holy bishops

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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened again to the words of the Scripture from the prophet Isaiah and from the Gospel according to St. Matthew about the coming of hope for mankind, and how God Who loves us all His children and His people, will not abandon us in the darkness, but indeed He will seek us all who have been lost to Him, like a shepherd looking for his lost sheep, even if there is only one who was lost.

That is the reason why Jesus our Lord came into the world, which we celebrate in Christmas. Many of us celebrate Christmas with joy and revelry, with dancing and partying, but without truly understanding what is it that we are really rejoicing about. And many of us are celebrating like how the rest of the world celebrate Christmas, with joy and happiness in the family, in the exchanging of gifts and presents, in our feasts and in our sumptuous dinner parties, but let us ask ourselves, have we put Christ at the centre of our celebrations?

If our answer to this question is no, that means those who have not put Christ at the centre of our joy and celebration this Christmas have not celebrated Christmas in the right way. It is easy indeed for us to fall into the temptation of this world, which constantly bombards us with many persuasions and temptations, and misleading us into seeking for a materialistic and Christ-less Christmas rather than a Christmas joy centred in Christ.

Perhaps in this, we can be inspired by the example of a holy servant of God, whose feast we celebrate on this day, namely St. Nicholas of Myra, a Bishop of a small diocese in what is now Turkey, in the region of Asia Minor in the early years of tolerance of Christianity in the Roman Empire. This same St. Nicholas of Myra is what the secular world had adapted and became the legend of Santa Claus, which image is certainly ubiquitous especially as Christmas approaches.

Many of us would know of Santa Claus as a bearded old man who is kind and who like to give many gifts to young children at Christmas. And many of our youths recognise Santa Claus, and are indeed waiting for him to give them presents. We hang red and white coloured socks at the fireplace or at the window hoping that Santa Claus would come and put some gifts inside of them. And indeed, everyone always look forward to our Christmas gifts and presents, but let us all ask ourselves, are we really not missing something from all of that?

St. Nicholas of Myra was indeed a kind and loving bishop, who always showed tender love, mercy and care for his flock, and he liked to give gifts to children who came to him for his blessings. And it was from this that it was likely the twisted legend of Santa Claus was born, one that was sadly not focusing on another aspect of St. Nicholas of Myra that we all really need to know.

For all of his loving and kindly ways, St. Nicholas of Myra is an ardent defender of the true faith, which happened at that time came under great threat from the heretical ways of Arianism, as taught by the false prophet and heretic Arius, which unfortunately divided the Church in many places and swayed countless souls away from the true way leading to the Lord and His salvation. Arius preached that Jesus our Lord is merely Man and not God, while the truth is that He is both Man and God at the same time.

Many people were swayed by the false teachings of Arius, even among the priests and bishops. But St. Nicholas of Myra were among those bishops who refused to listen to the falsehoods of Arianism and fought hard to restore the true faith to the many people who had been lost to the false and heretical ways. At the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in the year 325 AD, convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine to resolve the issue of Arianism and the true teaching of the Church about the divinity of Christ, it was told that St. Nicholas of Myra even punched the heretic Arius at the face.

Eventually Arianism was condemned by the decision of the Ecumenical Council, and defeated after many years of long struggle. Yet all of us must not overlook and forget the role of St. Nicholas of Myra in trying to defend the true faith from all these aberration and heresies. He acted as a true shepherd, a good shepherd modelled after the Lord Himself, the Good Shepherd, who are concerned about the well-being of his flock, especially those who have been lost.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, there are two things which all of us must understand and appreciate, so that our preparation in this Advent will be fruitful, and our Christmas celebration will be meaningful. Firstly, we need to return Christ to Christmas, putting Him back at the centre of our effort and our joy in Christmas. Whenever we plan for Christmas, let us all remember that we rejoice because of Him, because of the love He has shown us.

And thus it brings us to the second point we need to take note of, that we have to appreciate how God wants us to be redeemed and be forgiven our sins, for as what St. Nicholas of Myra had shown, the fate of our souls is indeed very important. Since if we fell into damnation and are lost from God, what await us is nothing but despair and eternal regret. The Lord has sent His servants to help and guide us through the turbulent world, so that we will be able to persevere through and avoid falling into temptation.

Therefore, let us all as Christians renew our faith and renew our effort to help one another to prepare ourselves, by deepening our relationships with God, and by seeking repentance and forgiveness for our sins. Let us all make use of this time of Advent to prepare ourselves, not just preparing how we will celebrate Christmas, but also prepare ourselves in our hearts and minds, that we will be ready to welcome the Lord with joy at Christmas, and share this joy with one another. May the Lord bless us and keep us in His grace. Amen.

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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Matthew 18 : 12-14

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “What do you think of this? If someone has a hundred sheep and one of them strays, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hillside, and go to look for the stray one? And I tell you : when he finally finds it, he is more pleased about it than about the ninety-nine, that did not get lost.”

“It is the same with your Father in heaven : your Father in heaven does not want even one of these little ones to be lost.”

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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Psalm 95 : 1-2, 3 and 10ac, 11-12a, 12b-13

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name; proclaim His salvation day after day.

Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds. Say among the nations, “He will judge the peoples with justice.”

Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the sea and all that fills it resound; let the fields exult and everything in them.

Let the forest, all the trees, sing for joy. Let them sing before the Lord Who comes to judge the earth. He will rule the world with justice and the peoples with fairness.

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Tuesday, 6 December 2016 : 2nd Week of Advent, Memorial of St. Nicholas, Bishop (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)
Isaiah 40 : 1-11

Be comforted, My people, be strengthened, says your God. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem, proclaim to her that her time of bondage is at an end, that her guilt has been paid for, that from the hand of YHVH she has received double punishment for all her iniquity.

A voice cries, “In the wilderness prepare the way for YHVH. Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley will be raised up; every mountain and hill will be laid low. The stumbling blocks shall become level and the rugged places smooth. The glory of YHVH will be revealed, and all mortals together will see it; for the mouth of YHVH has spoken.”

A voice says, “Cry.” And I say, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty as the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will forever stand.” Go up onto the high mountain, messenger of Good News to Zion, lift up your voice with strength, fear not to cry aloud when you tell Jerusalem and announce to the cities of Judah : Here is your God!

Here comes your God with might; His strong arm rules for Him; His reward is with Him, and here before Him is His booty. Like a shepherd He tends His flock : He gathers the lambs in His arms, He carries them in His bosom, gently leading those that are with young.

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Tuesday, 15 November 2016 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Dear brothers and sisters, as we listened to the words of the Scriptures today, we are given several reminders on what we as Christians are supposed to do in our daily lives, so that we will truly live out our lives as faithful and living Christians, and not just as Christians on paper only or as nominal Christians. We are all called to be good and devoted servants of our God, and as we reflect on the word of God we have just heard, let us think about all these.

First of all, in the Book of the Revelations of St. John the Apostle, we heard the Lord calling His people to repentance and to change their ways. We are all sinners, brothers and sisters in Christ. Some of us have committed more sins than others and some have committed less, but regardless, we have made mistakes and imperfections on our paths towards God. But this is what the reality of our lives is. And we need to change this direction of our lives.

If we do not spend time to think about this, and reflect on what direction our lives are taking us, then just like a ship with a captain who does not carefully decide the navigation path beforehand, then the ship will end up having a high chance of hitting rocks and obstacles on its journey that will cause it to run aground, capsize and sink. And the same applies to our own lives.

In this journey of life, it is important for us to always spend time to think about our actions and deeds, words and all things we have committed in this life. Have we been faithful to the Lord? Have our actions represent us as those who are worthy of being the children and followers of the Lord? Or have our actions instead bring about contradiction and divisions, scandal for our Lord, for our faith, for our Church and for our fellow brethren? If our answer for these are the latter ones, then we really need to change.

And this then comes to the second point brought up in the Scriptures today. In the same passage from the Book of Revelations, God spoke to us about not being lukewarm in our faith, as if we are neither hot or cold, it is disgusting to Him and He will reject us. What this means is that we cannot be a Christian and profess to be one, and yet doing nothing in order to fulfil that life as a Christian.

A thorough conversion and change of our lives require us to also take an active role in living our lives with faith, through real and genuine actions based on our faith, on what we believe in God. This is real and living faith, the faith of those who are not lukewarm in our faith. We cannot and indeed must not think that faith in God alone can save us, for what is faith without true and genuine devotion? A lukewarm faith is no faith at all, as it is dead.

And in this, we should follow therefore the example of Zaccheus, the tax collector who in the Gospel today, which many of us should be familiar with, where he tried his best, climbing up a tree just so that he could see Jesus due to his short height. He made that conscious effort to seek the Lord, and he found Him. And God, recognising his faith, his genuine effort and devotion, called him, welcomed him, forgave him and made him to be one of His children.

Contrast this to the attitude of the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the chief priests, most of whom rejected Jesus and refused to believe in Him and His teachings. Instead, they even made life and work difficult for Jesus and His disciples, hounding and disrupting them in almost all known opportunities available to them.

All of us are sinners, but if we harden our hearts as the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law and the chief priests had done, then there will be no way forward for us, as our stubbornness and our refusal to recognise our sins and our wickedness become our undoing. It was Zaccheus, whom in his sincere desire to be forgiven, in his effort to seek the Lord, was forgiven and reconciled with God.

Let us all take these into our minds and spend time to reflect on this, and let us also reflect on the examples of St. Albert the Great, the holy saint whose feast we celebrate today. St. Albert the Great was a renowned Dominican preacher and bishop, whose actions and works still inspire many people up to this day. He was a humble person, devoting his whole life to the Lord, and he often acted as mediator between conflicting parties, bringing peace and harmony where there were conflicts and divisions.

He always showed with good example, of how a Christian should live his or her faith life, carrying out his responsibilities dutifully as the bishop of his diocese, caring for his flock with gentle and tender love, and with the strong desire to seek their salvation through proper education and instruction in the faith, and by his examples, many followed in his footsteps and were set on the path towards God’s salvation.

Looking at the examples of this holy and devoted saint, we should also follow in his footsteps in living a genuine life filled with strong and living faith. We should spend time with one another, caring for those who have not been cared, forgiving one another our trespasses and faults to each other. We should be role models for one another, living to the best of our abilities to be faithful in all the things we say, do and act.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us renew our commitment to the Lord our God, and be true in our faith and be genuine in our actions. May the Lord help us and guide us on our way to Him, that we may be able to reach out to Him, and by the intercession of St. Albert the Great, may we follow in his footsteps and may God have mercy on us, as He had mercy on that blind man. Amen.

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Tuesday, 15 November 2016 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
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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Tuesday, 15 November 2016 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Psalm 14 : 2-3ab, 3cd-4ab, 5

Those who walk blamelessly and do what is right, who speak truth from their heart and control their words.

Those who do no harm to their neighbours and cast no discredit on their companions, who look down on evildoers but highly esteem God’s servants.

Those who do not lend money at interest and refuse a bribe against the innocent. Do this, and you will soon be shaken.

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Tuesday, 15 November 2016 : 33rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Albert the Great, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Revelations 3 : 1-6, 14-22

Write this to the Angel of the Church in Sardis, “Thus says He Who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars : ‘I know your worth : you think you live but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen that which is not already dead. For I have found your works to be imperfect in the sight of My God.”

“‘Remember what you were taught; keep it and change your ways. If you do not repent I will come upon you like a thief at an hour you least expect. Yet, there are some left in Sardis who have not soiled their robes; these will come with Me, dressed in white, since they deserve it. The victor will be dressed in white and I will never erase his name from the book of life; instead, I will acknowledge it before My Father and His Angels.'”

“‘Let anyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches.'”

Write this to the Angel of the Church in Laodicea, “Thus says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of God’s creation : ‘I know your works : you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! You are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold so I will spit you out of My mouth.'”

“‘You think you are rich and have piled up so much that you need nothing, but you do not realise that you are wretched and to be pitied, poor, blind and naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold that has been tested by fire, so that you may be rich, and white clothes to wear so that your nakedness may not shame you, and ointment for your eyes that you may see. I reprimand and correct all those I love. Be earnest and change your ways.'”

“‘Look, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My call and open the door, I will come in to you and have supper with you, and you with Me. I will let the victor sit with Me on My throne just as I was victorious and took My place with My Father on His throne. Let anyone who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches.'”

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Saturday, 12 November 2016 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard in the Scripture readings the about the need for us to seek the Lord without cease, asking Him for help on this journey of life we have in this world, as He made it clear through the parable of the evil judge and the old widow.

In that parable, the old widow continued to ask the evil judge to help with her case, and even though that evil judge continually refused to do so, but eventually, faced with an adamant woman who refused to back down, he relented and did so, even if that was to end the torment she was causing him.

From here we can see that God our Lord and Master will never abandon us on purpose and He will always take care of us because of His love, but it is often that we never ask for His help in the first place. In that parable, the evil judge relented to the old widow because of her persistent demands for him to oversee her case, and as Jesus said, that if the evil judge who did not care for her, eventually wanted to help her in the end, even though for different reason, then should not the Lord be moved to help us if we have asked Him?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, let us all remember what Jesus said in another occasion, ‘Seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened for you, and ask, and it shall be given to you?’ God our Father knows all of our needs and wants, He knows all the moments of our life, our every actions and deeds, all that we are doing in this world, but we ourselves need to be proactive in looking for Him, asking Him for His grace.

Too many of us are lukewarm with our faith, having our faith as just a passive observance, and for some of us, we are counted among the faithful even only on paper, meaning that while we call ourselves or label ourselves as Christians, but we do not truly believe in the Christian teachings and the ways of our Lord, and our actions and deeds are often contrary to what is expected of us Christians.

We live in a time when many of us think that faith is not important to us, and we can live in whatever ways we like, even if against the Lord’s ways. But do we realise that if we do so, we are actually bringing about scandal for our faith, for the Church, for our fellow faithful brethren and ultimately against the Lord? And the consequences for us will not be a light one.

Rather, let us today reflect on our actions and how we have lived our lives, and be inspired by what St. Josaphat Kuntsevych had done about four hundred years ago, the holy saint and martyr whose feast and memory we celebrate today. St. Josaphat Kuntsevych was once a holy man and a bishop serving the faithful of the Eastern Orthodox communion, specifically among the Ukrainians and the Russians.

At that time, the churches in Eastern and Southeastern Europe has been separated from the Mother Church in Rome for approximately five hundred years, due to the schism and separation that happened because of the unfortunate disagreement and misunderstanding between the Church of the Eastern Christendom which was centred in Constantinople, and the rest of the Universal Church under the jurisdiction of the Pope in Rome.

As a result, the communion between the two sides broke down, and the Eastern churches did not recognise the Church of Rome as the valid Church, seeing themselves as the righteous successor of the Apostles. And much grief and bitterness arose between the two Churches because of the misunderstanding and the false division among them.

And this conflict is the most difficult in places where the two Churches meet and mingle, at the region now known as Lithuania, Belorussia and Ukraine. And this was where St. Josaphat Kuntsevych led his flock, and in the occasion where an olive branch was extended between the two Churches in the Union of Brest, St. Josaphat was among those bishops who agreed to come under the true leadership of the successor of St. Peter in Rome while preserving their unique Eastern Christendom traditions.

St. Josaphat worked hard two reunite the two factions among the sheep entrusted to him as their shepherd. There were much grief and numerous difficulties in this, and many resisted the decision to reunite with the Church of Rome, resulting in violence and destruction, in killing and murder, and in much pain for the Lord and for His Church.

But St. Josaphat did not give up and continued to persevere, calling all those who have walked the wrong path to repent and to return to the truth in the Church, and for which he was martyred, when those who refused to follow his example, attacked him and murdered him in cold blood, and threw his body into the river while ransacking his church, property and all of the faithful gathered in that place.

From the examples of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, we can see how we Christians should live our lives, filled with faith, courage and strength to live that faith genuinely and with devotion. And how do we do so, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is by asking the Lord our God for His daily grace and help, that we feeble men may be able to live with zeal and strength, and with courage even when we are faced with great challenges against us.

Let us today therefore ask the Lord our God, through the intercession of the holy saint and martyr, St. Josaphat Kuntsevych, that we may grow ever stronger and more devoted in faith, and let us also pray for the eventual union of the churches and all the faithful under the rightful jurisdiction of the Vicar of Christ, the successor of St. Peter, Prince of Apostles, which is our Pope in Rome. May the Lord help us all, His beloved Church. Amen.

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Saturday, 12 November 2016 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Josaphat, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Luke 18 : 1-8

At that time, Jesus told His disciples a parable, to show them that they should pray continually, and not lose heart. He said, “In a certain town there was a judge, who neither feared God nor people. In the same town there was a widow, who kept coming to him, saying, ‘Defend my rights against my opponent!'”

“For a time he refused, but finally he thought, ‘Even though I neither fear God nor care about people, this widow bothers me so much, I will see that she gets justice; then she will stop coming and wearing me out.'”

And Jesus said, “Listen to what the evil judge says. Will God not do justice for His chosen ones, who cry to Him day and night, even if He delays in answering them? I tell you, He will speedily do them justice. But, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”