great solemnity

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Sunday, 24 March 2019 : Third Sunday of Lent (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

1 Corinthians 10 : 1-6, 10-12

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, about our ancestors. All of them were under the cloud and all crossed the sea. All underwent the baptism of the land and of the sea to join Moses; and all of them ate from the same spiritual manna; and all of them drank from the same spiritual drink. For you know, that they drank from a spiritual rock following them, and the rock was Christ. However, most of them did not please God, and the desert was strewn with their bodies.

All of this happened as an example for us, so that we might not become people of evil desires, as they did, nor grumble, as some of them did, and were cut down by the destroying Angel. These things happened to them, as an example, and they were written as a warning, for us, as the last times come upon us.

Therefore, if you think you stand, beware, lest you fall.

Alternative reading (Readings from Year A)

Romans 5 : 1-2, 5-8

By faith we have received true righteousness, and we are at peace with God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Through Him we obtain this favour in which we remain and we even boast to expect the Glory of God.

And hope does not disappoint us 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.

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Sunday, 24 March 2019 : Third Sunday of Lent (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Psalm 102 : 1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8 and 11

Praise YHVH, my soul; all my being, praise His holy Name! Praise YHVH, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.

He forgives all your sins and heals all your sickness; He redeems your life from destruction and crowns you with love and compassion.

YHVH restores justice and secures the rights of the oppressed. He has made known His ways to Moses; and His deeds, to the people of Israel.

YHVH is gracious and merciful, abounding in love and slow to anger. As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him.

Alternative reading (Readings from Year A)

Psalm 94 : 1-2, 6-7, 8-9

Come, let us sing to the Lord, let us make a joyful sound to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him giving thanks, with music and songs of praise.

Come and worship; let us bow down, kneel before the Lord, our Maker. He is our God, and we His people; the flock He leads and pastures. Would that today you heard His voice!

Do not be stubborn, as at Meribah, in the desert, on that day at Massah, when your ancestors challenged Me, and they put Me to the test.

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Sunday, 24 March 2019 : Third Sunday of Lent (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Exodus 3 : 1-8a, 13-15

Moses pastured the sheep of Jethro, his father-in-law, priest of Midian. One day he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the Mountain of God. The Angel of YHVH appeared to him by means of a flame of fire in the middle of a bush. Moses saw that although the bush was on fire it did not burn up.

Moses thought, “I will go and see this amazing sight, why is the bush not burning up?” YHVH saw that Moses was drawing near to look, and God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” He replied, “Here I am.” YHVH said to him, “Do not come near; take off your sandals because the place where you are standing is holy ground.” And God continued, “I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

Moses hid his face lest his eyes look on God. YHVH said, “I have seen the humiliation of My people in Egypt and I hear their cry when they are cruelly treated by their taskmasters. I know their suffering. I have come down to free them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a beautiful spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.”

Moses answered God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them : ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ they will ask me : ‘What is His Name?’ What shall I answer them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO AM. This is what you will say to the sons of Israel : ‘I AM sent me to you.’”

God then said to Moses, “You will say to the Israelites : ‘YHVH, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has sent me.’ That will be My Name forever, and by this Name they shall call upon Me for all generations to come.”

Alternative reading (Readings from Year A)

Exodus 17 : 3-7

But the people thirsted for water at Rephidim and grumbled against Moses, “Why did you make us leave Egypt to have us die of thirst with our children and our cattle?”

So Moses cried to YHVH, “What shall I do with the people? They are almost ready to stone me!” YHVH said to Moses, “Go ahead of the people and take with you the elders of Israel. Take with you the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you on the rock at Horeb. You will strike the rock and water will flow from it and the people will drink.”

Moses did this in the presence of the elders of Israel. The place was called Massah and Meribah because of the complaints of the Israelites, who tested YHVH saying, “Is YHVH with us or not?”

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Tuesday, 19 March 2019 : Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together the great Solemnity of St. Joseph, the Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the foster-father of Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. St. Joseph was a humble and simple carpenter of the village of Nazareth, probably uneducated and poor, unremarkable and unknown, and yet, God chose him to be the one who would protect and be part of the Holy Family into which He was to send His Saviour.

St. Joseph was the heir of David, as he was descended from David’s son, king Solomon, as well as the rightful kings of Judah of the house of David, and then to their heirs in exile in Babylon and after the return to the Promised Land. St. Joseph was the forgotten heir to the kingdom of Israel, who was so unknown that even in his own village, he was not highly regarded and later on, the Lord Jesus would be ridiculed for being supposedly the mere Son of the village carpenter when He came to proclaim His truth in Nazareth.

God chose St. Joseph because of the great virtues exhibited by his life and actions, which exemplified righteousness. St. Joseph was highlighted in the Scripture as an upright and just man, who always acted in obedience to the laws and the commandments of God, and yet at the same time, also constantly cared for his fellow men, keeping others around him in his thought. This is made evident by the accounts of the Scripture although St. Joseph did not appear many times in the Bible.

St. Joseph was a God-fearing and righteous man, because he knew and understood the precepts of the Law. When he heard that Mary was with Child even though she has not even married and consummated the marriage with him yet, St. Joseph obeyed the Law and wanted to break the engagement with her. Yet, at the same time, he was also considerate and compassionate, as he wanted to do so in secret, knowing that had he divorced Mary in public, she would have been stoned to death.

He was a righteous man who was responsible as well as loving, as shown in how he willingly took up Mary to be his wife and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ as his own Son, despite him not being biologically related to Him. He willingly took care of the Lord Jesus as a legal father and He as his Foster-Son, as if He is of his own flesh and blood. He followed wherever the Lord led his path, when the census called him and the rest of the Holy Family to travel the long journey to Bethlehem, taking care of the heavily pregnant Mary along the way.

St. Joseph also protected Mary and the Baby Jesus, when king Herod wanted to slaughter all the babies and children below the age of two in his attempt to eliminate the threat to his kingdom. When the Angel of God came to him and told him to bring his family into Egypt to keep them safe there, St. Joseph willingly obliged and guided Mary and the Child Jesus to the land of Egypt for a period of time until it was safe for them to return back to Nazareth.

In all of these, we have seen how St. Joseph was truly a great father figure to Our Lord Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour. Although He is the Divine Word Incarnate, God in the flesh, Son of God, but He is also the Son of Man, born of man and having the frailness of the human body, save that of sin. When He was a mere Baby and a young Child, St. Joseph as a father to Him must have taken good care of Him, and prepared Him for the life and works that had been entrusted to Him.

As all fathers at that time did, St. Joseph must have also taught the Lord Jesus how He ought to live in this world, teaching Him important skills in life, and helping Him to grow in wisdom and faith. This is why the role that St. Joseph plays in our faith and in the Church is not one that is insignificant. In fact, that is why Blessed Pope Pius IX declared St. Joseph as the Patron and Protector of the Universal Church in the year of Our Lord 1870.

There are many things that we can learn from the examples shown by St. Joseph. And we are called to follow these good examples in our own lives, in how we act in righteous ways, obeying the Lord and also loving Him. Thus, today, we look up to St. Joseph, holy father and protector of the Church, asking him to intercede for our sake, the faithful and the Church of God, so that God may grant us all the strength to persevere through the challenges and difficulties, trials and oppositions we may encounter.

And let us all keep on remembering the righteousness and courage that St. Joseph has shown, in all of his actions, in being a good role model for his Foster-Son, Our Lord Jesus. Let us all also learn from him, and try our best to live our lives better and more attuned to the ways of God, that we may grow ever closer to Him, particularly during this blessed season of Lent. Let us all rediscover that love which we ought to have for God, and do our best to be righteous at all times. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 19 March 2019 : Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 1 : 16, 18-21, 24a

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and from her came Jesus Who is called the Christ – the Messiah.

This is how Jesus Christ was born : Mary His mother had been given to Joseph in marriage, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, made plans to divorce her in all secrecy. He was an upright man, and in no way did he want to discredit her.

While he was pondering over this, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, descendant of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. She has conceived by the Holy Spirit, and now she will bear a Son. You shall call Him ‘Jesus’ for He will save His people from their sins.”

When Joseph woke up, he did what the Angel of the Lord had told him to do.

Alternative reading

Luke 2 : 41-51a

Every year the parents of Jesus went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, as was customary. And when Jesus was twelve years old, He went up with them, according to the custom of this feast. After the festival was over, they returned, but the Boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and His parents did not know it.

They thought He was in the company, and after walking the whole day they looked for Him among their relatives and friends. As they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem searching for Him, and on the third day they found Him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. And all the people were amazed at His understanding and His answers.

His parents were very surprised when they saw Him, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Your father and I were very worried while searching for You.” Then He said to them, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?” But they did not understand this answer.

Jesus went down with them, returning to Nazareth, and He continued to be subject to them.

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Tuesday, 19 March 2019 : Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Romans 4 : 13, 16-18, 22

If God promised Abraham, or rather his descendants, that the world would belong to him, this was not because of his obeying the Law, but because he was just and a friend of God through faith.

For that reason, faith is the way and all is given by grace; and the promises of Abraham are fulfilled for all his descendants, not only for his children according to the Law, but also for all the others who have believed.

Abraham is the father of all of us, as it is written : I will make you father of many nations. He is our father in the eyes of Him Who gives life to the dead, and calls into existence what does not yet exist, for this is the God in Whom he believed. Abraham believed and hoped against all expectation, thus becoming father of many nations, as he had been told : See how many will be your descendants.

This was taken into account for him to attain righteousness.

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Tuesday, 19 March 2019 : Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 88 : 2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29

I will sing forever, o Lord, of Your love and proclaim Your faithfulness from age to age. I will declare how steadfast is Your love, how firm Your faithfulness.

You said, “I have made a covenant with David, My chosen one; I have made a pledge to My servant. I establish his descendants forever; I build his throne for all generations.”

“He will call on Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.’ I will keep My covenant firm forever, and My love for him will endure.

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Tuesday, 19 March 2019 : Solemnity of St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

2 Samuel 7 : 4-5a, 12-14a, 16

But that very night, YHVH’s word came to Nathan, “Go and tell My servant David, this is what YHVH says : When the time comes for you to rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your son after you, the one born of you and I will make his reign secure. He shall build a house for My Name and I will firmly establish his kingship forever. I will be a Father to him and he shall be My son.”

“Your house and your reign shall last forever before Me, and your throne shall be forever firm.”

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Sunday, 17 March 2019 : Second Sunday of Lent (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we celebrate the second Sunday in the season of Lent, we listened to the words of God speaking to all of us and reminding us of the nature of this season of Lent as a time of change and transformation, that we may transform ourselves, our lives, our actions, our habits and our every aspects, from one that is wicked and unworthy of God, into one that is good, righteous and worthy before God. This is the Covenant that God made with us mankind.

The Scripture readings today began with the narration from the Book of Genesis, recounting to us the moment when God made His Covenant with Abram, the man whom He called from the lands of Ur, to become the ancestor of many nations. God knew Abram’s heart and mind, and He saw the faith and love that Abram had for Him, and that was why, He chose Abram from among all the other men and women of his time.

God made a Covenant with Abram, promising him that He will always be faithful to the Covenant and the promise that He made to Abram and his descendants, that he would become the father of many nations. This was amazing considering that Abram at that time was already quite old, with a wife, Sarai, who was also equally quite old and likely way beyond childbearing age. Without a son to carry on his legacy, Abram was the unlikeliest person to be the father of many nations.

And yet, Abram chose to believe in God, and placed his trust in Him. He sealed the Covenant with God with the offering of sacrifices, which marked the beginning of God’s Covenant with Abram, His servant, who therefore was known as Abraham. Abraham received the blessings of God’s grace, and from then on, became the father of many nations through his son, who also was a father of many nations.

The change of name from Abram to Abraham is a significant marker in the Scriptures as the moment whenever a great change of life and a new commitment has been made. For example, Sarai also received a new name, Sarah because she was to become the mother of many nations just as Abraham became the father of many nations. Initially she did not believe that God was serious in the promises He had made, but eventually believed when a son was born to both her and Abraham, Isaac.

There are many other examples throughout the Scriptures where name changes occurred, most prominently being Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, who became known as Israel after the Covenant that God had made with his grandfather was renewed and reinforced, as Israel became the progenitor of the race of the first chosen people of God. And we have more examples in the time of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.

Some of the Apostles also had their names changed indicating a great change that happened in their lives. Simon received a new name from the Lord, being called Cephas or Peter, which means ‘Rock’, as he left behind his previous identity as a fisherman of Galilee and accepting the role for which he was soon to be known, as the Rock of foundation of God’s Church. Levi similarly was called Matthew, after he left behind his tax collector job to follow the Lord.

And we know of the Apostle, St. Paul, who was once known as Saul. Saul was a great enemy of the Church, persecutor of the faithful, destroyer of the communities of the Christian faithful in his many purges during the earliest days of the Church. However, when he encountered the Lord on his way to Damascus, he went through a great conversion experience, and had his life completely overturned and changed, as he embraced a new identity as God’s champion, and the defender of the faith as Paul.

We have seen from these few examples, as well as many others which have not been mentioned today, how God changed the lives of many of His people throughout history. And as Christians, we too have been changed by God, through our baptism. Do we realise that at baptism we choose our baptismal names? For those of us who were born as Christians, the names have been chosen for us, while those who became Christians as adults, chose our baptismal names for ourselves.

These baptismal names are taken from the names of the saints of God, God’s holy men and women, those whom the Church had deemed and declared to be good, righteous and virtuous enough, to be deserving of the glory and honour of being with God in heaven. And they are our role models in life, in how they have exemplarily lived their lives, obeying God’s commandments and living righteously in all the things they have done.

We adopt the baptismal name with the names of those saints because we hope to emulate the good examples of those saints in our own lives, in turning towards the Lord with all of our hearts and with all of our minds. And through baptism, we go through a complete conversion experience, where we have been freed from our past, sinful life and enter into a new life in the grace of God. That is why through the Sacrament of Baptism, each one of us had gone through a change so significant that it heralded a new era of hope in our lives.

In the second reading passage today, we listened to the words of St. Paul in the Epistle he wrote to the Church and the faithful in the city of Philippi, where he mentioned that our citizenship is in heaven, and how the Lord will transform us, in body, mind, heart and soul, in our whole being, as how His own Transfiguration, as recounted to us in our Gospel passage today, has prefigured and told us. And this is because Christ has made with each and every one of us, the New and Eternal Covenant, the Covenant of the Cross.

Thus, linking this Covenant, that is True and Eternal with the original Covenant between God and Abraham, we see finally the full truth of God’s love and compassion, His care and mercy for each and every one of us His beloved and faithful ones. By His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, He wanted us to know, through what His disciples witnessed, the ultimate fate and promise which He has given to us, to all those who have been faithful to Him. We shall be transfigured to be like Him, at the time that God appointed.

Therefore, each and every one of us are called to be transfigured or changed, completely in body, mind, heart and soul, just as much as Abraham committed himself to a total change in life and attitude, and just as much as the Apostles, St. Peter and St. Matthew embraced a new life of service and faith in God, and in how St. Paul turned his life almost completely upside down by embracing the faith and the same Covenant that God had forged with us all.

Yet, we must also not forget that a Covenant involves commitment and promise made between two parties, in which each one promises to be faithful and true to one another. God is ever so faithful and true to the Covenant that He has made and renewed again and again with each and every one of us, that in the Gospel today, He left behind His glorious Transfiguration, and descended down the Mount of Tabor, to go down the road to Jerusalem, where He would eventually face His suffering and death on the cross.

The Lord showed us all that if we want to follow Him faithfully, then we must be prepared to, in His own words, carry our crosses and follow Him, to share in the cross that He has borne, and to suffer just as He has suffered for our sake. It is not easy to become a Christian, as we will often need to cast away our past way of life, rejecting the pleasures and excesses of the world, resisting the temptations of the flesh, and to be righteous in our words, actions and deeds, even when the world and the society around us are against us.

The Lord humbled Himself and emptied Himself of all glory, so that by His humble obedience, He had saved us all through the love that He has for each and every one of us, so great that He was willing to go through such suffering, such pain and such humiliation just so that we may be saved from our fated destruction because of our sins. Are we able to do the same as He has done? He has been faithful to the Covenant that He has made with us, so are we able to be faithful to that Covenant?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that is why during this season of Lent, we are all called to retrospect on our lives and reflect on how we have acted towards one another, how we have spent our time and effort in fulfilling the commitment of our Covenant with God. Have we embraced that profound change that the Covenant of God has brought into our lives? Have we rejected the path of sin and disobedience, and resisted the many temptations found in this world?

This Lent, let us all grow more generous in the giving and sharing our blessings with one another, in our almsgiving and care for the needs of those who are not as fortunate as we are, in our love and attention for those who are lonely, unloved, ostracised and rejected by the society. Let us all also resist the temptations of the flesh and of our body, by the genuine and pious act of fasting and abstinence throughout this season of Lent.

Let us all grow ever closer to God, and become truly worthy to be partakers of the Covenant of God, the New and Eternal Covenant which He has made with us all, by the outpouring of His Most Precious Body and Blood on the altar of the cross, the Most Worthy Lamb of God slain for us for our salvation and redemption from sin. He has given everything for us, as the proof of His faithfulness to the Covenant He made with us. Again, are we able to do the same for Him? Are we able to give everything in our lives for Him?

May this Lenten season be a turning point in our lives, the moment when we embrace the Covenant that God has made with us, and allow God to enter into our lives and transform us, completely in body, mind, heart and soul, that we become God’s holy people. May God bless us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 17 March 2019 : Second Sunday of Lent (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Luke 9 : 28b-36

At that time, Jesus took Peter, John and James, and went up the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the aspect of His face was changed, and His clothing became dazzling white. Two men were taking with Jesus : Moses and Elijah. Appearing in the glory of heaven, Moses and Elijah spoke to Jesus about His departure from this life, which was to take place in Jerusalem.

Peter and His companions had fallen asleep; but they awoke suddenly, and they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. As Moses and Elijah were about to leave, Peter – not knowing what to say – said to Jesus, “Master, how good it is for us to be here! Let us make three tents, one for You, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

And no sooner had he spoken, than a cloud appeared and covered them; and the disciples were afraid as they entered the cloud. Then these words came from the cloud, “This is My Son, My Beloved, listen to Him.” And after the voice had spoken, Jesus was there alone. The disciples kept this to themselves at the time, telling no one of anything they had seen.