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.
Liturgical Colour : Red
Acts 3 : 1-10
Once when Peter and John were going up to the Temple at three in the afternoon, the hour for prayer, a man crippled from birth was being carried in. Every day they would bring him and put him at the Temple gate called “Beautiful”; there he begged from those who entered the Temple.
When he saw Peter and John on their way into the Temple, he asked for alms. Then Peter with John at his side looked straight at him and said, “Look at us.” So he looked at them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I have I give you : In the Name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, walk!”
Then he took the beggar by his right hand and helped him up. At once his feet and ankles became firm, and jumping up he stood on his feet and began to walk. And he went with them into the Temple walking and leaping and praising God. All the people saw him walking and praising God; they recognised him as the one who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple, and they were all astonished and amazed at what had happened to him.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today on the Friday after the Sunday after the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, we celebrate this great Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, celebrating the great love of God which had been manifested in the flesh in the person of the Son of God, the Divine Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of all the whole world. On this day we remember the most loving and Sacred Heart of our Lord, the same Heart which has loved us all from the very beginning of our Creation and which had also bled and pained by our rebellions and disobedience, by our sins and wickedness, all of which had wounded Him in His Most Sacred Heart greatly.
And yet, at the same time, we are reminded of the infinite and boundless love of God manifesting and presenting itself so generously from His Most Sacred Heart, which has become visible, tangible and approachable to us through Christ, Our Lord. The Lord has always been so patient, kind and generous in loving us, never giving up on us, even the greatest of sinners amongst us. He has always extended His loving hands and patient care on everyone, and He has always shown us all His love without limit, without boundaries, ever being kind and compassionate whenever we erred against Him and disobeyed Him. While He is indeed angry and displeased against our sins and wickedness, but His love for us, His compassion and mercy are greater than the former.
In our first reading this day, taken from the Book of the prophet Ezekiel, we heard of the great love and ever patient and enduring compassion which He has always had for His people, the people of Israel, the people whom He had called and chosen from the world to be His own. And through these words He had spoken through Ezekiel, He wanted to show His beloved ones, to the ones whom He was speaking to, that His love for them was truly boundless and great, surpassing even His anger and annoyance at them for having constantly disobeyed Him, His Law and commandments, all of which had led them to be exiled in distant off lands, away from their homeland and suffering the consequences of their disobedience.
The Lord told His people in the land of exile in Babylon and elsewhere through the prophet Ezekiel that He would gather them all back once again to His loving Presence, as the Shepherd of all the flock of His people, all of whom had been scattered because of their own stubbornness in sin and disobedience, and yet, the Lord, the Good and most loving Shepherd of His people, wanted all of them to be found once again, to enjoy once again the fullness of His grace and love, His blessings and His generosity, all the things that He had intended for them. God reassured His people that He Himself would find them all, gather them and call them all back to His loving Presence, tending to their wounds and restoring them once again in grace and blessings.
And all of those words were indeed a prophecy of what the Lord would do through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who manifested this love in a most tangible way just as St. Paul the Apostle elaborated it to all of us through his Epistle to the Church and the faithful people of God in Rome just as we have heard it from our second reading passage today. St. Paul reminded the faithful in Rome and hence all of us that God has indeed given us such great love through His giving to us of His Holy Spirit which we have all received at baptism and affirmed further for those of us who have received the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Holy Spirit has dwelled in us and giving us the rich love and grace from God, which we have all enjoyed and experienced, and which we are therefore expected to share with everyone around us.
Then, from the manifestation of His love in the flesh in the Son of Man, in Jesus Christ, the intentions and love flowing from the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, manifesting God’s perfect love has been presented and shown to us, in the clearest manner, and we have seen this love being given to us so generously, so wonderfully through no clearer way than what the Lord Jesus Himself had done so selflessly and so lovingly from His Cross at Calvary, when He willingly took upon Himself the weight of His Cross so that by bearing upon the burdens of our many sins and wickedness, our faults and the punishments meant for them, His love may truly be manifested in full for us, a most selfless and unconditional love which He has given to us, in caring for us and wanting us all to be truly beloved and full of grace as He has always intended.
Finally, as we heard from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, the Lord Jesus Himself told the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law listening to Him using the parable of the lost sheep, telling all of them that if they were to put themselves into the shoes of the shepherds, which among them would not leave behind the ninety-nine sheep that were already safe and gathered in the barn to look out for the one lost sheep that had been separated from the flock. The Lord also highlighted the great effort that the shepherd would have done for the sake of finding that lost one, so that the lost one could be reunited with him and the other sheep, and how a great celebration and rejoicing would come when the lost sheep had been discovered.
And that was exactly what the Lord Himself, Our most loving and generous Good Shepherd had done for us all, all of us who are the sheep of His flock. He did everything to seek us out, sending us all His Son, Jesus Himself, to be the One to hold us all by hand, and to bring us all back to Him, reuniting us with Him with His love and mercy. God has never given up on any of us, no matter what circumstances we may be in, and how difficult we may have behaved. Our loving Good Shepherd has always been patient with us, and from His Most Sacred Heart we can see this ever enduring love and compassion being constantly poured out for us, given to us so that we may be full of His love ourselves, and that we may also learn to love one another just as He has always loved us.
Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all continue to love the Lord most wholeheartedly just as He has loved us all from the very beginning, doing our very best so that by our love everyone may truly know that we belong to the Lord, our most loving Shepherd and Master, the One Who has loved us so dearly and Who has shown us His most generous mercy and kindness. Let us all do our very best to love Him and to love one another in the manner that He Himself has shown us so that by our love, we may truly bring joy and warmth to everyone’s hearts, restoring hope and light in the hearts of those who have been afflicted by sufferings in life and by the darkness of despair. May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, continue to help and strengthen us in our efforts, and help us in our every good efforts and endeavours.
O Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, we trust in You, and we trust in the love that You have constantly given to us. Help us all to love in the manner that You have loved us, and help us to remain faithful to You and Your ever generous love, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 15 : 3-7
At that time, Jesus told the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law this parable : “Who among you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, will not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and seek the lost one till he finds it? And finding it, will he not joyfully carry it home on his shoulders? Then he will call his friends and neighbours together, and say, ‘Celebrate with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’”
“I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner, than over ninety-nine decent people, who do not need to repent.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Romans 5 : 5b-11
Because the Holy Spirit has been given to us, pouring into our hearts the love of God. Consider, moreover, the time that Christ died for us : when we were still helpless and unable to do anything. Few would accept to die for an upright person; although, for a very good person, perhaps someone would dare to die.
But see how God manifested His love for us : while we were still sinners, Christ died for us; and we have become just, through His Blood. With much more reason now He will save us from any condemnation. Once enemies, we have been reconciled with God through the death of His Son; with much more reason, now we may be saved, through His life. Not only that, but we even boast in God because of Christ Jesus, Our Lord, through Whom we have been reconciled.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 22 : 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.
He guides me through the right paths for His Name’s sake. Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are beside me : Your rod and Your staff comfort me.
You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.
Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.
Liturgical Colour : White
Ezekiel 34 : 11-16
Indeed YHVH says this : I, Myself, will care for My sheep and watch over them. As the shepherd looks after his flock when he finds them scattered, so will I watch over My sheep; and gather them from all the places where they were scattered in a time of cloud and fog. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from their countries. I will lead them to their own land; and pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in all the valleys and inhabited regions of the land.
I will take them to good pastures on the high mountains of Israel. They will rest where the grazing is good, and feed in lush pastures on the heights of Israel. I, Myself, will tend My sheep and let them rest, word of YHVH. I will search for the lost and lead back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak; but the fat and strong will be eliminated. I will shepherd My flock with justice.
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate a very great occasion, a core tenet of our Christian faith, that is the belief in the Real Presence of Our Lord Himself in the Eucharist, in the bread and wine used during the Holy Mass, transformed by the will of the Father and the incarnation of the Son, and by the power and descent of the Holy Spirit, into the very substance and essence of Our Lord Himself, truly present in Body, Heart, Mind, Soul and Divinity before us all. This is the Dogma of the Transubstantiation, our firm belief that the bread and wine has been transformed completely into the Lord’s own Presence and Body and Blood, although in terms of appearance they may seem to still have the appearance, feel and taste of bread and wine.
On this day, we remember the same Sacrifice that the Lord Jesus had done at the Cross at Calvary, which is being celebrated at every celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, at every Masses celebrated everywhere in the world, from the time of the Apostles, throughout history and up to the present day, and which will continue to be in the future until the end of time. This Holy Sacrifice that the Lord Himself has offered constituted Him as the Eternal High Priest of all, the One True High Priest Who offered on our behalf the only perfect and worthy offering for the atonement of our sins, as it is only by the breaking of the Most Precious Body and the shedding of the Most Precious Blood of the Lamb of God, Our Paschal Lamb, that we can be saved.
In our first reading today, we heard of the passage from the Book of Genesis in which the story of the interaction between Abraham and Melchizedek, the King of Salem was highlighted to us. This happened as Abraham came to settle in the Promised Land of Canaan after he had followed the Lord Who called him to go to the land that He would show him and entrusted to him and his descendants. Abraham trusted in the Lord even though he was childless even until he was close to a hundred years old, and he followed the Lord to where He led him, and in the occasion mentioned in today’s reading, he was just triumphant in a battle against the Canaanite kings in a mission to protect and recover Lot, his cousin that had been captured by those kings.
This figure of Melchizedek, the King of Salem was indeed a mysterious one, as he was described as a high priest of the Lord Most High, and it was told that no one knew his origins or that he was even without a father. In this sense therefore, many saw Melchizedek as a prefigurement of Christ Himself, Our Lord and Saviour, Who would indeed eventually come into this world, to do exactly the same thing that Melchizedek had done in offering the sacrifices to God as the High Priest of all creation. Melchizedek received Abraham’s offerings which the latter made in thanksgiving to God, and offered it on his behalf to the Lord, and this city of Salem that Melchizedek was king of, was indeed likely to be the one and the same as the city of Jerusalem, the city and place where the Lord would accomplish His mission in His Passion, suffering and death on the Cross.
Then, from our second reading today, we heard from the account made by St. Paul the Apostle in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful people of God in the region of Corinth regarding the events that happened at the moment when the Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist, this perfect gift from God, the Most Holy Sacrament, the manifestation of His Real Presence in the bread and wine which the priests and the other celebrants of the Mass offer to the Lord on our behalf, much like Melchizedek had done for Abraham, and this is done ‘in persona Christi’, as the priests celebrate the Mass in representing Christ Himself, our One and True Eternal High Priest. They do not offer the Mass on their own accord and their own strength, but representing the Lord Who has given us all most generously His own Most Precious Body and Blood for us.
When the Lord told the disciples at the moment of the Last Supper which St. Paul recounted to us, He truly meant every single words that He said, and He truly meant it when He said that the bread He had broken, blessed and shared with the disciples was indeed His Body, and the wine that He has also blessed and passed to be shared with the disciples was indeed His Blood. The Lord did not say that those were merely symbolic or representative, or a memorial or any of those sorts, replicating or resembling His Body and Blood. What He said, as affirmed further by St. Paul the Apostle and by the teaching of the early Church fathers, is that the bread and wine truly became the very Real Presence of the Lord, and are indeed the Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood of the Lord, through the actions of the priest, in invoking the power of God to enact this.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard then of the Lord feeding all of the multitudes of the five thousand people in the famous miracle that I am sure we are all well familiar with. Through this miracle we can see how the Lord is so loving and compassionate towards us, realising our physical needs just as much as we have our spiritual needs as well. He blessed the five loaves of bread and the two fishes that were presented to Him, breaking them and sharing them, and we heard how miraculously those small amount of food was enough to feed the whole multitude of five thousand people, with plenty of leftovers collected, amounting to twelve whole full baskets worth of food. Many people were happy and satisfied, fully filled by their experience with this miracle.
And after this event, chronologically in the events of the Lord’s ministry, many people came seeking Him and wanting Him to be their King, and the Lord told them that they desired this because they were happy to get the food from all those miraculous multiplication of the loaves of bread and fish, the food that satisfied the physical self and the body. However, the Lord told them then that what is more important is the food that lasts forever, and the true and real Food which He would share to them which would bring them all to the promise of eternal life and true happiness with Him. This was highlighted in the discourse on the Bread of Life in the Gospel of St. John the Apostle, where the Lord Jesus clearly stated to all those who followed Him that He is that Bread of Life which has come down from Heaven.
The Lord also stated, just as He had done in the Last Supper, that His Body is real Food and His Blood is real Drink, and they were to be given to everyone to partake and share, so that all those who partake in the Body and Blood of the Son of God and Son of Man would have eternal life in them. Again, all these highlighted the undeniable and clear fact that what the Lord Himself has instituted at the Last Supper was truly His Most Precious Body and Blood manifested in the bread and wine which He had transformed into the very Essence and Reality of His Body and Blood, His own Presence with them, which we therefore partake and therefore God Himself dwell within us all. And should we wonder if this is possible, we do not have to look far but the miracle that He Himself performed in feeding the five thousand people. What seems impossible for us mankind, is possible for God, as there is nothing impossible for God.
Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all consider carefully how we have believed in the Real Presence of Our Lord in the Most Holy Eucharist. The sad truth and reality facing our Church today is the ever dwindling faith that many Catholics are exhibiting towards the Real Presence in many parts around the world, especially in the places in Europe and the Americas where the Christian faith used to be predominant and strongly embraced by the people. This is then also linked to the ever rapidly dwindling attendance and participation in the Masses and other liturgical events and activities of the Church. If we start losing our faith and belief in the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, then sooner or later, we will also grow detached and be easily distracted by the many temptations and pressures around us in this world.
And in the manner of how we treat the Lord in His Real Presence in the Eucharist is also alarming, as many of us no longer have that faith in this important and core tenet of our faith, in the manner how we act nonchalantly in receiving the Holy Eucharist and even in how we are usually so impatient and cannot wait for the Holy Mass to end so that we can continue with our activities and other busy way of living in the world outside there. This is something that we are constantly being reminded of, especially on this Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord, that there is a need for all of us as Christians to return once again to the root of our faith in the Holy Eucharist, a faith that is truly centred on the Lord truly present in our midst, with sure hope in His Providence and with a heart full of love for Him and for our fellow brothers and sisters around us.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore seek to renew our commitment to the Lord our God, our most loving Saviour and King, He Who has made Himself available to us all through the Eucharist, His perfect gift of love to all of us, ever tied and linked to the ultimate and most loving Sacrifice that He has performed at the Cross at Calvary. Therefore, every time we come and participate at the Holy Mass, let us all renew our faith and commitment to the Lord in what He has shown and given us through the Most Holy Eucharist from now on, and be the worthy bearers of His truth and love by living our lives in the manner that He has taught us to do, now and always. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 9 : 11b-17
At that time, Jesus welcomed the people of Bethsaida, and began speaking about the kingdom of God, curing those who needed healing. The day was drawing to a close, and the Twelve drew near to tell Him, “Send the crowd away, and let them go into the villages and farms around, to find lodging and food, for we are here in a lonely place.”
But Jesus replied, “You yourselves, give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves and two fish. Do You want us to go and buy food for all this crowd?” for there were about five thousand men. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”
So they made all of them sit down. Jesus then took the five loaves and two fish, and, raising His eyes to heaven, pronounced a blessing over them; He broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. They ate and everyone had enough; and when they gathered up what was left, twelve baskets were filled with broken pieces.
Liturgical Colour : White
1 Corinthians 11 : 23-26
This is the tradition of the Lord that I received and that in my turn I have handed on to you; the Lord Jesus, on the night that He was delivered up, took bread and, after giving thanks, broke it, saying, “This is My Body which is broken for you; do this in memory of Me.”
In the same manner, taking the cup after the supper, He said, “This cup is the new Covenant in My Blood. Whenever you drink it, do it in memory of Me.” So, then, whenever you eat of this bread and drink from this cup, you are proclaiming the death of the Lord until He comes.
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 