great solemnity

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Sunday, 10 November 2019 : Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 20 : 27-38

At that time, some Sadducees arrived. These people claim that there is no resurrection, and they asked Jesus this question, “Master, in the Law Moses told us, ‘If anyone dies leaving a wife but no children, his brother must take the wife, and any child born to them will be regarded as the child of the deceased.'”

“Now, there were seven brothers; the first married a wife, but he died without children; and the second and the third took the wife; in fact, all seven died leaving no children. Last of all the woman died. On the day of the resurrection, to which of them will the woman be a wife? For all seven had her as a wife.”

And Jesus replied, “Taking a husband or a wife is proper to people of this world, but for those who are considered worthy of the world to come, and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage. Besides, they cannot die, for they are like the Angels. They are sons and daughters of God, because they are born of the resurrection.”

“Yes, the dead will be raised, as Moses revealed at the burning bush, when He called the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For God is God of the living, and not of the dead, for to Him everyone is alive.”

Alternative reading (shorter version)

Luke 20 : 27, 34-38

At that time, some Sadducees arrived. These people claim that there is no resurrection.

And Jesus replied, “Taking a husband or a wife is proper to people of this world, but for those who are considered worthy of the world to come, and of resurrection from the dead, there is no more marriage. Besides, they cannot die, for they are like the Angels. They are sons and daughters of God, because they are born of the resurrection.”

“Yes, the dead will be raised, as Moses revealed at the burning bush, when He called the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. For God is God of the living, and not of the dead, for to Him everyone is alive.”

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Sunday, 10 November 2019 : Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Thessalonians 2 : 16 – 2 Thessalonians 3 : 5

May Christ Jesus our Lord Who has loved us, may God our Father, Who in His mercy gives us everlasting comfort and true hope, strengthens you. May He encourage your hearts and make you steadfast in every good work and word.

Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the Word of God may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere as it was with you. May God guard us from wicked and evil people, since not everyone has faith. The Lord is faithful; He will strengthen you and keep you safe from the Evil One.

Besides, we have in the Lord this confidence that you are doing and will continue to do what we order you. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

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Sunday, 10 November 2019 : Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 16 : 1, 5-6, 8 and 15

Hear a just cause, o Lord, listen to my complaint. Give heed to my prayer for there is no deceit on my lips.

Hold firm my steps upon Your path, that my feet may not stumble. I call on You, You will answer me, o God; incline Your ear and hear my word.

Under the shadow of Your wings hide me. As for me, righteous in Your sight, I shall see Your face and, awakening, gaze my fill on Your likeness.

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Sunday, 10 November 2019 : Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Maccabees 7 : 1-2, 9-14

It happened also that seven brothers were arrested with their mother. The king had them scourged and flogged to force them to eat the flesh of a pig which was prohibited by the Law. One of them, speaking in behalf of all, said, “What do you want to find out from us? We are prepared to die right now rather than break the law of our ancestors.”

At the moment of his last breath, he said, “Murderer, you now dismiss us from life, but the King of this world will raise us up. He will give us eternal life since we die for His laws.” After this, they punished the third brother. He stuck his tongue out when asked to, bravely stretched forth his hands, and even had the courage to say : “I have received these limbs from God, but for love of His laws I now consider them as nothing. For I hope to recover them from God.”

The king and his court were touched by the courage of this young man, so unconcerned about his own sufferings. When this one was dead, they subjected the fourth to the same torture. At the point of death, he cried out, “I would rather die at the hands of mortals, and wait for the promises of God Who will raise us up; you, however, shall have no part in the resurrection of life.”

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Sunday, 3 November 2019 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we are all being reminded of just how loving, compassionate, merciful and wonderful our God is in all of His ways, in how He has been treating us all these while, in His great and enduring patience with us that even after all that we have done to make Him angry at our stubbornness and wickedness, He still wants to forgive us and to be reconciled with us.

In our first reading today taken from the Book of Wisdom, we heard of God’s omnipotence, as He is All-Powerful and is in control of everything in this world, even to the minutest and smallest details. And this is highlighted because no matter how well we may try to hide our sins and shortcomings, our mistakes and faults before God, we will never be successful. He knows us all in and out, the very deepest parts of our beings and our innermost secrets.

And yet despite knowing our faults and shortcomings, our filthy state of sin and our despicable attitude, God’s love for each and every one of us is still greater even compared to all of those. That is why He was able to forgive us and embrace us despite our many sins and our many faults. He wants us to be forgiven so that we may be reunited to Him and will not be lost to Him forever. If He wants us destroyed, He could have easily done that and yet He did not.

On the contrary He did everything to reach out to us and to embrace us with love. That was the essence of our Gospel passage today in which the Lord Jesus encountered Zaccheus the tax collector. In that occasion, Zaccheus, who was a renowned tax collector in the community wanted very badly to see the Lord, and even though he was short in body and posture, he tried his best to see the Lord by climbing up the sycamore tree.

Zaccheus loved the Lord very much, as we can clearly see from the way he tried his best to seek the Lord. And as I said earlier on, God knows everything about us, and He noticed Zaccheus all the same, putting His attention and focus on him despite the enormous crowds all around Him. He called Zaccheus to His presence and made it clear that He wanted to go to his house and to be a guest over there.

Very quickly, the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law frowned and condemned the actions of Jesus, by saying how could He had entertained to go to the house of a sinner. And this must be understood in the context of how the tax collectors were resented and even despised, being prejudiced against just because of their profession in collecting taxes on behalf of the Romans who were resented, and they were therefore resented and hated as well.

But they failed to see how Zaccheus was a sinner just as they too were sinners. They have unjustly looked down on him based on their own prejudices and biases, and causing them to be blinded against their own shortcomings and faults. Zaccheus had however, something that is greater than all of them, the Pharisees and the rest of the people who had judged him unfairly, had in them.

He had faith in the Lord, faith that allowed him to use all his might to climb up the sycamore tree, believing that He is the One Who can save his soul from damnation. He has faith and hope in God, hope that he will be forgiven from his faults and sins, which he was certainly aware of, because of the constant prejudices and biases that were constantly deployed against him and his fellow tax collectors.

And he loved God, or else he would not even have made the effort to see Him. To prove his love for the Lord, he even made the very public announcement before all those who were gathered that he would right all the wrongs that he had committed as a tax collector, willingly parting even with his money and possessions when he said that he would repay all those whom he had once cheated four times as much.

When God saw all of that in Zaccheus, He saw a lost sheep that has finally come back to its Shepherd, and therefore praised him as a true son of Abraham who deserved salvation as much as everyone else. He was rebuking those Pharisees and all those who looked down on Zaccheus as a sinner while they themselves were even worse sinners because they refused to admit that they had sinned, unlike Zaccheus who admitted everything publicly before the Lord and showed his love for Him.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all spend some time to reflect on all that we have heard through the Scripture passages today. Let us all look in ourselves and find that Zaccheus that we should have, and whom we should indeed emulate. Are we in love with God so much that we are willing to seek the Lord just like how Zaccheus had done his best to seek the Lord with all of his might? Are we able to follow the Lord with all of our strength as we should have?

St. Paul in his Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Thessalonica in our second reading today then reassured us all that again, God’s love will make everything possible for us if we allow His love to enter into us and transform us, allowing Him to strengthen us and to give us that encouragement that we will be able to follow Him with faith and commitment regardless of the challenges and difficulties that we may have to face in being His faithful disciples.

We must be strong and we must stay faithful and keep hope in God’s enduring and ever great love for each and every one of us. For the devil is always devious with his many tricks and ways to try to prevent us from reaching out to God, by whatever means necessary. He may try to convince us that we are so sinful and despicable that we do not deserve to be saved. And that was exactly what the Pharisees did, as Satan spoke through them to try and prevent Zaccheus from being saved.

But God brushed off the devil and embraced that sinner who had returned home with such great love for his Master. This is why we too must have faith in God’s love and know that there is no sin too great for God to forgive, as long as we desire with all of our hearts to be forgiven and sincerely repent from all those sins and turn away from them. Zaccheus did that, and made a public profession of faith and love before all the people. If he could do it, then why can’t we do the same?

Then, the devil may also try to disturb us by trying to tempt us with many worldly pleasures and distractions by which he wants us to succumb to those temptations and as a result becoming more and more distant from God. If we allow these temptations to overcome us through our desires, we will end up falling deeper and deeper into sin, and from there eventually into eternal darkness unless we proactively resist the temptations.

Are we able to follow in the footsteps of Zaccheus who willingly wanted to atone for his past sins even if that meant that he would lose part of his money and possessions? Are we able to detach ourselves from the temptations of this world so as to become more committed and dedicated to God, that we may be more willing and capable of seeking God’s presence in our lives? We are all called to follow the example of Zaccheus, in putting God above everything else and love Him with all of our hearts from now on.

May the Lord be with us always, and may He bless us and empower us all from now on that we may be able to live our lives with faith. May He strengthen us all to live virtuously and focusing our attention on Him in every moments of our lives from now on. Let us all embrace the generous love of God, His mercy and compassion through which He wanted to heal us all from our sins and afflictions. May God bless us all, in our every good endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 3 November 2019 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Luke 19 : 1-10

At that time, when Jesus entered Jericho and passed through the city, a man named Zaccheus lived there. He was a tax collector and a wealthy man. He wanted to see what Jesus was like, but he was a short man and could not see Him because of the crowd.

So he ran ahead and climbed up a sycamore tree. From there he would be able to see Jesus, Who was going to pass that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, Zaccheus, come down quickly, for I must stay at your house today.” So Zaccheus climbed down and received Him joyfully.

All the people who saw it began to grumble, and said, “He has gone as a guest to the house of a sinner.” But Zaccheus spoke to Jesus, “Half of what I own, Lord, I will give to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay him back four times as much.”

Looking at him Jesus said, “Salvation has come to this house today, for he is also a true son of Abraham. The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”

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Sunday, 3 November 2019 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

2 Thessalonians 1 : 11 – 2 Thessalonians 2 : 2

This is why we constantly pray for you; may our God make you worthy of His calling. May He, by His power, fulfil your good purposes and your work prompted by faith. In that way, the Name of Jesus our Lord will be glorified through you, and you through Him, according to the loving plan of God and of Christ Jesus the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, let us speak about the coming of Christ Jesus, our Lord, and our gathering to meet Him. Do not be easily unsettled. Do not be alarmed by what a prophet says or by any report, or by some letter said to be ours, saying the day of the Lord is at hand.

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Sunday, 3 November 2019 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 144 : 1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13cd-14

I will extol You, my God and King; I will bless Your Name forever. I will praise You day after day and exalt Your Name forever.

Compassionate and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in love. The Lord is good to everyone; His mercy embraces all His creation.

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.

The Lord is true to His promises and lets His mercy show in all He does. The Lord lifts up those who are falling and raises those who are beaten down.

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Sunday, 3 November 2019 : Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Wisdom 11 : 22 – Wisdom 12 : 2

For the entire world lies before you, just enough to tip the scales, a drop of morning dew falling on the ground. But because You are almighty, You are merciful to all; You overlook sins and give Your children time to repent. You love everything that exists and hate nothing that You have made; had You hated anything, You would not have formed it.

How could anything endure if You did not will it? And how could anything last that You had not willed? You have compassion on all because all is Yours, o Lord, Lover of life. In fact, Your immortal Spirit is in all. And so by degrees You correct those who sin, You admonish them, reminding them how they have strayed so that turning away from evil they may trust in You, Lord.

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Saturday, 2 November 2019 : Feast of All Souls, Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Black or Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we continue to celebrate through the Allhallowtide period, as we move on from the glorious celebrations of yesterday’s Solemnity of All Saints to the more sombre commemoration of All Souls Day today. While yesterday we focus our attention on the glorious holy men and women, the saints of God who are already in heaven, today we remember the memory of the holy souls departed from us.

On this All Souls Day, we remember all those our brethren who have departed from this world, having met the end of their earthly existence and are now not yet worthy of the glory of heaven unlike those saints who are already there with God. Instead, these souls are now waiting in purgatory, in a place where they are purified from their sins before they are allowed to enter into the heavenly glory with God. They are worthy enough to evade the eternal damnation in hell but not yet worthy of heaven at the moment.

Today we remember those holy souls, who are holy because in life they have been righteous and faithful, and not those who have completely rejected and refused to believe in God right up to their dying breath. However, because of their remaining substantial sins, be it venial sins or more serious sins that are yet to be confessed or forgiven by God, they are considered to be yet fully worthy of God, for we must remember that while God loves us all very much and wants us to be with Him, but He is also all good and perfect.

And thus with that in mind, we must understand that sin has no place at all before God, no matter how small or insignificant those sins are. Sin is corruption of our flesh, our mind, our heart, our soul and our very being, and therefore, as long as we have any remaining sin in us, we are still yet unworthy of entering the glory of heaven directly unlike the saints whose virtues so exceed their shortcomings or that they have lived lives full of virtue that they deserved immediate entry into heaven.

Therefore, the Church taught us the doctrine of purgatory, as a place in the afterlife where the departed holy souls are being purified in the ‘flames’ of purgatory, as their residual sins are being purified from them so that eventually they will merit the glory of heaven. The greater the residual sins one has, consequently the longer he or she has to spend in purgatory prior to joining with God in the fullness of heavenly glory.

Those holy souls in purgatory are often described as suffering, suffering not from any physical injury or even flames as those depictions of purgatory like to project to us. But rather, it is the unbearable separation from God, Who is already so close to them and yet still distant from them that made them to suffer. They love God very much, and yet there is still the chasm between them and God caused by their residual sins.

Of course their suffering is different from those in hell as those in hell have absolutely no hope and have been shut off from the Lord for eternity, but nonetheless, the moments that the holy souls in purgatory spend there being separated from God must have been a tough suffering indeed. There has been verified witnesses and events in the history of the Church when the holy souls in purgatory had appeared or made known to us how they are suffering there, waiting for the full reunion with God.

Now, having discussed about the holy souls in purgatory, let us then move on to the significance of this day, the All Souls Day. On this day in particular, we focus our attention on all those holy souls still in purgatory waiting for entry into heaven. Just as yesterday we remember the saints who are still part of the Church as much as we are as the Church Triumphant in heaven and we as the Church Militant on earth, thus the holy souls in purgatory are also still part of the Church, the Church Suffering.

The Church Suffering are praying with us, for our sake, that we may live our lives virtuously so hopefully we may avoid the same fate that they are now enduring in facing a period of lengthened wait before they can enter into heavenly glory and joy. But they cannot pray for themselves, and they need our help in this regard. We can pray for the holy souls in purgatory, asking God to help them and to reduce the amount of time they have to spend there, because we remind God of the love which He has for us, to forgive us all our sins.

That is why it is important that today we recall the memory of our loved ones and all those whom we know, who are no longer with us and are probably waiting in purgatory this very moment. Let us all pray for each and every one of them, and let us all help them to be purified and be forgiven their sins that they may enter the gates of heaven at the soonest possible moment. And let this day also be a reminder for us that we may end up spending a long time in purgatory too, unless we straighten up our lives.

This means that as we remember the holy souls in purgatory, we have to keep in mind and reflect on our own way of life too. We have to live our lives faithfully at all times, distancing ourselves from sinful and wicked acts and things in life. That way, we may be worthy enough that our virtues and goodness will allow us to go right up to the heavens, just as the saints are. While we have breath in us and time given by God, let us not wait until it is too late for us.

And lastly, let us all pray for those holy souls in purgatory who may have no one to pray for them, so that through our prayers, they too may be helped. And maybe we should also remember even those who have used to be our enemies and treated us badly in life, and are now in purgatory. Let us all forgive them what they have done to us and pray for them so that as what God has said Himself, that He may forgive us our sins just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.

May the Lord, our ever loving and wonderful God continue to love us and bless us, and may He give the holy souls in purgatory a reprieve from their suffering out of love for Him, that they may be reunited completely with Him in the heavenly glory they have yearned for. And may we all too be faithful and be righteous that one day we will also merit the entry into His glorious kingdom. Amen.