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Sunday, 4 October 2026 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Philippians 4 : 6-9

Do not be anxious about anything. In everything, resort to prayer and supplication, together, with thanksgiving, and bring your requests before God. Then, the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with whatever is truthful, holy, just, pure, lovely and noble. Be mindful of whatever deserves praise and admiration. Put into practice what you have learnt from me, what I passed on to you, what you heard from me or saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.

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Sunday, 4 October 2026 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Psalm 79 : 9 and 12, 13-14, 15-16, 19-20

You had a vine You brought from Egypt. You drove nations out, to plant it in their land. Its branches reached out to the sea and its shoots to the River.

Why, then, have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pluck its fruits? The beasts of the forest ravage it and all creatures of the field feed on it.

Turn again, o YHVH of hosts, look down from heaven and see; care for this vine, and protect the stock Your hand has planted.

Then, we will never turn away from You; give us life, and we will call on Your Name. Restore us, o YHVH, God of hosts; make Your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

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Sunday, 4 October 2026 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Isaiah 5 : 1-7

Let me sing for my Beloved, my love song about His vineyard. My Beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up, cleared the stones, and planted the choicest vines. He built there a watchtower and hewed out a wine press as well. The He looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only wild grapes.

Now, inhabitants of Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do that I have not done for My vineyard? Good grapes was the yield I expected. Why did it yield only sour grapes?

Now I will let you know what I am going to do with My vineyard : I will remove its hedge and it will be burnt; I will break down its wall and it will be trampled on. I will make it a wasteland, I will neither prune nor hoe it, and briers and thorns will grow there. I command the clouds, as well, not to send rain on it.

The vineyard of YHVH Sabaoth is the people of Israel; and the people of Judah are His pleasant vine. He looked for justice, but found bloodshed; He looked for righteousness but heard cries of distress.

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Saturday, 3 October 2026 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today each and every one of us are reminded of God’s love and His faithfulness to the Covenant which He has made with all of us. From the Book of Job, we heard how the Lord restored Job and blessed him even more than he had been previously blessed after all of his sufferings. And from the Gospel passage we heard the Lord affirming His disciples and followers, strengthening and reassuring them all of His guidance and providence. Through what we have heard in these readings of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded of the need for us to continue trusting in the Lord in all things and circumstances, despite the trials and hardships that we may encounter in our paths.

In our first reading today, from the Book of Job we heard how after all the sufferings that Job had to endure, losing everything he possessed and even most of his family members, humiliated and denounced even by his family and close friends, who told him that he must have sinned against God to merit such sufferings. Job remained firm in his faith in God, but through all that he suffered, he did wonder why he had endured all those bitterness, and gave in to despair for a while. It is after all understandable if we truly appreciate the circumstances he encountered and all the physical and mental battering he encountered, even being ridiculed and kind of gaslighted by his own closest friends and peers.

The Lord reminded Job that He has always been by his side even through his darkest moments, and He has always cared for him, and He told Job that it is not right for him to despair and to question His motives, and he needs to put his trust and faith completely in God. As we heard, the Lord opened Job’s perspectives and revealed the magnitude of His plans and works, and how He would bless him for his faith. Job recognised his errors and repented from his mistakes, and embraced God’s love fully, never having abandoned Him and remaining faithful even through his most difficult days. And God, who brought Job out of his misery, helped and blessed him even much more generously than before. And therefore, God shows us all that those who hold onto Him, despite the trials they may have to endure, will receive eternal glory, true joy and satisfaction in the end.

In our Gospel passage today, the Lord proclaimed to His followers and disciples just how blessed and fortunate they were, for having been counted among His followers and how He has been victorious against the forces of Satan, the devil and the great enemy of all the people of God. Satan has been cast down from Heaven and punished with all the other rebel angels. And this is the prelude to the final defeat of Satan and all of his plots and plans against God’s people that will come with the Cross. For all of their apparent might, fearsome appearances and forces, all those who opposed the Lord will not prevail against God, Whose might is beyond all comparisons, and Whose glory is everlasting. And we are fortunate that our Lord is always ever loving towards each and every one of us.

Satan and all of his wicked forces have always been trying to crush us and to make our lives difficult. And by the means of many temptations and false promises, they have been working hard in dragging us down with them, as they hoped to turn us against God and to subvert us by persuading us to reject the path of God and embrace instead the seemingly ‘easier’ and ‘better’ path that the devil offered to us. And Satan always makes to think that it is futile to try to oppose him, and he wants us to fear him and to suffer so much that we give in to our temptations and all of his persuasions and coercions. That is why so many of us tended to give in to despair and temptations, not trusting in God enough that He can protect us and provide for us.

However, this is where we are all reminded yet again, that no matter what, and no matter how mighty Satan and his forces arrayed against us may seem to be, but they are all nothing compared with the power and the glory of God. And despite all of Satan’s efforts, his power is limited and his might has been crushed, as his rebellion has been defeated, he was cast out and condemned, and his final defeat had been predetermined by God, Who is all powerful and all knowing, revealing before all that we do not need to fear Satan because while he will be cast down into hell for eternity, we, who are God’s people and followers, will be raised to eternal glory and true joy with God. We must look upon Him and put our trust in His Providence and strength.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we aware of just how beloved we are by God? We are God’s most beloved ones, and God provides us in everything that we need. As long as we hold strongly to our faith in Him, we shall never be disappointed. Whatever sufferings we may be experiencing now, all these are nothing compared to the joy that is to come for us, in the end and at the conclusion of our faithful journey. But many of us often do not realise this and we are often too busy in trying to get away from fear, all of our insecurities, and we lack the faith in our Lord. Let us all remember all the times when He has always been there for us, through those whom He has placed in our lives and paths.

Let us therefore follow the example of Job, and strive to persevere in faith regardless of the challenges and trials that he had faced, and which we are likely to face as well in our own lives. Are we able to persevere in faith the way that our holy and dedicated predecessors had done? We have all been called to follow the path of the Lord, and we are called to entrust ourselves to His cause. And because we have also witnessed and received this faith from the Lord, we are now called to be God’s witnesses among all of our communities in this world today. It is through our own perseverance, faith and good examples in life that we can lead and inspire so many other people to believe in God as well.

Through our actions, our words and our deeds, each and every one of us should become faithful and great inspirations for our fellow brothers and sisters in faith. May the Lord help us and guide us in our journey of faith, and help us in resisting the temptations of all the desires and the coercions by which the devil has always been busy using in trying to drag us into the path of sin, and lead us into our downfall. May the Lord strengthen us all and give us the courage and perseverance to be always faithful in each and every moments of our lives. May God be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 3 October 2026 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Luke 10 : 17-24

At that time, the seventy-two disciples returned full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on Your Name.” Then Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice, rather, than your names are written in heaven.”

At that time, Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and made them known to little ones. Yes, Father, such has been Your gracious will. I have been given all things by My Father, so that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.”

Then Jesus turned to His disciples and said to them privately, “Fortunate are you to see what you see, for I tell you, that many prophets and kings would have liked to see what you see, but did not see it; and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

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Saturday, 3 October 2026 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Psalm 118 : 66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130

Give me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust in Your commands.

It is good for me to have been afflicted, for I have deeply learnt Your statutes.

I know, o YHVH, that Your laws are just; and there is justice in my affliction.

Your ordinances last to this day, for all things are made to serve You.

Give me knowledge; I am Your servant, who desires to understand Your statutes.

As Your words unfold, light is shed, and the simple-hearted understand.

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Saturday, 3 October 2026 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Job 42 : 1-3, 5-6, 12-16

This was the answer Job gave to YHVH : “I know that You are all powerful; no plan of Yours can be thwarted. I spoke of things I did not understand, too wonderful for me to know. My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I retract all I have said, and in dust and ashes I repent.”

YHVH blessed Job’s latter days much more than his earlier ones. He came to own fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys. He was also blessed with seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Dove, the second Cinnamon, and the third Bottle of Perfume. Nowhere in the land was there found any woman who could compare in beauty with Job’s daughters. Their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

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Friday, 2 October 2026 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of The Holy Guardian Angels (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of The Holy Guardian Angels, commemorating all the Angels that God has placed in our midst, guarding each and every one of us. The Holy Guardian Angels protected all of us from the constant attacks and assaults by the forces of evil, from Satan and all of his fellow fallen angels, demons and evil spirits, who are all hell-bent on bringing about our destruction and downfall. They watched over us and kept us on the right path of God, whispering to us God’s words and reminders, whenever temptations come to our way, and whenever the devil and his forces came to tempt and mislead us down the wrong paths in life. They truly guarded us and kept us safe each day and every moments of our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Book of Exodus in which the Lord reassured all of His people of His continued guidance and protection as they journeyed towards the land that He has promised to them and to their ancestors. Back then, the people of Israel had been taken out of the land of Egypt by the Lord Himself, Who sent Moses, His servant to carry out His will and to help lead His people out of their slavery in Egypt. He showed all of them His power and providence, having smittened Egypt and its Pharaoh, its armies and chariots under His might, crushing them with the Ten Great Plagues and other signs, and with a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud leading the people on their journey towards the Promised Land, always ever with them and always guiding them forward in their path.

This supernatural presence of the pillar of fire at night and the pillar of cloud at day represents God having been ever present among His people, and how He has set and sent His Angel to be with them, to guard them and to go ahead of them on their journey, clearing their path and way before them. This is what the Lord assured them all as we heard in our first reading passage today from the Book of Exodus. The Lord reassured the people that His Guardian Angels are always ever ready to stand by them, to guard and protect them, showing the protection, love and grace of God, ever generously shown and manifested to His beloved ones, and the Lord would go on to send His Angels to help guard and protect the Israelites throughout their long journey and detour in the desert for the whole forty years and afterwards, during the time when they conquered the Promised Land for themselves.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the words of the Lord speaking to His disciples and all the people assembled, while He was speaking and interacting with the young children who came to Him, seeking Him and loving Him. He told each and every one of them that He welcomed and desired children to be in His Presence and to come towards Him, telling them all that their faith and love for Him should indeed be like those children, or else, they cannot come close to the Lord. Why is that so? That is because the faith of those young children are indeed genuine and pure, being innocent and untainted they still are, by the vile things and wickedness of the world. When such a young child believes in something, he or she will truly believe it with all of his or her heart.

That is why, all of us should also heed the Lord’s words and reminders, for us to follow the Lord wholeheartedly and with great and genuine faith. Each and every one of us should do our best so that we may indeed live in the path that the Lord has set before us, striving to be true and committed Christians, in all things and at all opportunities. All of us should do our best to inspire all around us with our actions and way of life, that our lives, actions and works should be truly devout and committed to God, and that we may show the love and truth of God through each and every small little things that we do, and in whatever we say and how we interact with each other. We should always strive to do God’s will in all opportunities and to obey Him wholeheartedly in all our hearts.

In relation to our Holy Guardian Angels, let us all heed their reminders and words in our hearts and minds, as they ceaselessly protected us against all the harm coming from the devil and all of his wicked forces, desiring our downfall and destruction. Let us all be reminded and be turned from our evil, wicked and disobedient ways, heeding our Guardian Angels instead of the lies and the falsehoods spread by the ones who tried to tempt us away from the path of God and His salvation and grace. Let us all strive to keep ourselves blameless and free from those evil and wicked things, and resist the many temptations that may undermine our faith and distract or prevent us from truly being able to be faithful to the Lord in all of our ways.

Let us all be thankful to our Holy Guardian Angels, and let us all remember how they constantly and ceaselessly stood guard by our side, at all times, be it when we are awake or when we are asleep, or be it when we are happy or when we are sad and sorrowful. Let us remember the care and love which each and every one of our Guardian Angels have shown us, and be touched by their dedication and love, so that we ourselves may also strive to be truly faithful and loving towards the Lord, our God, Who has sent us these Holy Angels to be with us, to protect us and care for us, in their own way, from the invisible harm by those who sought our destruction and downfall. Let us all deepen our love for the Lord and be ever more faithful to Him.

Let us now pray the prayer to our Holy Guardian Angels, asking them to intercede for us always in our daily struggles in life. Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

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Friday, 2 October 2026 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of The Holy Guardian Angels (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 18 : 1-5, 10

At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Then Jesus called a little child, set the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, “I assure you, that, unless you change, and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble, like this child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child, in My Name, receives Me.”

“See that you do not despise any of these little ones; for I tell you, their Angels in heaven continually see the face of My heavenly Father.”

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Friday, 2 October 2026 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of The Holy Guardian Angels (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 90 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 10-11

You, who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who rest in the shadow of the Almighty, say to YHVH, “My Stronghold, my Refuge, my God in Whom I trust!”

He will rescue you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions and give you refuge under His wings.

You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrows that fly by day, nor the pestilence that stalks by night, and the plague that destroys at noonday.

No harm will come upon you; no disaster will draw near your home. For He will command His Angels to guard you in all your ways.