holy martyrs

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Friday, 16 September 2016 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Cornelius, Pope and St. Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we become witnesses of the Lord’s Word spoken to us through His Scriptures, where He spoke of how He had brought healing and salvation upon the world, and He did that through His wonderful works, the primary of which is the death of Himself on the cross, and then how He wondrously rose up from the dead, and was risen in glory, defeating and conquering death.

And we are His witnesses of His resurrection from the dead, as those who have been entrusted with the knowledge and the faith in the One through Whom God had justified the whole world, the whole race of mankind. And that is the essence and the core of our faith, that we believe in our loving God, through Whom we have all been saved by His actions, descending upon this world to be one like us, that by sharing our humanity, He may share with all of us as well, the glory of His death and resurrection.

That is the key message which the Scripture passages we heard today are trying to tell us. We as Christians are people of the Gospel, the Good News of the Lord’s salvation. And we all know that Christ had willingly agreed to shoulder the burden of our sins and wickedness, all the consequences and punishments that come with them, so that we may be saved and not perish in the darkness.

But the offer of Christ’s mercy, forgiveness and love will only be fully realised within us if we all accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, and agree to fully walk in His path, that is to become a real and genuine Christian. And what is the relevance of these all to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because, we who follow the Lord as the Apostles and the holy women mentioned in the Gospel today, we are the workers of Christ, those through whose good works, we bring upon many the salvation of the Lord.

That is the mission entrusted by the Lord Himself to His Apostles and disciples before He left them to ascend to His heavenly glory. But He did not leave them behind, for He was indeed still with them, and He sent them the great Helper, the Holy Spirit to guide them and to help them in their missions and works. And we are their successors, the ones to continue the good works of the Apostles of the Lord.

What does this mean to us? It means that all of us as Christians should really value our faith and truly commit ourselves to living as Christians and as how Christians are supposed to be. And that is how we can best preach about the Lord to others around us. If we show how we live as an example to them, then surely through our works and actions, many will come to believe in the Lord and be converted to His cause.

Now the challenge for us is that we are called to do all these, which many of us certainly have not done thus far. We as members of the Church of God and as Christians ought to devote ourselves to the way of our Lord, that many more people would come to believe in Him, and therefore we may together gain the salvation in God and liberation from our sufferings and sins.

Pope St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian, the holy saints whom the Church celebrates today, were also devoted and committed in their actions, serving the Lord and His Church to the best of his abilities. Both Pope St. Cornelius and St. Cyprian served the Lord with great zeal, and although they often did not agree on certain matters, as evident in how once they came into a bitter conflict over the matter of the forgiveness and acceptance of those who have abandoned the faith and then later returned, but they were able to come together and resolved their differences for the good of the faithful.

Persecution of the faithful was particularly vicious at that time under the Roman Emperor Decius and his successors. Many of the faithful were under attack and under great trouble because of their faith. And both of these faithful saints were also part of the persecution, exiled to hard labour and to great tribulations. Yet, they never ceased to do great works, writing commendations and encouragements to their flock even from exile, to strengthen them amidst the difficult moments.

May God help us all in these endeavours in following the examples of these great saints. May the Lord help us in our works and commitments to bring our fellow brethren to Him, that all of us may be together saved in Him. May God with His holy saints show us the way to lead many to Him, that eventually all may receive grace and righteousness in God. Amen.

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Friday, 16 September 2016 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Cornelius, Pope and St. Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Luke 8 : 1-3

At that time, Jesus walked through towns and countryside, preaching and giving the Good News of the kingdom of God. The Twelve followed Him, and also some women, who had been healed of evil spirits and diseases : Mary called Magdalene, who had been freed of seven demons; Joanna, wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward; Suzanna, and others who provided for them out of their own funds.

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Friday, 16 September 2016 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Cornelius, Pope and St. Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Psalm 16 : 1, 6-7, 8b and 15

Hear a just cause, o Lord, listen to my complaint. Give heed to my prayer for there is no deceit on my lips.

I call on You, You will answer me, o God; incline Your ear and hear my word. For You do wonders for Your faithful, You save those fleeing from the enemy as they seek refuge at Your right hand.

Under the shadow of Your wings hide me. As for me, righteous in Your sight, I shall see Your face and, awakening, gaze my fill on Your likeness.

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Friday, 16 September 2016 : 24th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Cornelius, Pope and St. Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red
1 Corinthians 15 : 12-20

Well, then, if Christ is preached as risen from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is empty and our belief comes to nothing.

And we become false witnesses of God, attesting that He raised Christ, whereas He could not raise Him if indeed the dead are not raised. If the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith gives you nothing, and you are still in sin. Also those who fall asleep in Christ are lost.

If it is only for this life that we hope in Christ, we are the most unfortunate of all people. But no, Christ has been raised from the dead and He comes before all those who have fallen asleep.

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Saturday, 13 August 2016 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and St. Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

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

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Scripture readings today spoke to us about what we ought to be doing in order to find righteousness and salvation in our God. And that is for us to abandon our sinful ways and our wicked past, just as what the Lord told His people through His prophet Ezekiel, telling them that while the righteous enjoy the favour of the Lord, but the wicked and those who refused to obey Him, shall receive punishment due for them.

And in order to find righteousness and justice in God, we will have to learn to distance ourselves from all the things that are wicked and that are against the Lord’s ways, as God Himself announced to the prophet Ezekiel, that His faithful people ought to distance themselves from things that can cause fornication and corruption of the body, heart, mind and soul. That means, we should avoid unjust attitudes and behaviours, avoid greed and unbridled desires, avoid all the things that bring us into the trap of sin and thus into our downfall.

Why is this something so important for us to take note of, brethren? That is because, by our nature, we have that tendency to be swayed by our needs and wants, by our desires and by our attachments to the world and its goods. It is easy for us to lose our way going forward as we are presented with many options, many of which lead not to the Lord but instead towards the devil and his false ways.

In the Gospel today, Jesus spoke to His disciples to point out to them that very simple fact which we often forget in life. That if we want to follow the Lord our God, then our focus cannot be on other things beside Him. We have too many attachments and concerns in life, and that is a singular most important reason why so many of us were incapable of being devoted and committed servants of our Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us ought to heed what Jesus our Lord said to us in the Gospel, that we have to be like that of little children if we are to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. And no, it does not mean that we should become childish in our actions and way of life, but rather, we must be as children are when they believe in something and be like them in our faith towards the Lord.

If we have seen children before, talking to them and working with them, we should realise that they are truly clean slate, pure and innocent, untainted by the many concerns and attachments to the world. And these are exactly the very reason why many of us met our downfall and falter on our way to the Lord, as our burdens, the burdens of our attachments weighed us down and held us back.

Are we able to believe in the Lord just as the children had believed? The faith of a child is pure and true, and when they believe in something, they will hold on to that faith and to that belief. Whereas many of us are easy to turn away our beliefs and faith, for something else, just as what many of us did, ditching the Lord behind for the gain of our own flesh, the pleasures of that same flesh, and for the tempting gains of money, fame, possessions and worldly glory.

Let us then look at the examples of the two holy saints and servants of God whose feast we are celebrating on this day. Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus were renowned elders and leaders of the Church at the time of the early Church, during the time when the Church was still under the persecution and attack from the Roman Empire and its government.

Pope St. Pontian was the leader of the Universal Church at that time, while St. Hippolytus was supported by some segments in the Church to become the Bishop of Rome in opposition to Pope St. Pontian. The struggle and tension between the two of them were quite bad for some time, with both sides accusing each other of trying to divide the Church and the faithful.

But in the end, Pope St. Pontian and St. Hippolytus agreed to lay down their differences for the sake of the faithful and the Church, and it also happened during the time of a particularly vicious and cruel persecution of the Church by the Roman Emperor Valerian. They were both arrested and put into great suffering and were exiled, where eventually they were martyred for their faith.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, from the example of these two saints, we can see how our human desires and wants can become great obstacles on our journey and path towards the Lord. These can cause divisions and intrigue to arise among the faithful and in the Church. And certainly, from what we have learnt, we should also endeavour to reject the temptations of the flesh, the allures of the world, and instead, do what we can in order to help one another to find our way to the Lord and to His salvation.

Let us all cultivate and strengthen our faith, so that it may grow stronger in us, and with stronger faith, may all of us be united ever more closely and intimately with our God, and in all the things that we say and do, let us do them for the greater glory of God. Amen.

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Saturday, 13 August 2016 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and St. Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

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

Matthew 19 : 13-15

At that time, little children were brought to Jesus that He might lay His hands on them and pray. But the disciples scolded those who brought them.

Jesus then said, “Let them be! Do not stop the children from coming to Me, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to people such as these children.” So Jesus laid His hands on them and went His way.

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Saturday, 13 August 2016 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and St. Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs (Psalm)

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

Psalm 50 : 12-13, 14-15, 18-19

Create in me, o God, a pure heart; give me a new and steadfast spirit. Do not cast me out of Your presence nor take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Give me again the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing Spirit. Then I will show wrongdoers Your ways and sinners will return to You.

You take no pleasure in sacrifice; were I to give a burnt offering, You would not delight in it.

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Saturday, 13 August 2016 : 19th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. Pontian, Pope and St. Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs (First Reading)

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

Ezekiel 18 : 1-10, 13b, 30-32

The word of YHVH came to me in these terms, “Why are you applying this proverb to the land of Israel : ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes and the children’s teeth are set on edge?'”

“As I live, word of YHVH, this proverb will no longer be quoted in Israel. All life is in My hands, the life of the parent and the life of the child are Mine. The lives of both are in My hands, so the one who sins will die. Imagine a man who is righteous and practices what is just and right.”

“He does not eat in the mountain shrines, or look towards the filthy idols of Israel, does not defile his neighbour’s wife, or have intercourse with a woman during her period; he molests no one, pays what he owes, does not steal, gives food to the hungry and clothes to the naked, demands no interest on a loan and does not lend for interest, refrains from injustice, practices true justice, man to man, follows My decrees and obeys My laws in acting loyally.”

“Because such a man is truly righteous, he will live, word of YHVH. But perhaps this man has a son who steals and sheds blood, committing crimes which his father never did. Will such a man live? No, he will not! Because he has committed all these abominations he will die : his guilt will fall upon him.”

“That is why I will judge you, Israel, each one according to his ways, word of YHVH. Come back, turn away from your offences, that you may not deserve punishment. Free yourselves from all the offences you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, Israel? I do not want the death of anyone, word of YHVH, but that you be converted and live!”

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Wednesday, 10 August 2016 : Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of a major figure in the Church, namely the feast of the holy saint and martyr, St. Lawrence the Deacon, the deacon of Rome and one of its greatest and most exemplary saints. He is an example and inspiration to us, based on how he had lived, how he had carried through the mission which Christ had entrusted him with, and how he faced death with courage and hope.

St. Lawrence was one of the seven deacons serving the holy city of Rome under the Pontificate of Pope St. Sixtus II, with whom he eventually was martyred under the particularly vicious persecution of all Christians by the Roman Emperor Valerian. And in that position, as the leader of the seven deacons of Rome or the Archdeacon of Rome, he was entrusted with the care and the management of the Church’s effort and assignment to the poor, the sick and the less privileged.

And he worked hard to fulfil that assignment, caring for the least of the society, all those who have no food to eat and no one to love them. When the Emperor called for the execution of all the faithful and their leaders, he also called for the confiscation of all the properties of the Church, to be taken up into the Empire’s treasury. And St. Lawrence, knowing that they would also take away all those that had been set aside for the poor, gave all the wealth to the poor as fast as he could so that the Emperor and his forces would not be able to seize them.

In the end, defiant and adamant towards the end, he refused to give in to the Emperor and his demands, and when forced to reveal where the treasures of the Church to be seized, he showed the poor, the sick and the dying as the true treasures of the Church, saying defiantly that they all are far richer and wealthier than the Emperor and the whole state would ever be. And thus, he met his end, his death with pride and complete faith in the Lord.

And it is that steadfast faith in the Lord which all of us should emulate as well. At a time when it is difficult for us to remain steady in faith and commit ourselves to the Lord, we should hold fast to the teachings of the Church and believe wholeheartedly, knowing how to trust the Lord with all our heart, for it is He alone Who will ever be faithful, and He will guard us all and bless us all.

And we have to heed what is always said, that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. This came directly from the saying of Jesus in today’s Gospel, that unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it will not rise up and germinate into a new wheat plant, but remain a seed that is without any use. This is a reminder of Christ’s own mission to save us mankind, that by dying for us, He raised us up into the life everlasting prepared for us, but at the same time, it reminds us of the challenges and difficulties that will be ours to bear if we choose to follow the Lord.

Thus, being a Christian is not easy, brothers and sisters in Christ. It requires commitment, dedication and hard work. If we think that being a Christian does not entail much, or is easy and manageable, then perhaps we have not been truly devoted to the Lord at all, or that our faith in Him is lukewarm, and we ignore whatever opportunities that had been presented to us, to act as how Christians should act.

It means also that all of us today have that same mission which our Lord had given to His Apostles, and we need to embrace that mission with zeal and courage, knowing that it is only through us and through our works that we may save our brethren, especially those who are still lost to the Lord and those who still live in the darkness of sin and evil.

St. Lawrence and the many other saints and martyrs of the Faith have been our inspiration because they showed us how to live as true Christians, not scared or intimidated in the face of darkness. Instead, they went forward and faced those who refused to believe in the Lord and persecuted them, and showed to all what it meant to be a follower of God, inspiring legions and many more others who saw what they have done and became a believer as well.

Thus, it is also a calling for us all to also be exemplary in our deeds, that all who see us will know that we belong to the Lord, and they too may believe in Him through us, and our reward at the end of days will be great and bountiful. May God help us in this endeavour and bless us every day of our lives. Amen.

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Wednesday, 10 August 2016 : Feast of St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 12 : 24-26

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”

“Those who love their life destroy it, and those who despise their life in this world keep it for everlasting life. Whoever wants to serve Me, let him follow Me; and wherever I am, there shall My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honour him.”