holy cardinals

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Thursday, 21 February 2019 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of God in the Scriptures speaking to us regarding the salvation which God has given to all of His people, the Covenant which He has made with all of us mankind, through which He restored us all from the state of disgrace and sin, into a renewed existence in grace and beloved by God.

God has brought Noah and his family, who alone were faithful among the many wicked and unrepentant sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, safely through the Great Flood that destroyed everything in the world, and through the Ark, brought them all into a new life on a renewed earth. And God made a new Covenant with Noah and his family, with him and all of his descendants, that include all of us living here today.

The Covenant that God has made is a Covenant of love, the promise of love between God and His beloved people, in which the two parties involved entered into a most solemn and honourable agreement and binding decision, to be committed to each other, to be devoted and to love each other with sincerity and genuine desire. And God loved His people as He has always done, not desiring their destruction but salvation and liberation from sin.

And because a Covenant is contracted between two parties and is binding between them, therefore, if God Himself has entered into the agreement with us all, and willingly committed Himself to us, then we mankind, who are also part of this same Covenant, must therefore also love God in the same manner, and commit ourselves to a loving relationship with Him. If we love God, then we must be willing to walk in His ways, and change our way of life to do what He has taught and shown us to do.

And God renewed His Covenant as we have heard in our Gospel passage today, through none other than Jesus Christ, His own beloved Son, sent into the world for this very purpose, that is to renew the Covenant He had once made with His people, with a new and everlasting Covenant that surpasses every previous Covenants, sealed with nothing less than the pure sacrifice and the Most Precious Blood of Christ, flowing down from the cross.

Yet, are we able to love Him as He has loved us so dearly? Many of us have not been able to commit ourselves in the same manner as our Lord as loved and devoted Himself to us. He has loved us so totally, so as to give everything for our sake. Many of us love instead the many tempting things in the world, not even giving our attention and time for God. We look for things such as worldly glory, fame, prestige, wealth and power.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as long as we are distracted by all of these temptations, we will not be able to give ourselves totally and wholly to God, and we will always end up failing and falling into sin again and again. We need to make the conscious effort to resist those temptations to sin. Otherwise, we will easily be swayed by the devil and all those who have always been trying to tempt us, day after day, at every moments.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Peter Damian, a holy and devout servant of God who should become our inspiration in life. St. Peter Damian was a renowned Benedictine monk who eventually rose to the rank of Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, as one of the closest confidants of the Pope, for his vigorous reforms and commitment to the renewal of the Church at the time, in which corrupt practices were rampant.

St. Peter Damian dedicated much of his life to the eradication of the wicked practices and sins present within the Church, both among the clergy and the laity at the time, when the Church members and officials were deeply embroiled in scandals pertaining their worldly ambitions and ways. St. Peter Damian led the effort to eradicate all of these excesses and wicked practices, helping the Pope at the time to steer the Church through the difficult times.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are called to follow the examples and the commitment shown by St. Peter Damian in living an upright life dedicated to God. We are called to abandon our past attachments to sin, and repent from our past disobediences. Indeed, this is not something that can be easily done, but unless we make the conscious effort to do so, we can see how the devil’s wickedness have once again struck at our Church, both among the clergy and the laity alike.

We have seen all sorts of scandals involving the clergy as well as those counted among the laity, and how all of these are causing hurts and difficulties to the efforts of the Church to bring more souls to the salvation in God. Let us therefore begin from ourselves, the effort to purify our lives and to bring about a renewal of the Covenant of love that God has made with us, through Christ, His Son, our Lord and Saviour.

Let us all turn once again wholeheartedly towards the Lord, loving Him and placing Him at the very centre of our lives. Let us all seek to walk faithfully in His ways, and do our best to obey Him from now on. May the Lord our loving God continue to love us and bless us, each and every days of our lives. Amen.

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Thursday, 21 February 2019 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Mark 8 : 27-33

At that time, Jesus set out with His disciples for the villages around Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He asked them, “Who do people say I am?” And they told Him, “Some say You are John the Baptist; others say You are Elijah or one of the prophets.”

Then Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” And He ordered them not to tell anyone about Him. Jesus then began to teach them that the Son of Man had to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. He would be killed, and after three days rise again.

Jesus said all this quite openly, so that Peter took Him aside and began to protest strongly. But Jesus turning around, and looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are thinking not as God does, but as people do.”

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Thursday, 21 February 2019 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Psalm 101 : 16-18, 19-21, 29 and 22-23

O Lord, the nations will revere Your Name, and the kings of the earth Your glory, when the Lord will rebuild Zion and appear in all His splendour. For He will answer the prayer of the needy and will not despise their plea.

Let this be written for future ages, “The Lord will be praised by a people He will form.” From His holy height in heaven, the Lord has looked on the earth to hear the groaning of the prisoners, and free those condemned to death.”

Your servants’ children will dwell secure; their posterity will endure without fail. Then the Name of the Lord will be declared in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem, when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship Him.

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Thursday, 21 February 2019 : 6th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)

Genesis 9 : 1-13

God blessed Noah and his sons and he said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. Fear and dread of you will be in all the animals of the earth and in all the birds of the air, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. They are given to you. Everything that moves and lives shall be food for you; as I gave you the green plants, I have now given you everything. Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is its blood.”

“But I will also demand a reckoning for your lifeblood. I will demand it from every animal; and from man, too, I will demand a reckoning for the life of his fellow man. He who sheds the blood of man shall have his blood shed by man; for in the image of God has God made man. As for you, be fruitful and increase. Abound on the earth and be master of it.”

God spoke to Noah and his son, “See I am making a covenant with you and with your descendants after you; also with every living animal with you : birds, cattle, that is, with every living creature of the earth that came out of the Ark. I establish My covenant with you. Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I make between Me and you, and every animal living with you for all future generations. I set My bow in the clouds and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.”

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Tuesday, 21 February 2017 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day all of us heard the passages from the Sacred Scriptures telling us the true meaning of being a servant of God, as those who have been called to serve Him and to be the instruments of His will in this world. Through all of these God is telling us the true meaning of service, and how we ought to serve Him with all of our heart.

As those who follow the Lord, all of us Christians must be humble in heart and be patient, as the persecutions and sufferings of this world will come to us for sure, and we will face many obstacles on our path, but we must persevere through or else we will fall into temptation and into sin. We must help one another in our path, and we must remain true to our calling as Christians, to be what the Lord had shown us all to do.

Jesus Himself had shown us the way forward, as He showed it through His own actions in life. He is a King, Lord and Master over the whole universe, over all of creation, and yet, He has willingly emptied Himself of His majesty, and came down to us in the form of a Man, taking up our own flesh, so that He might walk among us, and through His works, and by the ultimate sacrifice He made on the cross, all of us can be saved.

While the disciples grumbled and debated among themselves, on who among them ought to be the greatest and the first among all of them, Jesus showed them that in order to follow Him and become His disciple, all must learn humility, obedience and faith, just as Jesus Himself was humble and obedient, obeying the will of His Father, and enduring everything so that by His humble obedience, He became the source of salvation and hope for so many people.

Jesus is teaching us all the meaning of servant leadership. As a leader, truly as the Lord and Master of all, He did not lord it over all those who had been placed under His care. Instead, He showed genuine care and love for them, and He gave Himself wholeheartedly as their leader, guide and shepherd. That was why He represented Himself as the Good Shepherd, Who was willing to even lay down His life for His sheep, namely all of His beloved people.

He humbled Himself before all, even to the point of washing His disciples’ feet. Even though some of them like St. Peter objected to this, but Jesus explained to them through His action the true meaning of service and love. He Himself said that He has done that in order to be followed by His disciples, the action of selflessness and loving one another.

He showed us all that as Christians, we should not act proudly or arrogantly, and we should not boast of our own strength, ability and achievements. Otherwise, we are not true Christians in the sense that, we are not doing what Jesus Himself had done. Instead, to be a true Christian means for us to be selfless in all of our words, actions and deeds, putting others ahead of ourselves, and to love others genuinely, showing real care and concern for each other’s well-being.

Today, we also celebrate the feast day of one of the great saints of the Church, namely St. Peter Damian, a renowned holy and pious man, and also a Benedictine monk whose role in the reforms of the Church approximately more that nine centuries ago could not be overlooked. He was an important part of the effort to reform the practices of the Church led by the Pope at that time, who also appointed St. Peter Damian to be one of the Cardinals of the Church.

As a Cardinal, St. Peter Damian was very influential, and indeed, that position was supposed to bring him great honour, prestige and power, as well as authority and influence. Yet, even though he has been given such a great honour by the Church, he remained very humble and dedicated, and unlike some others who were tempted by the worldly glory and all the temptations of worldliness, wealth and other vices.

He continued to devote his time and efforts to help reform the Church, and through his efforts and writings, he helped to make the Church a more holy place and a more holy institution free from the corruption of the world. His humility and piety were noted by many others, who were also inspired to follow in his footsteps, making the whole Church more committed and true to its roots in the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all renew our commitment together to live more faithfully as Christians, following all the ways of our Lord, being humble in all things and obey all the laws and commandments of our God. May the Lord help us, and through the intercession of St. Peter Damian, may we grow ever closer to God and be ever more faithful, every days of our life. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 February 2017 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Mark 9 : 30-37

At that time, after leaving the place where He cast out evil spirit from a deaf and dumb boy, Jesus and His disciples made their way through Galilee, but He did not want people to know where He was because He was teaching His disciples. And He told them, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill Him, but three days after He has been killed, He will rise.”

The disciples, however, did not understand these words and they were afraid to ask Him what He meant. They came to Capernaum and, once inside the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they did not answer, because they had been arguing about who was the greatest.

Then He sat down, called the Twelve and said to them, “If someone wants to be first, let him be last of all and servant of all.” Then He took a little child, placed him in their midst, and putting His arms around him, He said to them, “Whoever welcomes a child such as this in My Name, welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes not Me but the One Who sent Me.”

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Tuesday, 21 February 2017 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Psalm 36 : 3-4, 18-19, 27-28, 39-40

Trust in the Lord and do good, dwell in the land and live on it. Make the Lord your delight, and He will grant your heart’s desire.

The Lord watches over the lives of the upright; forever will their inheritance abide. They are not crushed in times of calamity; when famine strikes, they still are satisfied.

Do good and shun evil, so that you will live secure forever. For the Lord loves justice and right, and never forsakes His faithful ones. The wicked instead will perish and their breed will be cut off.

The Lord is the salvation of the righteous; in time of distress, He is their refuge. The Lord helps them, and rescues them from the oppressor; He saves them for they sought shelter in Him.

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Tuesday, 21 February 2017 : 7th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Bishops)
Sirach 2 : 1-13 (Greek Septuagint version – Sirach 2 : 1-11)

My son, if you have decided to serve the Lord, prepare yourselves for trials. Keep your heart upright and remain resolute; do not be upset in the time of adversity. Hold fast to the Lord, do not separate yourself from Him so that you may be successful to the end of your days.

Accept all that happens to you, be patient when you are humbled, for as gold is tested in the fire, so those acceptable to God are tested in the crucible of humiliation. Have confidence in Him and He will take care of you; follow the right path and hope in Him.

You who fear the Lord, wait for His mercy and do not turn away lest you fall. You who fear the Lord, trust Him and you will not lose your reward. You who fear the Lord, hope for all good things; hope for eternal joy and mercy. Remember what happened to your ancestors. Who has ever trusted in the Lord and been confounded? Who has persevered in fear of the Lord and been abandoned? Who has called upon Him and not been heard?

For the Lord is compassion and loving kindness; He forgives our sins and saves us in time of distress.

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Sunday, 21 February 2016 : Second Sunday of Lent, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard in our first reading from the Book of Genesis, of the covenant which God had made with Abraham, the father of many nations and our father in faith. God established His everlasting covenant with him and with his descendants because of the faith and the righteousness that he had constantly showed Him.

God showed His love and His favour to those who have been faithful to Him, and Abraham showed to us how the faithful will earn a place of honour among those whom God has blessed and favoured. All those who have listened to God and who have walked in His path has no need to fear, since God Himself will protect them, and He shall send His Angels to guard them from harm and to keep them in His path.

In the second reading, St. Paul reminded the faithful and the Church that those who followed the ways of the world were heading towards ruin and destruction, and they shall face damnation in hell. And he reminded them that those who are in the Church belong to God’s kingdom, and they therefore are bound by the covenant which God had established with them, and thus, they have to fulfil their part of the covenant.

God has always been faithful, but have we always been faithful as well? We should ask this question to ourselves as we go through this season of Lent. More often than not we are not faithful, and we often waver in our commitment to our part of the covenant, and we often were swayed by the temptations of this world and the temptations of pleasure and other things that keep us from staying in the right path towards the Lord.

In the Gospel today, we heard about our Lord Jesus Who was transfigured in glory, Who revealed His true glory among His three disciples, and He showed His light that shone brightly without compare, and in that account about the Transfiguration, we see how God is always faithful to His covenant, which He had first established with Abraham, and which He then maintained and renewed with His servants David and then the people after that, through His prophets and messengers.

God promised Abraham greatness and eternal grace to him and his descendants, and He promised David that his kingdom will never end, and his descendants shall sit on his throne forever. And all these were fulfilled in Jesus, Son of God, Son of Abraham, Son of David, the Heir of the throne of David and the Saviour of the whole race of mankind, all the children of Abraham.

Those who would believe in Him, and put their faith in Him, and those who commit themselves to obey Him and His teachings, shall not be disappointed, for if they honour their part of the covenant, God too shall reward them with everlasting grace and blessings. The Transfiguration has two important lessons and meanings for us, and it is important that we take note of them.

Firstly, through the transfiguration of His earthly flesh, Jesus our Lord showed that all the faithful ones in God shall also be transformed in body, mind and soul and receive the glory of heaven which has been promised and intended for them. They shall share the glory of the Lord, and everything wicked and impure will be cast out from them. They shall enjoy forever the fruits of the covenant that they have established with God and managed to maintain faithfully.

And then, Jesus Who was transfigured did not remain in that mountain for long. The three disciples of Jesus, Peter, James and John wanted to build three tents for Jesus, Elijah and Moses, because they enjoyed being in the presence of the glory of God. They felt the safety and the security, the comfort of being in the presence of God, as they would have feared no evil and obstacles on their path.

But Jesus told them that in order to follow Him, and to be truly faithful to the covenant of God, then one must realise that the ways of this world are not always in accordance or in harmony with the ways of the Lord. On the other hand, conflict will always arise whenever we are to choose the Lord and His ways over that of the approved ways of the world.

But we must not be afraid or be hesitant as many people had done in the past. If we are truly faithful to the Lord and to the covenant which He had established with us and our ancestors, then He will ensure that nothing will harm our eternal soul. Yes, indeed, suffering and pain may come upon our flesh, our earthly bodies that may be subjected under the powers of the world, but nothing can harm our soul but God alone.

If we want to follow the Lord our God, and accept the covenant which He had created for us, and which He is fulfilling with us, even now, then He shall bless us with eternal life, eternal happiness and glory with Him, but it will not be an easy path for us. It requires total commitment and devotion, as Jesus Himself had fulfilled His end of the covenant, by suffering a great deal and being crucified for our own sins.

In this season of Lent, shall we commit ourselves anew to the Lord, to His laws and precepts, and to obey Him in all things as the part we need to do as our part of the covenant? God offered us His love and mercy, but He has also granted us the free will to choose whether we want to embrace His love and mercy, or whether we prefer to choose the world and its wickedness, and all the temptations of pleasure instead of the love of God.

May God help us to remain faithful to Him and to His covenant with us. May He strengthen our faith and our resolve to live in accordance with what He had wanted us to live in, and may all of us grow stronger in our love and devotion for Him. May Almighty God bless us all and forgive us our sins, and may He grant us the gift of everlasting life in our righteousness. Amen.

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Sunday, 21 February 2016 : Second Sunday of Lent, Memorial of St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (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 talking 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.