holy martyrs

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Saturday, 14 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Callixtus I, Pope and Martyr (First Reading)

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

Joel 4 : 12-21

Rise up, o people, and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, nations. Bring a sickle for the harvest is ripe; come and tread, for the wine press is full, and the vats overflow; so great is their wickedness! Multitudes and more multitudes in the Valley of Verdict! The day of YHVH is near in the Valley of Verdict! The sun and the moon become dark, the stars lose their radiance.

YHVH roars from Zion and raises His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth are shaken. Indeed, YHVH is a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the Israelites. You will know that I am YHVH, your God, dwelling on Zion, My holy mountain. Jerusalem will be a holy place; and foreigners will never pass through there again.

On that day, the mountains shall drip wine and the hills flow with milk; all the streams of Judah will run with water; and a fountain will spring from the house of YHVH, and water the valley of Shittim. On the other hand, Egypt will be devastated; and Edom will become a deserted wasteland, because they committed violence against Judah and shed innocent blood in their country.

But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jerusalem through all generations. And I shall avenge their blood and not leave it unpunished, for YHVH dwells in Zion.

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Monday, 9 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the Sacred Scriptures in which we are challenged as Christians to be ever more ready and willing to devote our effort and works for the sake of those who are in need of our help. For ultimately our faith cannot be kept within us alone, but instead we must share this faith which we have, and make use of whatever blessings God had given us, for the good of each other.

In the first reading today, we heard from the Book of the prophet Jonah, of the time when God called Jonah to be the instrument of His will, to deliver the message to the people of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, that their city together with the entire inhabitants would be destroyed because of the great sins which the Assyrians had committed. But Jonah refused to obey God, and instead he tried to flee the Lord to a faraway land.

Jonah ran away because he was hesitant, and he was unwilling to do what the Lord had wanted him to do. Instead, he tried to do his own will, and fled to the faraway land on a ship. Yet, God reminded him in His own way, that no matter what he tried to do, if the Lord had willed something, His will shall be done. Thus, when the storm came upon the ship carrying Jonah, the shipmen had no choice but to throw him into the water, and a great whale took him in its belly for three days and nights before releasing him on the shore.

Eventually, Jonah continued on and did what the Lord had asked him to do, and as a result, through his warning of the doom awaiting the city and people of Nineveh, the whole city repented from their sins, from the king to the least among the slaves and inhabitants, and showed true and sincere remorse before God. And God stayed His hand, sparing the population of Nineveh and the city the destruction He had planned for them.

Had Jonah continued to refuse to obey the Lord, the city would not have turned away from its sins, and God’s punishment would still be carried out even though it might have gone unannounced. And many more people would have been damned because of the failure of one man to do what he could have done to avoid the catastrophic outcome. And it is a similar case which the Gospel passage today also presented us.

In the Gospel passage, we heard the familiar story of the Good Samaritan, a parable which the Lord Jesus spoke to the people, including the Pharisees, to show them that it was in doing what was pleasing to God, that a man is considered to be righteous, as exemplified in the person of the Good Samaritan. It will also be good if we can understand the nuances and the context of the story as told by Jesus, as we can then truly understand why the Lord Jesus came up with such a parable.

The Jewish people, especially the priests and the Pharisees often looked down on the Samaritans and criticised them as pagans. On the other hand, they looked on themselves as pious and holy, as those whom God had chosen out from the many nations to be His people, and they were fiercely proud about that fact. However, their pride and their stubbornness ended up becoming the sources of their downfall.

In the story that Jesus told the people, three people passed by the man on the way from Jerusalem to Jericho, who was attacked by bandits and left to die on the road. The priest and the Levite passed by without stopping to help the poor man, who without any help would surely end up dead. Instead, it was a Samaritan passing by, who stopped and showed compassion on the man.

Jesus was not glorifying the Samaritan or chastising the Jewish priest or the Levite by the fact of their background and race. Rather, through the story, He chastised the inaction of the people who were supposed to be holy and pious, in their mind. Those people were perfectly capable of helping the man, and yet, they ignored him and walked past by. The Samaritan was praised because of his action, and the fact that he ignored the prejudices existing between the two peoples, that a Jew ought to have no interaction whatsoever with a Samaritan and vice versa.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of these that we have heard today are reminders for us that as Christians we should not be idle or be lukewarm in our faith. We cannot be passive as Christians, or thinking selfishly only about our own salvation and not be concerned about others. Instead, we have to actively reach out to others, just as our Lord Jesus taught us to love our brethren, and commanded us just as He had commanded His disciples to preach the Good News to all the peoples.

Perhaps we should follow the examples of the holy saints whose feast we celebrate today. St. Denis and his companions were the holy martyrs of the Roman Empire’s persecution of Christians during the time of the Emperor Decius. He was the Bishop of Paris, and together with his companions in martyrdom, were arrested because of their Christian faith. As they refused to recant their faith and abandon the Lord, they were persecuted and tortured.

In the end, they were martyred by beheading. But miraculously, it was told that St. Denis continued to preach to the people around him after his head had been separated from his body. Many people were inspired by this action, a miracle of God that strengthened the hearts of the faithful and stirred the faith in many others who witnessed the miraculous spectacle. St. Denis preached for several more miles before he died.

Meanwhile, St. John Leonardi was a renowned priest and hardworking servant of God, who went out of his way to help educate the youths in his areas of work about the faith and spread the devotion to the Lord, through the dedication to the Blessed Virgin Mary as well as the popular Forty Hours devotion to the Lord. Through the works of St. John Leonardi, many people were turned from their sins, and became righteous and worthy of God.

As we can see, brothers and sisters in Christ, that the servants of God must be active in their faith, and must be ready to stand up for the Lord whenever it is necessary. And as we heard today from the Scriptures, there are truly many opportunities around us in which we are able to do our part to contribute as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord and walk in His ways.

Let us all therefore, heed the call of the Lord, and do our best in order to devote our time, effort and attention to those who need us. Let us all renew our commitment in faith to God, so that we will always be ever faithful to Him, and be zealous in how we live our lives just as the holy saints, St. Denis and his companions, and St. John Leonardi had lived theirs. May God bless us always. Amen.

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Monday, 9 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Luke 10 : 25-37

At that time, then a teacher of the Law came and began putting Jesus to the test. And he said, “Master, what shall I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do You understand it?” The man answered, “It is written : You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

Jesus replied, “What a good answer! Do this and you shall live.” The man wanted to justify his question, so he asked, “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus then said, “There was a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him, beat him and went off, leaving him half-dead.”

“It happened that a priest was going along that road and saw the man, but passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite saw the man, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan also was going that way; and when he came upon the man, he was moved with compassion. He went over to him, and cleaned his wounds with oil and wine, and wrapped them in bandages. Then he put him on his own mount, and brought him to an inn, where he took care of him.”

“The next day, he had to set off; but he gave two silver coins to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you spend on him, I will repay when I return.'” Jesus then asked, “Which of these three, do you think, made himself neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The teacher of the Law answered, “The one who had mercy on him.” And Jesus said, “Then go and do the same.”

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Monday, 9 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Jonah 2 : 3, 4, 5, 8

In my distress I cried to YHVH, and He answered me; from the belly of the netherworld You heard my voice when I called.

You cast me into the abyss, into the very heart of the sea, and the currents swirled about me; all Your breakers and Your billows passed over, engulfing me.

Then I thought : I have been cast out from Your presence, but I keep on looking to Your holy Temple.

When my soul was fainting within me, I remembered YHVH, and before You, rose my prayer up to Your holy Temple.

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Monday, 9 October 2017 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Jonah 1 : 1 – Jonah 2 : 1, 11

The word of YHVH came to Jonah, son of Amittai, “Go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach against it, because I have known its wickedness.”

But Jonah decided to flee from YHVH and go to Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, found a ship bound for Tarshish, and paid the fare. Then he boarded it and went into the hold of the ship, journeying with them to Tarshish, far away from YHVH.

YHVH stirred up a storm wind on the sea, so there was a sea tempest, which threatened to destroy the ship. The sailors took fright, and each cried out to his own god. To lighten the ship, they threw its cargo into the sea. Meanwhile Jonah had gone into the hold of the ship, where he lay fast asleep. The captain came upon him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your God. Perhaps He will be mindful of us and will not allow us to die here.”

The sailors said to each other, “Let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this disaster.” So they dod, and the lot fell on Jonah. They questioned him, “So you are responsible for this evil that has come upon us? Tell us where you are from. What is your country, your nationality?” And Jonah told them his story, “I am a Hebrew and I worship YHVH, God of heaven Who made the sea and the land…”

As they knew that he was fleeing from YHVH, the sailors were seized with great fear and said to him, “What a terrible thing have you done! What shall we do with you now, to make the sea calm down?” The sea was growing more and more agitated.

He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. It will quiet down, for I know it is because of me that this storm has come.” The sailors, however, still did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea had grown much rougher than before. Then they called on YHVH, “O YHVH, do not let us perish for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us guilty of shedding innocent blood. For You, YHVH, have done this as You have thought right.”

They took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm again. At this the men were seized with great fear of YHVH. They offered a sacrifice to YHVH and made vows to Him. YHVH provided a large fish which swallowed Jonah. He remained in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Then YHVH gave His command to the fish, and it belched out Jonah onto dry land.

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Wednesday, 20 September 2017 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr, St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Martyr, St. Paul Chong Ha-sang and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard from the Scriptures of the contradiction that came from the world, its expectation from us, and how we ought to live in accordance with God’s ways regardless of what the world demands from us. In the Gospel Jesus mentioned to His disciples how the world always refused to acknowledge God and His works, finding a reason at all times to find fault with Him and His servants.

Now, all of us as Christians are given the choice, whether we all want to be conforming to the world that we may be accepted and welcomed, or whether we should remain true wholeheartedly to our faith in God, obeying His ways and His laws, despite the opposition and disapproval from the Lord. We need to make a choice, brothers and sisters in Christ, for if we are lukewarm or if we are ambivalent, we will end up getting nothing in the end, neither righteousness in God, or approval from the world, and we will fall nonetheless.

We should instead be inspired by the examples of the holy martyrs and saints who predeceased us, what they have done in their lives, and how they have stood up to their faith despite the challenges and the suffering they had to encounter. And today we remember the holy martyrs of Korea for that reason, all those multitudes of the holy people of God who have suffered and died in the land of Korea, through the many years of persecution when the faith was still young in that land.

At that time, the Korean government was staunchly anti-Christian in nature, and the government agents and officials were very harsh in their oppression of the Christian faith, rounding up and arresting missionaries and making life very difficult for all the Christians. Yet, the Christian community was thriving, and more and more people accepted the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, and were baptised into the Church.

They lived in a very difficult time, when even the slightest inclination of hint of one being a Christian might mean the difference between life and death. It was certainly a time when someone would rather not be known as a Christian, and where many would end up giving up the faith, as was what truly happened then. There were those who were unable to resist the temptation and the pressure for them to give up the faith, and they faltered.

But there were those brave and courageous servants of God who refused to let fear to overcome them, and they continued to serve the people of God and remained true to their faith. There were European missionaries amongst them as well as the local Korean priests and the laypeople, who continued to minister among the people even under the very real threat of suffering, pain and death.

Their commitment to the Lord was truly commendable, especially in the case of one of the saints whose story I can really relate to, as he was the saint who inspired the name of the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Singapore, the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, because of his dedication to the people and the flock he had been entrusted with in Korea, as the first Bishop and Vicar Apostolic of the country.

St. Laurent Imbert was a French Missionary of the Mission Etrangeres de Paris or the Paris Foreign Mission Society, who went to Asia and the Far East to preach the Gospel and evangelise to the people, including countries in Southeast Asia like Singapore, where he helped to build the foundation of the Church, and then later on in Korea, where as the first Vicar Apostolic, he was committed to care for his faithful flock even amidst the difficult times.

He was betrayed at one time, and realising that it would be inevitable that he would be arrested, he surrendered himself to the authorities, to avoid bloodshed and trouble for his flock. And believing that if the foreign missionaries surrendered themselves the authorities would spare the people from harm, he encouraged his fellow missionaries to surrender themselves. At that time, many of the priest missionaries were in hiding, as the authorities were looking for them.

St. Laurent Imbert encouraged two of his fellow priests, St. Pierre Maubant and St. Jacques Chastan to surrender themselves to the authorities, hoping that they would gain safety for the people, and through their suffering the people might live. There was indeed no guarantee that the authorities would not persecute the people even if they surrendered. However, St. Laurent Imbert as the leader and shepherd of the flock of God showed the example, saying that, ‘the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.’

In putting his flock’s safety ahead of his own safety, these saints imitated our Lord, the Good Shepherd, Who has laid down His life for all of His sheep, these holy saints and martyrs have shown each and every one of us what is the true meaning of being Christians. Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us as Christians must be sincerely and devoutly committed to God, standing up for our faith through our actions and deeds.

Let us all treasure this faith which we have, which our predecessors have even suffered and died that they might pass on the faith to us. Let us all ask for the intercession of the holy Korean martyrs, that they will pray for our sake before the Lord, that the Lord will move our hearts to be ever better servants to Him in all of our actions. May God bless all of our endeavours. Amen.

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Wednesday, 20 September 2017 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr, St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Martyr, St. Paul Chong Ha-sang and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 7 : 31-35

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “What comparison can I use for the people? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace, about whom their companions complain, ‘We piped you a tune and you would not dance; we sang funeral songs and you would not cry.'”

“Remember John : he did not ear bread or drink wine, and you said, ‘He has an evil spirit.’ Next, came the Son of Man, eating and drinking; and you say, ‘Look, a glutton for food and wine, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But the children of Wisdom always recognise her work.”

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Wednesday, 20 September 2017 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr, St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Martyr, St. Paul Chong Ha-sang and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 110 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6

Alleluia! I thank YHVH with all my heart in the council of the just, in the assembly. The works of YHVH are great and pondered by all who delight in them.

Glorious and majestic are His deeds, His righteousness endures forever. He lets us remember His wondrous deeds; YHVH is merciful and kind.

Always mindful of His Covenant, He provides food for those who fear Him. He shows His people the power of His arm by giving them the lands of other nations.

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Wednesday, 20 September 2017 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Laurent Imbert, Bishop and Martyr, St. Jacques Chastan, Priest and Martyr, St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Priest and Martyr, St. Paul Chong Ha-sang and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Timothy 3 : 14-16

I give you these instructions, although I hope I will see you soon. If I delay, you will know how you ought to conduct yourself in the household of God, that is, the Church of the living God, which is the pillar and foundation of the truth. How great, indeed, is the mystery of divine blessing!

He was shown in the flesh and sanctified by the Spirit; presented to the Angels and proclaimed to all nations. The world believed in Him : He was taken up in glory!

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Saturday, 16 September 2017 : 23rd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Cornelius, Pope and Martyr, and St. Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the message from the Scriptures telling us all as Christians to be true disciples of the Lord, that in all things we do, we must be truly faithful to the Lord, and not just having superficial faith. That is the essence of what we have just heard in our Gospel passage today, as the Lord told the people His parables.

He began with the parable of the good tree producing good fruits, and vice versa, the bad trees producing bad fruits. What the Lord said was that if the trees were healthy and in good condition, they would not have produced poor quality or rotten fruits. Similarly, if the trees are bad and rotten, it is unlikely for them to produce good quality fruits. And all these trees in fact represent all of us mankind, God’s people.

Jesus our Lord then also elaborated on another parable, the parable of the foundations, where He mentioned two types of foundation, firstly the strong and solid rock foundation where a house would remain sturdy and strong even when battered by strong winds, rains or waves. And then, He mentioned about the house built on the weak foundation of sand, were although it was quickly and easily built, but when strong winds and rains batter it, it quickly fell down and collapse.

In these two narratives that Jesus had taught His people, He wanted to show them, and therefore to all of us that as Christians we cannot resolve to cut corners and take it the easy way out, or to make compromises if we are to truly become good disciples of the Lord. Much effort and hard work will be required from each one of us, and from time to time, there will be challenges and difficulties that will come to assail us, just like the winds and waves that assailed the houses in the parable.

It also takes a long time and a lot of effort to grow a healthy and productive plant such as a fruit tree. It requires a lot of hard work to produce a good tree, which we can know that it is good because it produces good fruits. If the tree is not properly taken care of, then it is highly likely that it will end up bad and rotten, and the fruits it produces will be of bad quality and rotten too.

In the same manner, therefore if our faith is not strong, and if we do not put the necessary effort required for us to remain faithful to the Lord, then we may end up losing our faith when the troubles and challenges of life come upon our path. We may end up like the house built upon the foundation of sand, shaky and weak, because we have chosen not to strengthen the foundation of our faith, and when challenges come our way, everything end up collapsing.

Instead, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us must be strong and courageous in our faith, that we may remain true to our faith despite all the difficult times and moments we may encounter, and despite the opposition and troubles that may come from even those who are dearest and closest to us. Remember that Satan and his allies have many things in their power and ability in order to try to bring about our downfall, and we must be ever vigilant.

Let us all look up to the examples of the holy saints whose memory we remember today, Pope St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian, holy martyrs who have stood faithfully by their faith despite the difficult and challenging times of the early days of the Church, when being Christians was considered as equivalent to having a death wish upon oneself. Christians and the Church were persecuted and many were arrested and put to death for remaining true to their faith and refusing to abandon the Lord.

Pope St. Cornelius was the Bishop of Rome and leader of the entire Church throughout the years of difficult persecution under the Roman Emperors, while St. Cyprian was the Bishop of Carthage, the contemporary of the Pope, who was one of the leaders of the Church. There were great divisions within the Church at the time, as there were those who under the famous Novatian, who refused to allow the re-baptism of those who have lapsed from their faith, disagreeing with Pope St. Cornelius, St. Cyprian and many other of those who remained to the true faith.

As such, it was truly a difficult time for the Church and for the faithful, and yet Pope St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian remained strong in their faith and commitment to God. They showed their faith and commitment through their never ending dedication that inspired many others to remain strong in their faith to God, despite all the challenges and persecutions. And to the very end, unto their martyrdom, they did not give up their faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all heed the examples of these holy saints and devoted servants of God. Let us all commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord following their footsteps. Let us walk faithfully through the journey of our lives, and let us all draw ever closer to God’s love and mercy. May He bless us and guide us all as we continue to struggle daily in our respective lives, trying our best to remain true to our faith in Him. Amen.