, 15 August 2013 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 39-56

Mary then set out for a town in the hill country of Judah. She entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leapt in her womb. Elizabeth was filled with Holy Spirit, and giving a loud cry, said, “You are most blessed among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb! How is it that the mother of my Lord comes to me? The moment your greeting sounded in my ears, the baby within me suddenly leapt for joy. Blessed are you who believed that the Lord’s word would come true!”

And Mary said,

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit exults in God my Saviour!

He has looked upon His servant in her lowliness, and people forever will call me blessed.

The Mighty One has done great things for me, Holy is His Name!

From age to age His mercy extends to those who live in His presence.

He has acted with power and done wonders, and scattered the proud with their plans.

He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and lifted up those who are downtrodden.

He has filled the hungry with good things, but has sent the rich away empty.

He held out His hand to Israel, His servant, for He remembered His mercy, even as He promised to our

fathers, to Abraham and his descendants forever.”

Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned home.

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Thursday, 15 August 2013 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Corinthians 15 : 20-26

But no, Christ has been raised from the dead and He comes before all those who have fallen asleep. A human being brought death; a human being also brings resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. However, each one in his own time : first Christ, then Christ’s people, when He comes.

Then the end will come, when Christ delivers the kingdom to God the Father, after having destroyed every rule, authority, and power. For He must reign and put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed will be death.

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Thursday, 15 August 2013 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 44 : 10bc, 11, 12ab, 16

At Your right hand, in gold of Ophir, stands the queen.

Listen, o daughter, pay attention; forget your father’s house and your nation.

And your beauty will charm the King, for He is your Lord.

Amid cheers and general rejoicing, they enter the palace of the king.