holy martyrdom

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Thursday, 21 January 2016 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Samuel 18 : 6-9 and 1 Samuel 19 : 1-7

When David and his men arrived after he had slain the Philistine, the women came out from the cities of Israel to meet king Saul singing and dancing with timbrels and musical instruments. They were merrily singing this song : “Saul has slain his thousands, and David, his tens of thousands.”

Saul was very displeased with this song and said, “They have given tens of thousands to David but to me only thousands! By now he has everything but the kingdom!” From then on, Saul became very distrustful of David.

Saul told his son Jonathan and his servants of his intention to kill David. But Jonathan, who liked David very much, said to David, “My father Saul wants to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning and hide yourself in a secret place. I will go out and keep my father company in the countryside where you are and I will speak to him about you. If I find out something, I will let you know.”

Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said, “Let not the king sin against his servant David for he has not sinned against you. On the contrary, what he has done has benefitted you. He risked his life in killing the Philistine and YHVH brought about a great victory for Israel. You yourself saw this and greatly rejoiced. Why then sin against innocent blood and kill David without cause?”

Saul heeded Jonathan’s plea and swore, “As YHVH lives, he shall not be put to death.” So Jonathan called David and told him all these things. He then brought him to Saul and David was back in Saul’s service as before.

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Wednesday, 20 January 2016 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard in our first reading from the book of the prophet Samuel, the story which all of us should be familiar with, namely the story of the duel between David, the future king of Israel, then no more than a mere young shepherd, small in stature but filled with great courage and love for God, and Goliath, the great champion of the Philistines, who was massive in stature and mighty in warfare.

To those who were there, certainly there could have been no doubt in their minds, who would emerge victorious. They would have thought that there was no way the feeble and apparently weak David could have stood any chance at all before the mighty Philistine warrior, not even the Israelites and king Saul themselves. And yet, God proved to all of them, that as long as His hand is with His chosen and anointed ones, there is nothing that is impossible.

Yet, the people of God were often so limited in their minds, as they thought with the thoughts and ways of the world, becoming preoccupied with the many concerns of the world, to the point that they were unable to comprehend God’s love and providence. In the same way the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had acted during the time of Jesus, as they stubbornly refused to listen to our Lord’s teachings, and preferring to stick to the narrow viewpoint and wisdom that they had with regards to the obedience to the Law.

It was rightful for our Lord Jesus to be angry at all of these people, for in their stubborn resistance and refusal to listen to the truth, they blindly obeyed the commandments of the Law of God, thinking that the strict laws and regulations of the Sabbath days should be adhered to with greatest enforcement and obedience, without any exemption or bending from the words of the Law.

But they failed to understand that God is Love, and His law is the symbol and representation of that love which He had for us all. It was the stubbornness and the easily distracted nature of the people of Israel that God had given such a strict rule in order to help them to detach from all of their stubborn attitudes, and to find a time to spend in devotion to the Lord their God.

The purpose of the Sabbath day is to remind the people that out of their busy life and daily schedules, they ought to spend some time with the Lord, and this is the purpose of the Sabbath, to stop working and being so occupied with the matters of the world that the people simply forgot about the Lord. It is a Law meant to help the people of God closer to Him, but was never intended to be a burden to them.

The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law were examples of those who have forgotten the loving comforts of God’s care and protection. If only that they remembered the time when David defeated the Philistine warrior Goliath! It showed how God loved all those who also loved Him and devoted themselves to Him, and what better way to devote oneself to Him other than to do His will, that is to do good and to love one another?

Today we remember the love that God has for us, and the protection and providence He shall provide for all those who keep their faith in Him without fear and with great courage. Let us heed the examples of the two great saints, whose trust and devotion to God can be our examples. They were both martyrs of the Faith, who died defending their faith in the Lord, and also in their great dedication to the suffering people of God.

Pope St. Fabian was a great servant of God and leader of the entire Universal Church in his capacity as Pope, who served the people of God and the Church faithfully, and who gave up his own life willingly under the great persecution under the Roman Emperor Decius, who was very hostile to the Christian faith, and who had commanded the great persecution to be launched against the faithful.

Pope Fabian did not fear the suffering and the persecution by those who have tried to destroy the faithful and the Church. Even despite rising persecution by the Emperor Decius, he continued to serve the faithful as usual, and his leadership and exemplary faith helped the faithful to continue living courageously despite all the difficulties that they faced.

Meanwhile, St. Sebastian the Martyr was a Roman army commander who served during the time of the great persecution of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, one of the last of those who sought to destroy the Church and the faithful. He was a Christian who secretly served in the army, and when the time came for some Christians to be killed for their faith, St. Sebastian helped them out, and he even convinced a local official and his family to convert to the true faith.

Eventually he was found out, that he was a Christian, as well as his actions in helping other Christians, and the furious Emperor ordered him to be tied to a tree and shot with arrows, left to die at the roadside. Miraculously, he was not harmed by the arrows, and he appeared at the place where the Emperor was to pass, and rebuked him for his actions against the Church and the faithful.

In the end, he met his end in death, but he did not certainly regret dying in faith and in defending his faith in the Lord, and for the glory of the Lord Himself. The examples of Pope St. Fabian and St. Sebastian, holy martyrs of our Faith should be inspiration to all of us today, that all of us ought to put our trust in the Lord and devote ourselves ever more to Him.

Let us all therefore commit ourselves to the Lord, not just in word, but also in actions and deeds, so that through our genuine and sincere faith, and by understanding His love for us, we may all draw closer to Him, and find our way to the eternal life and salvation which we can only find in Him. May God bless us all in our endeavours. Amen.

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Wednesday, 20 January 2016 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Mark 3 : 1-6

At that time, again Jesus entered the synagogue. A man, who had a paralysed hand, was there and some people watched Jesus : would He heal the man on the Sabbath? If He did, they could accuse Him.

Jesus said to the man with the paralysed hand, “Stand here in the centre.” Then He asked them, “What does the Law allow us to do on the Sabbath? To do good or to do harm? To save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

Then Jesus looked around at them with anger and deep sadness, because they had closer their minds. And He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was healed.

As soon as the Pharisees left, they met with Herod’s supporters, looking for a way to destroy Jesus.

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Wednesday, 20 January 2016 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 143 : 1, 2, 9-10

Blessed be the Lord, my Rock, Who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.

My loving God, my Fortress; my Protector and Deliverer, my Shield where I take refuge, Who conquers nations and subjects them to my rule.

I will sing a new song to You, o God, I will make music on the ten-stringed harp, for You Who give victory to kings and deliver David, Your servant.

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Wednesday, 20 January 2016 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr, and St. Sebastian, Martyr, and Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs)

1 Samuel 17 : 32-33, 37, 40-51

David said to Saul, “Let no one be discouraged on account of this Philistine, for your servant will engage him in battle.” Saul told David, “You cannot fight with this Philistine for you are still young, whereas this man has been a warrior from his youth.”

David continued, “YHVH, Who delivered me from the paws of lions and bears, will deliver me from the hands of the Philistine.” Saul then told David, “Go and may YHVH be with you!”

David took his staff, picked up five smooth stones from the brook and dropped them inside his shepherd’s bag. And with his sling in hand, he drew near to the Philistine. The Philistine moved forward, closing in on David, his shield-bearer in front of him. When he saw that David was only a lad, (he was of fresh complexion and handsome) he despised him and said, “Am I a dog that you should approach me with a stick?”

Cursing David by his gods, he continued, “Come and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field!” David answered the Philistine, “You have come against me with sword, spear and javelin, but I come against you with YHVH, the God of the armies of Israel Whom you have defied. YHVH will deliver you this day into my hands and I will strike you down and cut off your head.”

“I will give the corpses of the Philistine army today to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, and all the earth shall know that there is a God of Israel. All the people gathered here shall know that YHVH saves not by sword or spear; the battle belongs to YHVH, and He will deliver you into our hands.”

No sooner had the Philistine moved to attack him, than David rushed to the battleground. Putting his hand into his bag, he took out a stone, slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead; it penetrated his forehead and he fell on his face to the ground.

David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, felling him without using a sword. He rushed forward, stood over him, took the Philistine’s sword and slew him by cutting off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they scattered in all directions.

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Saturday, 26 December 2015 : Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we mark the celebration of the feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr or the Protomartyr of the Church and the Faith, which means that he was officially recognised to be the first to lay down his life for the sake of God and for the sake of his faith after the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

St. Stephen, if we read the Acts of the Apostles, was one of the seven holy servants of God whom had been chosen by the Apostles themselves to be a new order of those who have been chosen to distribute the graces, goods and blessings of the faithful to those who have less, the poor ones and the less fortunate ones. He was one of the seven original deacons of the Church.

He served the people of God faithfully and the Holy Spirit was with him, and filled with the Holy Spirit, he was filled with courage and strength to proclaim the good works of God’s salvation to the people, and to testify courageously and without fear the truth which had been revealed through Jesus Christ, the Lord and Saviour of the world. And yet, we also heard of those who sought to destroy the faithful and the Church, those who refused to believe in the truth.

Yes, and these persecuted the faithful people of God, and St. Stephen was the first to bear the brunt of their attacks and their wrath. He suffered and was persecuted, and yet if we see his great testimony in the first reading today and in the Acts of the Apostles, then we all should know how courageous and fearless he was as he spoke in the defence of his faith to the Lord, the true faith in the Lord Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

He did not even fear for his life or be discouraged by the whole multitudes of those who sought to silence him and destroy him, the whole assembly of the Sanhedrin, the elders of Israel and the Pharisees. Instead, just as our Lord had spoken in the Gospel today, the Holy Spirit gave St. Stephen the strength, the inspiration, the courage and the eloquence of words to preach the Good News of God’s salvation to them.

And he led an exemplary Christian life to the end, and imitated Jesus our Lord Himself in what He had done on the cross. That is when he had been tortured and brought to die by stoning, he forgave his accusers and enemies, just as Jesus had done Himself, and he surrendered himself completely to God Who had guided him and protected him all those while.

One may then wonder how come we are talking about martyrdom and death, the death of a faithful servant of the Lord on the day just after the revelry, the merrymaking and the joy of the Christmas day? Indeed, as the peak of the Christmas celebrations last for a week, this is still right in the middle of the Christmas celebration and joy. Therefore, why is this so, brethren in Christ?

That is because, the nature of Christmas and its reality cannot be separated from what we remember today in what St. Stephen and also the many other martyrs of the Church had done. These holy men and women were those who had dared to stand up for what they believe in the Lord God Who came down to us in the form of Man, and Who had given up Himself to be crucified and to be our sacrifice for our salvation.

Despite the opposition, the ridicule and the enormous pressures being meted out against them, and the threat against their own safety and their very own lives, these holy men and women, and chief of all represented by the very first one to be counted among them, St. Stephen, all of them had shown the resolve and the desire to remain faithful to the Lord despite all odds.

And let us ask ourselves, that if God had loved us so much and gave us so many blessings and graces, to the point of even giving Himself for our sake, to suffer and to die for us, shall we not do the same for us as well? God does not require long prayers or commitment of the flesh and the words, but what He truly desired from us is our love and complete dedicatiod to Him. May Almighty god strengthen our resolve to live our lives ever more devoted and commited to Him in every way conceivable.

Therefore, remembering the examples of these holy martyrs, and chief of all, St. Stephen, let us all remember what we have rejoiced for on Christmas day yesterday, and as we continue to glorify the Lord and rejoice in this Christmas season, let us all remind ourselves of the need to be courageous and to be willing to defend the same thing that we believe in, if we are to resist the temptation of sin and of the world, and remain true to the calling which God had given us through Christ, our Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 26 December 2015 : Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 10 : 17-22

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples and to the people, “Be on your guard with people, for they will hand you over to their courts, and they will flog you in their synagogues. You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of Me, so you may witness to them and the pagans.”

“But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say, or how you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. For it is not you who will speak, but the Spirit of your Father in you.”

“Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against parents and have them put to death. Everyone will hate you because of Me, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved.”

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Saturday, 26 December 2015 : Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 30 : 3cd-4, 6 and 8ab, 16bc and 17

Be a Rock of refuge for me, a fortress for my safety. For You are my Rock and my Stronghold, lead me for Your Name’s sake.

Into Your hands I commend my spirit; You have redeemed me, o Lord, faithful God. I will rejoice and be glad in Your love, for You have seen my affliction.

Deliver me from the hand of my enemies, from those after my skin. Make Your face shine upon Your servant; save me in Your love.

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Saturday, 26 December 2015 : Feast of St. Stephen, Protomartyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Acts 6 : 8-10 and Acts 7 : 54-59

Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. Some persons then came forward, who belonged to the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia. They argued with Stephen but they could not match the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke.

When the elders and the teachers of the Law heard the reproach spoken by Stephen, they were enraged and they gnashed their teeth against him. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at God’s right hand; so he declared : “I see the heavens open and the Son of Man at the right hand of God.”

But they shouted and covered their ears with their hands and rushed together upon him. They brought him out of the city and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, saying : “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

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Sunday, 13 December 2015 : Third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, Memorial of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or Rose (Gaudete Sunday)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday, you may notice that the vestments, the altar cloth and the colours used today is different from the usual one used during the Advent season, that is, instead of the usual violet, the colour used today is rose. And there are only two occasions in the whole year when the colour rose is used, that is during today, the Gaudete Sunday, and then on one time during the Lenten season, that is the Laetare Sunday.

This Sunday is called the Gaudete Sunday because of the first words of the Antiphon for this Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, which in Latin sounds as “Gaudete in Domino semper…” which then translates to “Rejoice in the Lord always…” and thus, this Sunday we celebrate the aspect of joy of the Advent season, out of the four aspects of faith, hope, joy and love.

On this Sunday, the use of rose as the colour of the occasion mark a brief pause in the penitential nature of the season of Advent. The colour violet represent the time of renewal, of change, of introspection and of repentance from sins, the time of preparation in order to prepare ourselves well to be able to meaningfully celebrate with full participation, the occasion of Christmas, for the season of Advent, and the occasion of Easter for the season of Lent.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, indeed, during this season of Lent, it is a time for us to be prepared and be ready to celebrate Christmas with the true direction and orientation of the heart, and that is why we always have a confession and penitential session scheduled before the coming of Christmas during the Advent, so that having had our sins confessed and forgiven, we may truly and joyfully rejoice at the Lord’s coming and celebrate His majestic birth into the world.

But it does not mean that this season should be filled with gloom and darkness, or with sadness and despair. Instead, in this season, it means that it is important for us to discover the true joy that we ought to have and celebrate in the upcoming time of Christmas. What we have to be careful is that, on one side, we should not be so afraid and fearful so as to forget the joy we ought to have, and on the other side, we should not have the wrong kind of joy to celebrate this Christmas.

It is very easy for us to be distracted during this season, to be joyful for the wrong reasons. As I have often explained, during the time of Christmas, and even during the time preceding it, many of us became trapped by the commercial and materialistic excesses of how the world celebrate Christmas, through all the goods and secular celebrations that go on to exclude Christ from the celebrations that should have been centred on Him.

Christmas is a time for joy and celebration, and yet in our revelry and merrymaking, we often forget for whom it is that we rejoice, that is not just for ourselves individually, but as the whole creation of the Lord, joining our voices and praises together to our God, through Whom, our salvation had been made possible. It was through His commitment and dedication to us, His love for us, that we have hope for salvation.

Yes, as we speak of joy today during this moment of the Gaudete Sunday, it is truly perfect and very proper indeed to speak of the one true joy, that is Christ Who is our Joy. If we forget about the Joy of Christmas, then we can just forget about the entirety of the celebrations that we make during the time of Christmas, as our celebrations would be empty and meaningless.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, let us all reflect and look deep into our own lives, and especially into our own preparation for the coming of Christmas. Do we truly have Joy in us? And why did I stress on Joy? That is because of the fact that our joy lies not in money, possessions, goods or in the things that the world can give, for these do not give us true and everlasting joy.

Instead, it is only in the Lord our God, that we can find true and lasting Joy, a joy that transcends everything and is beyond anything and any other joys that we can find. But sadly, in the midst of our enjoying of the joys and the happiness that the world offers us, we conveniently and easily forgets about Him, through Whom we may have lasting joy, and instead we often choose to take shortcuts in finding joy.

So let us ask ourselves, shall we continue on our own path as per usual, immersing ourselves completely in the festivities of Christmas without fully understanding what Christmas is truly about? Or shall we start to make a difference to our own lives, by discovering that no matter how many gifts we give or receive, or how many gifts and presents we exchanged with each other, no matter the amount of decorations we put around the Christmas tree and in our houses, the joy of Christmas is truly not in all of these.

No, it is not wrong to do all these, but we have to realise that all these are just like the icing of a cake, the ornaments and the decorations that can be excluded if necessary, but not the matter of the cake itself. For a cake that has no matter of the cake, that is the baked mixture of the flour, sugar, egg and other components is not a cake, and an icing without a cake inside, does not constitute a cake.

Thus, our Christmas joys and celebrations must be centred upon the essence of Christmas itself, Who is none other than Jesus, our Lord. He is the One Whom we are celebrating this Christmas, for it was the day of His birth into this world, a Saviour long awaited by the world long suffering in the darkness, that through His Light, a new hope arises again in the hearts of men.

So, as we celebrate and rejoice, let us keep our Lord Jesus Christ at the heart of our joyous celebration, and just as our Lord Jesus would do, let us all share the joy and happiness that we have with us, so that we do not selfishly keep whatever blessings have been given to us, and share them with those who have less or none. And if we are afraid that our joy will be less, then perhaps we should heed the wise words, “Shared joys are double joys.”

Therefore, let us all on this Gaudete Sunday, rejoice and exult in the presence of our God. And let us all find a renewed energy and commitment to be joyful, not just for ourselves, but for each and every one of us, and not for the goods of this world or for all the pleasures that they can offer us, but rather because we know that through Christ, we have been made whole and freed from all taints of sin. May God our Joy bless us all and strengthen us in our faith towards Him. Amen.